Vermont shuns Minutemen

On Patrol in Vt., Minutemen Are the Outsiders

Vermont citizens offered visiting Minutemen volunteers no help this past weekend. While looking for the Canada/US border, the Minutemen instead were subject to protests and derision from an ill-informed Vermont public. Vermont protesters seemed to think that the Minutemen were a hate group of some kind. I would offer that, at the least, the Minutemen hate illegal immigration and have legitimate complaints about border security to which they are trying to draw some attention. But a hate group? A hate group? Geez, it's hard to believe that that part of the U.S. would simultaniously produce ultra-liberal Vermont, and live-free-or-die New Hampshire, where I'm sure the Minutemen would be welcomed as heroes and provided GPS coordinates to the border.

However, I also believe that the Washington Post reporter, David Fahrenthold, didn't try very hard to quote any Vermont citizens who agreed with the Minuntemen. After all, what kind of boring, non-controversial story would that have been? "Vermont Citizens bring out Welcome Wagon for Minutemen." Zzzzzz....."And then, some local restaurants brought us some coffee and bagels out on the border. They were soooooo nice..."

I for one am certain that there are more Vermont citizens that at least agree in principal with what the Minuteman Project is really about, which in my mind is our nation's safety and our dangerous over-dependence on cheap, illegal labor.

I'm bored.

Not only am I suffering from scandal fatigue, I'm bored out of my skull. As another tourism season winds down, and visitors diminish to a mere trickle here in the southwest, I am ready for a completely different life. I am bored silly with this business; frankly, I've done all that I planned to do and SO much more since we moved here. I'm ready for a change, but I don't think I'll ever be tired of hiking in beautiful places.

I'm troubled a bit and haven't been sleeping well at night. I feel as though I've missed other opportunities and callings in life that were inscrutable to me at that moment in the past, but now haunt me like some kind of embarrassing video moment I'd rather forget. I know I'm not an ignorant person, but looking back it seems that I was simply blinded in a most unattractive manner by the petty emotional dramas that overtake twenty-somethings. I'll be 40 next spring, and although I am proud of my accomplishments in business, I am decidedly less than pleased with my cultural and intellectual pursuits. Living in the middle of nowhere does not allow for much of that, unfortunately. I had no choice at the time to do anything else but leave the city and its opportunities. After years of character-crushing attempts at corporate America, I made the choice to be in nature, not in the un-real world of cities.

Yesterday, I went on a wonderful hike. There really is a canyon named Coyote Gulch; it is one of the most beautiful places in the world and most assuredly on my top ten list of favorite places anywhere. I volunteer with the park service and I was asked to help tend to some trail housekeeping in Coyote Gulch. It sprinkled lightly the whole day, and when a breeze blew the yellow Cottonwood leaves would fall into the stream and float away in the red world that is this canyon. It was so beautiful and calming; fall is my favorite time of year anyway, but fall inside a deep, red-walled canyon is indescribable in its bright yellow and copper red color palette. I'm not sure how the hiking anywhere else will compare to the hiking here. I can always come back and visit, I suppose. The reality of living in a very small town in very remote Utah has great drawbacks, unfortunately. Hiking is not one of those drawbacks; small-minded people and general unavailability of culture, goods, and services are.

I'm at an emotional and intellectual crossroads. From what I understand, these places are few and far between in the course of a life, thank goodness. My husband is also at a turning point, and we're ready for a new adventure in life. I suppose I should make a list of the things I would like to have near to me when we move so I know where we may begin looking for our new home. This kind of freedom of choice is rare in America. Altough Americans are a free people, sometimes debt and family obligations conspire to tie us down. Luckily, I do not have those problems. I think having many choices to choose from in life can also be a problem. I can only hope that my years in business, my wisdom and thoughtfulness from being outdoors, and my ever-curious mind will guide me to the right decision. I would just hate to look back at this moment in life and think, "Gee...I should have made a right turn at Albuquerque."

Ack!

The Moderate Voice - Major Bush Donor Indicted

Ok, what next? This week is going down the tubes quickly for GWB. I was not surprised this morning by Harriet Miers' withdrawl from the Supreme Court nomination. From MSNBC.com:

"The White House said Miers had withdrawn because of senators’ demands to see internal documents related to her role as counsel to the president. But politics played a larger role: Bush’s conservative backers had doubts about her ideological purity, and Democrats had little incentive to help the nominee or the embattled GOP president."

To me, it is very clear that her White House counsel days may be entangled in other scandals, like Plamegate and Gitmo. And lord knows the White House wouldn't want anything newsworthy showing up now--but then again, what ELSE could go wrong? Geez. I suppose we will all find out when Patrick Fitzgerald makes his move. Apparently, Fitzgerald has launched a web site and rented out more office space in DC. What on earth could that portend? It doesn't sound like he's leaving any time soon, that's for sure...

I'm suffering from scandal fatigue.

*sigh*

I just can't think of anything else to write about Plamegate/Delay/Frist/Miers. What more is there to say that most sane, thinking people are saying already? I must say that I enjoy readingJoe Gandelman's awesome The Moderate Voice blog the most in all of this White-House-in-Crisis-'05 stuff. That is probably why I haven't written as much lately; Gandelman and his cronies are doing all this great work, gathering the best of the blogosphere, and I get caught up reading...and reading. I would probably write the same things, but so many other people do such a better job of it than I could--so I've been going hiking and checking out podcasting.

Perhaps it's time to simply take a breather and take stock in the year, since it has flown by at an alarming rate. I have been enjoying the weather and enjoying nature a whole heckuva lot more than sitting around in front of the computer, and before winter gets here it is imperative to get good hiking done. Sunset tonight with the fall colors was warm and pleasant, gold and yellow, and fall days are very few. You have to get out and experience the beauty so you have some perspective when you finally sit back down in front of the computer. I don't live here to be tortured by wacky locals and the lack of a dentist and Wal-Mart; I live here because it's so damn gorgeous and I get out and wallow in it.

Maybe I should do a podcast. I think it would be funny. At least I hope it would be funny. I would try not to say "um." At all. Because I really hate that. I may get a whole new web site and blog just for the podcast. It should be interesting if I move forward with it. Ah well...

*sigh*

Can't Wait for 2008

The Moderate Voice - Poll Says Most Now View Bush Presidency As Unsuccessful

I'm going to have to agree with the folks that were polled who think this administration is a total failure:

Cronyism is bad, but this is worse. In a word, foul. The American people DESERVE better leadership. Do I even have to bring up Michael Brown?

Now, after all that time in jail, Miller just can't remember... I get a very strong feeling that Libby will take the fall for the leak, and Rove will come away clean...no matter what happens, someone is going to be indicted and the American people DESERVE better leadership.

Bill Frist's not-so-blind trust stock sell-off? The American people DESERVE better leadership.

Tom Delay's fund-raising and law-breaking in Texas? The American people DESERVE better leadership.

The President's nomination of Harriet Miers when the woman can't write a coherent sentence? What, pray tell, would her judicial opinions look like? *sigh* The American people DESERVE better leadership.

We don't deserve this crap. You can't tell me there aren't any ethical senators and congresspeople that could easily replace Delay and Frist. You can't tell me that nobody else is better suited to SCOTUS than Harriet Miers. You can't tell me that the White House staff is above board when they have this "leak" problem.

I'm so sick of politics as usual that I couldn't write for a week because I was so irritated by the news. What more can you say about all this, really? The headlines speak for themselves; the tree of this presidency produces bad fruit.

Harriet Miers: The Baseball Analogy

ProfessorBainbridge.com: The Case Against Harriet Miers: The Baseball Analogy

While surfing around the blogoshpere this morning I found this charming and thoughtful essay comparing the Supreme Court to the "major leagues" and Harriet Miers to "Crash Davis" of "Bull Durham."

According to Professor Bainbridge.com, Ms. Miers may not have what it takes to "play in the big leagues:"

"Crash Davis was a smart and skilled baseball player, but he couldn't make it to the show because there were hundreds of other players who were even smarter and more skilled. Likewise, Harriet Miers doubtless is a smart and skilled lawyer. Her credentials are undeniably impressive in many respects. Certainly more so than my own in most respects. But - and this is a big but - there are hundreds of lawyers in this country whose resumes, smarts, and skills are as, if not more, impressive as Harriet Miers'."

With all the conservative ire in the air regarding this nomination, it is becoming more possible, from what I understand, that Ms. Miers may not be confirmed. The GOP members of the Senate may have a total melt-down and break ranks with the president. If that scenario was to occur, another quote used in "Bull Durham" comes to my mind that could describe Ms. Miers' SCOTUS drama:

"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air." - Thomas Gray, Elegy in a Country Churchyard

One of the worst ideas...EVER

Bush: Military may have to help in pandemic -- CNN.com

I have to say I like the Posse Comitatus Act exactly as it is written. Once again...what is the president thinking? Well, we can sort of figure it out from this:

Absent an effective vaccine, public health officials likely would try to stem the disease's spread by isolating people who had been exposed to it. Such a move could require the military, he said.

"I think the president ought to have all options on the table," Bush said, then corrected himself, "all assets on the table -- to be able to deal with something this significant."

The Cato Institute also likes the Posse Comitatus Act as it is:

Gene Healy, a senior editor at the conservative Cato Institute, said Bush would risk undermining "a fundamental principle of American law" by tinkering with the act, which does not hinder the military's ability to respond to a crisis.

"What it does is set a high bar for the use of federal troops in a policing role," he wrote in a commentary on the group's Web site. "That reflects America's traditional distrust of using standing armies to enforce order at home, a distrust that's well-justified."

There is a lot of low-key news about the avian flu suddenly, from Google and ABC News web sites to the cover of National Geographic. I hate to be too suspicious, but what exactly do the powers-that-be know that we do not know?

Hippie Trip

ABC News: EBay 'Hippie Vacation' Auction Spawns Cult Following

I love this story for a couple of reasons. The first one is that the hippie dude's sister refers to him as "a little touched in the head" and says "he talks kind of crazy."

So what does she do? Instead of getting him some counseling, or medication, any kind of professional help, she sells a cross-country road trip with him on Ebay. *sigh* Only in America.

The second reason I love this story is...well, the cross-country road trip with the crazy hippie dude sounds like an adventure, barring the law enforcement scrapes. This is something I might well have done in my Grateful Dead days back in the '80s. I can see how this Ebay auction for a hippie bus trip actually made money. I see a lot of old hippies on vacation. They have the money, they are still in good health and are active, and they are really into weird, surreal experiences and nature. Those baby boomers are still out there hoping to go "Further," if you know what I'm saying, and I think the "Hippie Vacation" auction sparked some kind of longing for the good old days. It sure made me smile this morning.

Harriet who?

Senate presses for quick Miers confirmation - MSNBC.com

I don't know...I just don't know. It seems that cronyism rules in the Bush White House lately; could Harriet Miers' SCOTUS nod be the latest in a long, bad string of friendly appointments? Since she has no judicial record, there is no telling. Her record of service to date does not have anything outstanding in it, either. She looks the part, though, in a kind of sweet grandmotherly way, like O'Connor. But we're not talking about looks here are we, because if we were I would say all John Roberts needed were fins and gills and he would have fit nicely into "Finding Nemo."

I suspect she won't answer anything during the course of the Senate Hearings. After the Katrina catastrophe/Brown/FEMA embarrassment, it would be no surprise if GOP senators are considering a filibuster of Miers. In light of Harry Reid (D-NV) recommending her nomination to the president, I'm sure the thought has crossed the more conservative minds in the senate. I honestly wonder what the president was thinking.

This will be an interesting story to follow in the coming weeks, mostly because its outcome will indicate whether or not we have a "lame duck" president in the White House.

Don't Tread on Me

Viggo Mortensen is hot...under the collar

Wow. I had no idea Viggo was so upset. I really don't know if I have anything to add to this.

Read it and draw your own conclusions:

Impeach, Remove, Jail
In the often and rightly quoted words of Bill Clinton, 'There's nothing wrong with America that can't be fixed by what's right with America.' We see now how individuals and groups around the country continue to act in any way they can to help their fellow citizens in Louisiana, Mississippi and other devastated places near the Gulf of Mexico. They refuse to stand idly by and wait for President Bush and his morally-bankrupt, pirate administration to respond in an appropriately urgent and compassionate manner to the escalating agony and desperation of our fellow citizens. As we know, this agony and desperation was caused in large part by a near complete absence of adequate federal government funding, preparedness, and leadership. We the people will continue to help Americans and non-Americans alike, with or without the participation or approval of George W. Bush and his Neo-Conservative cohorts.

While it is true that what is most important right now is to rescue, feed, house, and in any way possible care for those immediately affected by the disaster, it is equally true that in the long run those directly responsible for aggravating the tragic situation must be held accountable. The mounting evidence of the Bush administration's criminal mismanagement of the nation, as well as its consistently arrogant disregard for our planet's people and natural environments must be confronted immediately. Those who voted for Bush last year, or who have continually supported his outlaw administration in its destructively dishonest conduct -- including not only extremist conservatives but also politically-calculating democrats -- need not hang their heads or avert their eyes now. What they can and ought to do is join the increasing numbers of Americans who are demanding that impeachment proceedings be initiated as soon as possible.

Members of the Bush Administration responsible for the blatant lies and self-serving manipulations that have fanned the flames of disaster from Iraq to New Orleans must be prosecuted as our laws require. We must insist on this. Furthermore, we must not allow these disgracefully unpatriotic public servants to be pardoned by any future president as Gerald Ford did for Richard Nixon. Please call or write your government representatives and help get the scoundrels out of government and in prison where they belong. Do not allow the subject to be changed, do not be distracted.

The time to act is now. Take back your country.
- Viggo Mortensen.

Thanks be to God.

ABC News: French Quarter Cathedral Holds Sunday Mass