More Random Ruminations

Once again, a variety of opinions on a variety of subjects. As a friend of mine once said, "Often wrong, but seldom in doubt." Let's jump right in:

• What in the world is up with Mel Gibson? How can someone produce a movie like "The Passion of the Christ" and then use the kind of language and ranting we heard on those phone recordings? The guy is nuts, plain and simple. It bothers me that people like him are associated with Christianity. But then it probably bothers him that people like me are associated with Christianity. Frankly, none of us live up to the level we should - but we can do better than Mel. All you folks who have those "fish" symbols on your car, remember that when you flip somebody off in traffic.

• You've heard it before. After the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, for instance. A few days after the disaster, someone asked what happened. "Well, mistakes were made." Just last week, after the Shirley Sherrod debacle, someone asked how something like this could happen. "Well, mistakes were made." All these guys seem to have an uncanny grasp of the obvious. We're smart enough to know "mistakes were made", but we want to know who made them. We want names. We want to know what they knew and when they knew it. We want those people to be held responsible for their actions. We want to know whose neck to choke. Is that too much to ask? Apparently so. Would that response work with your employer? Think of all the great places that response could have been used throughout history....Nixon after Watergate, Eve in the Garden of Eden, the list is endless. We need to outlaw that phrase right now and make people take responsibility for their actions.


• Boy, I'll be glad when the elections are over. I'm about sick of all the tv ads. Every candidate starts out by saying "We're going to talk about the issues." What they really mean is "We're going to talk about the issues until I'm down in the polls, then I'm going to start saying anything to get a vote." As you know, I consider myself a conservative independent. That means that the Democrats and Republicans are equally disgusting to me. I honestly don't see how anyone can be affiliated with either major party and do anything besides continue the status quo. Sad, isn't it?

• A recent poll shows that 70% of Tennesseans oppose the "guns in bars" legislation, yet it is the law of the land. How is that possible? How can any legislator say they represent the people of their district, yet still support this law? Bottom line - it's an election year and no one wants to alienate the gun lobby. This is an example of when representative government does not work.

• I was on vacation with the family in Florida last week. Didn't see any oil, but you should have seen the guys who were looking for it. They looked like something out of a bad science fiction movie. Picture this... it's about 95 in July on the beach in Florida and these guys are out there with hats, masks, long pants, boots, plastic covers over the boots, a bucket, and a net. They're making $18 per hour to walk up and down the beach looking for tar balls. They have to take "frequent breaks due to the heat." Well, actually, they have to take frequent breaks because they have to wear all that gear that is required by the EPA. They're not trying to find nuclear waste, for goodness sakes, it's crude oil. It's the same thing the guys on the oil rigs touch with their bare hands every day! Give them a pair of shorts, some flip-flops, and a bucket. Pay them minimum wage and make the work all day. I mean, how smart do you have to be to spot a tar ball?

• And finally, there's poor Lindsey Lohan. She's having to go to jail because she violated her probation. Did she finally run out of rehab tickets? Isn't there some other appeal process for someone of her talent level? Would they actually make her spend time behind bars for breaking the law? Well, apparently the answers are Yes, No, and Watch Me! Maybe she'll get the message. Someone in the media said maybe she'll "finally get the help she needs." What she needs is a few more nights in the slammer, being treated like every other drunk. There's all kinds of help out there if she wants it, but it doesn't appear that she really wants any. I can tell you from experience, you can't help people who don't want to be helped. Save yourself some aggravation and stop trying until she asks.

Well, enough for now. Got to clean my pistol before we go to dinner. Oh, and I need to pick up a "Thinking of You" card for Lindsey.

Till next time..........