I met Howard Dean Today!

Cross-posted on Mormons for America.

he·ro

1. In mythology and legend, a man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and favored by the gods.

2. A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.

3. A person noted for special achievement in a particular field.

I don't throw around the word hero very often. In fact, my list of heroes is very short. Captain Moroni, Joseph Smith, Mr. Rodgers, and Howard Dean. Only one of these men is living. Today, I met him.

It was at a campaign fundraiser for his cousin, Peter Corroon, who is running for Mayor of Salt Lake County. After both he and Peter spoke, I snuck around the back part of the coffee shop, and introduced myself, including the fact that I had organized Mormons for Dean. He thanked me for my efforts.

I then gave him two Mormon Tabernacle Choir CDs. He was surprised and happy to have them.

Some mental notes from Dean's speech:

1) "Democracy is not a spectator sport." We need to actively engage in politics, not just show up in November.

2) The government must start acting like it is the citizen's money, not the government's. We must elect those who recognize this.

3) Dean supports Instant Runoff Voting, which is a major platform point of Mormons for America.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm going to write two entries on Memorial Day to be posted tomorrow, and then head back out of town.

-Bob

Gas Prices -- How much is it costing you?

All information is courtesy utahgasprices.com.

I average about 1 gallon per day. If you fill your 10 gallon tank every 10 days, that's your average, too. It's actually a pretty low average. But that's what I'll use to figure gas costs in a new, irregular installment.

Today's average gas price in Utah: $2.026 a gallon
Yesterday's average price: $1.993; Annual Cost of this increase: $12.05
One Week ago price: $1.987; Annual Cost: $14.24
One Month Ago price: $1.886; Annual Cost: $51.10
One Year Ago Price: $1.534; Annual Cost: $179.58

-Bob

Picking the Worng Battles

The last several years, we have seen many issues come up where our elected officials "fix" a problem by not changing what's broken.

First, it was the aftermath of Florida 2000. The reason the Supreme Court ended the recount in Gore v Bush was because there was no state standard for recounts. We "fixed" the problem by going to electronic voting where recounts are impossible, and there's no way to tell if you screwed up the ballot. That's not to mention the fact that the computers are prone to crashing, or idiot poll workers not knowing they have to plug in the machines.

Next, we were attacked. So, we go after the guy who was responsible, right? Well, kinda. We spend a few months looking for him. But, we can't find him. So, we keep some troops in that country (a number so small we now only control a few cities there), and we attack annother country. A country whose leader was hated by the guy we were looking for in Afganistan. A country where the group that attacked us had zero presence until they followed us in.

Lastly, a little closer to home, some government employees are abusing their car, er, SUV privlidges. So, instead of better monitoring on the system, they are going to take away the cars, giving everyone a $300-750 car allowance. THAT won't lead to abuses at all.....

Sheesh.

-Bob

A Bush Joke

Well, President Bush *IS* a joke on his own, but here's a joke ABOUT Bush:

How many members of the Bush Administration are needed to replace a lightbulb?
The Answer is SEVEN:

one to deny that a lightbulb needs to be replaced

one to attack and question the patriotism of anyone who has questions about the lightbulb,

one to blame the previous administration for the need of a new lightbulb,

one to arrange the invasion of a country rumored to have a secret stockpile of lightbulbs,

one to get together with Vice President Cheney and figure out how to pay Halliburton Industries one million dollars for a lightbulb,

one to arrange a photo-op session showing Bush changing the lightbulb while dressed in a flight suit and wrapped in an American flag,

and finally one to explain to Bush the difference between screwing a lightbulb and screwing the country.

-Bob

Bush = Liar

Bush is a Liar.
Bush is a Liar.
Bush is a Liar.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy: "It's been raining a lot and the topsoil is loose .... You know this president. He likes to go all-out. Suffice it to say he wasn't whistling show tunes."

The Rain totals for Crawford, TX:

May 22: 0"
May 21: 0"
May 20: 0"
May 19: 0"
May 18: 0"
May 17: 0"
May 16: 0"
May 15: 0"
May 14: 0.03"
May 13: 2.79"
May 12: 0"
May 11: 0.15"
May 10: 0"
May 9: 0"

So, the last significant rain was a full NINE days before the crash. NINE DAYS!!!!

Count with me, class: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine! Nine Days! Wah-ha-ha-ha! (My best Count von Count impersination)

I'm surprised the White House didn't just blame Clinton for this one. Or Saddam. Or John Kerry.

All I can say: Liar, liar, pants on fire, hanging on a telephone wire.

-Bob

EDIT: just to say this a courtesy DailyKos.

Iraq Torture

I've resisted the temptation to post on the torture of Iraqi prisoners.

However, this post is not on the tortur itself, which was cruel, unusual, and worthy of sending people to the Hague for war crimes.

It's about the current PR going on from the right.

They are showing pictures of Saddam's torture, at the same prison.

It's as if to say that "Hey, it could be worse!"

Well, I say "The lesser of two evils is still evil."

-Bob

Now, with comments!

Now, blogger has comments! So, Comment away! Let me know how much of a nutjob you think I am!

-Bob