I hope you all had a great weekend. No, no I don't. I'm rather ambivalent about your weekend. Mine was so utterly exciting, I can barely contain myself.
So, gas prices are plummeting. I found gas for $1.839 yesterday. Surprisingly, waiting did me good for a change. Usually, I wait and it jumps 25 cents overnight. I find it interesting that in the space of ten blocks prices can vary by as much as 15 cents or more. In fact, one gas station had prices of $1.949 and was well within site of another station whose price was set at $1.839. I also noticed that that station had no one in it. Anyway, the price watchers are forecasting a further drop in prices. Don't get used to it; our friends at OPEC, who are always looking out for their consumers, will likely do something to "stabilize" the price of their wares. I read last week that they were set to cut production by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd). So, get your gas while it's cheap.
I'm so tired of seeing Nancy Pelosi in the news; the perpetually shocked look on her face. You ever notice that? She always looks surprised. And not the pleasantly surprised kind either. Anyway, she went back to San Fran the other day and at some self-promoting event stated that the President shouldn't abuse his power and that it's Congress's responsibility to provide oversight. Maybe they should have done that four years ago instead of rubber stamping everything he put forth. I don't recall seeing too many Democrats arguing against war in Iraq. And another thing, it's not a war. Since Congress has the sole power to declare war, which it hasn't done in over 40 years, members of said political body should stop referring to it as that. Pelosi is adamant that the Democrats will hold Bush accountable if he doesn't have a plan. And in response to Cheney's assertion that Dems don't have a plan: "we [Democrats] have a plan and he knows it." That sounds more grade-schooler than anything I've heard out of a politician in a long time, and that's saying a lot. I know someone else who would make chronic use of the infamous "and he/you/she knows it." It's a good way of trying to gain the upper hand in any petty argument. It establishes, in some manner, the perception that you "know" whatever the other person is trying to argue, and thus, cannot put forth any counter to their claims. Stupid. "I would never do that, and you know it." Well, clearly not or we wouldn’t be arguing about it. Similarly, Cheney/Bush, etc must not know that the Dems have a plan. Heck, I don't know if the Dems know they have a plan. Does anyone here know what the Dems' plan is? Is their plan NOT having a plan? Is their plan to merely criticize everything the President does with regards to Iraq? I think they're still in the pre-election mentality; that being simply be against whatever Bush is for. If the President announced a complete withdrawal to happen within six months, you'd have the majority of the Democratic Party up in arms.
And while we're talking about the "war" we ought to touch a bit on nomenclature. Regarding the troop increase, notice the different words each party uses to describe it. Republicans: Surge. Democrats: Escalation. Surge conjures up images of an epic football game; the underdog makes a dramatic surge to defeat the opposition. Escalation is decidedly negative in its connotation. To escalate something means you're taking it to a higher level of violence. Escalation of a war is never a good thing. Neither word is wrong. WWII was escalated with the invasion of Europe by Allied forces, but that was a good thing. No one today would call that an escalation though. It'd be a surge or some such thing. Take a look at the phrase "cut and run" used by the Republicans for another instance of ridiculous "weasel words."
Whoa, Nellie! I found Pelosi's plan. This is what they (Dems) suggest: "a redeployment of our troops out of Iraq" to help "make the region more stable and make America safer." I would love to sit down with this woman and pick her brain. Maybe she could provide me with an explanation of her logic, and make a poor dumb Marine like me understand how a redeployment (see, another weasel word) makes the region more secure.
What strikes me the most about this love affair with Pelosi amongst her supporters is that they truly believe that this woman is "committed to fairness and helping the middle [or middling?] class." This woman hasn't known a middle class day her whole life. Virtually none of these politicians have. Yet people believe that so and so is going to help. These people are interested in helping us so long as providing that help assists them in maintaining power. Power is what is important to them (see the Pelosi-themed, drunk-with-power celebrations of her ascendancy last week). And if keeping power means throwing you a cracker here and there, then they're all about it. That's why they are such strong supporters of raising the minimum wage. On the outside, it looks like they're championing a cause that is supremely beneficial, and they have the opportunity to take the moral high ground, right? Who wouldn't support raising the minimum wage? Oh, I don't know, the small business owners who will go under because they can't afford to pay for help. Maybe the people who will lose their jobs because their company took it's operations overseas. However, you start talking about term limits and suspending the annual raises, well, that will raise the hackles of any politician.
Final note on Pelosi: Some columnist labels her the most powerful Italian since Caesar. Maybe Augustus (Octavian), Nero, Caligula, Marcus Aurelius, etc, etc, etc, were overlooked.
And if anyone cares, 51% of US women are living without a spouse. That's a first; more without than with. Oh, and women who are divorced remain unmarried for longer than men. Why? Oh, they're sometimes "delighting in their newfound freedom." Yeah, I guess that's true, isn't it.
In the "studio" Thursday this week and next. Songs should be ready in a couple of months.
Word of the Day: Imprecation (noun): 1. the act of imprecating, or invoking evil upon someone; 2. a curse. Maybe that's what has happened to me.
On This Day in History: The title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate (27 BCE). Note: this is not Julius Caesar; he was killed 17 years prior to this date. Octavian was Julius' nephew, and was adopted by Julius. Also, National Religious Freedom Day here in the US. Does this mean freedom FROM religion, or just freedom OF religion? What if you have no religion, do you have that option? No, not in seven states you don't. What am I talking about? Ask me and I'll send you an article I wrote about the subject.
""I have done that," says my memory. "I cannot have done that," says my pride, and remains adamant. At last, memory yields." - Freidrich Nietzsche on how pride trumps memory.
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