Those Old Conservatives Need a New Lesson

“Books of true tales, Mirrors of tragedy;

Remorseful and pale;

As in past, these news travel fast.

Books of true tales, Mirrors of tragedy;

My life is no game;

It's a real shame the false news travel fast.”

--Sonata Arctica, “False News Travels Fast” from the CD Silence, 2002.

Good Day.

It has been a while, and I feel as though I have reached a level of political security.

My local newspaper, the Daily Pantagraph, allows anonymous people to leave remarks with clever little nicknames. I use my initials. This is done, according to the newspaper editors, so people will not retaliate against one another.

The paper is supposed to block hateful or mean-spirited emails that call names or falsely accuse others; so if the paper were to follow its own policy, one would not think that protection is really needed from knowing the bloggers/comment-makers/posters names.

That stated, tons of self-righteous people are writing in to comment on how after nearly two weeks, Obama has not made changes.

Lordy.

These ignorant masses of conservative sheep will never allow or accept that their fearless leader, George Dumb-O-U Bush, took eight years to ruin our international peace, our fiscal policies, our right to privacy, and our sense of decency; not to mention ending the lives of US soldiers and citizens of Iraq.

OK, the last part is a bit strong, I will concede it to the more narrow-minded, but this man really screwed the country.

And the man is so indignant about it. He believes he is doing “God’s work.” I guess the Religious President Bush skipped the whole Sixth and Ninth Commandment (thou Shalt not Kill and Thou Shalt not Bear False Witness {lying}) thing when he was being so pious.

So while I muddle through the mish-mash of silly commentaries and bait the dips on the website with logic, I am amazed at how staunchly people support a party.

I still think one should think for him or herself in this world.

I voted for Illinois Governor Rod Blagovich and I have to admit; he’s a dirt bag that needed to be removed. What a slime ball. He’s a thief, a liar, and a corrupt individual. I have no problem saying it, as he betrays my trust.

Why can’t folks say the same about President Bush? Are they afraid they will lose their guns, they will be labeled as Un-American, they will support a growth of abortion clinics, bunches of gay people will become married; teachers will burn Bibles in their classes? I mean, really now, what is there to fear.

I don’t really know, but one would think (I am a) Dick Cheney and George W. Bush would know as they were experts at using fear and paranoia for personal gain.

Freedom of Speech; glad to have it back; I have missed you. Congrats President Obama.

What The Bears Need

“I’m gonna make you bad for good…”
--Meatloaf from the album Bat Out of Hell III.

Wow, the Bears are really messed up.

Super Genius, Jerry Angelo has stated that he felt the quarterback position must be secured.

Hmm…poor Jerry must have forgotten that he could put Joe Montana back there, but if he does not have a receiver it is relatively pointless.

Jen and my brother are both calling for Ron Turner’s head, but I have some sympathy for the man. I mean, let’s see what Jerry gave Turner to work with: no receivers, an unproven and untested rookie running back (that’s after letting Thomas Jones go and banking on a moron like Cedric Benson), an offensive line that (like good cheese and wine) is aged, and a quarterback that was a fourth round draft pick from four years ago and a #1 that is clearly lost his edge. For the Bears to have won nine games, I say Turner deserves a medal.

With that in mind, the Bears MUST acquire new offensive lineman in one way or another.

The reason the Bears lost is that their Defense is weaker than suspected and their special teams have some problems.

The Bears solution is to hire Rod Marinelli, a move I agree with. The new Defensive Line coach is a mean SOB, and to be frank, we need that. Lovie will be calling Defensive plays; which translates to Babich returning as a linebacker coach. The Bears went to the Super Bowl with Babich as their linebacker coach, so I see no problems, after his bruised ego heals. Let’s face it, folks, Babich is NOT a Defensive coordinator. In fact, he sucks as one.

Tommy (I Really SUCK for 10 million a year) Harris says he is happy with the new Defensive Line Coach. He wants to play for him. Well, that is great, but I thought you should play with whoever is coach.

Rod Marinelli has recently praised Alex Brown, as well he should. Alex Brown was a bright spot this season, a season of dark holes. Between Manning and Brown, I am torn as to who I enjoy watching more. I will admit to being critical of Daniel Manning, but the guy can play and he does so with heart.

The other Brown, Mike Brown, deserves a one year contract. I hope the Bears give him one. Fill it with incentives if he plays a full season and he will be happy and productive.

As far as the other defenders, light a fire under Anderson and Urlacher (the latter will be an albatross across the team’s neck for a while longer) and draft some decent safeties. I would go free agent for a QB and two wide receivers. I would also dump Booker and Davis and keep Lloyd and Hester.

Unwillingly to a degree, and because Jen has convinced me so, I would develop Caleb Hanie and let him in on the competition for quarterback. He is better and bigger than Grossman, and for that alone he deserves some accolades.

Lastly, I think it is time the Bears parted ways with Adrian Peterson, John St. Clair, Truman McBride, Rex Grossman, Garrett Wolfe, Olin Kruetz, John Tait, Marty Booker, and Rashid Davis.

Oh, and the Bears can dump Jerry Angelo any time they wish. And based on the picture, no Jerry Angelo, it is not good.

Happy New Year: Renewed and Happy

“Once in a lifetime you'll find someone heaven sent for you…

For a lifetime you'll feel there's a reason to believe…

In a love that's meant to be…”

--Meatloaf from the song “What About Love” from the LP Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster’s Loose.

Happy New Year!

I have some big news on the home-front. Even though it happened about three and a half weeks ago, Jen and I are now officially engaged.

Her sister Sarah took the picture below.

We have been seeing each other for some time, and sometimes you just know what and when it is right.

I try to keep my “personal” personal life out of this blog for reasons of disregarding some silliness at work or awkward situations with some of my “more liberal” opinions.

This however, for me and Jen, starts the new year properly with hope and inspiration.

We share much in common: we both love football, we both like the Chicago Bears, we love horror films, we both like science fiction, we both like Edward Gorey, we have similar tastes in music, we find each other attractive, we do not grow bored when we speak to each other and conversations are exciting, we both look forward to seeing each other, we both respect the other’s space, and we both are in love with each other.

The families seem to like the other.

The cats seem to like the other.

The other seems to like the other.

We have our differences: I am a bit more liberal, Jen is a bit more pragmatic, I like fish, Jen likes artistic stuff that I frankly do not understand.

We both like comedies (as we are going to Spam-a-lot next month). Jen collects DVD’s and I collect CD’s and cartoons on DVD.

Jen tolerates my comics and I tolerate her shoes.

Jen has firm moral beliefs and I…well..we all know I have a problem with organized religion as such.

We bought a book that shows one of our differences: He Said Beer; She Said Wine.

I screw up laundry; she does it properly. I drive automatic, while she drives a stick. I like ISU; Jen is a U of I fanatic and I stress that word fanatic.

Still, we are willing to learn about the other.

Jen is willing to listen to my progressive metal music; and I listened to her Cold-Play and Evanescence. She likes to sing and has a beautiful voice; I cannot sing and she still complements my ability to try.

The great thing is that we encourage each other and laugh with each other.

To be honest, especially since October, my life has been an exciting whirlwind and I really love being with Jen. And without sounding too dopey, I have had more fun than I thought I could or deserved to have.

Jen is a Pizza addict and I have become a hockey one. So after a local hockey game, we enjoy some Pizza at her favorite restaurants: Lucca’s or Tobin’s. It seems like we share the best of each other’s world within the time.

And perhaps that is the true key to it all. We will share each other’s world within our time together.

The other key is that we do love each other.

Hoping the New Year finds you happy, restored, and excited.