Rick Perry? God Here. The Voice In Your Head Is Not Me. Take Your Meds

My favorite Fort Worth native living in Tacoma, Washington, MKB, had this picture on her Facebook wall today.

I found it amusing. So, I swiped it.

Rick Perry, having only recently entered the Republican race for president, and this week coming in #1 in the polls, has me thinking it is time to give up and live off the grid on some deserted South Seas Island.

It is clear to me I don't understand the world around me, which leaves me in an almost constant state of feeling perplexed, confounded and confused.

And vexed. Very very vexed.

How can the state which gave America the likes of Lyndon Baines Johnson, Sam Rayburn, Barbara Jordan, and other notables, be the same state that foisted George W. Bush on the world? And now, Rick Perry. Another D Student Texas governor.

What has Rick Perry done as governor of Texas that warrants all this support he is getting outside of Texas? I don't get it.

With the current state of affairs methinks just about any Republican is going to beat what's become the Obama abomination.

I remember when it started to seem likely that Ronald Reagan was going to be president, I found myself opining that the safe thing to do was to probably leave America. I was wrong about that. Reagan quickly became my favorite president.

I eventually learned to appreciate Bill Clinton, though I never voted for him. I think I may have voted for Ronald Reagan for his second term.

We need a wily devil like Richard Nixon as president again. Rick Perry does seem to have some Nixonesque attributes. I always thought Richard Nixon would be very amusing to spend time with, super smart guy that he was. I think spending time with Rick Perry would be un-amusing, painful excruciation, D Student that he be.

Are there any Texas LBJ types in the state, these days?

I have only been to two presidential libraries. Richard Nixon's in Yorba Linda, California and LBJ's in Austin, Texas.

I totally enjoyed both Nixon's and LBJ's libraries. Nixon's is like a palace. LBJ's is more down to earth. Nixon's is like walking through a time capsule of decades of American history.

My favorite things in the Nixon library were the area where you walked among life size statues of all the world figures Nixon had dealt with and the way Watergate was dealt with, which was very well done. I imagine that has changed since I visited in 1994. Nixon was stil alive at that point in time.

My favorite parts of the LBJ library were the replica of the Oval Office and the life size animatronic LBJ which talked, spewing amusing LBJisms. And the gallery with Grandma Moses paintings.

Can you imagine a Rick Perry Presidential Libary of the future with a life sized animatronic Rick Perry spewing amusing Perryisms?

I may be letting my voter's registration lapse. In addition to not participating in the futility of voting, I'd also get the added benefit of getting out of jury duty.

Taking Richard Nixon's Advice To Sit On A Village Creek Picnic Table

You are sitting on a picnic table, looking east at the Village Creek Natural Historic Area Bayou, sometime between 11 and noon.

I got up a bit on the early side, before 5, got all my daily aerobicizing needs met swimming before the sun had totally finished lighting up the place.

All morning long I churned out webpages. Til I could take it no more.

A couple months ago I read Richard Nixon's "In the Arena." Good book, full of good stuff. With good advice from Mr. Nixon. That he learned after he had to quit being President for some suspected bad behaviors.

Mr. Nixon's bits of advice were based on his experiences learned while recovering from losing his president job. Things like go on a walk every day. Set aside time to read every day. And, my favorite, spend time every day quietly contemplating that which you need to contemplate.

I felt in need of some contemplation time and a Village Creek picnic table seemed like a good spot for it. I was under the shade of a tree, with a nice breeze occasionally blowing.

I lasted maybe 20 minutes before I tired of quietly contemplating and got off the picnic table to continue walking.

And then drove back here where I am now contemplating having lunch.

In Texas In The Arena With Richard Nixon

I think I may have mentioned I'm currently reading Richard Nixon's "In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat and Renewal."

I'm currently on the final chapter, titled "Twilight." With Twilight referring to the twilight years, old age, you know, being elderly.

I've long liked Richard Nixon, particularly after he came back from the humiliation of being the only president forced from office.

In "In the Arena" Nixon is amusingly gossipy about all sorts of subjects, such as the drinking habits of leaders he's known. And his own drinking habits.

The chapter on "Pat" is quite touching. The chapter where Nixon explains why he felt compelled to start the War on Cancer is also quite touching.

An excerpt from the "Twilight" chapter that I found resonated with my own views on the subject...

"While each individual must confront old age in his own way, some basic guidelines apply to everyone: keep fit, keep active, keep up with what's going on in the world. The key word here is "keep," which suggest that good habits from a person's younger days are continued in old age. The problem comes with those who didn't have good habits to begin with. A remarkable number of people I've met who are categorized as senile probably didn't have a lot on the ball when they were thirty-five. Alzheimer's Disease, which brings about marked mental decline in some older people, is another matter. But for the man who works his eight hours, comes home and speaks briefly to his wife and children, and then watches television until bedtime, retirement will probably bring on acute simplemindedness within a few years, not because he got old but because his job was the only thing in his life that forced him to use his brain."

Now, what I have noticed is that people who I found dull, boring and totally ignorant regarding the world at large, when they were in their 20s, are far more difficult to relate to now, years later, basically because there has been very little growth. In other words due to the widening gulf, brought about by the passage of years, these sorts seem even more dull, boring and ignorant. And best avoided, if possible.

Below is a short review from Amazon of Nixon's "In the Arena." I think it succinctly nails the appeal of this book...

"Richard Nixon was one of the finest political writers of the twentieth century. I first read "In the Arena" in the early nineties; it inspired me to explore all of his other books. In this semi-autobiographical work, he talks about what it takes to be a politician who can make a difference in the world. Whatever his failings, his words both inspire and entertain. He has a lightness of style which is untypical of politicians of his generation. Too many people close their ears to him because of Watergate. They are missing out on a literary and political treat. He has a lot to teach us, if only we are prepared to listen."

Interrupting Richard Nixon With Incoming From AZMAPA

That's my cell phone sitting on a Richard Nixon book I'm reading, In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat and Renewal.

Last night I was tired. I decided to go to bed about 9:30. I'd barely put my ear plugs in, which I have to do to drown out the cacophony of noise, like an air conditioner turning off and on, when I heard, through the earplugs, the distant sound of a symphony.

It was my cell phone ringtone. I looked down at the phone, which was sitting on the Nixon book, to see it light up with incoming from "AZMAPA."

That means Arizona Ma & Pa.

If this had been an out of the blue call I would have been instantly worried a bad thing had happened. But, since I'd called my mom and dad earlier in the day, when I got gas, I figured it was mom calling back just to talk.

I was correct in my assumption.

Today my mom and dad start cat sitting duty for my sister who is flying up to Seattle for a month. I hope my sister is able to safely negotiate the Dens of Toxicity that one can find oneself in in that zone.

When I called earlier, mom and dad had been out and about enjoying finally having a day that was under 100 degrees.

Meanwhile, here in Texas, at 10am Saturday, it is chilly, compared to Phoenix, 83, windy and humid.

Insomnia In Texas With My Hero Richard Nixon

You're looking at me in the midst of an insomnia bout.

Well, it really was not insomnia. I went to bed around 10, had no woe falling asleep, woke up about 2:30, could tell I was not going to fall back asleep.

So, I got up.

I've been reading the Haldeman Diaries: Inside the Nixon White House. I'm easily influenced by anything I read. When Haldeman talked about my hero, Richard Nixon's, theories on sleep, in that it's a big time waste and we really don't need all that much, well, it imprinted on my memory.

Like how Nixon, sometimes, would stay up all night long, working on his plots and schemes. Or Nixon would wake up really early, and, like me, realize he was not going to be sleeping anymore, so he'd get up, like me, and go to work on his plots and schemes.

I'm wondering if Nixon got a bit more sleep maybe that whole Watergate disaster might never have happened. There really was way too much plotting and scheming involved in the Watergate disaster. That's real clear when reading the Haldeman Diaries.

I suspect I will be sleeping real well tonight, with a possible nap intervening between now and then. In the meantime, I'll be doing some heavy duty plotting and scheming.

I Know No Mean People In Texas

I like the true crime genre, although lately I seem to have gone deep into the political book genre, with my favorite of that genre being Richard Nixon's In the Arena. No matter what you think of Nixon, I think you'd find this an interesting book. It was like Nixon in gossip mode.

One chapter is devoted to drinking, with Nixon telling stories about the drinking habits of all the political figures he'd met. Celebrities too. John Wayne came for a visit, I think it was after the resignation, when Nixon was recuperating from his near death bout. Nixon asked John Wayne if he'd like a drink. Sure, gin and tonic. Well, Nixon couldn't find the tonic. I forgot what he used instead. And he made it heavy on the gin. John Wayne took one sip and said "that's a damn fine drink."

Nixon was one complex guy. The chapter about Pat was very touching. I think I almost shed a tear. And the way he wrote about his grandkids was poignant and funny. He was quite proud that his grandkids were proficient with computers and video games, while Nixon confessed to being baffled by both.

Nixon had a reputation of being a mean, bad man. I don't think he was, mean, I mean. Yes, he may have done a few bad things, that he came to regret, but he was not mean.

I got an email today telling me about the latest troubling shenanigans of a notoriously Mean Person we know in common.

I don't have much tolerance for Mean People, you know, those sorts who say things just to be Mean. It doesn't have to be truthful, usually it isn't, being Mean is the main criteria.

I haven't experienced all that many Mean People, but the ones I have known, have no scruples. They will out and out make up lies to buttress whatever Mean Thing they are saying. Mean People have no concept that they bring on themselves the reactions they get to their Meanness, as if they think they are under some sorta of immunity blanket.

As in, Mean People think they can say the most outrageously Mean Thing, in reaction to the most minor of stimuli. Yet, when their victim puts the Mean Thing into perspective, in an attempt to comprehend the incomprehensible, well, the Mean Person gets all bent out of shape and even Meaner. Mean People have trouble with mirrors, either verbal or physical.

The epic hypocrisy of the Meanest Person I've known, is the most outstanding trait of that particular Mean Person. This Mean Person has absolutely no sense of the irony of what comes out of this Mean Person's mouth. It can be astonishing. This Mean Person can go into full bore Mean Person mode, attacking another person in the most scathing way, while acting as if the Mean Person has no idea why the Victim of the Meanness gets fed up and does some bitch slapping. It's kind of funny to observe.

The Mean People I've known have not been very bright. Not being very bright may contribute to being Mean. All the smart people I've known have been Nice People. Nice People never act Mean. Probably because they're too smart to be Mean.

I sort of feel sorry for Mean People. That has to be a miserable way to go through your day, feeling all Angry and Mean. But then again, part of being Mean is pretty much lacking what most would consider to be a fully developed conscience. The lacking of a conscience and any ability to feel remorse for the hurt feelings the Mean Person leaves in their wake, let alone to make amends for the damage left behind in their wake, is what makes them a Mean Person. If the Mean Person had a conscience they would not be a Mean Person.

I guess what I'm saying is Mean People are sociopaths. They should all be locked up or banned to some big island somewhere, like Australia or Antarctica and leave all us Nice People in peace in a world without Mean People.

I hope Barack Obama has the banning of Mean People on his agenda. That and keeping obese people off planes.

Dennis Kucinich: Impeach Bush

Last night Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush. Each of Kucinich's articles seemed much more serious than the Articles of Impeachment that were brought against Bill Clinton.

Or even Richard Nixon. No one died due to the supposed high crimes and misdemeanors of Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon. Or Andrew Johnson.

It's long been a mystery to me why there have not been any impeachment moves against our Dear Leader. Til now. Or at least investigations. We suffered through laboriously long investigations into Watergate, Iran-Contra and Monicagate. But there's been no special investigation, with live TV coverage, into Bush's various shenanigans. Why?

Also a mystery to me is why it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that Kucinich's Impeachment attempt will go nowhere. Granted he is a bit of a goofball. But at times he can make a lot of sense. Like with his Articles of Impeachment thing.

Below is video of Kucinich introducing his Articles of Impeachment to the House of Representatives.

Impeach Bush?

On Friday, in front of the White House, presidential wannabe, Ralph Nader, called for the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

Ralph said George has, "dishonored the White House and brought a pattern of waste."

A meager crowd of supporters held signs like "Resign Bush-Cheney, Like Nixon-Agnew" and "From Katrina to Iraq, Colossal Failure."

Nader claimed Bush and Cheney are currently committing 5 impeachable offenses on a daily basis.

1) Criminal use of offense against Iraq.
2) Condoned and approved systematic torture.
3) Arresting thousands of Americans, then denying them habeas corpus and violating attorney/client privilege.
4) Signing 800 signing statements, precluding the president from actually having to follow the laws he signs.
5) The systematic spying on Americans without judicial approval.

I don't quite get #3. Thousands of Americans have been arrested? Why was I not informed of this? Who are they? Why were they arrested?

During my time on the planet there have been 2 impeachment attempts. Richard Nixon got in trouble being involved in a break-in at the Watergate. And then plotting to cover up the crime. No one died due to Watergate as far as I know. There were some other impeachment issues with Nixon other than Watergate, but none of those would have brought on impeachment hearings on their own without the Watergate Scandal. Nixon resigned before he could be impeached.

Bill Clinton was impeached over lying under oath regarding his nasty shenanigans with Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky. The Clinton impeachment, in hindsight, seems terribly stupid and wrong. Though it was sadly entertaining at the time. And, again, no one died due to Clinton's little fib while under oath.

And now you have our current president. Believed by the majority of Americans to be woefully incompetent. Incompetence is not an impeachable offense. Maybe it should be. Of Nader's 5 impeachable offenses the only one that seems impeachment worthy is the Iraq debacle. As in why has there been no investigation into all the misinformation that was spewed by the administration to justify our first war ever where we were not the victims of an aggression, but were instead the aggressor?

In the words of Gerald Ford, his first spoken after taking over for Nixon, come next January it will be a happy day for America when our long national nightmare is over. If impeachment could hasten that day, that would likely be a good thing.