Speedo Update -Much Ado About Nothing
So often we summon the courage to do something and it turns our to be a non starter...so was the case with the speedo today.

I dressed, walked out on the deck, dove in, did my 1000 yards, got out and that was it.

No snickers, whispering, pointing, or giggling.

My upper legs were a shining, ghostly white (as noted before), but the rest of me is only a few shades darker, so, no big deal.

By summer, the extreme opacity of my upper legs should fade in the normal pale gray of the rest of my skin (I don't tan well). I'll be monotone once again except for that little area covered by the speedo. But that might be TMI.

I did get bigger size speedo as my wife suggested. And I did look a better.

But must importantly, I was one of the elite swimmers out there today, if by uniform only. (Some of the guys and gals out there are true swim animals). And I took small pleasure in looking down my nose at those guys still wearing their board shorts. They just don't get it. What are they afraid of?

My next challenge will be to wear the speedo at the beach this summer. I do this only to drive my kids nuts (pure parental pleasrue, I tell you). Also, because I suspect the speedo will dry faster. (Slow drying swim trucks are a personal pet peeve of mine.)

I pretend I'm from Euope, of course.

California Ripped Off Again by Big ______

You fill in the blank. This time, its big oil.

Refineries are playing the Enron game of short supply equals high cost by dicking around with California refineries. Current gas price for basic UL here in San Diego is $2.37 a gal. And summer hasn't started yet.

The LA Times has the story, here. (registration req) (credit Jerry Politex).

But there is a real solution, here.

The Toyota Prius. As soon as they make one in a minivan, I'm buying and so should you.

Its the only real way to stick it to big oil, not to mention the loony tunes Middle East.

Presidential Shrinkage

Josh Marshall's column for the Hill (here) hits the the nail on the head when it suggests that Bush has lost some credibility but has failed to realize it.

Marchall calls it credibility atrophy. But we'll just say the prez is having some cred shrinkage problems. (I'm very street, you know.)

I noticed this cred shrinkage at a small wine party over the weekend. My neighbor's father is a retired doctor from Kansas City, Missouri. During a short political discussion, this conservative man from a conservative part of the country said, "I voted for Bush before but now I'm not sure with all these things going on." (Paraphrased.)

That is diffinently a sign of shrinkage, and right from Bush's own base.

As Marshall points out, Bush better realize his has shrinkage problem soon or continue to suffer foot and mouth disease.

Burrr, that water's cold, isn't it Mr. President?

GW, A Mystery No Longer

From the moment he was granted the election in 2000 until November of last year, George Bush was a mystery. Liberals suspected something funny but had no concrete evidence. Conservatives loved him as an ideal; finally a Jesus-loving Christian in the White House.

Then the Kay report came out, no WMD, and it was pretty obvious that we, as a country, where misled into a war. Spin was not possible.

At that moment, George Bush became a known quantity. Liberals had the proof they needed to confirm their suspicions, conservatives had their bubbles popped and now viewed him more suspiciously.

The difference was the ability to spin. You can't spin obvious truth (although Cheney still tries). No WMD is unequivocal.

After the Kay Report, the other pieces fall into place.

Nigeria yellow cake, Powell's famous UN speech, eminent danger, Rumsfield saber rattling all have a new meaning now that Bush is no longer a mystery, the cat is out of the bag, the man is revealed to us.

The result is the admin will find it hard to spin anything now. The President and his Admin have lost credibility.

No matter how the GOP spon the budget, Plamegate, permanent tax cuts, memogate, No Child Left Behind, the economy, and unemployment/outsourcing, it will be viewed with skepticism.

So if your trying to win an election and you record doesn't look so good, what do you do? Attack the other guy, of course.

Remember, its not what Bush did during the four years that matters now, it’s how Bush stacks up against his competition?

The GOP can no longer run on Bush's record. They have to run by beating up the other guy.

Kerry is in for a mud fight of epic proportions.

Speedo, Anyone?

I'm a swimmer, at least I try to be and I swim at the pool a couple times a week. After you start swimming regularly there is an uncomfortable subject you have to come to grips with- the Speedo.

I currently swim in regular trunks, but I've realized that the good swimmers at the pool wear Speedos; those very small, very tight, swim briefs (for lack of a better term).

I want to be a good swimmer and I want to motivate myself to keep going to the pool, so I bought a Speedo the other day just to see.

As a motivational tool, the power of a Speedo can not be overlooked. If you've got anything around the middle, I mean anything at all, the Speedo picks it up.

BUt I wasn't about to try it at the pool. To shy. Instead, I thought I try modeling it at home where the audience is at least tolerant.

I first modeled it for myself in privacy of the bathroom at home. The results where not great. Needless to say, there was some overhang, but not alot.

Then I modeled it for the wife and kids. Might have been a mistake.

The kids said it looked like tight underwear and that my big belly (they think I have a big belly, but I have a modest paunch, honestly) hungs out.

My wife said they looked too tight and had an uncomfortable look on her face as if she was re-evaluating the man she married 12 years ago.

Only the dog, Oreo, thought it looked ok, which he indicated by waging his tail at me.

A slight overhang here and there was not the main problem, however. It was the tan or lack of tan in the upper leg region that most concerned me.

Forty years of wearing board shorts means there are parts of my body that have never seen the sun. I believe the term is farmers tan, but instead of the arms, I had a farmer's tan on my legs.

The men in Speedos at the pool have some overhang, but I've never seen such a bad case coloration. Maybe thet tan up before hitting the pool.

Well, tomorrow is a swim day for me. I'll pack my old shorts and my new, er, thingy, and see if I have the courage to wear it. Of course, nobody at the pool cares one way or the other.

Political Intrigue

Talking Points Memo, the cool political blog by Josh Marshall, is burning with political intrigue today. Check it out here.

Here is some of the current dirt:

Plame investigators subpoena air force 1 phone records - cool.
WH council involvement in stealing Dem computer files from congress - neat.
Niger yellow cake letter arriving just in time to support the WMD argument - interesting.
Cheney continuing to site non-existent job numbers - what's new?
911 commission stonewalled at every turn - sad (and then to use 911 pictures for political ads - out of touch).
The white house dog died (true story) - ole blue.

Hope some of these scandals erupt before the election…but I don't think it will happen.

In the movie All the President's Men, Nixon was into his second term before Watergate erupted in his face, although all the dirty tricks occurred in his first term.

Remember that great scene, Woodward and Bernstein typing away (on actual typewriters!) in the news room of the Post, while Nixon is inaugurated a second time on the television?

See more on the Watergate here.

I fear Bush will skate through the election just was Nixon did. And then, unless the scandals are impeachable (no touching was involved as far as I know), they won't matter. Karl Rove wants desperately to push the scandals into the second term just like J.R. Haldermen.

The fact that these investigations are beginning mere months before the election, is no coincidence. Just like Watergate, the administration will do all it can to stall until after the election. If Kerry raises these issues, Bush/Cheney cry partisan politics.

There is a distinct strategy here, people. Lets call it the Watergate strategy. Or, in the vinacular of the times, "they are going Wategate on us."

Private Idaho

Is it me or is the President living in his own private Idaho (or own private Texas)? Does he have blinders on? Is his ideology so strong that he can't see the forest for the trees? Lets hope so, because it will cost him the election.

The Achillies heel of any ideologue is that ideology blinds.

Certainly, the President is on message with his base. They love him because he loves Jesus and hates gays, he's conservative (although not conservative enough for some, which is alarming), and he's a fight'n them Iraqi terrorists.

But for the rest of us, GOP and Dem alike, Bush seems out of touch, clueless on the economy, clueless on outsourcing, clueless on business innovation, arrogant about the environment, and down right scary on the separation of church and state. He's a bumbling speaker, looks clumsy at news conferences, and called us all "sinners." Yikes.

His form of ideology is a kind of neocon, Reaganesque, Christian-right , trust me am a good-ole-boy stew, seasoned with old economy policies and axis of evil rhetoric. Hmmm, tasty.

Ideologues are usually out of touch and we certainly see this with Bush. Ideologues also don't know they are out of touch and this is Bush's real problem.

He consults his base for feedback and everything looks fine. But the rest of us are scratching our heads about WMD, massive budgets, dirty tricks (Plame, democratic computer files, Nigian yellow cake), the jobless economy, and unemployment/outsourcing.

There are even rumblings within the GOP about Bush being out of touch (didn't they say that about Reagan. Bush might be right on point).

Robert Novak has an interesting run down on what some GOP leaders are thinking here.

Josh Marshall's also has a comment about this in his blog, here.

Josh calls it "believing your own spin." I call it an idealogue living in his own private White House; but not for long if he keeps the blinders on.