Political observations. . .

. . .from where I sit, anyway.

The only campaign for candidates for President is on the Republican side since President Obama has no primary opposition. So,the Republican side is where my observations center, for whatever they're worth.

A note on that "whatever they're worth" comment (full disclosure): I am a Democrat, and I will be voting for Obama again. Some would take that as an indicator that my thoughts may not be worth a lot. Fair enough. You should also be aware that I place the same sort of importance on your thoughts about Obama that you place on mine about the Republicans. Since we all know that neither side is going to convince the other, let's all relax and enjoy the ride.

So, the candidates (alphabetically) (approximately):

BACHMANN: She comes off as, not only an idealogue, but a something of a ditz. That's not entirely fair to her; news reports indicate that she's actually quite bright. (The idealogue thing stands.) Her problem is, she misses details. She reads something, has a firm grasp of maybe 90% of it, which is far better than most of us do, but she completely ignores the other 10%, and it's that other 10% that contains the detail that would change the whole meaning of what she read. Thus, she gave a shout-out for Elvis Presley's birthday - on the anniversary date of his death.  That thing about Waterloo, Iowa being John Wayne's home town? Uh, no - Waterloo was the home town of John Wayne GACY, a serial killer. John Wayne the actor was also from Iowa - Winterset, Iowa. That thing about the Founding Fathers not resting until slavery was eradicated? Never mind - that was pure ditz. Many of the Founders were slave owners, and not interested in removing the institution.

BTW, I met John Wayne Gacy once. He was on death row at the Menard Correctional Center, near Chester, Illinois, just outside of St. Louis. I was a correctional officer, working in Joliet but on a tour of death row. I took a long, hot shower afterward.

Bachmann was the flavor-of-the-month at the time of the Iowa Straw Poll. I think she'll be little more than that. Fading fast.

CAIN: The current flavor of the month. His 9-9-9 plan has the beauty of simplicity. But, talk about the devil being in the details. One of the 9's is a national sales tax. There is not any national sales tax at this time. Iowa, my state, has a state sales tax of 6%.  A 9% sales tax, in addition to our 6% state sales tax, means that if you purchase, say, a frying pan, you'll be paying 15% tax on the purchase. And this is Cain's idea of how to rev the economy? Get people to buy more stuff? Seriously? A sales tax is the most regressive form of taxation in that its impact on low-income families is far greater, as a percentage of income, than its impact on high-income people. Cain is now backing off, and presenting a "9-0-9" tax low low-income people. That's supposed to be an improvement? News flash, Herman: many low income people, because of current tax codes, are already at 0% effective income tax. So, you move their income tax from zero to zero, and slap on a 9% national sales tax.

Seriously??

Rick Perry nailed Cain on this weakness in "9-9-9": "You're going to go to a state like New Hampshire, which has no sales tax at all, and you're fixing to give 'em one?"

Cain's answer to the issue of states already having a sales tax? "State sales tax don't count." I'm sorry, Herman - say again? That state sales tax comes out of my pocket, Herman - it damn well BETTER count!

Cain's answer to "How do you get this through Congress"? "I'm not worried about Congress." Really? You need a tax change as radical as this, and you aren't worried about Congress? Hint, Herman: you should worry about Congress. 9-9-9 or 9-0-9 doesn't do anything until Congress passes it. And if the Republican Congress has had its fun dragging their feet and the President through the mud - just you wait. Memories are long. Loooonnnnggggg.

Cain's got another issue. He claims to be stauncly pro-life, but some of the social conservatives have detected a softness in his position. He has come out and said, "No abortions. No exceptions." C'mon man - even my Roman Catholic Church doesn't go that far.

In a sense, that really doesn't matter. No Republican candidate - no prominent Republican at all, as far as I know - not one - could consider himself/herself pro-life, as the Catholic Church refers to pro-life. They're not within a mile of it. Unfortunately, most Democrats are no better. So, "Vote for the pro-life candidate"? OK - show me one. Just one.

This is long enough for today. We'll revisit. As always, love your thoughts, reactions, reflections. Yes, you can be a friend of mine - a great friend, a dear friend - and disagree with me. I'm cool with that.

Thanks for hanging out for a few!

writers' block

I just had a little exchange with a good friend and former co-worker, Ravis. Ravis does some writing; she';s currently working on a children's book. We exchanged a little about writers' block. I've had the issue with my blog - writers' block complete with a moat, gators and a squad of Marines.

I am convinced that the only way to get past writers' block is to just write. So, y'all are in on my big effort to defeat this case of writers' block.

Write, write, write. . .

Tomorrow night is our Parish Council Meeting. I'm the President of the Parish Council for St. Mary's Parish in Davenport. I'm also the Lector at the 5 PM Saturday Mass in April, July, and Octob. . .zzz. . .zzz. Well, I'm excited to do it.

Write, write, write. . .

About three weeks ago I drove to Des Moines and stayed for three days. The occasion was the 2011 Annual Convention of the Iowa chapter of thr American Insitute of Architects. The convention itself was a half-day of set-up and a day and a half of not much, but I enjoyed the company of those who staffed the booth with me, there was a free lunch - although, even now, I'm not quite sure what it was - and we had a dinner at a French sort of place. They had "potatoes dauphinoise". While the waitress took our order I mentioned that I'd try that dish just to find out what "potatoes dauphinoise" are. The waitress asked, "Would you like me to tell you, or do you want a surprise?" I took the surprise. They weren't bad. Think of a cross between hash browns and potatoes au gratin, and you'll haved it about right.

While driving across the state I thought often about what a beautiful state Iowa is. Those who are not from around here tend to think of Iowa as a sort of Kansas North, but we're nothing like that. Kansas is a flat as any musical key could be. Those who've ridden in the annual bike ride across Iowa will tell you, Iowa is not flat. Iowa is rolling country. There were lots of trees and the landscape was mostly green, but there was the occasional splash of golden yellow to let you know that the change of seasons was coming. And I found myself wondering, or hoping - hoping Iowans know how blessed they are in their state, in their country.

On I-80, on the way from Davenport to Des Moines, you will encounter the North Skunk River and the South Skunk River. Besides the question of why anyone would name something so marvelous as a river after a skunk (and what any Westerner thinks of as a river, any Iowan or Missourian would think of as a crick), one is left to wonder: How did they tell a North Skunk from a South Skunk? Was it the blue and gray coats?

Write. . .write. . .write. . .

There's nothing like good writing. And that was nothing like good writing. (That was a joke.)

Well, 'nuff for now of my effort to overcome the block. I love having you hang out for a few.