THIS SPRING'S FUNNY

I haven't been gardening long, but this Spring seems different than the last three. It rained and got warm in very early April. The flowers began to sprout. Then the rain stopped and the weather became cooler. Though the Hostas are coming in strong, most flowers seem to have stopped, frozen, waiting for a little more warmth before they expose themselves further.

A WAY TO GET AROUND RESPONSIBILITY

I'm going to make a generalization that I can't support because it's a phenomenon I come across only once in awhile, and I don't note it down for future reference though it’s revealing and truly interesting.

Note how Limbaugh phrases his addiction in relation to his OxyContin and himself. He says, "It's a powerful addiction this stuff has.”* Thus he subconsciously really doesn’t admit to his addiction. The "stuff" has the addiction. It’s a slip of tongue with meaning. More than once but not more than four times, I’ve heard conservatives make this kind of verbal error, totally unaware of slipping over to blame something outside of themselves for what they‘ve done.

I think the human animal can imagine in others what is in it, and that’s why conservatives are so big about sticking the blame to others who they see as trying to paint themselves as victims, therefore, it’s harder for them to admit to frailties because they’ve got such a long fall off their high horses when they do admit to something. So they try to be big about it and take the fall, but sometimes their self-righteousness overwhelms their word choice.

*Newsweek, May 8, 2006

REPUBLICAN JUGGERNAUT CONTINUES TO ROLL. . . OVER GOODNESS

If it isn’t the mentally ill, it’s the poor, and if it’s not the poor, it’s the elderly, and if it’s not the elderly, it’s the union workers, and if it’s not the union worker, it’s the handicapped.... One group after another, the Republican juggernaut continues to roll over our little Polands and to destroy one piece of the safety net after another. I heard today that America is climbing near to the top of the industrialized world in child mortality rates. And Doris sent along another piece of information below:

“This is mind boggling. People who lived in Libby, Montana during the years they were mining asbestos (vermiculite) have died of lung cancer (asbestiosis) in droves. I have a friend, he was a co-worker when I worked for the state. He's a PhD psychologist. I saw him at an office supply store last summer, and we chatted a few minutes. He said his brother recently died of asbestiosis, and he himself has beginning signs of it. He has to accept that his life will be much shorter. Their father owned a sawmill at Libby, and they grew up there until they left for college. Today, I read that Bush and the Republican congress passed a bill releasing companies that pollute the air or water from all claims and responsibilities. They tied it in as a rider in the budget bill, along with another bill that cut the funds for housing subsidies to disabled people. But what can we do. Enough religious ignoramuses voted for him again in 2004.”

from Doris Gerhart

PS: By the way, the picture at top is the facade of one of my favorite writing spots at 2nd and Madison in Spokane, the Empyrean.