I had my doubts about whether or not I could manage to safely get up and down my ladders at age 57 and get the foyer painted. It is the largest room in the house and has an 18 foot ceiling. The unexpected problem for me became the ladder climbing. On the first day that I worked on it I was surprised to find how difficult it was for my knees to go up and down the blasted ladder. Today I did better but my legs are really hurting. Hope I can walk tomorrow.

I had a friend build a box for me (and upside down stair) that fit on the stairs and made a platform for the ladder that made cutting in the stairs a snap. The box worked like a charm. Every house with stairs should have one of these stair platforms thrown in by the builder.

Next problem--The dining room. Some new challenges since the ladder won't work on one spot. I'm mulling this over. No solution yet.

In 8 years when the foyer needs painting again, I don't think I'll be able to scale the ladder. How sad. But 65 year old guys on big ladders are not a good thing.

A Truth Commission about the Bush administration is needed. Take 17 minutes and 21 seconds of your time to listen to Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell, talk about how the administration was run. This man is a life long Republican and he is calling for a truth commission with power to refer discoveries for prosecution. Listen here.

Bottom line. Cheney dies in jail.

The testimony of an eloquent soldier who questions our country's mission in Iraq and Afghanistan after serving a tour of duty in both countries and retiring--His comments are startling, a slap in the face to those of us who have been watching the war on TV. Read his comments from the nation here.

The new "normal" for political discourse is crazy. The kind of political rhetoric that is taking place today is new in public discourse. I think you can trace lunacy in compaigning back to the beginning of the country, when one politician would accuse the other of killing babies and eating them and such. But in those days when the media had less impact on society, not so many of us were affected by the claims of lunatics. Of course the politicians weren't lunatics at all. Their game was and still is "say anything and someone will believe it." Their hope is to create enough doubt in the minds of those in the middle to turn elections in their direction.

The conservative "twenty-eight percenters" are an interesting bunch. During the eight years of the George W. Bush presidency, even when it was clear that the ship of state had been run on the rocks, approximately 28% of the country (according to the polls) continued to say that the country was headed in the right direction. As the stock market crashed in the final months of the administration, those numbers did begin to slip lower, but only then. Opinion polls had settled at 28% in favor of Bush policies years before. Those 28% see the world through different eyes. They are a noisy group as well and celebrate their place in the world, believing that the 72% who do not share their beliefs are simply "stupid." The "we are smart, you are dumb" defense of their position creates a fortress around their monologue. That's right, I said monologue. They do not hold dialogue. Their leaders, like Rupert Murdoch (owner of Fox News) Newt Gingrich, and Rush Limbaugh, hand out "talking points" with the order to their minions to "repeat these words and phrases as often as possible in the media." By media, they mean every media possible. Get on local TV, call in radio shows, write letters to the editor, write in the "free speech" portion of community papers, write comments on blogs, set up "informational" web pages. The twenty-eight percenters are charged by their leadership to flood the market with their message. One of their latest spoofs is to refer to the Democratic Party as the "Democrat Socialist" Party. Of course one of their favorite fantasies is that all media outlets favor "liberals." A liberal is anyone who is not a twenty-eight percenter. I saw a good one today that said "60% of Americans didn't vote for Obama." Nevermind that about 52% who voted, did vote for him, and a landslide vote in the electoral college gives him a mandate not seen in many years.

Now all they have done by holding their untenable positions during a series of national crises is to lose their hold on congress and the presidency. Things have been so bad for them that we are about to see a filibuster-proof majority (a 60 to 40 majority) in the United States Senate to go with the Democratic Party led House. In these rare times, legislation may actually be enacted. Changes may be made.

"WHAT! OH NO!" The fact that change is now imminent has raised the vitriol of the few to levels not seen since the pamphlets in early America. The Republican Party's current attacks are on the level with Obama kills and eats babies.

Are the twenty-eight percent a solid group? No. Without all the rhetoric they'd lose many members. But their core groups are those who weep for every abortion and those who fear the government will come after their machine guns and rocket launchers. Ah yes, and one other group, the uber-rich, who finance the right-wing monologue.

Cross your fingers for national health care that works lowering the cost and increasing the benefits. Cross your fingers for a national energy policy that is neigher oil or coal based. Go hydro, wind, solar. Cross your fingers for an end to senseless American agression overseas.
Cross your fingers that we will build allies once again. Cross your fingers for policies that will reduce global warming. Cross you fingers for a reduction of global polution. Cross your fingers for financial regulations that will protect us from fraud and stock market crashes.

It wasn't that long ago that Republicans were boasting of a permanent Republican majority. What happened? It turns out that Republican principles are impossible to adhere to. Medicare is socialized medicine and wasteful government health care until . . . you need it. Cutting the federal budget for roads, schools, research, etc., is a fine idea until . . . it affects your town, your project, your child's school. Chanting "tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts" might be as good as "hari krishna, krishna hari," as a mind numbing mantra, but the bottom line is that government needs money to work and just borrowing money from China to fund government spending doesn't feel that good after awhile. In response to their series of defeats (lost the congress, lost the presidency, losing sitting party members across the aisle and any hope of having an actual role in federal government during the next three plus years), the Republicans hold fast to their same principles, saying "we weren't conservative enough last time and that's our failing." They can't see, or won't say, that they weren't inclusive enough last time and "we excluded too many voters to be considered a realistic governing choice."

Now people are writing of the extinction of the Republican Party as the Republican Party members write of secession and refusal of federal grants. It may be early to write about extinction. If there is no one to balance Democratic Party control, it may well go out of control. Obama will not be able to corral them by himself. (I see democratic congressmen opposing almost every program cut that he has proposed). I'd be happy to see the Republicans abandon all their conservative principles and jump into the fray of government in a point/counterpoint manner, examining legislation and refining it, adding good ideas to it, and culling out things that are excessive or unworkable. As long as they are simply opposed to anything the other side proposes, as long as they are the party of filibuster (oops, that one slipped away from them), the party that hopes the government will fail, we risk that the complete Democratic control may careen out of control and provide the same failing federal spending that we experienced with the Repbulican majority under President Shrub.

Who would think that Arlen Specter, Republican Senator from Pennsylvania, could roll the Republican Party right off the political landscape. With a 59 to 41 vote cushion in the Senate, the conservative Republicans were still holding sway on every vote of any kind in the U.S. Congress. Sometimes they held up a bill because they were mad about something unrelated to the bill. Just because they could. As long as the 41 held firm together they could stymie all efforts by what the Republican media called the "Democrat congress." The Republicans have not gotten over their losses in the last election and their anger management has been weak at best. Mostly they have not managed anger at all but have run from side to side of the arena blaming everyone but themselves for their losses. McCain was too liberal so we lost. Palin too provincial. The media too . . . well too uncooperative for ourside. I have never heard a Republican say "We are out of touch with the American people in the majority of the districts in the country and if we don't find out what they want so we can represent them soon then we will go the way of the Whig Party." And it wasn't that long ago I heard them talking about a permanent Republican majority.

But in all their anger they have been attacking and killing their own too. Arlen's crime was that he broke ranks. By voting for the president's budget he broke their ability to threaten filibuster. Now he wasn't the only one who voted that way, but he was the only one who could be threatened by the party. The others who broke ranks have safe seats and will be re-elected no matter what. But because Arlen was weaker, the national party allowed him to be attacked. But when it looked like they would tear him to pieces in their frenzy, he simply stepped aside and called on the Democratic Party to accept him. Oddly, that's what the Democratic Party does. It accepts people. Anyone. Everyone. That's why you don't see the ability in that party to hold the line on voting for this or that bill. They have many different opinions and they voice them. And they accepted Arlen.

Stunned silence has come from the right. Oh there was a little name calling--good riddance, etc. But Arlen left and took them out of the game. I suppose they will put all their efforts into denying Al Franken his court contested seat in Minnesota. Perhaps the governor will defy the courts and refuse to sign an election certificate for Franken creating a constitutional crisis. But with a little patience, the Democrats should see the sixtieth seat on their side of the aisle filled soon. Republicans will ramp up their secession talk again for certain. The media however, except for Fox FauxNews, will no longer need to cover them. All the discussion for every bill will be on the Democratic side of the aisle.

The good that may come for this may be in finally breaking the logjam on nominations. Perhaps the government will get to work because people nominated by the President can actually take their places at work. Federal judgeships which have been backlogged since Gingrich began the tactic of stalling any of Clinton's appointees back in 1994, may finally be able to be appointed, allowing the federal court system to work once more.

The moral of the story is don't push a guy into a corner. He may hurt you.

All I have to say is "Thanks, Arlen."