Used to be what?

“People will little note nor long remember what we say here!”….Oops..
that was more stolen words from the Gettysberg Address. Poor Abe Lincoln
….he was sort of this “squeshy Republican”. They said he was too much
of a social reformer. They said he was a war monger. They said he didn’t
care about the the people who elected him to office. They said he listened
to no one. He kept firing every General he thought wasn’t trying to solve
the social and economic ills of the nation with enough force.

Uh oh, perhaps we should digress. Two very attractive ethnic minority
people just defeated both a white guy and an ethnic majority guy in the
recent 1st District OC Supervisor race. The “big news” however is whether
or not 8 votes makes a difference. A switch of 8 votes, not 7…will tilt
another Orange County windmill. The phones are burning up and as in the
Lou Correa race……..a victor will be found suddenly, silently and all
the kings horses and all the kings men….won’t be able to put Scooter
Libby or Tim Russert together again. Which one is Catholic again? If you
think these events are unconnected – think again.

OK, we just have a tough time with company labels. Conservative Republican,
Moderate Republican, Liberal Republican…or Conservative Democrat, Moderate
Democrat, Liberal Democrat. Somehow it just doesn’t have that punch or
clarity of a Ralph Nader – Earth First Green Party…or Ross Perot – United
We Stood Maybe!

Come on people, party labels went out when the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn.
Remember back then: Southern Democrats! For years during the Tom Kuechel,
Earl Warren, Goodwin Knight so-called Republican days….we were quite sure
that we were Southern Democrats really. Especially considering that Governor
Pat Brown and Big Daddy Jess Unruh had DEM control of California politics for
over 30 years when these other guys didn’t. OK, so who would remember any
of those guys? Well, what about the those McCarthy Hearings ….no, no, not
Eugene….Joe!! Well how about the Kefauver Crime Committee hearings…those
were cool, when there wasn’t any official Organized Crime in America at the
time – according to the FBI. All of the above listed as concerned and caring
Republicrats and Democans!

OK…sounds like we are siding with “Professor” Pedroza here a bit…..but
the truth of the matter is that we all should be here to make our country
a better place to live and grow the progeny…children. A place where all
kids can feel like they can be part of the solution….not part of the
problem maybe. So, do we get bad people sometimes to be in charge of our
political parties, committee’s, bureaucracies and agencies? Just ask Spiro
Agnew about milk? Rest in peace! No fellas and gals….America is a big
tent with lots of greedy, rotten, nasty politicians of every stripe. Really
not very different than say Japan, Korea, Germany, Britain, Russian or
France! That’s probably why they call it politics.

Hey, we tried that Independent stuff….which is not only very hard for
others to swallow…but it truly is like Chinese food..you are still hungry
two hours later. No, Nixon bummed us out completely…so we turned our cheeks
to the man from Alabama…only to have him gunned down too. But we stayed
on the fringes for years..voting for the likes of Bo Gritz or Harry Brown.
Nah, now we will just stay like a pimple on the backside of the Republican
party thank you. We don’t get invited to their parties…but we go anyway!
We will tell them when and what we think they have messed up and attempt
to continually make our voices heard.

You see..all the other parties seem so..how you say? – like Fruit Loops!!
Obama said he will quit smoking hey? Well…..forget about it! Seriously,
which party do you think is going to do anything meaningful to regulate
Bio-engineered crops, Food Labeling of cloned beef or poultry, Ban Pesticides
or Fumigation on urban buildings in this country? How old is Ralph Nader
again? And do you think he’s had botox treatments lately?