and the world still turns....

Hello again.

It has been a few weeks since I put fingers to keyboard, (at least since I actually posted anything that I recorded), and the world seems not to have changed much. Truthfully, I don't expect it to, no matter what happens.

In politics, we have just about a year to go before the national election, (assuming that Georgie W or his puppet master Dick doesn't pull a Pervez Musharraf and attempt to save us from terrorism by subverting the government), and it appears that Hillary pretty much has the Democratic nomination sewn up. I know that a lot can happen in a year, and that the primary process has yet to even begin, but it almost looks like a one pony race at this point. That is not a good thing, for the party, the candidate or the country. Standing alone, she is nuthin' but a target for everybody. In a genuine primary race, it is a dogfight, but a friendly one. As things stand right now, she is standing in an open field, in a lightning storm, alone, holding a tall copper rod. When the convention is over and done with, she will be seen by many as damaged goods, no longer a fresh new face, but somebody who has been beaten up by everybody. how she manages that impression will be crucial. Then there will be another subset of the population. Much of the voting (and non-voting) public, as well as the world will not take her seriously because she is a woman. Others will not take her seriously because she is that woman.

On the other side of the aisle, anything could happen, and might. As of today, Rudy Giuliani looks pretty strong, and if the candidate were to be selected this week, it might very well be him. John McCain looks impressive, standing by his principles and talking as straight as a career politician can. The rest of the pack appears to be there for the usual reasons. Mitt Romney & Fred Thompson seem to be the wild cards in this race, they are the ones connected to the power base of the party, the star chamber if you will.

It will be an interesting spring.

If I had to vote today, I don't know what I would do. I would almost certainly vote, but I am having a tough time reconciling myself to the apparent reality (as it seem today) of my choices.

More as it develops.