I have been a tad under the weather, so rather than incoherently maunder on about nothing, I have reposted one from a year ago February. I can't believe that this is still relevant!!
Wackadoodles!
Some conservative last week commented that California didn’t
count in the conservative primary race because it was just all full of
wackadoodles. For those whose native
language is not English, a wackadoodle is definitely not a term of endearment.
OK. We do have at least
one wackadoodle – Darryl Issa of this week’s Congressional fame. Issa, Chair of the House Oversight Committee,
held a hearing without one single woman on the first panel, and only two on the
second. And those two had been vetted to
insure that they agreed with the result Issa wanted for the panel’s
decision. Needless to say, women were
outraged since the subject was whether President Obama’s decision regarding
birth control coverage for Catholic institutions infringed on the First
Amendment of the US Constitution that Congress “…shall make no laws respecting
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Regardless of the subject matter, or in this
case precisely because of it, women should have been at least half of those
testifying. If a woman had been there to
testify, perhaps Bishop Lori would have been taken to task for comparing a
government involvement in birth control to requiring a Kosher deli to serve
pork. Talk about wackadoodles!!
With California out of the way, the political landscape all over
this country is liberally dotted with wackadoodles. Rick Santorum actually thinking that taking
away birth control is a hot button issue for evangelical voters, and that this
will actually get him elected. Of
course, evangelical voters are only about a third of the electorate, and since
they do not have huge families one can only assume it has not been abstinence
that made the families smaller. Santorum also wants to take away state and federal
funding for education. This would
eliminate public schools from K through PhD for most Americans. A few would be able to afford private
schools, or some neighborhoods and small towns might be able to fund their own
schools, but basically what we would have would be an uneducated, illiterate
citizenry. At the same time he wants to
make America economically competitive.
So how can that happen with not enough people to staff the research and
development labs that are required to come up with innovative new ideas. Santorum is a wackadoodle par excellence.
But my all-time favorite is Mitt Romney. This morning he gave a campaign speech in
Michigan talking about why he loves Michigan.
One of his points was that the trees are the right height. Right height?
For what? For Michigan? That then leads to the next question, “Does
every state have to have trees that are the right height for that state? And if so, how is that determination
made?” In California, for example, we
have trees called scrub oaks. They grow
to no more than four to fight feet in height, and grow relatively near the
ocean. Then in the Sierra Nevada Mountains,
also in California, we have the gigantic and ancient Sequoia. These are the tallest trees in the world,
attaining a height of 379 feet, or 115.5 meters. They can reach 23 feet in diameter at the
base. So which is the right height tree
for California? This is the same man
who, when questioned about strapping his Irish Wolfhound to the roof of his car
for a 12 hour drive, said there was no problem.
The kennel the dog was in was airtight.
Airtight? After 12 hours in an
airtight container that dog would have been dead.
Don’t tell me that California is full of wackadoodles. We don’t hold a candle to the Republicans
running for the Presidency this year. In
my youth I was a Republican. I thank God
from the bottom of my heart that I became older and wiser.
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