So, maybe this year, since I can’t yet go to Ireland physically, I think I’ll take myself on  virtual tour of the Emerald Isle, and make plans to see the places I want to see when I eventually can go….. or I might skip the virtual stuff, and take a few virtual weeks at one of the spots that are in my head already…. It may not be the best time I’ve ever had, but at least it’s a place I know I can enjoy myself, and at a price I can live with…. Of course, I won’t get a very good tan, but at my age, I’m not overly concerned with that anymore…..

Since I’ve now probably bored you to distraction, it might be a good time to get on with the business for which we are gathered…. Shall we Pearl?……
___________________________________

“But oh, the perils of leadership in a species so anxious to be told what to do. How little they know of what they create by their demands.Leaders make mistakes. And these mistakes, amplified by the numbers who follow without questioning, move inevitably towards great disaster.” — Smart Bee

I don’t know who said this, but he sure nailed today’s political scene with it; it’s a perfect example of what is taking place in the Republican party this year. Or it will be, if they decide at last that Mitt the Twitt is their guy. The people who are ignorant enough to follow him are those in our society who earnestly place their complete trust in whoever tells them what they want to hear, and expect that person to fulfill that trust. Of course, they never do, but they are all in denial regarding most of reality, anyway….

According to the latest new reports, 44% of Republicans say that Mitt Romney should stop hiding, and publish his tax returns, as is the habit of all Presidential candidates, to show that they are transparent, and committed to honoring the tax laws. The longer he delays in doing so, the greater the outcry, which is now at high volume.

Of course, it is obvious that what those returns will show he has been consistently lying to the public regarding his income, among other things, and really has no connection with anyone who isn’t as wealthy as he is. The issue has grown to such proportions that his support base is beginning to crumble, and all this is taking place BEFORE he has been officially chosen to represent the GOP in the election.

What will happen if he continues to blow himself up, if his support deserts him until he no longer has enough votes to secure the nomination? Your guess is as good as mine, but I would bet serious money that there are a bunch of GOP party hacks, the cronies who actually run the party, sitting in some dark room, making contingency plans for just that possibility…..because the possibility gains more strength each day that the Twitt continues his delusional behavior.

Why do I say delusional? Well, because, by definition, it is just that…. He believes that he can continue to hide his money and tax record, and still maintain the level of support he needs for the nomination. Real, factual evidence is plentiful that this just isn’t true; his support is growing smaller and more restless each day. Holding on to a belief, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, is delusional, by definition.

A Crazed Girl

That crazed girl improvising her music.
Her poetry, dancing upon the shore,

Her soul in division from itself
Climbing, falling She knew not where,
Hiding amid the cargo of a steamship,
Her knee-cap broken, that girl I declare
A beautiful lofty thing, or a thing
Heroically lost, heroically found.

No matter what disaster occurred
She stood in desperate music wound,
Wound, wound, and she made in her triumph
Where the bales and the baskets lay
No common intelligible sound
But sang, ‘O sea-starved, hungry sea.’

William Butler Yeats

I started to try to write a poem this morning, but after about 35 minutes, I decided to give up, as my hair was being pulled out at an alarming rate, and I don’t have all that much to spare… So, I am falling back on that old favorite, of mine and most of the English speaking world, Willie Yeats, who has, to my knowledge, never written a bad poem…. Of course, all the bad ones no doubt ended up in some Irish fireplace, but still….. not bad, not bad at all….
___________________________________

Gun Control – the belief that government, with its great wisdom and moral superiority, can be trusted with a monopoly on deadly force. — Smart Bee

This short statement, which I sadly found unattributed, states perfectly why I resist all the efforts that people make to change my feelings about guns, and how society should deal with them. In 61+ years, I have never seen even one convincing argument that can even tempt me to believe that the government of this country is either morally superior or possesses great wisdom. In fact, all of the evidence I can find tells me the exact opposite.

If any of these people, advocating that all guns should be made illegal to possess by a common citizen, can provide me with ANYTHING, just one thing, that indicates that I am wrong in this matter, then let them show it. I’ve seen NOTHING that tells me that the government has ANY morals or ANY wisdom…. and I’m supposed to trust them with guns? I would as soon turn my back on a hungry leopard…..

I’m serious about this, as most of us are when speaking of deadly force and weaponry. But what I meant is, I am serious in my invitation to the people who advocate gun control,which I happen to believe in; my definition is just a bit different than the common conception. But, if they can provide me with even one piece of information to support their belief, then I’m willing to listen to it, and consider its validity, or lack of same. I’m fairly certain they cannot, or will not, do so, but I try to keep my mind open to new information. They have not provided any….

I don’t think that common citizens NEED to own automatic assault rifles, or bazookas, or tanks. But, access to these types of weapons CAN be regulated, in such a way, and firmly enough, that the number of people who obtain them for nefarious purposes, such as what happened in Aurora, Colorado recently, is reduced. (And in Orange county…. you just didn’t notice that near massacre because it was the police doing the shooting…. at scared women and children….) I would support requiring that a person wishing to obtain such weapons undergo psychiatric testing, and can also go along with registering the guns so the police know where they are, and how many. Regulation is possible, and in the case of weapons capable of mass mayhem, desirable, to my mind.

So, when I hear the outcry that always comes after an incident like the one in Colorado, shouting that “guns are bad”, and “get rid of the guns”, I sigh, and shake my head, and wonder at the naivete of the people who believe that the government could be trusted with that kind of power. But, I guess it’s no more naive than the folks who believe that Mitt the Twitt wants to help make their life better…. and no less dangerous a belief to hold…..

“Remember kids, if there’s a loaded gun in the room, be sure that you’re the one holding it.” — Captain Combat
___________________________________