Getting real....

Heidi Li Feldman came down to visit me and my family yesterday. It was such a pleasure to meet the woman I have come to admire online for her energy, her skills, her perseverance, her brains and the considerate postings to one and all. She is a staunch warrior for Hillary Clinton and other causes she believes in as well. I will call her a Beautiful Dynamo.

She gave my niece a beautiful pearl ring as a keepsake. It was a memorable moment. My mom showed her the rogue's gallery of pictures in the hall of our family. She played catch with Kayla.
We chatted a bit more and she treated us to dinner at a local restaurant, the Riverboat. We had some cold beer and some forgettable food but a great wide ranging conversation. We talked about family, family secrets, love, friends, religion, the camillians, and of course, politics. Heidi does not have one disingenuous bone in her body and she has great insight and focus. She also has a skill, missing in so many these days, and that is listening. I guess I could gush on forever, but I will just conclude that I feel very fortunate to have crossed paths with her and I feel I have made a new lifelong friend. Even if that doesn't develop, the day will sustain itself forever.
Heidi Li, the tallish, petite woman with a heart as big as a mountain and a smile to match.

Gearing Up

Let's start the engine, turn on the AC and the radio and get this process rolling again. This week, Hillary and *61 will make their first joint appearence since he was annointed by the DNC and the RBC. She will be gracious, quasi-enthusiastic and say just enough to convince the Obamabots, who think they don't need us, but want that "landslide" the OMSM is predicting now.
Our new quest on this journey will be to retire her debt, free her up so she can engage the bastards full strength and not shackled. We can rest assured that Hillary will be working for OUR best interests, not you-know-who's, when she campaigns up to the convention. Wherever she goes, or Bill goes, we must turn out in full PUMA regalia. We must let her know, we haven't forgotten. To paraphrase Bette Davis in All About Eve "Fasten your seat belts; it's going to be a bumpy 6 weeks".
I plan to infiltrate, go undercover, gather data and then 4 weeks in, start dropping the PUMA bombs. I am going to do to the Obamabots what they did to Hillary. First gear........

Getting by...

Another day rolls by and I seem locked into a state of ennui. My creative process has all but dried up and I feel as if I lost something I never had. I miss Hillary.
I see Al Gore has bellied up to the bar in a rather anti-climatic way. I suppose they think he is the designated driver who will round up all of us stray deadenders and take us home to Obama.
Sorry, we don't fit into that particular lockbox.
Happily, my current favorite horse, Curlin came back home after a succesful venture into Dubai and made his 2008 US debut a winning one scoring easily in the $1,000,000.00 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs. They are thinking of trying him on grass and running him in the Arc in France. Being by Smart Strike, he does have the breeding. His current earnings of almost 9.4 million place him in third behind Skip Away and Cigar. A win in the Arc or the Breeder's Cup will leapfrog him to over a cool 10 million and into first place.
So now we are not only making over homes, we are doing candidate's wives. My only comment is how down to earth of MO to wear an off the rack dress when she has a designer she works with back home. The Obamas elitist? Where did that idea come from?

Life can turn on a dime...

The tragic deaths of four Boy Scouts, the stunning death of Tim Russert and Mother Nature's own angry statements remind us of how fragile we really are and how what is important one moment can become trivia the next. I believe it is our own inner list of "trivia" determines our character and guides us on to the next "big thing" in our lives. My abiding principle is to learn, live where I am, keep my eyes straight ahead and try to watch where I put my feet when I choose to move forward .

My super-duper little friend Kayla, over there to your left turned four this week! On Friday the 13th. She wanted to go for a ride and chase the moon last night, through the trees, avoiding the dragons.
Then we danced a bit and sang Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World". We had us some fun, me and Kayla and my Mom. I say a big old shout out to God! Thanks, buddy.

My friends, the deadenders and idiots..

Well, Hillary-bashing being forsworn in the interests of party unity, the Obama supporters are now trashing those of us who haven't jumped on the hopeychangey bandwagon. I have heard remarks like "are you effing crazy", "you're an idiot" and from one whom I have great respect, we are now "deadenders". We are repeatedly assaulted with Roe v. Wade and every women's issue under the sun. They are laying the Iraq card on the table, along with the health care and economy cards. At first they cajole us with a nod to Hillary and then we are told we need to move forward. It makes me think "who is not getting who"? Us or them?

Here is my view. First, and foremost in my book, is that Barack Obama is decidedly unqualified. He has displayed spectacularly bad judgement beginning with his drug usage in college and continuing with his personal and business associations. He wrote a quasi-autobiography designed to ward off any true investigation into his background and people do indeed use it as a reference guide to his life, as if every word in it were true. And that is not the case. This is a man who has been "mentored" into where he is now, never paying the dues one wants to see from someone seeking a leadership position. His campaign, with cooperation from the MSM, was one of the sneakiest, race baiting ever run by a Democrat on this level, painting Senator Clinton as something evil and anything other than what she really was. The spin and distortions were despicable. We all know who ran the "scorched earth" campaign. Watching CNN and MSNBC on the night Obama won Iowa was a real eyeopener for me, as the "panelists" were chortling and joking with glee and abandonment, making snide and sarcastic comments about Senator Clinton. It was embarrassing, like watching a pundit circle jerk. That kept on throughout the campaign and Obama fed it, either through his surrogates or with his sarcastic comments "Who does she think she is? Annie Oakley? In a duck blind with a six-shooter?". Meantime, the MSM would gloss over or defend Obama and instruct us on how we should think or feel. Their guy "rose above" the fray.

We all know what happened on May 31. Throw that in the mix. Toss in Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean's scurrilous interference in the process and we have a soup which is entirely unpalatable for my tastes.
Sometimes, in order to reorder, one needs to clear the decks, knock the walls down and make a mess. Sometimes, even a little sacrifice is necessary. That's my rationale going forward. No vote for Obama. No money to the DNC. No money to SD's who switched during the primary season. In further escalation of the preservation of my principles, I will not donate to the RNC as well or to any of their candidates. The sacrifice?
I might touch that box next to McCain's name. Lessons need to be taught and sometimes the bullet must be bitten. To me, voting for McCain is taking a bullet and I have really grave concerns about doing that. I am not there yet.
As long as the DNC displays it's lack of concern for the voters and plays power over people, it doesn't justify one moment of guilt to dismiss all their placating and "concern" and fear tactics trying to coax me into supporting Obama. I said before, Obama should apologize, the RBC should give Hillary her delegates, give "uncommitted their delegates and have the DNC issue a condemnation of the way the MSM denigrated her, and then, I just might consider their pleas for my vote.

Let's chill...

As my daddy oft said on days like these, "It's hotter than a two peckered billy goat". How he ever came to that knowledge is unknown, but the phrase is apt.

I want to echo Heidi Li Feldman's call to retire the debts rung up by Senator Clinton's primary run to become the first female President of the United States. Heidi gives logical reasons on her site http://heidilipotpourri.blogspot.com and I urge everyone to go there and donate via her link.

It occurred to me that the hate merchants in the media who so enjoyed trashing Hillary are almost as disappointed as her loyal supporters are, albeit for a different reason. Watching what little I can take of them these days, I see they are still bitterly clinging to their sarcasm and diminution whenever her name comes up. They are having difficulty letting go and turning that hatred of a woman onto one of their own, John McCain. How they gonna accuse him of playing the gender card? Does he have cankles? Are they going to accuse a man with an adopted black child of racism?
What are they going to do? Attack him on the economy, the war, gas prices? Democrats have been in charge of the funds and the legislature for the last two years and things have not only not changed, but have gotten worse. This is going to be very interesting going forward.

Coming down

The week saw the defeat of two champions and the shattering of millions of dreams and hopes. Both survive and live to fight another day. Hillary Clinton, especially, will continue her campaign to champion the underpriviliged and the unspoken for. Her light has lost no luster and incredibly shines brighter and more focused day by day. As we honor her, she honors us. Thank you, Madame President. In my heart, that title is yours.
Big Brown, too, lost little honor in defeat. The heat, the 1 1/2 miles of deep sand, the hoof problem all were factors. Today he is fine and will likely run at Saratoga in the $1,000,000 Travers Stakes enroute to a fall meeting in the Breeder's Cup Classic with Curlin.
The past is done, today is today and the future awaits with our attitudes adjusted a bit to reflect our new knowledge of how the world runs. That's my story.

A race of a different color

Tomorrow, Big Brown seeks to step into the shoes of some mighty giants in his quest to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years. After back-to-back winners, Seattle Slew (1977, and Affirmed (1978), there have been many who just failed in their grab at the brass ring of Legend. The ease with which BB won the first two legs speaks well of his class and he seems to be what is known as a "freak" in the thoroughbred world, which is a high compliment.
A cautionary note must be given as I remember what I consider one of the best racehorses I ever saw, Spectacular Bid, go down to defeat in the Belmont to horses who never beat him again. He had a bruised hoof and could not overcome that obstacle.
Big Brown has bad feet and is wearing a patch to bind cracks in the hoof when he runs tomorrow. If the Belmont were a shorter race, I would not be concerned, but I worry about that last eighth of a mile when the hoof might start stinging him. We'll see. I am certainly no expert nor a vet.
Another interesting facet of the race is the presence of another undefeated colt in the race, that being Casino Drive. CD has made two starts, one in Japan and the other in the traditional prep for the Belmont, the Peter Pan Stakes, winning easily despite a slow start. Casino Drive is a half-brother to the last two Belmont winners, Rags to Riches and Jazil being out of the same mare with different sires.
This would be an unprecedented accomplishment if he were to win tomorrow. It certainly adds to the drama. I wish them all a safe trip and sound return to the barn after the race.

My longshot pick: Icabod Crane. Yeah, that is spelled right. Third in the Preakness, coming on, never out of the money and a top jock and trainer. I mean, who bets a 1-10 shot?

UPDATE: More drama. Casino Drive has sustained a bruised hoof and his status is questionable. His connections will decide early tomorrow morning.

Sexism by any other name...

Interesting for me to watch a CNN panel of talking heads mull over whether or not sexism played a part in this campaign. At that very moment, the Drudge Report was running an ad for a Hillary Nutcracker. Very tasteful, Matt. The panel, all female, said there was a little bit of sexism, but it didn't affect the outcome. Personally, I don't care how you label it; there was pervasive, aggressive, unrelenting bashing of Senator Clinton every day, every evening on virtually every talk show on MSNBC and CNN. I don't watch FOX. It was also prevalent on talk radio, particulary on the Ed Schultz show, under the guise of vetting the candidates. This did not go on with any depth or critical insight when it came to discussing anything which might hurt Obama, even the negative associations with Rev. Wright, Rezko and Ayers, among others. Indeed, these stalwarts of neojournalism actually provided escape for Senator Obama, defending him on occasion and mother-henning the poor lad to keep him from harm, sometimes even blaming the Clintons for Obama's misfortunes. It was blatant. It was constant. It certainly played a part in the image projected to the public of Mrs. Clinton; witness callers and bloggers repeating almost verbatim the points from the talking punditry. I call a foul on them, Senator Obama, who let it go on, and the DNC who stood in silence, while working behind the scenes, virtually crouching down behind the knees of Senator Clinton so that she would fall and fall hard when the media pushed.
My point? I don't know if all of that is called "sexism", but I do know the difference between a man and a woman, and I say the woman was treated historically shameful. All I can feel at this moment in time is that my ass is going to have to be kissed big time to make me vote for Senator Obama in November.

Breaking the surface

This blog is a result of the rape of the democratic process by the DNC and the media. Several of us came together at Taylor Marsh's web site and found common purpose. We recognise the reality of the situation and we want to put our voices together to find ways to remedy the most blatant dehumanization and public demonisation of one of the strongest, most compassionate leaders in modern history, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

This blog is an open forum for supporters of true democracy and believers in a system which is transparent, just, applies equal standards to all participants and one which abides by the principle of one citizen, one vote.

If you can advance the dialogue, carry on. If you come here to willfully agitate, rest assured, I will not give you any more respect than you give others. Fair warning.

My anthem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYxjAEIHzQQ