Happy Independece Day

I didn't get to writing the promised post yesterday. I was being bemused, bewitched, and bemildred by the Sarah Palin resignation, among other things. (apologies to Walt Kelly)
I have been all over the web trying to figure out what gives with the Palin speech and just
can't seem to make sense of it. Voices cry from the opposite loft: "You should talk!". I know,
I know. But I'm a blogger not a politician. You would think that anyone who is at all qualified to be a governor of the great big state of Alaska could speak for eight and a half minutes without going all over the place, contradicting herself, and throwing mixed metaphors around like birdfeed.
The best attempt at unraveling Palin's wild riff that I could find is Geoffrey Dunn's post at the Huffington Post. It's definitely worth reading. Joan Walsh at Salon.com caught the tenor of the speech perfectly: "...a stunning example of a bizarre public meltdown..."
If McCain had won the election, would she now be resigning because of "a full court press right now on the national level picking apart a good point guard"? The Rightwingnuts just keep getting weider and weirder.

Yes, today is Independence Day. Read the Declaration. Read the first ten amendments to the Constitution (The Bill of Rights). Think about what a bunch of blow hard wimps we have running our country today, compared to the courageous, idealistic men who founded it and who were willing to work together to make it succeed. Our leaders today are for the most part small-minded and selfish, but the citizens are generally upfront and generous. There may be hope for us to restore our principles.

Today's Music Pick:
Listen to that most American of bands: The Greatful Dead.

Quote of the day:
"The power of religion and the fascination of psychology are that they try to explain character. What gives men standards of responsibility, called honor? What is it that, in extremity, forces some men to betray those standards in the hope of escaping death, and what forces other men to hold by them, let death come? Why does danger paralyze the will and intelligence of some men, and why does it vitalize the will and make purposive the intelligence of others? Why when death must be faced, do some personalities disintegrate whereas others abide by the qualities of resolution, fortitude, and courage which have persuaded the human race that it has dignity?"
Bernard DeVoto - The Year of Decision 1846

Footnote: Bemused, Bewitched, and Bemildred wre the names of the three bats in Waly Kelly's Pogo comic strip.