Switcheroo

A lot of talk today was about the decision by an Alabama congressman to switch parties.  What's caught a lot of people's attention is the fact that he's switching to the minority party.

That sounds like crazy talk!  Why would you switch to the minority party?  Well, you switch to the minority party when your district is pissed off at the spending and over-reaching government control being pushed by the majority party.  You switch parties when you know that you might get your butt handed to you in the next election simply because of your party affiliation. 

The Republicans  welcomed Parker Griffith to the Republican Party with open arms, but Politico remembers:

"The National Republican Congressional Committee poured in $514,000 to air ads attacking Griffith, including one that suggested he was soft on Islamic terrorism.

"And the committee raised questions about whether Griffith engaged in medical malpractice when it released decades-old documentation accusing his cancer center of underdosing patients with radiation so that he could collect more money."

That's a lot of money to spend on ads like this, only to sing a different tune a year later.

This is what's so frustrating about Republicans - they want to win so bad that they'll take anyone who wants to caucus with them regardless of what they said about them during the last election and without reviewing their full voting history.  Glenn Thrush sums it up:

"While the left is dismissing Parker Griffith as an unreliable Democrat who often sided with Republicans on big issues, one Democratic aide points out that Griffith actually voted with Speaker Nancy Pelosi 85 percent of the time.

"According to these rankings compiled by washingtonpost.com, Griffith has a higher party loyalty score than Democratic Reps. Heath Shuler (N.C.), Frank Kratovil (Md.), Glenn Nye (Va.), Harry Mitchell (Ariz.), Gene Taylor (Miss.) and Walt Minnick (Idaho)."

Yeah, Griffith voted against the most recent big bills pushed by the Democrats: cap and trade, healthcare, the final TARP bill, but he voted for Pelosi as Speaker of the House, for SCHIP, for most of the TARP spending measures, and against all of the amendments limiting spending.  He also campaigned on the fact that he is a doctor and thinks everyone should have health care coverage.

Griffith only started changing his voting after his constituents caught wind and pitched a royal fit.  He met with lots of angry voters at town hall meetings this summer and had to make a strong (new) stance against any government healthcare takeover.

Note to Republicans: it always helps to check the facts and the past history.  Anyone willing to change their "convictions" based on the latest political poll is not usually someone you want in your party long term.

On the other hand, check out Les Phillip.  He's an immigrant, former Navy pilot, Christian, and staunch social and fiscal conservative.

Manda Panda

My sister is... wait for it... AWESOME.  Just recently, she succumbed to our repeated requests for a private photoshoot.

After Matt's church photo session turned out like this, we decided that we needed a professional who knew us just a little better to take our picture.

We haven't had pictures taken since we got married, 5 1/2 years ago, and this was well overdue.

She came to the house to shoot us (we originally planned to head downtown and take all sorts of cool, artistic shots, but life got in the way and we ran out of time).  We even got a few with "the boys", and afterward, she used her Photoshop magic and took out all sorts of blinks, blemishes, and wrinkles.   

So, please admire the talents of my beautiful, and incredibly gifted kid sister.  She's awesome, don't ya think?

The Second Lady

I usually say that I love politics.  However, I've been annoyed with our politicians a good bit lately; it's basically to the point where I'm so frustrated with every single thing they do (both sides), that I can't stand to read or hear anything about the current legislation being drafted, debated, and voted on.

And then I saw this story last weekend and really enjoyed it.  It gave new insight on the vice president and his wife.

It's really easy to form our opinions of public figures based on their politics or public gaffes, but sometimes you might feel a little differently about them when you hear something about their personal natures.

Take Vice President Joe Biden.  I knew the general story of how he was widowed when his boys were very young, his first wife and young daughter died in a car wreck at the beginning of his political career.  But other than that, all I knew about his second wife was that she was prone to occasionally sticking her foot in her mouth just like her husband.  (Remember when she told everyone that Biden was offered the Secretary of State job after Obama was elected?)

Now, knowing that even though she's married to the Vice President of the United States of America and still works as an English professor at a community college, I have a different opinion of her.  Not many women could make that claim.  The story of how she and Joe began dating and finally got married also showed a softer side of our VP.

I also like their admitted use of 3M products!  Scotch Tape!


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While discussing this piece on the Bidens, my father brought up another incident showing V.P. Biden's decency.  In 2001, there was a fierce debate on the passage of Bush's budget which was going well into the night, and every vote counted.  Senator Strom Thurmond, who was 98 years old at the time, was fading quickly and it was apparent that he might collapse if forced to stay for a vote.  Then-Senator Biden offered to leave with Thurmond, so that their votes would cancel each other out.  For a recap, see here.

I'm tired of elected officials dropping their responsibilities to run around on their wives and children, calling stewardesses names and generally acting like first-class jerks!  Just when you begin to feel like there is no decency left in politics, it's nice to be reminded of a few past examples of common courtesy, even if they don't always act that way.

Charlie Has a Home!

Charlie was adopted over the weekend by the Gills, who were looking for a playmate for their dog, Bella.

Charlie is a great dog, and I miss him already. He is very sweet-natured and loves to have his neck scratched. We had some adjustments to make, such as always keeping an old rag handy to wipe his mouth after drinking to avoid the slobber wipes on our pants and my homework. He also kept us on our toes in the kitchen - stealing a Subway sandwich off of the counter, disseminating the contents of the trash can, and ripping into bags of flour and cornmeal when we forgot to close the pantry door.

Sleeping has been a little quieter at our house the last few nights. Charlie would circle and paw at his bed, trying to find just the right spot. Then, he'd bump into the wall or dresser, making a lot of noise as he finally laid down. No more nose nudges at eye-level to ask to go out at 5:30 AM - the other two are too short to reach.

Ace will especially miss having his partner in crime, who pulled out this board, allowing Ace to roam the neighborhood pond for several days. We didn't catch him right away because he would come back home in the afternoons so that he would be sure to get his dinner! That story could've been a whole post on its own, but as you can see, I haven't posted in a LONG time!

Thanks to Lynne, the eternal matchmaker, Charlie now has a built-in playmate, Bella, and a wonderful new forever home.