Lifestyle. On Tuesday, 12/11/12, Danny (I don’t have to say his last name; everybody who is somebody knows who Danny is!) and I had spoken earlier in the day about hunting; he said there was a good chance of seeing deer in several different spots (locations undisclosed for obvious reasons) and said to let him know if I wanted to go to any of those spots so he could go to a different one; I decided to try one more time my usual spots although deer had been very scarce…So, at about 4:30 PM, as I was moving my sights from one place to another, along comes a buck, a buck which - along with another one – I had been watching since last season; their antler racks were very distinct: this one had a round basket; the other one has a rack going straight up. At any rate, he stood at about 125 yards from where I was and, as luck would have it, my magic rifle did its trick again and the deer didn't even took an extra step; it dropped in place and went quickly. His rack had nine well defined points and he weighed in at about 175 lbs. Danny came over and, after confirming it was a true ‘wall hanger’ (worthy of being mounted and eventually displayed in a wall), he helped me skin it properly (actually he did most of the skinning job; I observed and learned) so I can take it to the taxidermist and have it mounted. Skinning it for mounting is a delicate job, but Danny was masterful! I finished the job of drawing and quartering it, and will eventually butcher it after a day or two in cold water & ice… The hunting season is a success already!
Politics: I am retired from politics or, at least, I don’t want to play anymore! This fiscal cliff b.s. that is being talked about is not politics; it is simply Game Playing! Politics is a noble function; politics allows for the preservation of the best system of government ever: Democracy. Politics is, as originally defined from Greek politikos, "of, for, or relating to citizens". Unfortunately, the majority of the notorious politicians now-a-days (not all politicians, though) are far removed from that original definition; they are more specialized in games, stratagems and subterfuges to look good at all costs, including the cost of not doing the job they were elected to do: govern. Again, Politics is a noble function and we should be encouraging more and more of our young people to rise up, participate and lead. We also should be letting them know that the best among them is not the one with the fastest speech, or with most sales ability, or the one who masters most games. The best among them is the one with most integrity, humility, consistency and intellect, the one who respects their constituency, works hard to gain their trust, and then works even harder to keep it; and then, they must be assured that once elected, it is not a popularity contest, but a leadership challenge: make the right choice, the tough decision (not necessary the popular one), stand by it, and defend it with the best argument (not the best TV ads) you can muster. That’s the only way you can be ‘of, for, or relating to citizens’!
But, you know, there’s always fun in Politics when politicians play games; they end up not knowing which way is up… This week, Michigan government leaders (legislature and Governor) – all Republicans - worked as hard as they could to ensure that “the Michigan workers have a choice” making Michigan a right-to-work state. According to Governor Rick Snyder workers having a choice (of belonging or not to a union) was the overriding principle… On the words of the Genie from Aladdin “Excuse me? Did you rub my lamp? Did you wake me up?” Did I hear right that Republicans are fighting to ensure people have a choice? Republicans being pro-choice? Are you serious? This is not the Good Ole Party! Where is this world going to? I've seen it all now! Never mind the end of the world according to the Mayans… It is over already. Run for the mountains! Hallelujah!
Heard a heck of a quote one of these past mornings on Morning Joe…
“Manage the unavoidable; avoid the unmanageable”
- A Washington Post journalist.
So, choose your battles, my friends…
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