Back in May, I was sitting in the airport on my way to Vegas and pondering the news of his getting into the 2012 presidential race.  While I was kind of surprised that he was even running (I genuinely had gotten the impression that he was content writing books and providing analysis to the various and sundry news and political shows) I was more surprised that he was only announcing on Facebook and Twitter.  Not in conjunction with a press conference or a rally – just on Facebook and Twitter.  My first (very snarky) thought on that was, “Are you running your campaign out of your Mom’s basement?”  Running an effective social media campaign takes work, of course,  but only making the announcement via those outlets struck me as a bit, well – lazy.  Call me a throwback, but I think a presidential bid deserves an actual press conference or rally or something along those lines.  (I know he’s not the only one to announce via social media, but his is the one that is standing out right now.)

Less than a week later, he stepped in at again by criticizing the Republican Medicare overhaul plan. I was actually impressed that he spoke his mind rather than simply running in lockstep with the rest of the party.  (Though I do wonder how he would have reacted if someone else did this when he was Speaker.)  Political suicide in this climate, but admirable to me nonetheless.

That was then followed by a two week cruise to Greece. That one had me scratching my head a bit – he was either going for the “Yes, dear, you’re right, we need to get away” demographic, or he just didn’t really care that much.  I guess I wasn’t the only one thinking it didn’t seem to be the best move as on June 9th, his top campaign aides resigned en masse.  I don’t care what business you’re in, when everyone walks out the door, that’s a bad sign.

Then came yesterday’s news that his finance staff had quit. (Insert joke about sticking around to make sure the Tiffany’s bill was paid off.)  Stick a fork in him, he’s done.

I was talking with a friend last weekend about this – why on earth would you run for president if you just really don’t care that much?  His answer?  “Easy.  He wants to stay relevant.”

I get that.  Everyone wants to stay relevant – in their field, in life, all of it.  No one wants to get pushed to the backburner and relegated to a footnote in the history books.

But running for president?  Write more books, OpEd pieces – there are any number of ways to stay on the Sunday talk show circuit and stay relevant in the party.  Running for president seems a bit extreme to say the least, and frankly smacks a bit of desperation.  Why you’d put yourself through the hell of a presidential bid simply to stay on the map simply eludes me.

Of course, ask me the question again when I’m 68 and feeling like I’m fading into obscurity and I might have a different answer.

That being said – I so love election day, despite the frustrations and strife it may bring about. Absentee, vote early, and mail-in voting is great and convienient, and for some folks it is the only way they can vote. (I’ve had to go absentee on a few occasions because I couldn’t be sure at all that I could get to a precinct before it closed.) However, there is something I really love about going up to my precinct on election day and filling out my ballot. Sure, voting is voting and it doesn’t matter when or how you do it, but I love being at the polling place on election day.

Now, looking back at my track record of actually voting for the guy that won – I really shouldn’t enjoy election day at all. It usually is just a confirmation that I am totally out of sync with my nation/state/neighborhood. I suspect it means that I am hopelessly out of touch with the issues at stake, but I prefer to think that it because I am just that far ahead of the curve as to what is going to matter, and the rest of the nation just hasn’t caught up with me yet.

Maybe it is just because there are many things in this life that I don’t feel qualified to be a part of, but voting? I can do that! There is no right or wrong, there is no litmus test to participate. You read up, you make your decisions, you mark your ballot and turn it in. And by that action, you have done your little part in deciding where the country is going to go next.

When you think about it, it’s pretty damn cool.

I will say that I do understand the concept. There are lots of folks out there with prescription drugs that they no longer need or want* and/or have long since expired sitting in their medicine cabinets. They also want to get rid of them, and don’t feel that there is a truly safe way to dispose of said drugs. I’ll also not even begin to argue the fact that prescription drug abuse is a problem. I’ve personally known someone who was skimming painkillers from his parents’ stash. (The pathetic part is that he was supposedly an adult, but whatever.)

But for years we were told, “Flush the drugs!” However, if the water testing is even remotely accurate – boy howdy, did we. It sounds like the Rockfish being caught are exceptionally relaxed and lacking back pain, anxiety, and STD’s given the amount of ibuprofen, naproxen, carbamazepine, sulfamethoxazole, and triclocarban that were found in the waters in 2008.

So, the powers on high changed their tune from “flush it” to “chuck it”. Really not a problem – it’s a mere 8 feet from my powder room to my trash can, so it’s hardly a trial to change my ways. (Not that I wasn’t chucking old meds into the trash to begin with, but if I had been flushing them, it’s not exactly difficult to start putting them in the trash bin.)

My issue with the whole DEA giveback is this: How stupid are we that we can’t actually move from flushing our drugs down the loo to simply upending the bottle of pills into the trash can and recycling the bottle, and now we have to go to a “Prescription Drug Turn-In Event” to make this happen? Did they have free funnel cakes, corn dogs and moon bounces at these events? Cause if they did, then I’ll be turning in my unused Centrum vitamins at the next event. But I suspect that there were no awesome freebies to be had, which really, really makes me wonder – WHY would you drive over all town to dump your pills when your trash can is RIGHT IN YOUR KITCHEN??

Yes, there are people who will happily dredge through your trash to try to steal your identity, but I would have to say that I’m fairly sure they wouldn’t take an unidentified pill that they found in the midst of the cat litter – everyone does have some standards. And if they choose to do so? Then they certainly deserve getting a dose of cat-sized Amoxicillin when they thought they were getting adult-sized Percoset.

Come on America – you’re smarter than this. Save your gas and time and just toss the pills in the trash already!! You don’t need an “EVENT” to get rid of them!

*I’ll admit the idea of “wanting” to dump perfectly good prescription drugs is slightly foreign to me – I’m OK with having prescription drugs on hand in case of accidentally twisting a knee or throwing out a back. However, my kickass painkillers are non-narcotic, so they’re not exactly coveted by those looking for an easy high – if you take them when nothing hurts – nothing even remotely interesting happens.

I was in the car listening to the announcers talk about the nominee with a couple of commentators about it. Some worries that she hasn’t been a judge, which were quickly countered with the point that there have been several justices and chief justices that weren’t judges. (Apparently all on the court today have been judges. I don’t see an issue with throwing someone a little different in the mix. I don’t think we have a Harriet Myers situation on our hands here.)

I was a bit amused by a comment that came from a Congressman (I think) about the Supreme Court not being academia and “not a place for flights of fancy and intellectual debates.” (I may be paraphrasing a bit, I can’t find the quote online to confirm.) Well, heaven forbid there be any intellectual debate taking place on the Supreme Court! We certainly can’t have that.

Then one of the announcers asked if there would be questions about her sexuality.

This was where I almost ran off the road. Wait, her WHAT?

It seems she’s 50, single and has never been married. Well, I guess we all know what that means.

It means she’s 50, single and has never been married.

Please, PLEASE tell me that no one on the Judiciary Committee is going to decide that because she’s never been married that she must be a lesbian and then decide that would make her too liberal or otherwise biased. Someone please tell me there isn’t anyone on that committee or in the media would go down that road. We’re all better than that, right?

And now this:

Threats made to the Senate Parliamentarian.

To whatever nutbag did this: Do you even understand what his job is????? He advises on the rules of the Senate & parliamentary procedure. HE READS AND EXPLAINS THE RULEBOOK! He doesn’t make policy! He doesn’t write legislation! He doesn’t vote on legislation!

I understand that there are people that are unhappy about the health care legislation, but for god’s sake at least get angry at people who actually have something to do with the legislation, write them letters and explain why you’re not happy. Then go volunteer for the campaign of whomever is running against them next time around. That’s how we do it in this country. We don’t go chucking bricks through the windows of people we disagree with or try to intimidate them into following our views.

Virginia is back to paper ballots, and I can’t say that I mind.  As much as electronic voting is cool and easy and I’d love someday to be able to vote from home, there is still something nice about having a piece of paper to back up my vote.

I’ll be interested to see what the statewide turnout is – I would think it would be fairly decent as we are electing a governor, but who knows.  The Democrats seem to have lost a lot of momentum with getting out the youth and minority vote, so I suspect that it will be down quite a bit from last year.  If the plethora of yard signs is any indicator, our district will again have a good turnout.  (We tend to have a high turnout every year anyway.)

One thing that has perplexed me a bit is that I keep hearing that these elections are a “referendum on Obama” – which I hope they are not, since it seems a touch shortsighted to me.  Call me crazy, but I tend to vote for candidates that will best represent me, regardless of who is sitting in the Oval Office.  Then again, I could just be talking out my ass, cause I’ll admit I don’t understand political strategy for crap.

Now, if the President is going to kill my grandmother as I keep hearing, I am going to sell tickets and take bets.  I give it 10 minutes before he’s in the fetal position in the corner crying and saying, “Make the mean lady go away!”  Besides, if the government was going to take out my grandmother over her cost to the government, they would have hired a hitman years ago over her survivor benefit pension.

I realize there are people who aren’t in favor of these bills.  But come up with something better than “we’ll end up euthanizing the elderly” as your sound bite.

Now folks, I think we ALL know why they did the oath again.  Not out of “an abundance of caution” as is the party line at the moment.

They did it to get people to STFU about the “OMG, he’s not really the president!” hollering.

He’s president.  He’s been the president since the 20th.  He will be for the next 4 years, goofed oath or not.

Bear in mind that these are live animals and can’t just be sent out willy-nilly across the country like a slew of tax stimulus checks.  There is also the issue that only so many unicorns can be fit in a standard USPS delivery truck, and trained animal handlers are still being dispatched to the regional post offices.  Delivery addresses need to be confirmed as well as verification that zoning laws allow unicorns in residences in your area.  If you rent your home, a note from your landlord indicating that unicorns are allowed as pets will be required as well.

Additionally, it has been brought to light that many people are planning on naming their unicorn “Hope” or “Change”…  You may wish to seriously consider alternate names, as you could end up with half a dozen unicorns at your back door when you go out to call “Hope” inside for the evening.

Finally, please do not be duped by those claiming that they can “expedite” your unicorn delivery for a “small administrative fee” – these are not legitimate government officials, and often can also be found selling “marijuana farming licenses” as well as “jackalope hunting permits”  Be aware!

Enjoy your unicorn, and be sure to follow the care and feeding instructions that will be provided at delivery.

I’d say my decision to stay home and watch from the comfort of home wasn’t the worst idea in the world, but the energy of the crowds is evident, even through the TV.

Word has it that Cheney will be attending in a wheelchair because he threw his back out trying to move things…  Mr. Cheney, didn’t anyone tell you they will provide help for that?  You shouldn’t be trying to move a man sized safe by yourself.

While I don’t think there is enough money in the world for me to want to be the President of the United States, there is one aspect of it all that I do envy:  The moving staff.

Between the time that the Bushes and Obamas leave the White House after their morning coffee and the Obamas return back home this evening, all the old items will be packed up and moved out, and all of the new items will be moved in – AND UNPACKED.  Who wouldn’t want that crew the next time they have to move?

In all seriousness, it’s a pretty nifty day today, and I am enjoying how chuffed people are about it all.  It wasn’t that long ago that the idea of electing someone into our highest office who *wasn’t* a white male (and probably a somewhat older one to boot) was well, inconceivable.

I don’t expect that at 12:01 this afternoon that the world will be filled with unicorns and rainbows.  President Obama will have his share of screwups.  Every President does.  And he’s walking into a bit of a mess to put it mildly, and trying to fix it all without at least a few missteps will be virtually impossible.

However, I’m looking forward to something different.  Maybe it will be better, maybe it will be worse.  But I think a new approach won’t be the worst thing for the country by any means.

Welcome to DC, Mr. President.