Read Drink & Be Merry

Amazingly in less than an hour.

M left the house around 6:30 and I stayed home to sleep in… I mean watch Finn. She called to wake me up a little after 7 to let me know how long the lines were so I dragged myself into action. Oatmeal for Finn while I showered and then we were off. Dropped Finn off at school and then the long haul to our voting precinct.

We live in an oddly gerrymandered district. One would think that we would vote at Norrell, it being only a couple of blocks from our house. Nope. Perhaps we should vote at the library on North Avenue. Nope – although we do drive by it on the way to our precinct. No, we drive up North, down Brookland Parkway and down 1st, passing a number of other precincts to get to our rather remote spot – a firehouse that doesn’t even serve our neighbourhood. Normally this difficult set-up accomplishes it’s nefarious task of voter suppresion by increasing the difficulty of voting, but not today.

I arrived in the light rain and took my place in line. The atmosphere was upbeat but there were a lot of questions being asked. It was surprising how many people, some older than I, who had never voted before and were unsure what to do. The newbies were helped by various poll workers while others walked around extolling the virtues of their respective candidate. The most interesting person I met there was Art Burton’s daughter – seems we have a common friend – RVA Foodie. She reffered to him as her ‘home boy’.

The level of confusion was evident as I entered the firehouse. Just because the letters A-K and L-Z may give you the impression that you have split voting population in two it doesn’t really work that way. One line was much longer than the other. Not to mention the fact that splitting the voters in two may have been a good idea in the past it may have been prudent to form three or even four line to help move things along.

A poll worker at the door was directing people to their assigned lines but for some odd reason kept pulling all the J’s out to the side. So, there we sat. Feeling a little singled out and unsure what to do. She returned and moved us to one of the many, overlapping, confused lines in the firehouse. Watching the whole scene I started mapping out how, if I was a bad person, I could jump lines and possibly even vote more than once. Hopefully they were paying closer attention then it seemed and even if I were so inclined to beat the system the odds of failure were pretty high as the few of us with white skin stood out just a tad.

It was about this time that I passed M as she was waiting for a voting machine. She had been there for nearly two hours at this point. She informed me that it had taken her an hour to get where I had gotten to in a little under a half hour. Guess it paid to sleep in a bit…

The first signs of real trouble appeared as I approached the registrars desk. A young Arab gentleman, who barely spoke English, didn’t seem to be on the voter rolls. He had looked nervous the entire time in line and I would be lying if I said people weren’t giving him unpleasant looks. The problem was pretty evident to me – the id he kept waving about listed him as a resident alien. My guess is that he wasn’t on the voter rolls as he wasn’t a citizen.

As he was pulled to the side I stepped up and was told I was in the wrong line…. Yep, we were in the line for L-Z. I informed the poll officer that this is where I had been told to go and that the five or six people behind me were also J’s and had been told to stand in this line. No problem, she said, just step to the front of the other line. My turn to get dirty looks from others….

So, I was off for yet another line – this time for the voting machines. In the past we have had three machines in our precinct, although usually only two are functional. Today we have a whopping four. Sad. We really needed at least five to keep things moving although maybe more people working the voter roll books might have made it work even better.

A couple of minutes later and I was at the electronic machine. Obama, yes. Warner, yes. Jones, yes. Burton, yes. Two additional votes were cast but there were no opponents. Both of these people should have been challenged. Ellen Robertson, I voted for her but feel she has ingnored the district for a while now. Perhaps someone will step up and challenge her next time. Same for Bobby Scott, I voted for him but would have voted against him had there been a challenger. He has been an empty suit for quite some time now.

So, my duty done, I headed off to open the store. Now the real waiting begins.

Had a bit of a health scare over the last week or so.

It all started while relaxing after dinner one evening. Basically an inability to take a deep breath. A bit like someone had stuffed my chest full of cotton balls. I’ve had a couple of bouts of this ever since I quit smoking four years ago. As my lungs have repaired themselves I have become very sensitive to spray cleaners. One good whiff and breathing is suddenly a chore. This, however, was different – it was spontaneous. An hour later it was gone and I put it out of my mind.

A week later, while relaxing after dinner, it happened again. Laboured breathing. Can’t fully inflate lungs. WTF? What was causing this. First thoughts were that I may have developed a full blown food allergy. I’m allergic to a whole host of things but the only thing I really need to avoid is grass (hence the complete lack of a lawn at our house). Maybe one of these minor allergies had lobbied for a promotion to the majors.

Since I had cooked both meals I went over the list of ingredients used to find any commonalities. One items stood out – a new bottle of Grapeseed Oil from Trader Joe’s. A little checking online led me to see a lot of conflicting information. Some swore by it to help cure allergies while others added it to the list of things to avoid if you have a nut allergy. Having a nut allergy would suck. I enjoy snacking on them and use peanut oil on a regular basis. Decided to not use the grapeseed oil anymore and take a wait and see attitude. Didn’t have to wait long.

Wednesday, relaxing after dinner, it happened again. This time we got to add a whole new symptom – flushing. Have you ever had a niacin pill? It dilates all your blood vessels causing you to flush bright red and tingling all over. So, here I am, unable to breath, all my nerve endings firing and looking a bit like I’m about to be served at The Hard Shell with a side of drawn butter. Since dinner didn’t involve any grapeseed oil or other nut products I went back online to see if I could nail this down.

Can I just say here that the Internet isn’t always a good thing. Sometimes you get just enough information to scare the shit out of yourself and, frankly, who ya’ going to call at 11 at night?

Possible diagnosis were pretty ugly. Reading about pulmonary embolisms, diabetic ketoacidosis or the possibility of cyanide poisoning sent me downstairs for a glass of wine. Who was going to run my store if I had to spend a little time at St Mary’s? Time progresses. My breathing got a little easier and off to bed to try to get some sleep.

The next morning renewed my worries. Deep breaths were difficult and I was still flushed. A call to my doc got an 11:30 appointment although subsequent calls to find someone to keep my store open were not quite as successful – this is what happens when you employ VCU students who are taking some of the same classes… what do you mean you both have to take the test today?… Guess VCU professors aren’t that flexible…

So, I closed my store for a bit and trucked over to my docs. They were concerned. A whole lot of questions and a lot of poking an prodding. As time went on the questions were less about my body and more about life. New baby coming. Economy sucks. The election is just dragging on and on. House projects. Blah, blah, blah.

The verdict – stress and anxiety.

Pardon? I nearly suffocate myself due to stress? Turns out, yes.

Seems stress hits you where your weakest. For some people that means stress brings on cardiac events. Others it hits their digestive systems. For me – I become hyper-sensitive to my environment. The concern now is to control the reactions so I don’t progress to point where it becomes so extreme my airways are completely closed off. Lovely.

So I get to spend this week in a drug induced fog. The antihistamine, Xyzal, is really an old school anti-histamine- makes me loopy. The albuterol helps but I’m not sure how I feel about walking around with an inhaler – didn’t the kids who had them in school always get picked on? The hope is to normalize my histamine levels so the stress won’t cause me to drop dead while having nut-bread at Can-Can.

If, after the week is over, I’m still having the attacks then I’ll get to start going through the fun process of narrowing down what allergens are the one’s giving me all the grief. I’m betting that if exposed to Sarah Palin during the scratch tests I’ll have an undesirable reaction.

I’ll see your ‘domestic terrorist’, and raise you a couple of convictions and Watergate. McCain pal, G Gordon Liddy.

Barack Obama has answered, ad infinitum, all the questions posed by McCain and his surrogates about Bill Ayers. They lived in the same neighbourhood, they served on a Republican funded board together, he attended a ‘meet-the-candidate’ cocktail party the man threw. Oh, and he has repeatedly condemned actions taken by Ayers. Asking the same questions over and over again and months of digging have produced nothing to contradict Mr Obama’s answers. Isn’t one of the definitions of insanity taking the same action over and over again expecting a different result?

Liddy, who was convicted for the Watergate break-in (and had plans for a series of bombing and kidnappings), is called ‘my old friend’ by John McCain. Liddy has thrown fundraisers in his home for McCain (where for a donation you could get a picture with the two of them), made regular monetary contributions to McCain and has had him on his radio show on numerous occasions. On one show McCain said of Liddy:

“I’m proud of you, I’m proud of your family. It’s always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great.”

Really? Disregard for the law to subvert the political process is one of the principles of this country? Advocating the killing of law enforcement and recommending head shots in case they’re wearing body armour is something your OK with? Obama has condemned Ayers Weatherman activities. It sounds like McCain is on pretty shaky ground here.

Of course, McCain has said that Liddy has served his time and should be forgiven. Shouldn’t that same message then apply to Ayers? Oh, wait… Ayers was never convicted of any crimes…. Funny, from the way the McCain sounds you would think he had been.

This would never make it onto Fox Noise. You only get glimpses on MSNBC and CNN. The BBC gives you an idea. But do we really need Al-Jazeera to truly hold a mirror up to us and show us for who we are becoming as a nation?

It’s OK to disagree with someone or even to question another persons motives but the fear and misperceptions represented by these people should give anyone, regardless of who you support, pause. As more and more people fall prey to this rhetoric we should demand of John McCain that, if he truly believes in ‘Country First’, he should start the healing process now rather than use lies and innuendo to further divide this country. If not, and he looses this election, I suspect he will be remembered not as a ‘maverick’ but rather a bitter old man who put his ambition above the welfare of the people.

You reap what you sow. This fun little dity from Galatians appeals to me as I have a strong sense of karma.

I was watching a clip of McCain addressing a crowd last night when they suddenly started screaming ‘traitor’ and ‘terrorist’. McCain visibly winced. It almost made me believe he didn’t intend to split the country further than has already happened under the Bush administration. His admonition of a woman who called Obama an ‘Arab’ (she said it like an ethnic slur) reminded me of why he had appeal across the political spectrum in 2000. In the closing weeks of this election will we see the return of the ‘old’ McCain or will we continue to see the angry old man in his last desperate attempt at the prize?

And then there’s Sarah.

For weeks she has been making Obama out to be the boogeyman. Terrorist. Traitor. Un-American. Foreign. Watching her campaign makes my memories of Dick Cheney warm and fuzzy. Now we see the stirring of the skeletons moving to open her closet door…

First we have Troopergate. She may not know what the Bush Doctrine is but she certainly learned their tactic of using public office for retribution. This isn’t quite on the scale of firing DOJ lawyers for failing to prosecute fictional charges for political gain but it does show a willingness to disregard the law when it is inconvenient. She probably won’t face any criminal charges for this but it is very telling. Oh, and the claim that the finding were partisan – the board that found her guilty had 4 Democrats… and 10 Republicans.

Then there’s the AIP, Alaska Independence Party. While she was never a ‘paid-up’ member her husband is. Now there’s the rumblings from Alaska that she may be a Republican of convenience. Adressing the AIP convention 6 months ago probably wasn’t a good idea. Neither was appointing AIP members to upper echelon posts in the state government. Let’s see… Obama lived in the same neighbourhood as college professor Ayers (who doesn’t seem to have any outstanding warrants), served with him on a right-wing funded board run by Reagan-era appointees, and has condemned Ayers actions that took place when he was 8 years old. Palin and her husband are involved with a group that is actively working for the disolution of the United States, today. Country First indeed.

Palin also managed to make big news by making a campaign promise to put all government spending on-line because she believed in ‘transparency in government’. Small problem. Someone forgot to tell her it is already online (USAspending.gov) on a site created in 2006 from a bill sponsered by…. Barack Obama. Oddly, this bill nearly died a quiet death in committee due to a ’secret hold’ placed on it by…. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. (An earlier hold by Senator Byrd had already been lifted, as well he should have…) In an interesting twist on transperancy – yesterday a judge ordered Palin and her staff to save personal emails as they had been using them to conduct state business in an attempt to circumvent laws designed to ensure transparency. Once again, Palin may not know what the current administrations policies are but she certainly did learn their tricks to avoid accoutability.

Then there’s the rumored affair with her husband’s ex-business partner. Why were the divorce records sealed? Probably nothing… but this was headline news on the National Enquirer last month. Normally not a go-to source but there was that little Edwards story that they first reported back in 2007… Based on that timeline I only expect this to be news next summer and only if they somehow manage to pull off a win. Personally, I could care less what a politician does in bed. Unless they are hypocritical about it. You know, like Henry Hyde trying to take down Clinton for having an affair with an intern while failing to mention his wife had divorced him for…. having an affair with an intern. I know, I know, it’s the cover-up that matters but how many people have been prosecuted for lying about a blow job?

Yep, that Sarah Palin is a maverick. Ignores ethics laws for personal retribution. Believes in transparency, except where it applies to her. Doesn’t mind stiring up racial hatred in a country with a historical record of right wing assassinations and bombings.** And, of course, wants to remove a star from the flag.

**Have you notcied that our current home grown terrorists are mainly right wing extremists? – Murrah Federal Building, Assassinated abortion providers, bombs at the Olympics and outside gay clubs… ELF and ALF, from the extreme left, have managed to burn down a few million dollar mansions built in the forest but I’m not aware of them killing people…

One would think, early in the 21st century, that we have become a much more enlightened people. That what matters is the substance of the person and not the colour of their skin. If, however, you are part of John Sidney McCain’s leadership team here in Virginia, and specifically his campaign chair in Buchanan County as well as being the Treasurer of the Buchanan County Republican Party, then you may not be aware that it is no longer the 19th Century and blacks are no longer counted as 3/5 of a person.

The person in question would be one Bobby Lee May. He wrote an editorial piece in a paper called The Voice. In it he outlines Senator Obama’s ‘positions’ as he sees them. The jingoistic rant that follows leaves no doubt in my mind about what his bed sheets are used for.

Here’s the Column by Bobby Lee May

To his credit, Sidney (did you know he’s a closet Australian?), asked for and got Mr May’s resignation. Couple of problems linger. Nearly $1 million in business sent to Mr May by the McCain campaign. Seems Mr May is in the business of making political paraphernalia such as signs and buttons and they’re still being cranked out. McCain only does the right thing on the surface. He distances himself from an avowed bigot but sees no problem in continuing to do business with him. No different than publicly dismissing his economics guru while leaving attached to the campaign in an ‘unofficial’ way. You know – Phil Graham, author of the Commodities Modernization Act, that warmed us up with the greed and collapse of Enron before taking us down the road to rampant oil speculation and leading to the global credit crisis and finishing with either a deep and hard recession or possibly even a global depression.

1929 – Banking & Investment Deregulation = Overleveraged Speculation =Market Collapse = The Great Depression

2008 – Banking, Commodities & Investment Deregulation = Overleveraged Speculation = Market Collapse = ???

Of course he’s not the only politician who is lining the pockets of this racist. Our dear friend Virgil Goode has done over $100k of business with this ‘good ol‘ boy’. You remember Virgil – the congressman who believes that the 1st Amendment applies only if your Christian. Running his campaign based on racial and religious bigotry is only different from McCain’s campaign and Palin’s rhetoric for it’s transparency.

Bush managed to hold onto power for 8 years through his judicious use of fear. In the closing month of the campaign – with his and the Con Parties economic policies shown to be completely bankrupt – fear, with a little bit of racial suspicion, are the only platforms he has left to run on.

Painting courtesy of Zina Sanders –

Living inside the city limits of Richmond normally gives one an altered view of the rest of the state. Just looking around in 2000 and 2004 the ratio for signs and bumper stickers for Gore and then Kerry to the paltry number of Bush signs would leave one thinking this was a blue state. Step outside the metro area and the landscape changes radically with the Democratic signs becoming fewer and fewer.

This was most evident during a visit to Roanoke during the 2004 election cycle. Seemed like every other car had a sticker for ‘W’ and the size of some of the banners and road signs was staggering. Most worrisome to me was the tendency to place the signs for Bush along side all manner of Christian inconography in a seeming attempt to say Jesus was a Republican. Always find this a bit odd as, if you look at Jesus’ life and the early Christian communities, he would be better described as a Socialist.

2008 in Richmond seems to be the same except that I really can’t recall seeing any McCain signs and no bumper stickers. Our trip last week to Roanoke was not significant for the number of campaign signs that we saw but that they were only for the local candidates. Lots of Goodlatte and even a few for the doomed campaign of Gilmore but nothing for McCain. Watching cars during the drive to and from I managed to count a total of 3 bumper stickers.

Now I don’t think that all these people in SE Virginia are suddenly seeing the light and voting Democratic for the first time. No, I don’t think that all these people are going to vote for Obama but they may very well be staying home this year. The lack of effort on McCain’s part begs the question: has McCain ceded Virginia or has he not noticed that he is trailing here? Either way I suspect Obama may win here.

My current electoral count (subject to change…):
Obama 375
McCain 163