40 Years Makes No Difference

Forty years ago in the summer of 1968 the Democrats met in Chicago for their National Convention. It turned out to be the most disastrous modern day political convention, contributing to the election of Richard Nixon and the prolonging of the Vietnam war. That convention set the Democratic party on a course that it has never really recovered from.
Martin Luther King was murdered only a few months before the convention began, Robert Kennedy was assassinated in June and I was staring at the military draft hoping the war would be over before 1970. Like a lot of other males my age I was not a natural born bomb thrower but I recognized the temptation and even the need for a shake up of our country that existed then just as same needed shake up exist today.
There has always been two wings to the Democratic party. The middle income, middle minded, socially more conservative, bread and butter Democratic party vs the better educated, higher income, socially liberal Democratic party. I find myself with one foot planted in each wing of the party but sometimes I intellectualize myself out of either wing because I think I know better. Intellectual or not, even a brain the size of a walnut should know its time to take the power away from the Republicans. They will do the same thing they always do if they remain in power. They will trick voters into thinking that they will do the best they can when really what they will do is enrich the deep pockets of corporate America by the sacrificing the common Joe.
This years Democratic Convention in Denver has a chance to restore the damage done forty years ago in Chicago. If the Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Whites, African Americans, and Latinos can come together with a platform of strong national defence, assertive foreign policy, economic growth and social justice at home, there won't be a need for the bomb throwing mentality.

Craving More

The NFL season has finally began and once again professional football athletes will be the envy of a lot of men. Not just for the million dollars salaries of the players nor the players privilege of making their play their work but for a game most males dearly love.
If you have ever played organized sports of any kind you know the feeling of waiting for a teammate to cross home plate or remember shoving two hands high into the air after a three pointer. You can remember wildly hugging a teammate after a win or the sad embarrassment after a lose. Those tender jesters are common in the realm of male sports but are rarely seen in the real world.
Sooner or later the winds of time blow the door shut on a professional athletes career even while they are still craving more. They can't seem to except being locked out of the special bond of the sports brotherhood. This year Father Time set up camp in Green Bay Wisconsin. Cheese Heads appeared from everywhere demanding Brett Favre be given a second chance. Who ever thought the day would come when Brett Favre would have to beg for a chance to compete. Did the Packers forget that Favre won a Super Bowl for them and even more impressive, Brett has not missed starting a game since God was a child. Sport is suppose to be about competition, the best man plays but the Packers wanted no such test. They offered Favre a 25 million dollar green and gold parachute which he quickly refused because he craved more than the money. The league's all time leader in passing completions, attempts, yards and victories said " I'll show you"
For now Father Time can pack up camp and the Packers can stow away the parachute because Brett Favre will be flying a Jet for awhile. I just hope the Jet does not crash on take off and is able to make a graceful landing when it runs out of gas.

Newsprint

For many years I stepped outside my apartment to pick up the local newspaper in it's plastic bag. After pulling the paper from it's plastic cocoon I would survey the front page looking for news and pictures while consuming the contents a large cup of coffee never knowing which I would complete first, the coffee or the newspaper. Things have sure changed! No more do rolls of paper hit my door every morning. Without even thinking about it I open a Dell laptop computer every morning to read the daily news. I scan CNN, the New York Times, BBC News, ESPN and a lot of other web sites before I even get to my local newspaper's web site. Even though the Internet is the best thing to come along since sliced bread I can't deny I am a addict of the printed daily paper and still stop at the library several times a week for the sole purpose of reading the printed edition of the news. Yes I am an addict in more ways than one. I gave up Burbon only to replace it with Chocolate and gave up home delivery of the daily newspaper only to replace it with the electronic version.
People under 25 don't read the newspaper and don't see why anyone would waste a single minute with such a printed page. Their habit will be the demise of the daily printed newspaper. That's a demise that will surely come as regrettable as it might be. Someday and maybe sooner than we think, we will read a letter from the Editor stating this is the final issue, a regrettable concession to the economics of the newspaper business. I don't look forward to that day but I will not fight it either. The electronic version of the news certainly has it's advantages but it can't give me the feel of paper, the sound of pages turning or the smell of ink. So like any addiction, one only replaces one with another but with this replacement at least I won't feel bad about not recycling.

Travesty of Rings

Since the first Olympic Games they have been intended to transcend politics and focus on athletics but in today's world the two are linked together just as the rings are linked in the Olympic symbol. The Games are suppose to represent the noblest of humanity but that is hardly the case in China. The Chinese government is the world's worst human rights abuser. It is a reputation China promised to change in 2000 when they were denied the 2004 Olympic Games but they have not made good on their promise. They constantly crack down on activist, dissidents, freedom of the press and squash freedom of religion. Yet the United States of America continues to hide behind economic progress as an excuse for turning a blind eye. To stand by in the face of such atrocities makes the United States of America almost as bad as China.
China is an emerging power that wants to dominate the 21st century. Its economy is meshed with that of the United States but it needs to get the message that being a world power brings responsibility. China should never have had a chance to grab the golden rings no matter how much the world's economy depends on it. Their capture of the rings is a travesty.

Shopping for a Vice President

If you have been paying attention to the news the last few weeks you would think the Vice President of the country has the most important job in America. The truth of the matter is the Vice President's job is equivalent to a weenie inspector at a hot dog eating contest, always ready for action but rarely needed or noticed. I guess a Vice President could have a meaningful job but I can't ever remember one who did.
Presidential nominees are suppose to pick a running mate who can complement them but usually the Vice Presidential candidate is selected from the stand point of electability not the ability to help the President govern. In the current election, McCain could not win even if he chose Superman as his running mate and Obama could not lose even if his running mate was a Popsicle stick with a smiley face. As long as the Vice Presidential candidates look good on TV, have photogenic families, no scandals in their backgrounds and can win a big state or two, they make the short list.
I don't care about chemistry between the President and Vice President, this is not a romance or marriage. Just because they look good standing together does not mean the partnership can govern the country.
Why don't they just pick the Vice Presidential candidate at the convention or let us vote for the Vice Presidential candidate just as we do for the Presidential candidate. Neither one of those are going to happen this time around so the best we can hope for is for McCain and Obama to get lucky and find the right shopping list.