Boy & the LaHood
...or the Swiss Dick Army Knife which opens a can of worms that can only be described as sick and wrong.
The resale value of this car is going to be nil.
I didn't report it at the time but I had a minor car accident late Tuesday. Now my sangria-red Ford Focus winks at oncoming cars. It is the ongoing Ed-pays-off-the-car-and-smashes-something curse. Who am I kidding? I'm just a crappy driver.
Cars are stupid so I have already wasted too many words on my bang up.
Took Alex to the dentist this morning and for the first time he went in for his check-up by himself. The boy was scared at first but he went in and did what he had to do.
Thanks and much love to the PDawg family. Alex's reward was a chance to hang out with his buddy Luke. I was supposed to pick him up at 3pm but found my ignition was no longer igniting the shit that made the car go.
That's too dramatic. I think my key is stripped because I am abusive motherfucker with cars, and always will be.
Anyway PDawg and his crew hung out with the boy while my wife came to save me.
Thanks to my wife for saving me...again.
I've been thinking about Ray LaHood's comments re: the former Speaker's legacy. I don't think it will be the Medical bill business, I don't think he and the Republicans will get the credit (or blame) they deserve for the Bush tax cuts (see even from me, I called them the Bush tax cuts)
But I liked LaHood's remarks (even though he's on his way out as well)
While some are quick to describe the Rep from Illinois' 14th Congressional District as the Accidental Speaker who got in in part because of a sex scandal...
Rep Robert Livingston (LA, I think) was tapped to take over for Newt...
"She turned me into a Newt...I got better"
But Rep Robert Livingston...
~not to be confused with Robert Lewis Libby Livingston who is nobody....
There was some fucking hanky panky going on there...the D's were sort of on the sex-scandal-revenge warpath in the wake of what happened to their Willy and Livingston's informal polls during and before office were not going to pass muster...
I know there were, are and will always be (what am I Mork from Ork?) some who sayDeLay installed the Rep from Illinois' 14th District so he (and Dick Army) really ran the show.
I think that may have been sort of true for awhile. But Rep LaHood's remarks today were complementary for the former Speaker and I think they remind us all of something worth remembering.
Speaker Hastert was perceived either as a puppet for the DeLays and Armys in Congress or as a back room boss by others...but his colleague, Mr. LaHood said he was someone who did not try to micro-manage Congress. He decentralized authority in a way that a Tom DeLay never could have...and never would have wanted to. The R Congress was certainly less of a blue-tie neo-con mass of fear than it was during the Newt days.
OK, the war and immigration created a perception problem that the former Speaker couldn't dilute but this is not the same thing that Newt did for and to R's in the Congress.
Newt was a polarizing figure, a culture warrior who got it mostly wrong and helped Bill Clinton win two terms as president.
The former Speaker was a legislator who seemed to understand that the Republicans around him were not a unified mass. In a way, his low profile Congressional management style helped g-Bushy win two terms (I'm not saying that is a good thing, but it certainly is success). I looked at the Republican Congress for those 8 years as one that was diverse. While they did not allow for enough dissent on the war in Iraq near the '06 election (probably the most important reason for the loss) one could see a great variety of action and opinions from Congressional Republicans on immigration, embryonic stem cell research, abortion, the meaning of big government and government as such, and what the old Election of 1994 really meant.
By the end, sure the successful Republicans appeared corpulent, growing fat on 12 years of controlling both houses of Congress but there is a reason they held Congress so long, even when support for g-Bushy was waning.
The Republicans in Congress, especially House Republicans seemed more like us.
I think Denny Hastert conveyed that us-ness. His past as a wrestling coach, a teacher, a guy who had an opportunity to serve his country helped create an image (certainly not the complete picture) but one this country needs. Our leaders can come from us. They can seem like what we need at the time.
He came to power at the perfect time in 1998, a man who seemed to have nothing to hide from a country tired of looking.
The days leading up to the Republican defeat in '06, I'm sure, were dark ones for the former Speaker. Embroiled in affairs that were beyond his control and would be frustrating to any parent put in this position. He and Rep Shimkus had to, on one hand try to defend their party against a barrage of attacks at a vital point in the campaign, while answering questions from family members of pages and others sort of entrusted to the leadership.
The task was unenviable to say the least.
It was not handled with grace.
But I hope that is not the lasting memory of this man as he leaves this stage of his career.
I hope some of us can find Ray LaHood's words from late last week, reflect on them an know that LaHood understands what the House of Representatives was meant to be. It reflects us. If it is messy it is because we the people are messy. We are defensive. We do not always see the true nature of the problem until it is too late.
Thanks to all who choose to serve in Congress. In the world of writing and making records, I am a doer not a critic, in the world of politics I am a critic and not a doer...so part of me always knows how hard and sometimes thankless it is to be a doer and how easy it is to be a critic, especially a sour one.
Congrats to the political doers out there, especially my rep who announced on Friday that his 11th term would be his last You political doers have more balls than I do. To the extent that you have more of a hold on the world than I ever will, it is because you decided to reach out your arms.
Everyone looks when you do that.
///////////
oh, I was so caught up in the rare bits of Congressional history that relate to my dopey little 14th District that I forgot to mention one last thing about the boy...
Inspired my his friend Luke and Luke's mommy, Alex got his very first Swiss Army Knife. I told him he could have a reward for going into the dentist all by himself. He said: "Dad, let's go to the gun and knife part of Farm 'n Fleet and see if they have Swiss Army knives."
C'mon how cool is that?
The resale value of this car is going to be nil.
I didn't report it at the time but I had a minor car accident late Tuesday. Now my sangria-red Ford Focus winks at oncoming cars. It is the ongoing Ed-pays-off-the-car-and-smashes-something curse. Who am I kidding? I'm just a crappy driver.
Cars are stupid so I have already wasted too many words on my bang up.
Took Alex to the dentist this morning and for the first time he went in for his check-up by himself. The boy was scared at first but he went in and did what he had to do.
Thanks and much love to the PDawg family. Alex's reward was a chance to hang out with his buddy Luke. I was supposed to pick him up at 3pm but found my ignition was no longer igniting the shit that made the car go.
That's too dramatic. I think my key is stripped because I am abusive motherfucker with cars, and always will be.
Anyway PDawg and his crew hung out with the boy while my wife came to save me.
Thanks to my wife for saving me...again.
I've been thinking about Ray LaHood's comments re: the former Speaker's legacy. I don't think it will be the Medical bill business, I don't think he and the Republicans will get the credit (or blame) they deserve for the Bush tax cuts (see even from me, I called them the Bush tax cuts)
But I liked LaHood's remarks (even though he's on his way out as well)
While some are quick to describe the Rep from Illinois' 14th Congressional District as the Accidental Speaker who got in in part because of a sex scandal...
Rep Robert Livingston (LA, I think) was tapped to take over for Newt...
"She turned me into a Newt...I got better"
But Rep Robert Livingston...
~not to be confused with Robert Lewis Libby Livingston who is nobody....
There was some fucking hanky panky going on there...the D's were sort of on the sex-scandal-revenge warpath in the wake of what happened to their Willy and Livingston's informal polls during and before office were not going to pass muster...
I know there were, are and will always be (what am I Mork from Ork?) some who sayDeLay installed the Rep from Illinois' 14th District so he (and Dick Army) really ran the show.
I think that may have been sort of true for awhile. But Rep LaHood's remarks today were complementary for the former Speaker and I think they remind us all of something worth remembering.
Speaker Hastert was perceived either as a puppet for the DeLays and Armys in Congress or as a back room boss by others...but his colleague, Mr. LaHood said he was someone who did not try to micro-manage Congress. He decentralized authority in a way that a Tom DeLay never could have...and never would have wanted to. The R Congress was certainly less of a blue-tie neo-con mass of fear than it was during the Newt days.
OK, the war and immigration created a perception problem that the former Speaker couldn't dilute but this is not the same thing that Newt did for and to R's in the Congress.
Newt was a polarizing figure, a culture warrior who got it mostly wrong and helped Bill Clinton win two terms as president.
The former Speaker was a legislator who seemed to understand that the Republicans around him were not a unified mass. In a way, his low profile Congressional management style helped g-Bushy win two terms (I'm not saying that is a good thing, but it certainly is success). I looked at the Republican Congress for those 8 years as one that was diverse. While they did not allow for enough dissent on the war in Iraq near the '06 election (probably the most important reason for the loss) one could see a great variety of action and opinions from Congressional Republicans on immigration, embryonic stem cell research, abortion, the meaning of big government and government as such, and what the old Election of 1994 really meant.
By the end, sure the successful Republicans appeared corpulent, growing fat on 12 years of controlling both houses of Congress but there is a reason they held Congress so long, even when support for g-Bushy was waning.
The Republicans in Congress, especially House Republicans seemed more like us.
I think Denny Hastert conveyed that us-ness. His past as a wrestling coach, a teacher, a guy who had an opportunity to serve his country helped create an image (certainly not the complete picture) but one this country needs. Our leaders can come from us. They can seem like what we need at the time.
He came to power at the perfect time in 1998, a man who seemed to have nothing to hide from a country tired of looking.
The days leading up to the Republican defeat in '06, I'm sure, were dark ones for the former Speaker. Embroiled in affairs that were beyond his control and would be frustrating to any parent put in this position. He and Rep Shimkus had to, on one hand try to defend their party against a barrage of attacks at a vital point in the campaign, while answering questions from family members of pages and others sort of entrusted to the leadership.
The task was unenviable to say the least.
It was not handled with grace.
But I hope that is not the lasting memory of this man as he leaves this stage of his career.
I hope some of us can find Ray LaHood's words from late last week, reflect on them an know that LaHood understands what the House of Representatives was meant to be. It reflects us. If it is messy it is because we the people are messy. We are defensive. We do not always see the true nature of the problem until it is too late.
Thanks to all who choose to serve in Congress. In the world of writing and making records, I am a doer not a critic, in the world of politics I am a critic and not a doer...so part of me always knows how hard and sometimes thankless it is to be a doer and how easy it is to be a critic, especially a sour one.
Congrats to the political doers out there, especially my rep who announced on Friday that his 11th term would be his last You political doers have more balls than I do. To the extent that you have more of a hold on the world than I ever will, it is because you decided to reach out your arms.
Everyone looks when you do that.
///////////
oh, I was so caught up in the rare bits of Congressional history that relate to my dopey little 14th District that I forgot to mention one last thing about the boy...
Inspired my his friend Luke and Luke's mommy, Alex got his very first Swiss Army Knife. I told him he could have a reward for going into the dentist all by himself. He said: "Dad, let's go to the gun and knife part of Farm 'n Fleet and see if they have Swiss Army knives."
C'mon how cool is that?
posted by edP | 7:44 PM
8 Comments:
Cheers to the coach!
Cheers to the boy! Swiss Army knives are the coolest. You have a real little man there.
Here's something you probably don't know, big bro.... IMSA sent a bunch of us down to talk to the IL legislature to renew their funding my first year. Hastert was my friend Anne's local elected official and since she was on crutches at the time, I helped her on her "mission" after mine was completed. Somewhere, I have a picture of Anne, me, and Hastert in the capitol building.
Oh, and by the way, in case they haven't told you yet-- when the folks buy new vehicles, they're planning on offering us their old ones--- you the grand prix and me the mini-van. Could be in a month, could be in a year, but considering how great they are about vehicle upkeep, they're most likely in better condition than what either of us are driving. I may not have road salt out here, but the 8 months of straight sun are murder on a paint job not to mention the baking the interior gets.
Thanks OD. He is our little man and we are pretty damned proud.
Sis, that's cool about you and the Rep from the 14th here in the greater DK metropolitan area. Considering that was probably 1989 or 1990 I bet he looked very different.
I did not know about the vehicle exchange but it would be a welcome thing. Cars suck but betters cars (which theirs are) definitely suck less
It was my first year at that high school so it would have been.... spring of 1986.
If I remember right, he wasn't a very pleasant man. But then, what lawmaker that age is considered pleasant to young teens.
the car exchange came up when I was talking to mom a couple of weeks ago and she said something about buying new vehicles for themselves. My hubby suggested I ask them about me BUYING dad's car from them when they replace it. The next time I talked to mom, dad had decided that you should get the car and that I could have the van if I wanted it. My poor little taurus has been rather run hard (two cross country trips with mountains will do that) so as you said, anything that they've owned would be an improvement that my poor tired vehicle. The hubby and I are talking about moving back to the midwest at the end of this coming school year (just in talks, mind you) and I'm wondering if the taurus will make it back over the Rockies with a small trailer in tow.
If you need someone to drive the van out to you let me know. If I can swing it with my schedule I would be glad to help.
It would be great if you guys moved back. I know there are a lot of factors here so do what you think is best. You and your crew are always in my thoughts and prayers
Thanks, big bro. I need to finish my CA license first and then flip it back to IL and IN. The company that bought us out is based in Tennesee and about a month or so ago, they had some reps from the Chicago Public Schools out here visiting my classroom. A few days ago, they sent their marketing team and yesterday I got a personal thank you email back from the VP of the company. SO! If they do open a school in the Chicagoland area, I might consider relocating within the company. If not, well, either me or the hubby need to have a job to come back to. Just a couple of stupid classes to go... health and computer... and to add MORE stuff to my license, student teaching in my own room this spring. I missed the deadline for the fall. Oh well!
I will always remember him as the most famous guy I ever sent on a beer run.
I went to the dentist the other day and all I got was a friggin' bill!
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