It is Friday . . . what are you going to do? I am going to step out into the sunshine, walk to the beach, then come back and finish work. I need the sea, I need the sand, I need the breeze. I need to quit spending my work breaks listening to the best and brightest the GOP has to offer explaining why segregation is good, access to safe, affordable abortions (and health care in general) is bad, drunk driving is a treasured American way of life, and the President (you know, the secret commie muslim socialist nazi Kenyan) is creating his own private army, with socialisms and health care. Something I come away with is that perhaps we need some better ethics laws for our elected representatives. And that perhaps it is time to let the Republican party have what they want. Do these people really believe any of what they say, or is the idea to come up with the most outrageously stupid idea and see if they can get people to believe it? Surely it is time that the self-proclaimed Party of NO, the “cow on the tracks”, find somewhere that embraces their concept of religious law, child labor, no environmental or social protections and spirit of rugged (and short-lived) individualism. I hear Somalia is beautiful this time of year. And this will put them closer to all the good elephant murdering hunting grounds, so win-win!

Perhaps I am old and addled, but I thought that, at one point, there was something called a “fiscal conservative.” This mythical beast actually was supposed to believe in fiscal responsibility (which one would assume includes not starting wars and then giving everyone tax cuts specifically so that we could not pay for said wars) rather than focusing so much on uteruses, gays and the dreaded threat of socialist Kenyan muslim nazis. Yeah, I must be old and addled.

So anyway, happy damned Friday. Enjoy your day. And yes, we had another lamb at the end of March. This brings us to a total of nine for this year, seven in just last month. And at least one of the three remaining pregnant ewes looks like she is ready to pop at any moment. Of course, we’ve been saying that for a week now. By the time she DOES give birth, the lamb is going to be as large as she is. I am afraid the birth will look more like a very gruesome metamorphosis.

The last time we tried to see a film was when the latest Harry Potter came out. The line was agonizingly long and they sold out before we got in, so we arrived early for Rango. Not too early, although with half an hour to spare, we were four of maybe ten people in the theatre. As it got closer to showtime, the theatre filled up, mainly with 8-10 year old kids, gathered together for a birthday party. Their constant pre-show yapping filled me with dread and annoyed the hell out of the wife and the girl-child. I forgave the children, however, when they started singing a Sarah Palin parody song. And since they stopped all yapping once the movie started, I was doubly pleased. Hopefully these are the children of our future, not the ones up in Idaho worshiping Sarah.

A movie I probably will not be seeing anytime is the latest Moby Dick remake: Age of the Dragons. The music was properly dramatic, but the dialogue sounded awful and the action cheesy. C’mon, Mollywood, you can make better films than this! (or maybe these were early cuts?) Saints and Soldiers wasn’t awful, but the preview for Ages of the Dragons had me giggling and rooting for the poor dragon!

Rango was cute, neurotic, uplifting, a bit scattershot and ended up with an environmental message that seemed a bit forced coming as late as it did, but very enjoyable overall. If I gave out such things, I’d give it a two big toes up.

I really expected this health care thing to fail. I even planned out my giant Democratic Waffle Breakfast, in honor of our giant Democratic Waffling. Instead I am dining on Hope and Change (and a shrimp omelette with rosemary potato wedges). It will be interesting to see how this plays out here in Idaho. Our dimwitted governor has already promised to fight health care reform, suing the federal government and throwing a giant hissy fit. I assume he plans on holding his breath until he passes out. Idahoans are not a very health-oriented lot. We would rather keep our heavily-leaded lakes and gorgeous phosphate and heavy metal polluted streams, trusting that the brain damage from all of the toxins keep the populace from thinking about silly things like their health. It is beautiful up here, but for those of us who feel we should be working towards a common good, rather lonely.

So, now that there is some sort of health care reform, it’s time to get all Hopey-Changey on President Obama’s immigration reform pledge. After months of hearing how all of us libs are ramming health care down the throats of the cons, I am ready to ram something new down the throats of the Screeching Minority. Why do I feel tingly all of a sudden? . . .

You are wasting our majority and any chance at real reform. Compromise with the self-branded “party of no” does not do anything other than prove that we are not serious about reform. Really, are we trying to pass reform, or is this all just posturing to try to appease those of us in the party who hoped for change? It’s starting to feel like Max Baucus and the rest of the insurance company shills are the only ones who have a voice in this. Let’s ignore the birthers, baggers and bitters and just reform health care. No compromise, no consensus building, just fix it. And when you’re done, maybe pull your collective head out of your collective ass and drop this anti-Acorn nonsense. Surely there’s a Dem somewhere between the White House, Senate and House with a spine.

I was amazed at how quickly it ended.  My memory is fuzzy on election nights prior to 2000.  Honestly, it hadn’t mattered that much to me before then.  2000 dragged out for weeks.  2004 took a day or so, I think.  Tonight, it all ended with California closing its polls.  Thank you, California.  Actually, thank you, nation.  Or at least those parts that voted Democrat.  The rest of you can go to hell. 

Yes, I know I’m supposed to be magnanimous and forgive the hatred and bigotry of the right, but honestly, fuck ‘em.  I’ve had to put up with eight years of incompetence and evil from the Bush presidency, two years of hate-based campaigning for this presidency, and twelve years of your so-called Gingrich-inspired crapolution, so if you’re going to be a sack of douchewallops, I am not yet ready to forgive you.  Frankly, I fully support the AIP, but only as long as every motherfucking one of you that voted Republican this time around is shipped off to Alaska before it secedes.  Fuck you and the party you stand for.  That is all.

With this reworking, churches such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that want to promote intolerance and bigotry, can do so within the bounds of their own religion and leave the rest of us the fuck alone.  Since there are plenty of Christian sects out there that aren’t still so hung up on no longer being able to discriminate against blacks and women that they have to focus all their hatred on the gays, those can be the faiths for the hopeful Christians of America. 

For those of us who accept that god is a word, rather than God the Word, we can be happy celebrating our religion-free marriages.  And to that, I say “Thank God.”  Oops.

I imagine Obama’s tank to be a well-cared for tropical aquarium. All the pretty fish swim amongst the coral and anenomes. As befits the candidates, the McCain/Palin tank is a leaking septic tank. So, are you a turd, or a thing of beauty?