Venezuela

Had an interesting conversation with a woman from Venezuela yesterday. I asked her what she thought of Hugo Chavez. Her characterization of him was quite different than that in the American press. Seems Venezuelans love the guy.

She said he has his own TV show. It airs once a week.

For 8 hours!

Entirely un-scripted.

He talks, dances, tells jokes, reads children's stories, poetry.

What else did she have to say about this evil-doer? Well, among other things, that he enacted legislation that pays stay-at-home moms a pension.

Can anybody say, "Family Values"?

I asked her why he is portrayed so negatively in the American press, and she said it's because Venezuela has a lot of oil, and that Chavez wants to keep it for the Venezuelan people. Then I remembered that Hugo Chavez wasn't always persona non grata in the American press. In fact, shortly before he came to power he was being presented as a sort of everyman hero, a good egg. That was before he said "no" to Big Oil, though. That was before he demonstrated his commitment to the Venezuelan people. Why run him down now, after proving himself the genuine article? And why can't America elect a President like Hugo Chavez?

WHO MADE FEBRUARY THE BASTARD STEP-CHILD?

Why does February have only twenty-eight days (typical)? Look. Every four years, there are 366 days in a year. 366 divided by 12 is 30.5. Wouldn't it make more sense to think of every fourth year as the standard example, with six 30-day months and six 31-day months? And in the intervening years drop a day from January? That way odd-numbered months could have odd-numbered days, and even-numbered months could have even-numbered days. Wouldn't that be easier to remember than, "Thirty days has September, April, June, and Whatever"? That's not even (chrono)logical. No wonder most people don't know which way is up. A longer February would give the 99% two extra days to come up with March rent. Seriously, if you want a shorter February, take out that first "r". Nobody uses anyway.

And what happened to leap day? Seems like I read in one of those Boorstin books (lighter than they are thick; printed on super-absorbent paper towel, in case you fall asleep reading and drool) that the Gregorian calendar provides for an extra minute every four hundred years. February 2000, duh. Hello.

Maybe we should just switch to metric time. Or do away with time altogether. I mean, it isn't real anyway. Wouldn't you rather just do what comes next than to have to be somewhere at a certain time; miss stuff without fault? Life has become too compartmentalized. People are not modules. Slave to the clock, slave to the calendar. I'm just sayin'.

The Road to the Presidency 2012

Fellow Democrats, please hear me. We must take action during the Republican primary if the American ideals ingrained in us as kids are to remain within our grasp.

The Bush administration turned this country into a land of opportunity for the rich. Treating corporations as individuals in return for campaign contributions killed individual freedoms. Almost every politician in office has in the interim succumbed to the lure of entitlements generated by this new brand of government of the people, by the rich, for the rich. The American people themselves, subjected to this treatment for so long, have by imperceptible degrees come to accept it.

Concerning the Republican primary, Ron Paul is the only candidate who has his feet on the ground and his head on straight. He actually believes that America belongs to the people, and he's unorthodox enough to want to wrestle it back for us from the corporations and rich elite. I don't know whether it would be possible for a Democrat to register as a Republican and vote for Ron Paul in the primary. But if so, that's what I would urge all self-respecting Democrats to do - even if you don't want Ron Paul as President. The reason is quite simple: Ron Paul is less likely beat Obama than Newt Gingrich is.

I don't know much about politics, but I know what I don't like. And I don't like the idea of Newt Gingrich getting anywhere near the possibility of running for President. If we want wars of aggression on foreign soil, government-awarded private industry reparation contracts in the aftermath of those wars, government-awarded private industry mercenary forces fomenting terrorism around the globe, government awarded blank checks on the American public's bank accounts to underwrite bailouts for private industry auto, banking, mortgage, and insurance companies whose CEOs are rewarded with multi-million dollar annual bonuses, and/or government positions, for engineering those failures, a greater flood of Chinese imports like tainted milk, kids' toys trimmed in colorful lead paint, and poisoned pet food, not to mention junk that fails to work right out of the box, and deregulation enough to enable the pharmaceutical industry to narcotize every child in America before they reach puberty, then Newt's our man.

A choice in November between Barack Obama and Ron Paul is infinitely preferable in my mind. Gingrich will win the primary unless Democrats intercede. With the Republicans' history of stealing elections, simply having Gingrich in the running might result in his becoming President. A choice between Obama and Paul, on the other hand, seems like a win/win situation to me.

Registering as a Republican might present a terrible moral dilemma to anyone with a sense of integrity. But now's the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. Politics is a dirty, dirty game, and Democrats typically don't like to get dirty. We'll adhere to propriety and shoot ourselves in the foot. We'll take the high road and reach for the sky as we step off the cliff. Republicans don't give two shits about integrity, even though they would lay down their lives for whatever Newt Gingrich tells them integrity is.

Fellow Democrats. Know your enemy. Please take time to view Ron Paul's comments on YouTube, as well as the comments of the other candidates. You will see, as I have, that he is the only sane one among them. The rest are blinded by their privileged status and gargantuan egos. Don't think that Ron Paul can't win. He can if you will just vote for him.