Our Presidential Election process

Before I start bloviating on this years Presidential race, this new piece of information just hit the wire services.

"Next Monday, 25 February 2008 is the official start for the election cycle for the 2012 Presidential Election. Please mark your calendars for this Sunday evening's broadcast of "The race for the White House, 2012."

Sadly, the above bit of foolishness is not far removed from reality.
It seems like this years race started the day after President Bush won re-election to his second term. "Lame Duck in the White House, the race for '08" aired that weekend.

Trying to find a viable candidate this year is akin to going into "Greasy Mac's fast food Emporium" to order healthy sustenance. It ain't happenin', brothers and sisters!

If you are a political conservative as I am, the prospects for November 4th are indeed stomach churning.
I am told to hold my nose and vote for a classic Beltway Country Club quasi-Republican.

"Please be quiet, we know what's best for the Party, just do as you are told!"
"Never mind that I tried to destroy the First Amendment, voted against tax cuts, and sided with the other party more than I did my own.
I am a conservative, dadgummit! Just look at this picture of me with Ron Reagan!"
Well, to steal a quote Senator, "We knew Ronald Wilson Reagan, and sir you are no Gipper!"
Nor is anyone else, for that matter.

If I don't vote at all, or if I vote for a third party candidate I will help put a left leaning Democrat in the Oval Office, and remove any chance of having a check on placing another liberal justice (or two or three) on the Supreme Court.
One party would then control all three branches of the Federal Government, and that party has in the past proved they will ram their ideology down our throats.
No pretense of shared power or balance should be assumed!

Our friends and family who lean slightly to port are less than thrilled with their choice as well.
You either put the Clintons back in power, and yes they are a matched set, or you vote for someone who as of today has given potential supporters no screaming idea what he really stands for on any issue.

"A vote for me is a vote for Hope, and everyone knows that Hope is great!
Change is good, change is wonderful, and we are going to change!
We're moving into the new century, moving from point A to point B, we are going to dialogue, we are going to have mint tea and cakes, and everyone will be hopeful!"
Hoorah!

Huh? Who is his speech writer, Dr. Suess?

This will be my tenth Presidential Election, and by far the most obfuscated and weak slate of candidates yet.

Truly the only happy person in the D.C. fishbowl is President George W. Bush.
He is probably as eager to leave that rats nest behind him as a kid anticipating Christmas.
Whomever 'wins' the office in November will have a honeymoon lasting, oh maybe 48 hours.
Then the piranha will start circling, the media that has loved him or her will turn on them like a rabid junk yard dog, and we will start the entire viscious, incestuous cycle of terror all over again.

Straw polls, May poles, Barber Poles, caucuses (isn't that a region in Siberia? Maybe we should send all of the politcal pundits there!), primaries, secondaries, incendiaries, etc ad naseum!

If I hear one more Beltway Political insider tell me how I think and who I will vote for this fall, I'll go back out into traffic and chase cars again! I almost caught that Porshe Turbo I've always wanted last week!

Maybe just for grins we should all do a write in vote for the following ticket;
Rambo and Mary Poppins!
He could handle all foreign affairs, the War against Terror would be over by Christmas.
And she would help us to take our medicine with a spoon full of sugar.
For certain she is a lot better looking than Hillary.

Ya gotta show up and play the game!

Yesterday evening, the heart of this old (figuratively speaking) Miami Dolphins fan was warmed to it's core by the upstart New York Football Giants.
All season long we have had to endure talk of the undefeated New England Patriots finishing 19-0 and being crowned "Greatest Team of all time." It is a done thing, just accept it!
And we were subjected to endless shots of their coach wearing that ratty looking grey hoodie on the sidelines, and being spoken of as the Merlin the Magician of coaching.

As it is, they aren't even the greatest team of the year 2007 and Super Bowl XLII season.

The Giants front four dumped Tom Brady, A.K.A. "Pretty Boy" on his backside repeatedly, their secondary harassed his receivers and took away the deep throw, and their 'D' held them to their lowest point output of the season.

And Peyton Manning's 'little' brother Eli played like Johnny 'U' himself.
He remained cool and collected, his only INT the fault of his receiver's failure to hold on to the ball, rather than an errant throw.

When Brady marched the Pat's down the field for the go-ahead touchdown with just over two and a half minutes left, everyone in the stadium figured the Fat Lady had indeed sung, and the coronation was soon to commence.

Someone forgot to tell the Giants that they were beaten, however.

Manning converted twice on fourth down, and once on third and eleven.
The key play of the game saw him escape the grasp of a fierce pass rush when it appeared that he would be sacked.

He then delivered a perfect high throw to Tyree, who was in tight double coverage.
One of the greatest catches I have ever seen in over forty years of watching football, it would have been a magnificent catch in any circumstance.
But with the championship on the line, it was truly the Catch for the Ages.

Soon afterwards, Manning hit a wide open Plaxico Burress for the game and championship winning touchdown.

The Giants made history in a number of ways.
They were the first fifth seed team to win the Super Bowl, the first six loss team to win it, and the first team to beat an undefeated team in a Championship game in NFL history.

A wise person once said "Half the battle sometimes is just showing up"

Don't read the press clippings, don't listen to 'polls', and as General George S. Patton Junior is credited with saying, "Never give council to your fears, and never suffer fools!"

I rate this as the greatest upset I've seen in football, even trumping Joe Namath's guarantee that his Jet's would win Super Bowl III and then delivering on his boast.

It reminded me why I have always loved football, and why Sports can sometimes be a great analogy for life in general.

Keep your head up, your attitude up, support your teamates, and just play the game!

P.S., the 1972 Miami Dolphins are still the only team in the Super Bowl era to finish the season undefeated and untied Super Bowl chamipions.

They lost Bob Griese (their starting Pro Bowl Quarterback) in game five, he did not return until the Conference Championship game in week 16. They then had to play that AFC Championship game on the road in Pittsburgh, (the home field advantage for the top seeded team was not in place at that time like it is now), and still went into Super Bowl VII two point underdogs to a Washington team with three losses.

They won that Super Bowl in dominating fashion, and came back the next season to win another in a two loss season.
And yet whenever talk of the great teams in history came up, they were seldom mentioned with the great Steeler, Forty Niner, Cowboy, Bear and Patriot teams that followed them.

If they, and their fans seem a bit 'prickly', there is a reason for it.

Thanks to the Giants, what they accomplished is once again being recognized for what it is, the greatest single season team in NFL history.

I must close now, need to go out and find a number 10 Eli Manning Giant's Jersey.