Ding dong the witch is...

Oops, I thought "...the wicked witch, the wicked witch. Ding dong the wicked witch is dead!" Growing up watching "The Wizard of Oz", that song has been in the back of my mind as I waited for candidate Hillary Clinton to concede the primary election to Barack Obama. I just knew that the political "house of cards" built by the Bill and Hillary machine over the last fifteen years, would finally fall on her and the voters in Munchkin land would celebrate, and Obama would be skipping down the Yellow Brick Road in his new ruby slippers. It didn't happen...at least not yet.

The "anointed one" rose from the dead, and is now in a real battle against the "rookie with a golden voice". Rush Limbaugh put it best, "Barack Obama says 'nothing' better than it's ever been said before". Maybe that caught up with him, (although she says 'nothing' pretty well herself).

Those that read this blog know that I am a Conservative Republican, and I was hoping that Hillary would be the Democratic candidate...that is a fight we wanted. For a while it looked like she was going to be thrown under the bus by her own party. But the Democratic voters still haven't seen through the political smokescreen created by the Clintons over the years. The Clintons went negative the past few weeks, and it worked. No one is better at "gutter politics", and they are good.

Barack Obama still has a lead in committed delegates, and that lead will be mathmatically difficult for her to overtake. But with about 700 "Super Delegates" and the question of delegates from Michigan and Florida still up in the air, this could be very interesting. If the Clintons somehow pull this out, it will be a political surprise by a "machine" that will do anything to win.

And unfortunately if John McCain runs against the Clinton group - he may have "my friends" shoved down his throat.

The Golden Voice

There is an old story in business about this company that had a "super salesman". Whenever he met with customers he always knew what to say, and on almost every sales visit he closed the deal. Customers loved him and he was by far the the best salesman in the company. So when there was an opening for a Sales Manager, he got the "promotion". There he was, instead of being in the field socializing with customers and closing sales, now he was in his office, dealing with budgets, sales forecasts, personnel problems, and management meetings. Within a year he was a failure at being a Sales Manager and was fired. When asked what happened he said, "It was quite a change, there I sat in my office with nothing but my golden voice".


Are we seeing this in the Presidential campaign? The stakes are much larger. No one can dispute that Barac Obama has the golden voice of a talented salesman. He is young, charismatic, likable, and says all the right things required to close the deal...the "customers" love him. It looks like the Democratic electorate may make him their nominee. And then the American public could promote him to be their most senior manager, or more precisely - our President, and the leader of the free world. If that happens, let's hope he doesn't sit and reflect in the Oval Office, and realize that he has nothing but his "golden voice"...and sadly, it would be four years before we could "fire" him.

Where have all the Tigers gone?

I watched the PGA golf tournament from Los Angeles this weekend and frankly, what a "yawner". Golf is a wonderful sport, but it can be like watching paint dry sometimes. I grew up during the era of Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and even crazy Chi Chi Rodriguez. These guys were great golfers and also had great personalities. They joked with the crowds, took big risks when they could have played conservative, but were always entertaining.

Today all can I say is, "Where have all the Tigers gone?" Maybe it's because there is so much money at stake, or are we just in a 'lull" in the sport. But there are so many "no name" golfers nowadays making millions, that Tiger Woods stands out like a beacon in the night. Yes, he is a great golfer, maybe the best ever, but he also brings excitement to the PGA tour, and even more important his personality, character, and conduct in his personal life makes him a roll model for millions of young people. Other than Phil Mickelson, most PGA players are so serious that they forget that part of their job is to entertain us.

Last year an older golfer named Woody Austin came in second, and almost won the 2007 PGA Championship. He had his 15 minutes of fame, but more important he brought some personality back to the PGA tour, joking with the crowd, taking risky shots, and obviously having fun in the process. Get it together PGA - we need more Tigers, and even more Woodys out there.

Where have the Conservatives gone?

A few of my kids think I am a "dinosaur" - a right wing Republican that bleeds "conservative" blood. They believe, "times have changed Dad", we need someone to pull this country together... a "moderate" that can cross the aisle and bring Democrats and Republicans together...I say B--S--. The Democrat idea of moderation is for Republicans to come over to their side. If there ever was a time for conservative Republicans to wonder where their brethren have gone, this is it. In my opinion, John McCain is not a conservative (and I am not even sure he is a Republican). But he looks like the nominee of "our" party and unless he can somehow fire up the conservative base of the party, he is destined to lose. There won't be a big backlash against him. After all, what are the alternatives - Obama or Clinton...no thanks. But I predict the conservative base of the Republican party will just lose interest - not really campaign, donate money, or take serious interest in the election, as they have in the past . McCain will simply lose a significant portion of the "grass roots" effort. I hope I am wrong, but the policies of the "Straight Talk Express" seem to be close to many Democratic principles. Maybe I am wrong, and overly concerned, but if McCain goes up against Obama, I don't think he would have a chance. Ironically, what John McCain needs to "fire up" the conservative base of the Republican party is for Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination.


Here are some interesting comparisons:

1/ Illegal immigration - McCain, Obama, and Clinton all support some type of "amnesty" for the 12+ million illegal immigrants in this country.

2/ Taxes - Obama and Clinton have stated they will let the Bush tax cuts expire and raise taxes on the "rich". McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts, but now promises that he will seek to make them permanent...hm mm. Could this be "Washington talk". He has also stated that he believes the "Estate Tax" should not be repealed, and should revert to previous levels (how about 55% of a large portion of your estate going to the government, instead of your family).

3/ Global Warming - McCain, Obama, and Clinton all agree that regulations should be in place to "slow down" Global Warming. This "bogus science" is the subject of another Blog, but whatever these regulations become (impossible CAFE standards for automobiles, "carbon credit" trading, Global Warming surtaxes on energy bills, regulating our light bulbs, etc., etc.) will cost the average American a lot of money, based on "science" that in many respects doesn't make sense (in my humble 'scientific' opinion).

So this becomes one of the most interesting election seasons since the Jimmy Carter/Ronald Reagan days. Of these three, whoever wins may have a completely Democratic House and Senate. If it's Hillary or Obama, hang on to your wallet, and tell your children and grandchildren to make serious long term personal financial plans, because they will inherit a governmental financial burden that will be impossible for them to support. But if John McCain wins, along with a Democratic congress, will he dig in his heels, or will he "reach across the aisle" and send us down the same road as Obama or Clinton would? We'll see... Sadly, in this blogger's opinion we have only poor choices in this coming election.

Memories - the building of a "dream" house

Ten years ago we started building our home here in the country. It was my first (and last) job as a contractor. It seems like an eternity, and I didn't remember it being that much work until I recently read a "coda" (final movement), that I wrote after the home was finished. I thought it might be interesting for friends and family to read:

Written in September 1999:

I am writing this in my new office, on what was a pasture just one year ago. It was a beautiful pasture, just the way it had been for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. High on a hill with hundred-mile views, it was full of majestic fifty-year-old oak trees, thistles, and knee-deep grass. Blooming with lupine wild flowers in the spring, the pasture was so quiet you could hear the tall grass move as the wind blew, and watch the moving flowers paint an ever-changing picture. Here and there in the tall grass you can now see posts sticking up, connected by bright pink ribbon... these posts are marking out our "dream".

And then the men came....
They arrived in large trucks with cranes that in a minute could lift a man higher than it took those old oaks to reach in fifty years. The silence was broken by chain saws, chippers, and stump grinders...and in a day, ten of those majestic oak trees that looked out over that view and weathered storms and heat through fifty or more ever changing seasons, were gone....gone so we could build our dream house in that pasture.

Then more men came...
This time with bulldozers, moving tons of dirt, reshaping the gentle rolling slopes of the pasture into a precise pad of dirt that would be the resting place of our dream. Then after a few days, the bulldozers left and all was quiet again. The grass and wild flowers were now gone, and when the wind blew only dust disturbed the air.

Then even more men came...
They marked the dirt with white lines, the outline of the garage over there, the master bedroom here, the dining room over there...like marking out a football field before the start of a game. But these marks were our dream, and after the main house was drawn on the dirt, we selected the final spot for the cottage....just a square chalk mark on the dirt where the lupines bloomed in the spring...that square would become the Lupine Cottage.
Then, along those chalk marks the men dug trenches that would hold two-foot-deep legs of cement that would anchor our dream in this pasture. They erected wooden forms outlining the shape of the house and cottage. Pipes were installed connecting the rooms, later to become the arteries of the plumbing system. When the forms were finished and the plumbing tested, the cement trucks arrived. Fifteen in all, waiting in line, driving up to the house one by one to unload their cargo of cement that would become the foundation of our dream. Ten men scrambled to push and form and smooth the cement over four thousand square feet of surface, and when they finished, it was quiet again. As I looked at the beautiful piece of cement work surrounded by trees, I could see the dream taking shape.

And still the men came...
Truckloads of lumber were unloaded, more wood than I had ever seen. The property had no power yet, so the sound of generators broke the silence. Followed by power saws, drills, and nail guns. Poof, poof poof, the sound of nail gun fire... like a war, but this was our dream going together. Slowly the walls went up, with all the openings for doors and windows, and the two houses started taking shape.
Thirty-nine windows arrived on another truck and were put in their places so later we could sit in our dream and look out over those beautiful views.
When the frame was finished, more men came...stringing thousands of feet of wire throughout the house like spider webs. Air conditioning and heating ducts crisscrossed the ceiling frames, all terminating in their proper place to ensure that we would always be comfortable in our dream.
The wood frame was wrapped with wire and waterproof paper and given an outer skin of cement and plaster, while more men covered the roof with waterproof paper and carefully laid roof tiles in place to ensure that rains would never see the inside of our dream.
A truckload of rock was delivered and masons began building fireplaces, rock walls and chimney stacks. Insulation was laid into every opening in every wall and ceiling, doors were installed, and finally the dream was sealed from the whims of Mother Nature.

And then more men came...
Electricians and plumbers, connecting the arteries that had been roughed in, installing sinks, bathtubs, lights, and intercom systems. The cabinets and tile that Peggy agonized over for months brought the kitchen and bathrooms to life. Painters added the colors that Peggy had meticulously selected to match her vision of how the dream would be decorated. Fireplaces were completed, molding, doors, window sills, shelves, closets, bookcases, cabinets, carpeting...the finishing touches.

And then, finally, no more men came...
We will miss those ten trees, and the grass will no longer blow in this pasture, but Mother Nature would be proud of what we have built. Gently blended into the wilderness, our dream has become part of it. Hundreds of trees remain on this property and the grass blows in another pasture I can view from my office, and I’m sure the Lupines will bloom there next spring. The birds have coffee with us each morning and the deer and turkeys have cocktails with us in the evening....and now our "dream house" is a home.