THIS is the problem

A local NJ lawyer and Blogger uses this interview" of John Kerry by Don Imus to putatively make the point that Kerry 1) does not have a "good" plan to get us out of Iraq and 2) that Kerry is still "flip/flopping" on at least this issue. Unfortunately, Hondo is totally wrong on this one. He misses the first point that Imus never asked the right question--and that when Kerry tried to steer the discussion to that question, Imus flat out cut him off. (The "right" question is, of course, just what Bush intends to do get us out of the nasty pickle he has gotten us into in the first place.) And he definitely misses the second point, which Kerry was able to get out, that the current president is presently muddying up the water even more so it is virtually impossible for him (Kerry) to formulate any sort of specific plan until after the elections. Once he is two months from office, he, and his staff, can begin the process of taking over the reins of policy and planning.

Personally, all I want to hear from Kerry is the acknowledgement that the situation is grim and is growing grimmer by the day. I don't expect miracles from him, but I do expect him to bend every effort to achieving the best possible outcome from our misguided initial military invasion. George Bush has been the worst president this country has had in my lifetime (and I go back to Truman). He has consistently done the wrong thing in almost every area he has touched (from the economy through civil liberties/human rights to the environment and culminating in the twin disasters of international relations and this war.) The last thing I want to do is "stay the course" with this person. I am uncomfortable about not supporting him while our troops are on the ground and being shot at, but I think, in the long run, it will be better to increase shortterm risk because, if we are successful, it will lower the long term risk.

Daily I become more convinced that it is imperative to remove Bush from office. If we fail at that this coming November, I fear the damage to this country will be irreversable by the time he is forced to repeal the XXII Amendment in order to make himself President-for-Life.

Cell phones and cars

I think the ban on cell phones is dumb. A cell phone is potentially no more distracting than singing along with the radio...or letting one of those talk-jocks raise your blood pressure, or even carrying on a conversation with a passenger. Of course, the key word is "potentially". There are too many drivers out there who can't be trusted to chew gum and tie their shoe laces at the same time much less do anything other than pay strict attention to the road when driving. For these people, giving them a cell phone while in a car is like handing a loaded gun to a toddler: the ultimate result is sure to be a bad one. So, until we figure out how to weed out the people who should not be entrusted with a couple tons of metal travelling at 51 feet per second (that's 35mph,) the rest of us will have to suck it up and live with the ban on cell phones.

OK, so I am being a law abiding citizen in this respect and am not driving around with one hand on the wheel while the other holds a cell phone plastered to my head. If I do have to talk to somebody not in the car at the time, I use a hands free headset, like the law requires. And I get really pissed when I see some other jerk still driving around with a phone plastered to his/(or more often than not) her ear. I'm going to start carrying my digital camera around so I can take pictures...and post them here. I realize that taking pictures while driving is probably more distracting than chatting on the phone, but 1)it isn't illegal, yet and 2)I am capable of doing at least two things at the same time.

So, if you drive around with a cell phone growing out of your head, look for your picture here in the near future.