Can’t we just make him arrogant?

According to Dana Milbank, of The Washington Post, Sen. Obama said this, “This is the moment . . . that the world is waiting for," adding: "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions."

But if you don’t extract just that little bit from what Senator Obama said, the meaning changes.

“BUT A DEMOCRATIC SOURCE SAYS: “His entire point of that riff was that the campaign IS NOT about him. [The Post] left out the important first half of the sentence, which was along the lines of: ‘It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It’s about America. I have just become a symbol … .” (thanks, Politico)

Makes a big difference, doesn’t it? Keep an eye on these op-ed writers. I don’t know why Mr. Milbank chose to quote Sen. Obama out of context, but I do know it kept Fox News happy as they asked their audience, Is Obama drunk from drinking his own wine?

Mr. Milbank followed up his quote with this comment: “As he marches toward Inauguration Day (Election Day is but a milestone on that path), Obama's biggest challenger may not be Republican John McCain but rather his own hubris.”

Gosh, the media wants so much for Senator Obama to be “arrogant” but he just isn’t willing to cooperate with them. From my point of view and from what I learned about Sen. Obama from reading his book, he’s about as far from showing any signs of arrogance as anyone I have ever seen in the political world. Confidence? Yes. Arrogance? No way!

Reality

Monday I did some research on the net and decided this was the coffee maker I wanted. Not a whole bunch of bells and whistles, just something reliable that would make coffee in the pot and not all over the countertop. I have a coffee grinder so I didn’t need that addition.

When Mr. Pop came home we hopped into the car and headed for Bed, Bath and Beyond. I had my 20% off coupon gripped tight in my fist. We picked up the coffee maker and decided we would stop somewhere for a very casual meal on our way home.

As we passed by TGI Fridays, we discovered it was closed and abandoned. When we reached our favorite casual restaurant, where we usually have to wait a while for a table. We were seated immediately. There were only a handful of people there.

The waitress who came to our table has seen us there so often that we are like friends. I asked her why Friday’s had closed so abruptly and she said it was because of the economy. They couldn’t afford to keep enough stock in the kitchen to keep the place open. Then she was telling us how she had been affected by the financial mess our country finds itself in today. Her tip money had dropped a third from what it usually is this time of year, plus the two upcoming months are always their slowest two months of any year.

I think that’s when it really sunk into my brain just how many lives are changing now and by how much. Cutting someone’s income by a third calls for drastic changes. People are driving less, eating out less, and generally overhauling their lives. What is so gut wrenching is that no one seems to see anything changing for a long long time. I know some people brought their own personal problems about themselves but there is a domino effect in play here and everyone is going to feel it.

Home talk

I received a letter from the city last Friday. It said that Fred the Cat must be registered with the city. I had to send them five dollars and proof that he had been neutered.

After I read the letter I said to Mr. Pop, “ I have to register Fred the Cat.” Mr. Pop replied, “ As a Democrat or a Republican?”

***

Yesterday morning began as most mornings do. I got up, stumbled into the kitchen, gave Fred the Cat his breakfast, put the water and coffee in the coffee maker and stumbled to the computer room to wake up the computer.

When I returned to the kitchen there was about an inch of coffee in the pot and a giant puddle of brown coffee and grounds all over my countertop. Something had gone haywire with my coffee maker. Everything was mucked up. There was coffee and coffee grounds even in the part of the coffee maker where you add the water. What a freakin’ mess to deal with so early on a Monday morning.

When Mr. Pop came into the kitchen with his usual cheery “Good Morning”, he was met with my grousing, “The coffee maker died”. At this point I should tell you that Mr. Pop is not a coffee drinker.

After I explained to him what had happened, he said, “We can pick up a new one next weekend”. I’m sure I looked as though he had just said, you can’t have food until next weekend, because he quickly added, “Or we can pick up one tonight”

A Nightmare

If McCain becomes our next president, what the hell will our country look like in four more years? That’s a nightmare that I just can’t deal with. I don’t want four more years like the past eight….or worse, if that’s possible.

We have such a great opportunity with Senator Obama and yet it is possible that we could lose it. What’s it going to take to make everyone understand how damned important this election is for us and for the future of the United States?

Opinion by Fred the Cat

The McCain campaign thought they couldn’t top their great idea of placing Sen. McCain in front of lime green background for that god-awful speech a few weeks back, but this week, when they came up with the bright idea of posing a man who looks like cottage cheese, in the cheese aisle of a grocery store, they knew they could indeed top themselves.

Then yesterday while Senator Obama made a speech in front of a 200,000 people in Germany, the same McCain geniuses placed Senator McCain in front of a German restaurant here in the US. It was lame and sort of pathetic.

Umm, I’m just a frisky feline, but even I know bad ideas when I see them. These guys need to get a copy of Campaigning for Dummies.

Have a great weekend with your best buddies

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys!)

How’s He Doing?

Up to this point in the campaign season Senator McCain and his presidential campaign could best be described as _______

***
Okay, this is the last black skimmer photo (maybe) but I just had to post the family portrait. See the two little chicks safely under their mom? Mom appears to have something to say. Probably a typical new mom bragging and calling attention to her kids.

Let's get real

If you aren’t beginning your day by visiting Juan Cole’s Informed Comment site, you just might be missing something. Take this excerpt for example.

“Despite all the talk about Iraq being "calm," I'd like to point out that the month just before the last visit Barack Obama made to Iraq (he went in January, 2006), there were 537 civilian and ISF Iraqi casualties. In June of this year, 2008, there were 554 according to AP. These are official statistics gathered passively that probably only capture about 10 percent of the true toll.

That is, the Iraqi death toll is actually still worse now than the last time Obama was in Iraq! (See the bombings and shootings listed below for Sunday). The hype around last year's troop escalation obscures a simple fact: that Obama formed his views about the need for the US to leave Iraq at a time when its security situation was very similar to what it is now! Why a return to the bad situation in late 05 and early 06 should be greeted by the GOP as the veritable coming of the Messiah is beyond me. You have people like Joe Lieberman saying silly things like if it weren't for the troop escalation, Obama wouldn't be able to visit Iraq. Uh, he visited it before the troop escalation, just fine.”

Professor Cole puts it all into prospective as no one else does.

Happy Hatch-day, little fellow!

This little black skimmer chick hatched yesterday morning on Daytona Beach. These birds are normally colonial nesters but last year a male and female nested alone in this exact same area, so biologists are guessing that this little guy’s mom and dad may well be that same couple. I guess they liked the solitary nesting on Daytona Beach and returned for another visit. As you can see his parent tosses away his shell as this brand new little chick looks on.

This area of the beach has been cordoned off to protect the feathered family until the chicks are grown and the family moves on.

Now, wasn’t that nicer than thinking about the ills of the world today?

***

Thanks to the folks at FreeLance Images for taking the photos and sending them to Mr. Pop.

Insulted? Yes, I am.

I don’t know about you but I’m a little insulted by what I’m hearing from the media these days. They say because of the economic problems here in the US and the high gas prices, that Americans will no longer focus on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This may come as a surprise to the media, but I can, and I bet you can too, multitask. I can be concerned about and focus on several things at one time.

Just because the media can at times only focus their attention on starlets and their personal lives, doesn’t mean that we are all that shallow, does it?

Back home and a surprise for Mr. Pop

We’re all back home safe and sound. The Pops said they had a great time as always.

Here’s something that happened at the veterinarian’s office when Mr. Pop came to pick me up. When he arrived the vet told him that she had checked me out, I had been given my shots and everything was fine. Then she said they had bathed me. Mr. Pop was surprised because he had not asked that they give me a bath.

The vet said there had been one problem encountered as a result of the bath. She went into another room and brought out my carrier. Mr. Pop looked inside the carrier and instead of seeing me, he saw a tiny black and white kitten. The vet said, “I’m afraid we shrunk Fred the Cat.

Pretty funny, huh?

Pop will be busy this weekend doing a mountain of laundry while Mr. Pop will be mowing the extra tall grass. But they both have some great memories of last week to think about as they do their chores.

Have a great weekend and if you bathe your cat, be careful he or she doesn’t shrink.

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys!)

Vacation! Weeee!

As of tomorrow morning, this is the view we will be awakening to each day for the next eight days. It’s time for us to head over to Sanibel and Captiva for a little rest and relaxation and a whole lotta fun.

Don’t hate me because I’m going someplace beautiful. Do thank Mother Nature for not bringing hurricane Bertha to our shores.

So this week I have been zipping around and getting everything packed that we’ll need. I’m a list maker and I have a list for everything. I make lists of my clothes I want to take with me. I make a list of the odds and ends that have to go along. Odds and ends are things like cameras, books, cocktail glasses and adult beverages, all sorts of sun screen, hats and, beach towels. Getting ready is half the fun of vacation.

When Mr. Pop returns from taking Fred the Cat to summer camp, aka, the veterinarian’s boarding facility, we will be on our way. You guys be sweet to one another and I’ll see you back here next Friday or Saturday.

Around the House

Okay, it took several weeks but we have finally been able to get all the new kitchen hardware we needed, after we painted our kitchen. We found the handles we liked and bought all the store had. The guy at the store said he would order the 25 more that we needed. When the order came in there were only 20. So he had to order some more. As of last Saturday, we picked up the last of them and they have all 54 been installed. Thank you Mr. Pop! They look so good! What an amazing difference a couple of cans of paint and new hardware can make in a kitchen.

Fred the Cat has told you about the little feral cat, ND-Anna (that’s her in the photo above.) who comes to our screen door each morning, for five years, to be fed and then to chat through the screen with Fred. Sadly, we haven’t seen ND-Anna for over a month. We are hoping she found another house to visit, but fear something else.

Fred the Cat and I continue to go to the screen door every morning at daybreak and look to see if ND-Anna might be there. I don’t know how long it will be before we give up that routine and the hope that we each seem to have.

Analogy

Bush carping to China about human rights abuse is like_________

Quick Question

We all hear, and in my opinion way too often, phrases like “pushing the envelope” and “thinking outside the box". So what would happen if someone pushed the envelope outside the box?

Friday the Fourth with Fred the Feline

Happy Birthday America! To be as young as you are, you don’t look too good these days. Maybe this time next year you’ll look a whole lot better. Let’s hope so.

Since I am, Fred the fun loving Cat, feel free to caption the sequence of the photos.

Have a great three day weekend and don’t mix your alcohol with things that can blow up.

Sincerely,
Fred the Cat (the cat who loves you guys!)

Reading Matt Taibbi

A few weeks back I happened to turn on c-span and saw a tape of an interview with Matt Taibbi. He was talking about his new book, “The Great Derangement”. Immediately I liked the way this guy thought and spoke. So I was off to buy his book.

While at the bookstore I discovered that he had written a couple of previous books. One of these earlier books was available in paperback and sitting right there on the shelf. I grabbed it along with the book I went there to buy.

Just the title of the paperback book is enticing. Any book titled, “Smells Like Dead Elephants” gets my attention. I sure am glad it did. I began reading it and could not stop. Funny, serious, informative, this book (a collection of essays) has it all.

Now about, “The Great Derangement”. If you haven’t read it, let me tell you, it is worth the price just to read about how Matt Taibbi went undercover to join Rev. Hagee’s church in Texas. Do you want to laugh until you cry? Do you want to get the inside scoop on the type of people who join and attend that church seriously? Do you want to see the political world through Matt’s eyes? Read this book!

Who could blame him?

When we heard General Wesley Clark speak about Senator McCain last Sunday and since, I noticed something in his voice and it sounds a little like anger. Who could blame him?

He threw his Democratic hat into the ring during the presidential election in 2004. This retired four star general, who was the valedictorian of his class at West Point, a Rhodes Scholar and the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, ran for president in the 2004 Democratic primary but for whatever reason his campaign did not take off.

Today General Clark is watching Senator McCain. McCain, who graduated near the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy, was a navy pilot who was shot down and captured by the enemy, is now the Republican nominee of his party for president of the United States.

We see the irony there and I’m guessing General Clark sees it too.

Maybe General Clark is feeling a little resentful. He had all the qualifications that many say they are looking for in a presidential nominee and yet he sees Republican, John McCain, reaching that political level with a by far lesser résumé. Who could blame him if there is anger in the General’s voice? I sure don’t.

Setting the patriotic trap again

Remember back before and when the US invaded Iraq, if anyone questioned the war or the president, they were called unpatriotic and a traitor. This was a trap and a not so subtle way to shut down dissent and mute anyone who did not support what bush was doing.

Now we see that trap being set again but this time it is in regard to questioning anything about Senator McCain’s military experience and history.

Sunday, General Wesley Clark said, “I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president,…''. Monday morning on Morning Joe, Mika and Andrea Mitchell expressed their displeasure regarding what General Clark said. They intimated that you just don’t go there and that such statements would backfire on the Obama campaign.

See, the bait has been placed in the trap. Senator McCain’s service and actions at the time are off limits. Discussing any of this is akin to belittling all who have served in the military, according to Mika and Andrea.

I totally disagree. Anyone who has served their country in the military is to be commended but that does not make them infallible or superior. McCain’s being shot down during the Vietnam war is not a shield nor does it give him a pass. No more than if he had been injured as a policeman in the line of duty.

So watch as we go along and listen for the reoccurring theme, that to question Senator McCain’s military history, will result in your being unpatriotic. Touch that bait in the trap and snap, you are caught being anti American and a traitor. Do you think it will work again?