My Cousin Has a Kayak

...one Long Lake, north of Spokane, Washington. Long Lake used to be the Spokane River, Now it's an extended stretch--eight to ten miles maybe--of shoreline and open water. Both are still pretty spectacular, especially from the vantage of a kayak along the shore and marshes. Much of the area directly fronting the property here is lilypad marsh, thick in places with channels for a human powered, shallow draft vessel. I've been out morning and evening the past couple of days. Watched a near full moon lighting up the lake the first night and caught glimpse of it last night. Mornings are truly glorious before the sun hits the lake--cool, still, quiet. Wildlife is scarce, save for bugs, until the sun is on the water. Then flotillas of loons and mud hens paddle out from the thickets and begin feeding among the lilly pads. I've seen a heron in flight close up and heard it's surprisingly crow-like caw as it takes off. Out on the lily pads, it stands and watches, sometimes grooming itself. The first night out I saw five osprey, two at flying together at one point, They fly effortlessly, low to the water when hunting. One dove and wrestled with something for a while but came up empty. For a summer Saturday, the lake is surprisingly quiet. My counsin's lakefront property also comes with a power boat but I prefer the kayak.

That's what I'm doing instead of blogging.

A friend tells me that, contrary to popular belief, Labrador Retrievers are not stupid; it’s just that they share a single brain and on any given day they are unlikely to have it available for use. That analogy comes to mind as I see the rather mild frenzy breaking around John Edward’s tryst with a campaign worker. It’s all too predictable. Men share a brain, not with other men but within their bodies. When the brain is in their dicks, it is not available for other purposes and a man will make some incredibly foolish decisions.

I can’t think of anything more foolish than a man running for national office risking all that for sex. (Well, maybe starting a war based on lies and deception, but I think the brain in that case wasn’t between Big Dick’s legs, it was firmly lodged in his evil skull.) Gary Hart, Newt Gingrich, Bill Clinton, Mark Foley and a host of others have literally stepped all over their dicks because they were thinking with them. I suppose ego, power and even boredom may play into the foolish decision but, still, these guys aspire to national leadership and they can’t even control themselves.

Sex will make a man crazy so I’m never surprised when a guy does something stupid, like risk a family and career to get laid on the run so to speak. Hell, I know I was obsessed with sex but I was an adolescent and immature young adult. I also figured how to deal with it and got on with a somewhat normal life. Thing is, that by the time a man has a family and career, I would expect him to be pretty well over that randy, lust for every woman he sees. Even if he harbors fantasies about the women who cross his path, the lust should be a fleeting thought that hardly even registers. Any man aspires to be a national leader should be able to control his own behavior.

None of this necessarily applies to CheneyBush. I can easily imagine the George W. unit as a swaggering cocksman but I think his handlers have him pretty much locked down. The Big Dick unit is otherwise too busy making the world safe for corporations to let something as insignificant as sex get in his way. He is clearly in control of his behavior, much to everyone’s detriment.

John Edwards is just the most recent victim of a brain missing in action. He won’t be the last.

The New Front

Hackers attack Georgia in cypberspace. Boots and armor on the ground; geeks on keyboards from just about anywhere in the world.

Need. Very. Large. Mirror.

If the Rethuglicans are going to paint Barack Obama as some kind of effete elitist, his best defense is a large mirror aimed right back at John McCain, a lifetime member of the Washington elite. John McCain is married to one of Arizona's richest women, a woman who can match Theresa Heinz Kerry's fortune,if not personality. Luxury homes, private jets. You can't get much more elite than John McCain.

Obama could do no better than to call this Rovian scheme for the hypocrisy it is.