The State of the Union..........."

With nothing on TV other than re-runs and the National Democratic Convention, the wife usurped my computer privileges last night. Actually, I usually relinquish my addiction to the Internet under such circumstances, realizing her only other form of amusement is also contained within “the OTHER tube”. Yahtzee. Solitaire. We’ve a dozen or so of such pastime and I readily admit to enjoying one or two of them myself. As far as being displaced, however, the only inconvenience it affords me is if I happen to be in the middle of composing something at the time. Utilizing a notebook to compose is a little more complicated than typing in Microsoft. Every few sentences or so, the words just don’t “feel” right and the pile of discarded paper around the trash can begins to grow. For whatever reason, however, on this occasion my mind was void of any particular subject and, with both the crossword puzzles and the two books I’m reading scheduled for bedtime, I plopped into the easy chair and began clicking the remote myself………….

Beth’s aversion to all the political hoopla had much to do with the fact that she is a dedicated fan of President Bush. My own disinterest falls more along the lines of being solidly convinced that, no matter who occupies the White House, it has little to do with the state of national affairs. A two-party system is a two-party system; and if one caters to big business, it’s just as true that the other is enjoying their share of graft via any number of individual concerns. Any dedicated research into what our tax dollars are actually supporting quickly proves that Congressmen, no matter what their affiliation, long ago left any sincere intent of “serving” their constituents in the sense of representing the “common” people. Then, again, I’m almost of the opinion that things like “integrity” and “ethics” are lost values to the majority of our society anymore. We seem to elect our officials merely by their charisma and our allegiance to whichever side of the circus we, ourself, belong…………..

Harsh words, I know, and out of the pen of one who does not vote. I speak them, however, not because I do not believe in my country, but because I do not believe in where we are as a nation of individuals. Some, no doubt, would point their finger in my direction and accredit my abstinence from the polls as part of the problem. That could be; but if all the local market had to sell me was rotten apples, they wouldn’t have my business long, either. Is the government nothing but a bunch of crooks? It depends on your definition, I suppose. My boredom last night landed upon some sort of historical documentary of Clinton’s years in the White House. In refreshing my memory on a few things probably better off forgotten, whoever produced it was unbiased. The show interviewed fans and foes, alike. When Jennifer Flowers, though, referred to his coming to her one evening very elated over his “Biblical” discovery that the act which he would commit with Monica was NOT “sin”, his apparent ignorance as to the definition of “sex” was made clear to me. It’s all in how you read the “letter of the Law”, I suppose………………