Hillary...You Gotta Love Her?

Undecided about Hillary Clinton? I'm not. She is my 1st choice for President of the United States. I admire her. I respect her. But, no, I do not, necessarily, like her, if you use that term to mean warm, cosy feelings.

Judith Warner's column is a good explanation of how many of Hillary's contemporaries feel about her. While she does not evoke any venomous dislike as is described in Judith Warner's column for me, Hillary, likewise, does not exactly warm my heart.



One of the things that happens with age and maturity is your choices are less often based on what you like and what feels good (although that will always be true of some choices), but they are more likely to be based on what you know is best. Your head choices start to outnumber your heart choices.

The cover story of the the June 3, 2007 issue of the New York Times Magazine confirmed that my choice of Hillary for Prez is a head choice. This country has been ravaged and ruined for the last 7 years by a soulless, unimaginative, uninformed figurehead that believes himself to be a leader. You don't send a boy (Barack Obama) to do a woman's job. It is best not to send one who leads with his heart (John Edwards) to do a job that needs a superior head.

I love Obama, he would likely be my next choice in 2016 (supposing Hillary in 2008 and repeat in 2012...quite a stretch). Even more than Obama, I have a place in my heart for Edwards, but not this time. We need a "mama bitch", as a good friend said, to clean up this mess.

Take some time, read Hillary's War. You'll see what I mean.

Grows on You

Since I have been subscribing to The Last Plantation...is the Mind, I have become familiar with the writings of John Schwade. At first I was not overly impressed as I found his writing a bit tedious and overly detailed. But I kept reading because his subjects were usually so captivating. Well, he has now become a favorite. I find myself, now, trolling the Internet looking for me more than I get on Plantation.

This story from the News Observer, about the murder of Denita Smith, a young NC grad student, put me over the edge. I am now, officially, a John Schwade fan. You will hear more about him here.

Good-bye Ton...

Yes, it is over. The Sopranos are no more. I sat on the sofa last night watching the final episode of Tony Soprano, his family, and all his paisans. At the time, I was not sad, just apprehensive and excited. My excitement was sprinkled with dread and carried along by hope, but hindered by fear. Suppose Tony gets whacked. I can't bear it! Suppose he turns states evidence and totally wimps out. I can't bear it! Heaven forbid something should happen to Carmela. Oh, God, not that! This is my mind on Sunday, June 10, 2006.

Then it is 8:55 p.m. CDT. Tony is still intact with his credentials still in place. He sits down at a diner to wait for his family for dinner. The door to the restaurant opens, is this it? No, Carmela saunters over with a look of self-possession and a warm, sexy smile for Tony. Again, that door... a sleazy guy with haunched shoulders and cap pulled low slinks in and eases up to the bar. But it's OK, A. J. bounces in behind him and joins Tony and Carmela. They talk a bit about A.J.'s new Tony-finagled movie industry gig. The sleazy guy gets up from the bar and eases into the men's room. (To get the gun, ala The Godfather?) While outside Melody struggles to parallel park her car so she, too, can join the family. AHHHH! Why are they showing that? It's Melody! Someone is going to shoot her and Tony will run out to save her and catch a rain of bullets in the gut. Oh God, Nooooo! All this and I am no longer reclining on the sofa. I am sitting up, eyes bugged out, literally sweating (no wait, that's a hot flash!). OK, the car is parked, Melody bounces out, crosses the street barely missing getting run over and enters the restaurant. Music...black out....WHAT! Did the cable go out?!!??....credits roll.

Man, what a finish! You fill in the blanks.

Dick Cavett tried to get me ready, but even he was off the mark. Take a look anyway, great blog post!

R I P ... Freedom of the Press

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Bill Moyers spoke at the 2007 National Conference for Media Reform in Memphis, TN. The gist of this speech is summed up in this quote from that address:

"So if we need to know what is happening, and Big Media won’t tell us; if we need to know why it matters, and Big Media won’t tell us; if we need to know what to do about it, and Big Media won’t tell us … we have to tell the story ourselves."

Read the entire speech here. Be prepared to be afraid...very afraid if you care about access to and quality of information free from propaganda.

I Surrender

Now I know. I knew I was not ready for what God wanted me to do here. I thought all it would take was time and opportunity. But no. What God meant when He kept telling me "not yet" was that I was not even ready to get ready. Now He says I am. God is good. He allowed me to get all I thought I had to have. He gave me some strength, will, and self-confidence before He to revealed His first part of the plan. I must become "like a child" again with Him as my Father.

He gave me Grace to speak for him. So last night I asked Him to come into my life and be my Savior. Peace. Instant peace. When I awoke this morning, my 1st realization was how strong and well my body felt. Then I was aware of an intense sense of well-being and barely suppressed euphoria. I felt God fill me from my head to my toes. What joy! Everything looked new and more beautiful than the day before.

I am no longer afraid. I am a child of God. I am safe. I no longer have to be in control. I have surrendered to him. I only have to be here and listen to His Word. I am. I will.

I love God with all my heart, soul, and mind. There is no other. I will serve him forever. This I know if I know nothing else. By the Grace of God, I am.