A hiatus averted

I've been away for almost a month now, and feel refreshed and renewed and ready to dive head-first back into that political beast that so enraptures us all. So, first and foremost, special thanks to Lar for keeping this train afloat. Can you keep trains afloat? She must have a barge. Or an inflatable train.

As I jump back into the political season of our youth, I find nothing to be very excited about. I guess the good news is that things have again heated up in Iraq - people are dying, families are uprooted, oil profits are disappearing - so, this should put us in a good position for more healthy debate this spring, summer, & fall about the Middle East and our collective role there. That should be fun. W has quite a legacy awaiting him.

As Johnny sits back and tosses the occassional gallon of lighter fluid into the fire, chuckling all the way, the Democratic Primary season continues in seeming perpetuity. With Barack holding a commanding lead in the pledged delegate count, Hillary's best idea is for him to concede the race and become her Veep candidate. Are these the kinds of brilliant ideas that she's going to employ once in office? She has a staunch, loyal following that keeps her ego fed and her aspirations in tact, so we should have another few good months at watching the two spar before he finally secures the nomination in Denver.

Barack, for his part, has found it in him to stand by his man. Well, mostly. Tammy Wynette would be proud, anyway. But, as the country songstress well found out, sometimes you just have to let your legendary alcoholic husband go burden somebody else for awhile. Such is the case for Barack, as he now must find a way to love his man, and yet distance himself as far as possible from the drunken rages that have erupted. Think Al Gore in the wake of Monica. No, on second thought, that didn't work out very well for Al.

In the good news department, the United States officially suffered its 2,100th military death at the hands of weapons that we sold to the Iraqis back in the mid-80s. We're not sure what the overall allied death at the hands of weapons that we sold to the Iraqis back in the mid-80s total is, as U.S. contractor and non-U.S. troops aren't particularly relevant. Meanwhile, if things heat up in Iran a little more, we could be setting out on a new adventure in counting U.S. deaths at the hands of weapons that we sold to the Iranians back in the early-to-mid-80s. Fingers crossed, Johnny. This one could be yours, too.

I don't feel very well, and am therefore a little cynical today. Perhaps it's because, even in the midst of their encompassing madness, the words of Obama's man contain more truth than we might ever want to admit. We're prostitutes, we're mercinaries, and we're ultimately driven by an ego that would make Texas blush. I'm not saying that we're any worse than any of the other super powers that the world has known, but it sure is interesting to observe. I'm going to go back to eating my Hot Pocket, in the abject fear that it might end up coming back up in 20 minutes. Now, to figure out if this nausea is induced by biological, chemical, or political agents.