Because clearly, most of the advisers involved in the campaign don’t know what the hell they’re doing.

For Hillary:

1. Stop lying.

2. If you can’t stop lying, at least be smart to only lie about the things for which there are not contradicting records that can be examined.

3. Get some sleep.

4. Throw out that damn bumblebee suit. Not flattering. And you wear it too much.

For Obama:

1. Stop lying.

2. Instead of maintaining an “I can’t quit you” attitude toward your church and ALL its preachers, you need to change your position to “I denounce you”. How much worse does it have to get before you say enough is enough?

3. Give us some hard numbers for how you’re going to finance all your campaign promises. Just who is “rich enough” to afford more taxes? What’s the cutoff? At least Edwards gave us a real number for the cutoff.

For McCain:

1. Continue to look presidential, visit with world leaders, and make clear, concise policy speeches.

2. And maybe get some sleep.

That’s all I have.  Does anyone else have some suggestions these people can use?  I’m not looking for political speeches, just some short suggestions that can maybe help the candidates make a better impression.

I must say it was a really long way to go in a car, but we think it was a good trip and well worth all the driving. With the storm that happened while we were away and all the canceled flights, it turns out driving was probably the best choice this time. We saw some interesting things along the way, including this restaurant attached to a gas station. Only in Arkansas….

Anyway…after arriving at our hotel the night of the 16th, all we did was chill and have a beer (well….The Boy had a coke but you get the idea). When we woke up the next morning, we were pleasantly surprised by our view:

Our hotel was just a couple of blocks down the street from The White House. We stopped by there, but apparently you needed a magic pass that day to even get past the gate and they weren’t doing any tours. We didn’t have a magic pass, nor did we know where to get one. So this is as close as we got:

At one point, we were getting ready to cross Pennsylvania and the President’s motorcade sped by. We saw his car. Not him, because his windows were dark, but we saw the car….and all the suv’s and police in cars and on motorcycles…as they sped by. I think I might have seen Cheney in the back of one of trucks but I’m not sure.

We walked over to the monuments and the reflecting pool. The WWII Memorial is impressive and serene. If you go, take some time to read all the quotes on the wall. They are powerful, and help us remember what it was like then.

From there, we saw the Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials. Then we walked toward the Lincoln Memorial:

All of my pictures from there include one of us, so I only have the long view to show you. From those steps in the distance, we could look back and see The Washington Monument. We got right up to the monument, but the tours were all sold out so we weren’t able to get up into the top. The Monument is a pervasive structure, viewable throughout the city. Very impressive:

After the monuments, we walked back toward our hotel and over to The Smithsonian. We Showed The Boy the Air and Space Museum, and we caught an IMax movie called Fighter Pilot (Tommy saw some guys he knew in the film and it’s a pretty accurate depiction of the exercise it covers…but some of the flying is over the top compared to what they actually do). We tried to get in to see the National Archives after The Smithsonian, but the line was two hours long. Those who know me know at least one thing…I am NOT a patient person. So off we went back to the hotel. We were so tired after all that walking that we just ordered a pizza over the Internets to the room.

The next day, we were pretty tired so we caught a tour bus that took us through town and over to Arlington National Cemetery. A must see for any trip to D.C. I was glad we did the bus that day, because you just can’t see everything in two days and that way we got a guided tour of some other parts of the city and a taste of its history.

I’d forgotten this, but I have a family member buried at Arlington. Maybe he’s somewhere in this shot:

We walked through the cemetary hills for about two hours, and barely scratched the surface. The enormity of the sacrifice is just overwhelming. You really don’t “get” it until you’ve been with these brave souls for a few hours.

We walked past JFK’s grave site with its eternal flame. Jackie is there, along with the baby girl they lost and their infant son Patrick:

And of course we visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

We were there for the changing of the guard. Those guys are true professionals and they treat their jobs very seriously.

After the long walk back through the hills of Arlington, we hopped back on the bus and headed back toward the National Mall. After a quick lunch, we headed over to the Capitol, walking through the National Sculpture Garden along the way. They had some cool stuff there, but I was SO cold by then….sorry, I just couldn’t bring myself to take my hands out of my pockets long enough to get a pic.

Once at the Capitol, we walked up many steps to find out about a tour….only to find that we had to walk back down all those steps to get a ticket. We were all cold and tired from the walking that day, so we decided to bag it and head back to the hotel. We stopped by the pond across the street from the Capitol…only to find ourselves….

Mooned…..by a duck!!!! What is it with ducks and ponds and their need to moon us? The same thing happened to us while walking through Kensington Gardens in London. But I can’t find that pic right now. Ducks….mooning….me….the nerve!!

We’ll definitely have to go back to D.C. some day. I really, really DO want to see the National Archives, and also President Lincoln’s summer home and Mt. Vernon. And the inside of the Capitol and The White House. That’s at least two more days right there! I hope you enjoyed the pics. I’m off to drink wine and relax with the kitty.

We took the Pilot out on a road trip to D.C. to show The Boy all the cool stuff.  We were there for half as long as it takes to drive to and from, but it was worth it.  The Boy got to see some of the things he’s been studying about in person.  He even got to stand on the curb and watch the President drive by (very fast).

I’ll post more and maybe some pics in a day or two.  For now, I must go shower and rest before another long day of driving to get home.  The bonus is we missed the storms in North Texas while we were away!

More later.  Later, like when I get back home, laundry in the washer, and food in the cupboards.

Because here it comes.  Think they don’t want to raise YOUR taxes, but only taxes on “the people that can afford it”?  Guess again…

The House passed its $3 trillion budget plan by a 212-207 vote. It would provide generous increases to domestic programs but bring the government’s ledger back into the black, but only by letting all of Bush’s tax cuts expire at the end of 2010 as scheduled.

The senate tried to at least pander a little and only let taxes on those they consider “rich” to expire.  But nevertheless….if the majority of people that vote continue to vote for the left, then the government will be run accordingly.  You can see the full article here.  Let’s remember that budget projections on tax increases don’t pan out because historically they end up bringing in less tax money than the old rates would have when all is said and done.  Our current rates are bringing in MORE money than would have been collected under the old Clinton plan.  Hard to believe, but yes it’s true.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not against domestic spending.  For roads, schools, programs that offer a temporary leg up to those in need.  But not at the cost of shrinking the military or shorting national security.  I don’t know the details, but I would bet there’s nothing in there about coming up with a solution to be sure we can listen in on terrorists’ conversations. And I’m not for increasing taxes to “stick it to the rich” vs. using a tax code that actually brings in more money from “the rich”.  Raising rates only encourages them to make less income to tax because above a certain level there’s really no point in making more because most of it will be taken away in taxes.

So get ready.  If people really do want to do a protest vote against Bush (which I really don’t understand because he’s leaving office and this does not make sense), then it’s likely we will ALL pay…either with higher taxes or less work because the higher taxed businesses can’t afford to employ as many people.  Luckily, Bush will veto this plan, but I’m confident Obama or Clinton would not.

Start saving now.  Because you’ll need it.  Just in case.

Lately, the vet (for some reason unknown to me because the cat looks perfectly fine) has given us guidelines for feeding the cat less food. Am I the only one that thinks he looks perfectly fine?

Anyway, tonight I was talking about how the cat has been whining about no food in his dish like all the time.

Me: “Should I call the vet and make sure that we don’t need to feed him a little more? I mean, it seems like he’s hungry ALL the time.”

Tommy: “I think you should call the vet and ask if we can turn the cat into a dog.”

Well, that wasn’t very damn nice. I mean…look at him….on the table waiting just in case we feel the need to feed?

Turn the cat into a dog…ridiculous! Who needs a dog when we have him?

1. Apparently, a California judge refused to grant permission for early enlistment in the Marines to a foster kid on the grounds that she (the judge) was anti-war. By the way, she cost the kid an early signing bonus of $10,000. I thought the system was supposed to help foster kids be successful, not hold them back on the grounds of personal prejudice toward the military or personal pacifism foisted on others.

Sage plans to join the Marines when he turns 18 in June and his case has prompted a Republican lawmaker to introduce a bill that would allow foster teens to enlist in the military without the express permission of a judge.

Petty protest decisions by judges can’t change the patriotism and will to succeed that foster kid has in his heart. Good for him. He seriously should take that judge to civil court to try and recover damages for the $10,000 her prejudicial decision cost him.

2. While walking in the pet store today to by some cat food, I passed by an extremely overweight, big guy and his six month old black lab/doberman mix. He was punching that poor dog in the neck repeatedly. I said, “I hardly think hitting him is going to help.” He paused, didn’t look at me, and then continued to beat that poor dog as soon as I had entered the store. I told the cashier what had happened, but by the time we went back to look all the guy was doing was dragging the dog by his leash to his car.

Evil, evil person that deserves to be beaten within an inch of his life so he can see what it’s like. Some – well, many – people just shouldn’t be allowed to have pets. Or kids. Or wives/significant others. They just can’t be trusted not to bring serious harm to those around them.

Jerk.

Those are my two wrong things for today. I guess we just have to be really careful who we sell or give our animals to and who we vote for. I fear many, many more judges will feel comfortable in making decisions like that anti-war judge because they feel it’s their duty to foist their belief on others – and they have the power and position to do it at will in the areas where judges are appointed by elected officials and cannot be fired.

Another example of global warming this week in Texas for you.  Brrrrrr!  The Boy asked me to go outside and have a snowball fight with him…but what he should have said was “Hey, can you come out and be a target?”  He had stockpiled a ton of pre-made snowballs in the bed of the pickup truck and was standing there behind the cab ready to fire at me as I walked out the door.

I didn’t stay out there very long.  Sneaky kid.  I have to ask…wasn’t Christmas like almost three months ago?  What gives with all this snow in March?  We moved here to get away from storms like this.

But The Boy is having a blast, so it’s not all bad.  It’s rare he gets enough snow to even make a snow ball.  He’ll just have to find another target.

WAY back when I was in middle school, they gave us tests. We took them. There was never any discussion about HOW to take the tests…other than we were supposed to read whatever it was we were supposed to read, then answer the question. It was made clear in no uncertain terms that we were supposed to read EVERY SINGLE WORD before even thinking about looking at the question.

Cut to last night. The Boy was getting ready for bed, and I reminded him that today while he was taking the state-mandated Reading test he should read all he was supposed to read, then answer the question. To which he replied:

“Really? Because they told us to read the question, read the thing, then read the question again…then answer the question.”

I said, “Oh.”

I read and hear a LOT about how people think we are raising a nation of test-takers vs. learners. But damn, if I’d had that kind of guidance at his age I would have made better grades on every test I took!!!

I say, there’s nothing wrong with teaching people how to take a test. They still have to know the material in order to do well….but with the right techniques they can be sure they don’t second-guess themselves out of a good grade.

What do you think? Is it wrong to test, and give kids the tools they need to pass the test? If so…how else can we determine whether or not a kid has actually learned the material? Realistically, what could there possibly be out there that could remove potentially unfair subjective teacher judgments and absolutely determine whether or not a child has learned what he or she was taught?

It has not yet stopped snowing. This is the view from my back door. And it is ridiculous.

Brrrr. I’m totally in a sweat shirt and jeans and getting ready to pour another adult beverage all in the interest of keeping warm!

During a commercial break while watching T.V. tonight:

It’s three o’clock.  And the phone rings.  There’s something happening in the world.  Who do you want answering the phone?

The Boy:  “I want Jesus answering the phone.”

That is all.