Steven Slater Employee of the Year

I spend a ton of time on planes due to the nature of my gig. As sure as I have a healthy backside, there is always at least one crying child and that passenger.

Most of the time the flight team, are a gang of folks just trying to do their jobs. If a lie about a delay is told, it is usually done by the ground crew. The airborne team are usually pleasant folks and even funny. Southwest is the airline I try to fly.

The well dressed self-important jack ass that has to be told everything at least three times. Turn off your phone, yeah even that app. Put your tray up. Can you please stay out of the aisle.

Please stay seated until we arrive at the terminal....

When this story caught my eye yesterday, I said GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!

I met two of my dearest friends for dinner and got the silly giggles relaying the story.

I think it was a tad over the top and not necessarily a good use of resources to send a SWAT team to arrest him.

While they are making arrests, Slater should file an assault charge against that passenger who struck him in the head removing his bag BEFORE the plane arrived at the terminal.

THAT Jackass violated an assortment federal charges. He should be arrested too.

If I ever encounter Mr. Slater I'll buy him a beer....

Give Slater a standing ovation!

Race, Reaction, Responsibility

What happened to Ms. Sherrod last week was brutal. I am more appalled by the White House and the NAACP.

I expect zippo, squatta from Fox or the the uber conservative wing of the country.

What I expect from the NAACP and my BLACK President is fairness.

A rookie supervisor would have slowed down the events, conducted a investigation BEFORE asking for this woman's resignation.

I was expecting better. I as a black citizen DEMAND better.

NAACP was once a fine organization, your age is showing and it has not been graceful.

You wonder why your relevance is questioned.

Mr. President,

There are folks who will NEVER accept your presidency, EVER. You reach out and they punch you. YOU have no more cheeks...

Every single freakin' time race becomes an issue YOU end up apologizing. Stop it.

The cops were heavy handed in handling Professor Gates. What happened to Ms. Sherrod was terrible.

If you did not have a secret service detail, YOU would be stopped for no particular reason just like the rest of us on a daily basis.

What happened last week shows that we are not a post racial society, yet...

Like anyone else important in my life, I love you enough to call you out.

You have done great things in 18 months but you are doing a terrible job of messaging. That crew in the Senate has been bruuuutaaaaal.

Do you really think the Senate will do any better if we lose the critical majority in November?

The DINOs have been a pain in the ass.

You NEED to get over yourself and do better.

Ms Sherrod you really should sue Andrew Breitbart just for sport!!!

Random Act of Kindness or Sally does the Trail

During the course of being pummeled with permission by my massage therapist we talk about everything from current events to our families. My cycling activities are always on the agenda.

My pre-work rides are generally uneventful. For the most part, the folks you encounter speak, with a nod or a wave and they are on their way. Cyclists, joggers and dog walkers are the norm.

Skaters are in the minority. So on an beautiful morning, the tall very fair redhead skater stood out.

As we approached each other, I waved but she flagged me down.

She looked harmless so I stopped. She did not appear to be in distress but I asked if she was ok anyway..

Oh I am fine she responded. What can I do for you? I countered.

"I know this is a weird request, you look safe, will you put suntan lotion on my back?"

It was an odd request, but what the hell I did it.

No big deal. Right?????

I thought it was a funny story.

I shared this with my male massage therapist. His immediate reaction was "Reaaaaallly" in a way to suggest something more interesting should have followed.

"Then what happened?" he asked with a chuckle.

What do you mean then what happened? I completed my ride.

Then it hit me.

"Oh my God! How did a simple random act of kindness turn into Sally does the Trail...

Are you kidding me????

That thought NEVER crossed my mind.

So he challenged me to take a survey of my friends. Well I did, I asked 6 females and and 6 guys.

The ladies responds ranged from oh how nice to eeeeeew.

The guys to man were in camp of my massage therapist..

Further confirmation, I simply do not understand the male species...

Still Raining

I normally spend a good portion of my weekends on my bike. I am finally up to 100 miles per week. I ride along the trail system. I finally made it to Green Lane..a 35 mile round trip.. very cool. I get up early and try to get at least 20 in before work.

I have no desire to compete with cars.

The riding has been incredible therapy for my job and the challenges of being in the sandwich generation.

The rain has cooled things down from the 100 degree weather but after last winter...I have zero complaints about the heat...but the rain is a nice change...

Gilbert, a New Member of the First Wive's Club

Decision 2010 had zippo to do with a political race. LBJ was the main focus of the sports media specifically ESPN.

Just like Favre's retirement of the week, LBJ Decision was media coverage on steriods. Well for those who complained, unless your remote was broken, you were not forced to watch this announcement.

Was Geraldo the producer?

disclaimer time: I did not watch it.

As far as the Cav's owner's reaction, well it was just silly. Chris Broussard has a nice piece.

Athletes are moved around like chess pieces. How often do they find out their fate by a reporter?

Well if LBJ was everything the Cav's owner said that he was, who enabled this behavior.

LBJ picked another and I suppose Gilbert is feeling like a first wife. Gave all that he had only to be discarded for a younger, prettier love.

Corbett calls unemployed lazy

Where does Corbett live?

I have seen far too many resumes from an older suburban educated workforce who have been crushed by an economy created from folks who look like Corbett.

My industry simply does not replace the positions of departed employees. Fear of regulation has caused many employers to sit on their cash reserves and pile work on folks who are grateful to have a gig.

I think the unemployed should show up en masse to his offices and show him the faces of the unemployed.

I think he will be surprised at what he sees.

He is a jackass.

Loose Lips Sink Ships

The details of the job offered were released on a Friday of the first official long weekend of summer. Surprise, Surprise.

The White House sent Bubba to offer Joe Sestak a gig so their wouldn't be an expensive decisive race in PA. Surprise, Surprise.

I am grumpy about this for a couple of reasons. I worked hard to elect Obama. His mere nature of being makes him a different politician. BUT, he is a pragmatic politician who honed his craft in Chi-town, not a Messiah.

This sort of thing happens all the time. It is close to the edge of interfering with an election.

Sadly, no surprise here.

What is more disturbing is Joe Sestak's sanctimonious position when it didn't serve his agenda.

Did Joe mention that the establishment backed him and muscled another candidate out the the Congressional race when he first ran against Weldon?

Lentz was told to step down and run for a State seat and to wait his turn. Why? Sestak had White House cred and a ton of establishment support.

I am appalled that Sestak made it an issue.

Far too many spoke of Sestak being the jerk boss that is most people's nightmare. The only original staffers have the last name Sestak.

His biggest concern was the turn out of the Philadelphia African American voters. With this little stunt will not endear him my community.

Part of the reason many of the "establishment" lined up behind Spector is because Sestak is just unbearable.

I have donated a lot of time and money to Sestak. While I won't vote for Toomey, I will not go negative, I will become his worst nightmare...

A former support who does nothing.

Family Witness Protection Program

Thursday evening I had a wonderful dinner with a dear friend who has been a wise guidepost for the past 20 years. The issue was my career but I will elaborate on that another time.

It was 7;30 and I was getting settled to watch the replay of the Phillies game when my phone rang. It was my older brother's number. Since we usually chat in the morning, I knew it wasn't good.

When I answered, all I heard on the other end was my oldest nephew had accidentally set the garage on fire, please hurry. She did say no one was hurt. UGH.

I threw on whatever clothes I could find and ran out to my RAV4. Half way in my 30 minute drive I realized I forgot my shoes. Details, minor details.

My brother's family lives in a small community. As I approached their neighborhood, I have never seen that many fire trucks in my life that weren't in a parade. Clearly every community in a 20 mile radius responded judging from the names emblazoned on the side of their trucks. Holy hell.

It was surreal.

The closest I could get to their place was three blocks away. As I jogged to their place, I ran into my youngest nephew and his little girl friend He has the same laid back disposition of my brother. Is anyone hurt? I asked. Nah, Mom is just freaking out, as usual.

(His mother is crazy, recently she was placed on meds. However, this was cause to be a little distressed.)

By time I reach their house, the WOODEN SHED and all of the combustible crap was a charred memory. The fire was contained and no one else's property was involved, thank God.

Now the fun begins.

My older brother arrived from work minutes before I did and was hugging his son.

Trying to be sensitive, but by my claim adjuster in me kicked in.

So, what happened?

Young Einstein decided to fill the gas powered lawnmower in the WOODEN SHED filled with combustible crap. The Shed is easy 12 x 12.

He says that during this process, he somehow bumped over some matches and the next he knew the lawnmower was on fire......

Did I mention the fact, that my sister-in-law grabbed me before I encountered my brother and nephew, and asked about investigative dogs?

Why dear sister is this an issue? I dared to ask.

It seems as though one of her friends was storing her pot in the shed. I assured her that based on the damage that there were just very happy firefighters. Oh dear God.

Because I couldn't help myself, I pressed on, was there anything else in there? Dad's antiques and my craft stuff. Newsflash, rich people have antiques, poor people have old shit)

The fire and police chief questioned my nephew. I could tell that the Fire Chief wasn't buying his story but there was no evidence to point to arson.

I love my nephew but the chain of events does not make sense.

Before I left for the night, I looked at my brother and it seemed to be a backdrop of his life. He looked so beat down. His road has not been easy. His wife and kids have been the source of plenty of heartache.

The next day, I shared my concerns with my brother. It didn't make sense to him either but his son is sticking with his story.

My heart just sunk. So I suggested that we put him in a Family Witness Protection Program. He is very low maintenance. Just go for bread and not come home. He could take the youngest but that is it.

We laughed sort of...

Tiger Woods Walk of Shame

I was sitting in terminal B-9 at a funky little cafe waiting to flee to Miami when the world stopped to listen to Tiger.

The bartender was a young woman in her late twenties and the other customer was a middle aged woman. She was on her way to meet her husband.

Of course, the conversation immediately turned to Tiger.

" He is trash, he let us down," barked the other customer.

"Us?", I countered.

Yes, us he is a role model she challenged.

I laughed." He doesn't owe US shit. He owes his wife an apology and maybe his sponsors."

She was surprised by my response.

I was married for 8 years. I respect the institution. But the vows are shared between the parties. Some marriages, I don't get (Clintons immediately come to mind.) But I don't have to get them.

Woods did not cheat the sport. He cheated his wife. Any repair is between the two of them.

He felt compelled to offer a public apology. OK.

He is an athlete, a good athlete but he is also a man...who like the rest of us are not perfect.

Enough...

Yes, sigh, Yes, sigh YESSSSS!

I want to see this added to the health care reform bill...

h/t dome on the range

Third time is a charm, oh I don't think so.......

With the smell of my chicken stew filling my home and the blizzard of the hour battering my windows, I ponder....

When did I move to Vermont?

How come no one told me?

I have never been a fan of the white shit. But an occasional snow day is good for the soul. Well, this is the third major snow storm of the winter.

To be technical, the second one of the winter. The first arrived late fall. Details, minor details.

The first one was on a weekend, and I discovered the best selling writer, Steve Berry. I finished his Cotton Malone series, the second snow storm which occurred oh three days ago.

I made the decision to close my office yesterday. Since we are paperless, most of my staff can work (wink, wink) from home. Things have gotten so bad, I actually heard from my California boss of the week. I only heard from him ONCE last year and that was budget time. Not a complaint, just a statement of fact.

The little guy is with his Dad. My daughter decided to be snowed in with me, which is cool.

She began making fun of me about an hour ago. I'm the one who can normally sequester myself for a couple of days and she gets cabin fever.

Not today.

After a pumpkin and walnut waffle breakfast, prepared by my kid, I bundled up and ventured outside. I wiped off my RAV4. I encountered my neighbors in A-1, the interracial gay couple who are always the first out.

It is straight up white out conditions.

The snow is much heavier than the weekend snow. Recognizing that I am no longer twenty I only shoveled for about twenty minutes. The owners of my complex have been money, the snowplow comes through on an hourly basis.

After checking my work e-mail and reading a couple of chapters of Walden, I parked myself in front of my bay window and just watched.

This is when the justifiable parent abuse started.

There is an ACME about 500 yards from my place. The busy front end loader just stopped. After a few minutes of no activity, I began to wonder aloud, is he ok? Did he take a nap? Or just a break? Worse, is he dead?

That is when my kid is like" Moooom, you need to stop. Have you lost your mind? If you are that concerned, why don't you go check, maybe take him some stew. Better yet, move slowly away from the window." Of course she is laughing at me this whole time.

After about twenty obsessive minutes, there was movement in the cabin. He resumed his task of building snow mountains. No one was happier than my daughter.

In the meantime, I counted 10 people walking very slowly through the blizzard conditions.

My daughter's Honda accord is completely buried. She misses her kid, but is grateful for the down day. No work, school, or three year old. I assured her that her feelings are normal and it does not make her a bad Mommy.

I'm sure my Yoga teacher, would tell me that the snow is neutral, it is my reaction to the snow that is negative.

Whateeeeeeever.

I checked on my family and friends. All are well and safe. Weather was the only subject. Only one of my friends seems to be cool with this mess. He reminded me that his family hails from Russia. I have nothing to add to that commentary.

I am blessed that I have electricity and plenty of food.

Next Friday, I am off to Miami for a mini-vacation, they will have to sedate me to get back to Pennsylvania.

Crock pot Chicken Stew

Turn crock pot to low

Spray the Crock pot with olive oil spray

Cut four medium red potatoes in half

arrange at the bottom

layer 6 chicken thighs

layer one bag of trader joe's fire roasted vegetables

Top with one box of organic chicken broth

after six hours add one cup of water

Really ready to eat after eight hours

Yeah, I do cook...................and it's still @#$^ing snowing!

The Phall Classic: Phillies lose to the Yankees

Maybe because we won last year. Maybe because Hamels lost his mind, Lidge lost his mojo and Howard couldn't hit a sliding curve I am not surprised how the story ended on this season. Nor am I frustrated, annoyed or other adjectives associated with being a Philly Phan.

But, it was still a good season. We picked up Cliff Lee. Manuel delivered a pennant not knowing what he would get out of his pitching staff. How many teams would be thrilled to play in the World Series?

I want to hate the Yankees. But the only whack job well whack jobs are A-Rod and AJ Burnett. The rest seems like nice guys if they were wearing another uniform. Forgot about the ownership, Georgie boy and his sons gave the Girardi the players to bring home a championship.

There is a core of guys who have the foundation of building a dynasty. What more can a phan ask for? The Phillies are the second best team in the MLB.

Second best.

HMMM Well now, that was a pile of bullshit.

I have another night in St. Louis, I planned on watching my Phillies crush the Yankees in their house.

WTF?

BOOOOOOOOOOOOO, where is my snowball?

Meet me in St. Louis

The sun is setting on St. Louis as I sit in a Borders beside my hotel. Work brought me to this part of the country. After two days of the insurance version of American Idol, I am parked here nursing a Seattle's best medium vanilla latte, just cooling out.

To my left are two 20 something men discussing God, the bible and the need to pray in order to manage their lives. Their bibles are open and to the ready.

To their right, a french tutoring session is taking place. The instructor is a artsy middle age woman. Her student appears to be a eager high school student. A Veteran college student is pouring over a text book. His camouflage shirt, erect posture and short haircut reveals his past or present. The military is huge in this part of the country.

All are taking advantage of the free WiFi. A different time and place my guess is these activities would have occurred in in a library. This is the community hub, judging by how the clerk assembled most peoples orders with a smile and without coaching.

I am guessing that I am the only traveller, interloper in the room. It has a positive energy.

I return home tomorrow. I may have to travel to Iowa for this account before the end of the year but it should be the final business trip for the year.

Work is work. I've grown bored with this component of my life. I am grateful to be employed but I am working through what I want to be when I grow up. The economy was a convenient excuse for me to be complacent about my career. I have the opportunity to manage a captive but I'm not sure I want to stay in this business. It is nice to know that option is available to me.

I have a home yoga practice but it is time for me to return to that community.

Through a spiritual career counselor, a strong yoga practice, I will find my now.

It's all good......

Rob Miller SC Donate Here

Oh Canada, O(h)bama, Oh My

I spent my overdue vacation touring through Canada. Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and of course, Niagara Falls. I was joined by group of outdoor types. We rented a "luxury" bus for this adventure. Most took in these cities utilizing their in-line skates. Others, such as yours truly, absorbed the cities using a bike. The weather and the company were spectacular.

Whenever I travel, I always read the local newspaper (if it is available).  To my dismay, the nonsense surrounding the POTUS address the student citizens hit the Canadian press. They were disturbed as I. Work, hard, stay in school....hmmm that screams of socialism. It would be funny if this were to be happening in another country.

The Republicans began the notion of an illegitimate President when Clinton was elected. They refused to accept a "hick from from Hope" was parked in the seat of power. The nonsense has been building. Granted Clinton should have kept his penis in his pants, taking real impeachable offenses off the table. Isn't nice Barack wants to have sex with Michele...I digress.

They say it is a small minority of whackos driving this madness. When the majority of the Republican Party do not speak out or worse carry the mantle of this vitriol it condone this behavior. Silence is consent.

I, like many of my recent new activists, thought the heavy lifting was done when Obama was sworn into office. OK, what were we thinking? 

Our work has just begun. Next week we will flood the local school board meeting to protest the not showing of the President's school speech. (I live in suburban Philadelphia, not Kansas).

The Superintendent independently made that decision citing technological challenges. ( I report it you decide)

A reminder politics is local. The off cycle elections have become critical to ensure these races are not won by folks who do not know or accept Hawaii as a state.

I gave money to Rob Miller (SC) and encouraged others to do the same. Joe Wilson needs to be sent to the unemployment line and look for affordable health care. Oh, I forgot he is a Vet. He can receive care, but voted against an increase in VA benefits for other men and women who served our country. Sweeet!

Affordable health care for all just makes sense. It starts with affordable education. How do you think health care providers pay back their student loans? My guess it turns up in the overhead buried in their bills.

Hospitals have the resources to triage the non-emergency care out of the emergency room. Insurance companies should add this type of care to their plan documents to reimburse this type of care.

Get rid of PPO preferred provider organizations. Why? By accepting a reduced fee, PPOs are supposed to deliver a volume of patients and be paid timely. The doctors can reduce their staff who spend all of their time signing up for these plans then chasing the revenue. By opting out of this clusterfuck, they can reduce their overhead. 

There have been more arrests of gun toting angry citizens at or near Obama events. They have been called to arms by Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity and the Palins. There are a whole bunch of white folks who refuse to accept a Black Man in authority, unless it is on TV.

There a bunch of uninformed and refused to be informed citizens armed with microphones, camera and guns. 

Where were these people the last eight years when .......oh never mind.

Back to the work of trying to save my country, from the threat within...

Justice?????

Let's see the good ole boys develop a whacked off the books system of legally stealing money and wreaking the global economy and they get stay bonuses....

And this single mom gets hammered for downloading music..no wonder our country is a mess...

h/t Booman.

Tomorrow is Father's Day

I just returned from a few days in Dallas, TX. I had a safe trip, no dead pilots or water landings.

It was sunny and 100 degrees. In between meetings, I did get to the pool. I had no problems with the weather.

There were those flippin' Cowboy stars everywhere you go. AND one of the local news stations had it impeded in their logo. Dear God, make it stop. 

When I was still married and my daughter was not even a year old, we had an opportunity to relocate to the big D. I am sooo glad I vetoed it. At the time, I was making more money and it would have killed my career. Furthermore, it would have radically hurt our standard of living. To no surprise, the ex currently resides in Dallas with his wife. 

It worked out for everyone.

I managed to get in a brief ride in this morning before the rain came. Sitting at home this morning was not an option. So I decided to write at the local cafe. 

The Gryphon is a eclectic little coffeehouse. The staff is friendly and efficient. The decor is funky but practical tables doted with fresh flowers. The walls are lined with artwork by local artists, available for sale.

Judging by the flow of traffic, I am the only new customer. When the customers arrive, the staff  confirms their order.

As I stood staring  blankly at the menu board, a very attentive staffer, informed me what I was looking at was not available for a couple of hours but recommended other items not listed.

Ignoring the baked goods, I settled on a simple salmon and capers breakfast with a cafe au lait. A welcome change from the chain coffee shops.

Despite the rain, I am glad to be home.

Tomorrow is Father's Day. At my age, each milestone that passes with my family is good. Most of the time......

On Mother's Day, my folks, daughter, grandson had dinner with my older brother's family at a local restaurant.

Normally, my sister-in-law hijacks family events but at my parent's 50th anniversary party there was no drama. None.

Maybe the stars would line up and we would have another successful outing.

Upon my brother's late arrival, he bounced out of the car with a warning "She is a mood about whatever".  With a glare, I asked, "Why didn't you either leave her or stay home?"

Now I'm hoping for the best.

We arrived at the local restaurant. We agreed to go for something nicer than our normal Old Country buffet. A modest Mainline Restaurant.

The food and company were wonderful until dessert. 

After dessert arrived, my oldest nephew, who is 16 and stands about 5' 10" popped up almost knocked over a waiter with a full tray of food as he ran to the men's room.

We all looked at each other assuming dinner didn't sit too well. No big deal.

Or so we thought.

He came out and started crawling on the floor, clearly looking for something. When he could find what he was looking for, he knelt in the middle of the floor and began weeping.

Did I mention the fact that this was a Mainline restaurant on Mother's Day and we were the only colored folks in the place, not members of the wait staff?

My brother tried to find out information and comfort his distraught namesake.

After removing him from the center of the restaurant, we learned that he lost a ring his off and on girlfriend had given him.

Seeing his anguish, the wait staff and other customers are crawling on the floor looking for this piece of jewelry. 

We sat horrified at the scene unfolding. It was so surreal. This simply could not be happening. We are now grateful for Mom's dementia. She was enjoying her pie and coffee ignoring the chaos unfolding.

As I'm trying to get the check and get the hell out of there, my father, who is Never Politically correct, leans over truly befuddled and says "Do you think the boy is gay'?

In his world it only acceptable for girls and gays to weep over jewelry. At that point, I had to just laugh.

The manager comes over, and promises to find this ring. I told him not to fret about it. At his insistence, I gave him my contact information.

We returned to my place. Everyone is trying figure out why he was so upset. This behavior came out of left field or did it? Instead of his Mom hijacking an event, he did.

 I just wanted this family outing to end.

When we realized the boy was still in the family vehicle, my daughter, the eldest grandchild, who is all of 5'3', goes to the van, and demanded that he apologize.

As he sheepishly followed her in, the phone rang and it was the restaurant manager.

"Ma'am, we found the ring."

With this bit of wonderful news, my brother and his family left to retrieve the lost treasure.

Later that night, I checked in my kid brother who couldn't make the dinner because of transportation problems. He was a little down when he answered the phone.  I shared with him the days events.

Little did the boy know, that he cheered up his uncle. He couldn't stop laughing.

Tomorrow is Father's Day. We left it Pop as to what he wanted to do. Returning to the scene of the last meal was not going to happen. " You know we can't go back there," he said with a hearty laugh.

He still hasn't decided. 

On the road...again

My corporate travels (travails) have brought me to the soon to be succeeding state of Texas.

What if Texas left and nobody cared? Peace Out.

A friend recommended writing a thesis on "What if Lincoln, encouraged succession?" It would keep me busy. 

I digress.

 

First stop, Houston, tomorrow night Dallas. A Leadership meeting then off to visit a new client.

It is funny, how all Hiltons are starting to look alike. Tonight, I will get through dinner while as I will find out how grateful me and the crew should be to work for this fabulous organization. I really thought the travel would decrease but I find myself continuing to rack up frequent flyer miles.

In this economy I am grateful to be working but do not need to be reminded of it. There are three of us from the Northeast who actively avoid sitting next to our Sr. VP while the West Coast contingent practically sit on her lap. They drink to much and talk to much. The Pre-Leadership meetings always last too long.

My goal is to keep a very low profile and run back to the hotel before they hit the bar for after dinner drinks.

I don't drink and really would prefer to do anything other than spend an evening with most of these people.

At the last event, I won an award for leadership in Process Improvement. Well, when they strip you of resources, humans to do the work, we had zero choice. Necessity my friends.

The ultimate plan is to get through tomorrow without more work, but I am not that optimistic.

Ah Arlen

Talk about making a deal with the devil, Arlen is all about Arlen.

As a voting citizen of the Commonwealth I'm not sure what we have gained by this backroom deal. I am suspicious of decisions that are made on my behalf particularly when I wasn't asked. This falls into that category.

Maybe I'm missing something, but if Obama thinks Arlen is going to fall in line, he's nuts. He has always followed his own rules. At least he didn't lie about why he switched parties. Would he have lost next year? Maybe. With politics things can turn on dime. Ask McCain.

I didn't vote for Arlen and it is unlikely I would have voted for him next year. He is 79 years old, I would like to have the opportunity to vet my Democratic nominee.

Not cool.

Jack Kemp, If only

I will join others in mourning the passing of Jack Kemp. I had the opportunity to meet him when he was Bob Dole's running mate. (Long story)

His definition of social responsibility included Civil Rights for folks who did not fall in the grumpy old white guys club.

I'm sure his attitude was shaped by how members of his Buffalo Bills football team were treated. Sports have a funny way of breaking racial barriers. At the end of the day, talent trumps racism.

He and Dole activitely fought about a ton of issues, but Kemp was not pushed out of the infamous big tent. This was a time, when the Dems were a mess and the Republicans were engaged in the 80-20 rule. If we agree 80% of the time we can work together.

Michael Steele, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Anne Coulter and Sarah Palin are the face of the Republican Party. Their tent has been reduced to a pup tent whose welcome mat clearly states: PISS OFF, to folks who don't who don't think like they do.

Personal, fiscal, and social responsibility are only for folks who have low or no income. It has to be their fault, if you can't keep a job or have sex when and with whom they think appropriate.

Dear God, can you image the headlines, if one of Obama's girls were pregnant? Obama has a prescription drug problem or was working on wife number 3?

I believe it was W who didn't see a spending bill he didn't like. He and the compliant Congress who paid for a WRONG war off the books. Shall we talk about the derivative nightmare?

Sorry folks, there just aren't that many poor black folks who did not make their mortgage payments to ruin the economy. The bankers and those who failed to mind the store should be in jail, not receiving stay bonuses.

No one was watching anything. Responsibilty. Please.

Is the Republican Party dead? In it's current incarnation, you betcha.

The citizens of our nation instinctually mistrust one party rule, so there will be the emergence of another party.

Too bad the Fab Five, didn't spend more time with Kemp, they may have learned a thing or two.

Enjoy your rest Jack, you earned it.