Sweet Caroline's good times must really have been so good.

Groucho may not have wanted to be a member of any club that would have him but, considering the den of liars, thieves and miscreants that is our current government, what skeletons must be in Caroline Kennedy's closet for her to pull her name from consideration to replace Hillary Clinton, a woman with a walk in closet worth of body parts herself, for the United States Senate. And to pull her name out under the cover of darkness in a late night announcement only serves to pique the interest of those of us vulture-like enough to want to circle this pile of bones in a death spiral of conjecture and innuendo. And the rumor mill is grinding away full speed.

The New York media is busy fleshing out these skeletons trying to make a body of concrete evidence for why she doesn't want the position. The initial word was it was a combination of taxes and nanny problems. That can't be it. If those were reasons to pull the plug, Timothy Geithner wouldn't be about to become the Secretary of the Treasury. Next we heard there were marital infidelities. That is almost a pre-requisite for running for office. It is the main reason I've not run for Congress. I can't get Mrs. Bald Man to sign off on that part of the deal so I remain unqualified. Tonight we hear the governor just didn't think she was ready or qualified for the job. Hello? Have you seen who is sitting in the Oval Office this week? Since when do qualifications count?

Some in her camp blamed Senator Ted Kennedy's recent illness and collapse but that is just plain pandering and plain wrong. In the ultimate effort to put a better face on this skeleton's skull, George Stephanopoulos says she backed off to "put family first". Isn't that special. I can't tell if the tear in George's eye is from this bit of candor or is left over from the joyous eye watering he and others in the media had during the inauguration.

All of this is an example of how, when the handlers get involved, politicians and politician wannabes end up looking even stupider than, ya know, they, ya know are. Had Mrs. Kennedy simply let the governor nominate the person of his choosing she could have simply walked away and joined her skeletons back in the ole closet. Hopefully Obama will keep her number on his super secure BlackBerry. If not I am sure the Chinese will put it in for him as soon as they hack it.

Had she been the one nominated, these issues might not have made a difference. For Democrats, not much matters. In the midst of a lawsuit over the recount, the Senate is going to try and seat Al "there are more votes in my trunk if you need them" Franken.

We have entered an age where the only thing that matters is the "agenda". More than anything I have heard recently, nothing has scared me as much as this quote from Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. In saying why he was voting to approve Timothy Geithner for his Secretary seat he said that in normal times he would oppose Geithner but "these are not normal times." Not normal times? So that means we can put ethics, justice, truth, and even the constitution aside because these are "not normal times". Unfortunately, in the coming weeks you will hear this reasoning also applied to spending bills, gun control, right to choose bills and other soon to be named restrictions on our liberties and attacks on capitalism.

The only thing not normal in all of this will be if right thinking Americans continue to idly by while the flesh of their freedoms is ripped from their bones.

I am heading to the closet to cry with my skeletons.

S2

Umm, you know, I think it is time for a new drinking game

It is Sunday night in Utah which means those of us who derive our alcohol morality in a Church where we have wine during Mass instead of one that whines about those of us who have wine during Mass have to be creative in our consumption.

Years ago, most likely in a small liberal arts college where math and science took a back seat to activism and social studies, there was created a drinking game to be played during the Bob Newhart show. Every time a character on the show said “Hi Bob”, those in attendance were required to take a drink of whatever adult oriented beverage they currently had in their glass. Over the years there have been many variations of the game but none have ever caught on with the same thirst for competition as the Newhart game.

I was performing my due diligence as a socially aware and socially drinking blogger this evening and spent time listening to audio clips of President-elect Barack “I’ve already had it with the media” Obama and Senator wanna-be Caroline “I have a Neil Diamond song named after me” Kennedy. Just seeing a Kennedy is enough to make me want to drink and it isn’t homage to prohibition profiteer Grandpa Joe’s activities. Nevertheless I heard in both Obama’s and Kennedy’s speech the perfect triggers for an updated “Hi Bob” game.

Every time the One says his trademark “umm” or "ahh" or the one soon to be chosen Senator says “You know”, grab the closest alcoholic beverage not already consumed by Uncle Teddy and suck it down. I didn’t even make it all the way through this Kennedy interview before Mrs. Bald Man took my keys and set out the bottle of Excedrin she knows I’ll need in the morning. I don’t know if my liver can take four to six years of this abuse. I don’t know if our country can either but booze may be the only coping mechanism we have left. And to think the media criticized George Bush for his lack of communicativeness.

Here are two more samplings from You Tube:


Cheers,
S2