Talk Of…

Archive for March, 2008

When confronted with the question whether minors should be required to get parental consent or at least notify their parents before having an abortion…

Barack Obama has said,

“No”

“Depends on how young — possibly for extremely young teens, i.e., 12- or 13-year-olds”

and

“I would oppose any legislation that does not include a bypass provision for minors who have been victims of, or have reason to fear, physical or sexual abuse”

The kicker, however, is what he said on Saturday in Pennsylvania,

“When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include — which should include abstinence education and teaching the children — teaching children, you know, that sex is not something casual. But it should also include — it should also include other, you know, information about contraception because, look, I’ve got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at the age of 16. You know, so it doesn’t make sense to not give them information.”

People make mistakes all the time. Personally, I don’t want to be punished with a President Obama. If that’s the type of change people are looking for, we’re screwed.

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“Black Americans were a founding population”

“Africans and Europeans came here and founded this country together — Europeans by choice and Africans in chains. That’s not a very pretty reality of our founding”

“That particular birth defect makes it hard for us to confront it, hard for us to talk about it, and hard for us to realize that it has continuing relevance for who we are today”

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“Senator Clinton’s argument in this campaign has really been that you can’t change the electoral map”

“That it’s a static map and we are inalterably divided, so we’ve got to eke out a victory and then try to govern more competently than George Bush has”

“My argument is that if that’s what we’re settling for, after seven or eight years of disastrous policies on the part of the Bush administration, then we’re not going to deliver on the big changes that are needed”

Now, if we just new what that “new majority” really entailed, and exactly what “big changes” he is talking about. Of course, we won’t get those answers unless he wins, and if he does win, I am pretty confident we will all be quite disappointed with both the “big majority” and the “big change”.

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“My gut instinct, at this point: He’s probably going to remain neutral and sort of try to play on that Al Gore status as party elder”

“There is a real space for him to be an advocate for the issues that he cares about but also to play a role as a party elder”

“I think he is, at this point, probably going to take the route of ‘We got two great candidates, let the people decide”

It sounds to me like he has the same issue he has always had as a candidate, all talk, no action. He won’t commit because he doesn’t want to pick the loser.

And by the way, how can a one term senator (who is no longer a senator) from North Carolina be considered the “party elder”? Shut up.

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“Your candidacy is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our country, and you are a once-in-a-lifetime leader”

“I’m not advocating an end to the campaign tomorrow, but eventually we Democrats need to come together and unite around a candidate”

“I made my endorsement because I believe this man is the best person to be president and because he brings so much hope and opportunity and unity to this country”

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We have to come together

If all I knew were those statements I saw on television, I would be shocked

I noticed over the last several weeks that the forces of division have started to raise their ugly heads again. And I’m not here to cast blame or point fingers because everybody, you know, senses that there’s been this shift

It reminds me: We’ve got a tragic history when it comes to race in this country. We’ve got a lot of pent-up anger and bitterness and misunderstanding. … This country wants to move beyond these kinds of things

“If you’re not going to count my vote, I’m not going to give you my money”

“If we do not resolve this issue, I think it’s safe to say there will be a request for a return of $140,000″

– Christopher Korge, a top fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton talks about getting his money back.

“We have to do something, but I don’t know if this is even legal”

“My wife and I could max out, and we won’t”

While we’re in repeats, ‘American Idol’ continues to be a monster

It’s a phenomenon. If somebody would kill that show, I’d really appreciate it

Yeah, we’ll finish No. 2

“It will never be as it was before”

“I think the magic is over”

“The great difficulty is to accept this new world”

Then he goes on to say,

“There are not more problems – please, have a little memory – than 35 years ago”

So, if I understand correctly, nothing has changed in 35 years, but things will never be the same. Leave it to the French to offer such great phiilosophical insights into the world around us.

Just over a month ago we were saddened to learn that our devoted friend and family member, Flash, had bone cancer.

There is no more sobering word in the English language than the word cancer.

I still remember the day he picked our son out of the bunch of us. We had been looking for the “perfect” family dog for months and had decided to spare no expense in finding the perfect companion to grow up with our children. We contacted a local breeder and went to meet with her and the puppies.

When we arrived we were introduced to Flash’s mother, Pele, and his father, Banner. We got to see their temperaments in action, and we were amazed at them both.

Pele

Banner

We also learned that Banner was the son of Faera’s Future Classic, call name “Thunder”. Thunder is a champion Golden Retriever whose bloodline is well known and whose offspring have produced numerous “assistance” dogs around the country.

Thunder

Magic happened when we got to meet the puppies. Let me just say now, that if we had a bit more money at the time we would have come home with two, or maybe even three, of them. We sat on the front lawn watching the puppies play and one of them walked up to our oldest son and laid down in his lap.

The puppy was making it clear that he picked our son. We played with him a bit and moved him over to the side so we could all play with one of the other puppies, but within moments he was pushing his way back through the crowd and into our son’s lap.

The choice had been made. We paid a deposit and we waited three more weeks to bring him home. That was the day our lives changed forever.

When we arrived to pick him up, the breeder brought him out to us and he immediately ran up to our son. He remembered him, that was very clear. Because he had picked our son we decided to let him name the new addition to our family.

His name was Flash. There were two reasons for this name. One, was the lightning bolt shaped mark on his forehead, and the other was for the superhero. Hey, when you are four years old, it’s important to pay homage to your superheros.

From the moment we walked in the door, I knew this dog was hard headed. Once he got something in his mind, he wasn’t going to change it, and you knew it. He made it clear early on that he wanted to be in charge, so I spent the next few years letting him believe he was.

For nearly six years he has been a devoted friend, an energetic playmate, a trusting guard, and most of all a loving family member. He was always cheerful, he was always happy.

Flash Dance

Our vet recommended seeing a specialist who could confirm the cancer diagnosis, and let us know what the options were. As we walked out of that specialist’s office, my wife and I knew what was coming, but neither one of us wanted to face it. We drove home and reviewed our options. No matter what we decided we knew we had to do the right thing for Flash.

It turns out, he made the choice for us. Three nights ago, when I went downstairs to let the dogs in, he was nowhere to be found. It was getting dark and I had to grab my shoes and a flashlight. It took me 15 minutes to find him in the backyard. He was laying in the wooded area behind our home. It took most of his energy to get up, and he slowly limped into the house.

For the next two days he did nothing but lay in his bed by the front door. He could barely walk to go outside to do his business, and once he did he came right back in and laid on his bed.

Two weeks ago, I told Flash that he needed to let me know when it was time. I begged him to tell me when he had had enough. Yesterday, he told me. There was something in his eyes and the way he cuddled into me. There was a message there. He was telling me that he wanted to go. He made it clear that he was done.

I didn’t want him to be done. I still don’t want him to be done. I want to play ball with him. I want to take him for walks through the neighborhood. I want to feel his warmth at my feet. I promised him I would do the right thing when the time came, and I did. But right now, all I want is my friend back.