All the Dingbat Gooney Birds

JIM LO SCALZO/EPA - Sen. Marco Rubio speaks at the 40th Annual Conservative Political Action Conference.  The future of the Republican Party took some shots at its recent past on Thursday, as two top 2016 White House hopefuls made a conspicuous effort to distance themselves from the past two GOP presidential nominees.   Speaking to activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor, Sens. Rand Paul (Ky) and Marco Rubio (Fla) offered sharp, and only slightly veiled, critiques of Mitt Romney and John McCain, the two most recent men to carry the party standard in presidential  (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) - Supporters of Sen. Rand Paul cheer as he speaks at the conference Thursday.“The GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered,” Paul said. “I don’t think we need to name any names here, do we?”  Although Paul didn’t mention McCain by name, the reference was clear after McCain last week labeled Paul and other members of the new generation of conservative Republicans “wacko birds.”  Speaking to the same crowd earlier, Rubio sought to cast himself as the anti-Romney, attacking some of Romney’s most controversial statements from the campaign, in which the former Massachusetts governor, in a surreptitiously recorded video, dismissed his chances with 47 percent of American voters because they were overly dependent on government and considered themselves victims.  “Our people have not changed,” Rubio said. “The vast majority of the American people are hard-working taxpayers who take responsibility for their families, go to work every day, they pay their mortgage on time, they volunteer in their community. This is where the vast majority of the American people are. What’s changed is the world around us.”  Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who was a presidential candidate in 2012, joined in the attack. He said that Romney’s presidential loss says nothing about conservatism because Romney isn’t a conservative.  “The popular media narrative is that this country has shifted away from conservative ideals, as evidenced by the last two presidential elections. That’s what they say,” Perry said. “That might be true if Republicans had actually nominated conservative candidates in 2008 and 2012.”   Rubio argued that globalization and technology have changed the game when it comes to the economy.  “Many people do the right thing,” he said. “For example, they pay their mortgages on time. And now, when the housing bubble came, they were stuck with the bill for bailing out the banks that caused it, for bailing out the people who took out mortgages they couldn’t afford to pay.”  Later in his speech, Rubio drew laughs by talking about a middle-class family that fit that description. “They’re not freeloaders; they’re not liberals,” he said.  He closed with one of his biggest applause lines, alluding to arguments that the Republican Party needs to reinvent itself.  “We don’t need a new idea; the idea is called America, and it still works,” Rubio said.  Paul used his speech to offer an extensive defense of his 13-hour filibuster last week — the same effort that drew the ire of McCain and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.). Over the course of those 13 hours, Paul pushed the Obama administration to clarify that it wouldn’t use drones against American citizens on American soil.  McCain and Graham suggested that Paul’s effort amounted to pointless grandstanding, with Graham even labeling him “ill-informed.”  “To those who would dismiss this debate as frivolous, I say tell that to the heroic young men and women who have sacrificed their limbs and lives,” tell them their sacrifice was great but that we had to suspend the Bill of Rights he fought for.  “Yes, the filibuster was about drones, but also about much more. Do we have a Bill of Rights or not? Do we have a Constitution or not, and will we defend it?”  Paul echoed Rubio by suggesting that the GOP doesn’t need to reinvent itself, but instead get in touch with its true self.  “The Republican Party has to change, by going forward to the classical and timeless ideas enshrined in our Constitution,” he said. “When we understand that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, then we will become the dominant national party again.”

You all are familiar with that Dylan song that says "I wish just one time you could stand inside my shoes, you'd know what a drag it is to see you".  This song, "Positively Fourth Street" probably has more keen insights into human nature per square foot than any other song written.  Well-  suppose our memories in THIS body using our conscious brain- perishes with us.  But don't lose all hope.  Suppose the memories of the our "Super Selves" that not so metaphorical lighter than gravity -  "looking back at us from the point of view of the rest of the World" is the only memory we will ever have of this life.  That would mean that all our fancy rationalizations and frustrations and a sense of being "pushed to our limits" to justify our rash or impulsive actions- - none of that will help us out.  All we will remember of Ourselves is NOT from our own Ego - - but rather from this "outside looking in" view of the rest of the world.  Some people can't stand to hear recordings of their own voice.  Others get suddenly camera shy and become self conscious whenever a camera is rolling.  Imagine being emersed in that 24 hours a day.  If you know that then it will indeed be the Future that we see 20 -20 - - we will have the disgrace of First viewing how we screwed up our lives and only Then- will we catch or get a glimpse on whatever screwy rationalizations or justifications we used to take that action- - like being forced to watch a bad movie over and over "You know it'.s coming" it makes it worse, somehow.  The wisest thing therefore, that we can do now is to get in touch with our Super Selves - - NOW - - while that alter ego can still be a saving force in our otherwise pathetic Lives.  (Selah)

My brother called up during the soap opera and the news wasn’t good.  Mom now had twin readings (in both arms) of 210 over 101 or something in blood pressure.  I think she needs to be hospitalized immediately and given any kind of sedative that will get her blood pressure down for a few days and they can “take it from there”.  Instead the lady doctor doubled down on a medication Mom had been trying to get off of- because she feared a rebound effect.  But as in my case – how can there be a “rebound” without a “bound” or original effect, to begin with.  I have been down this road myself before her, though my blood pressure never reached 210 and I was younger when I had the problem.  I was 48 and not 86 and in my mind that raises a significant problem.  My brotherl says Mom told her “it’s because I’m nervous” but I read in a book that merely “being nervous or tense” won’t cause this kind of spike in blood pressure.  She did not have the magnesium test.  My brother says they give women who have just had a baby and have high blood pressure - - magnesium, so I’d go with what works from prior experience here.  I again alluded to the fact that perhaps Mom should include citrus juice back in her diet. I think she should tell the doctor who said to eliminate those from her diet - tell him to Fuck Off.  My brother took off a few more days although now Wednesdays are his normal day off.  I talked a little about today’s selection of a new Pontiff.  In a way I was almost expecting him to be more concerned.  But to reassure me a little, he reported that Mom said “I feel a sense of comfort knowing my children care about me”.  Allan was with Mom during one appointment- and remembered things about it Mom didn’t.  These little mini-lapses of Mom forgetting conversations – are becoming more frequent now.

Welcome to Pi day, where unfortunately they did not serve pie to celebrate.  But here are other of the day's highlights. - - - The carpet is still wet from yesterday and smells like mildew.  The towel I used to dry myself off with this morning is still wet.  The evaporation rate in there has to be near zero and I can’t figure that out since it’s a temperate, sunny day.  I had Bill Press on and after this was Stephanie Miller.  Janet approached Mario and me while it was still dark and offered us rolls and hot chocolate.  I went in the room as Janet stirred it and put two rolls in a bag for me.  I continued to listen to Stephanie Miller till 7:15 when I went down and saw the doors were not yet open so went for a fast smoke.  I don’t think we were served our oatmeal till after seven thirty.  We got our main plate at four after eight, which might come in third for the all time lateness record.  We finally got our scrambled eggs and a piece and a half of French toast, and after this the Plum guy gave me almost his entire plate - - ie his eggs and a whole piece of French toast.  Paul Evans offered me more food and I declined.  I have fought drowsiness numerous times during the day.  I listened to Rush Limbaugh at nine till 9:25 doing his particular kind of rant about the new Pope.  Of course Limbaugh is plainly ignoring the Pope’s social agenda or that he thinks capitalism is often exploitative.  He also had other vague, inappropriate nuances.  I then had Moe Kelly on a while and declined coffee call at ten.  Then I booted the computer and had Ed Schultz on.  There was no problem at all with the sound in the morning.  But in the afternoon after two when I had the Ed Schultz TV show on listening to that whistle blower guy who taped Romney at that party last May 17^th- - then there were static breaks.  And also I had Chris Matthews on with a segment about the intransigence of the Republicans- - and that’s when there were the worst breaks in sound.  This of course, is after over two months had passed including this morning when everything was working fine.  Ted Cruise would like to repeal the Affordable Care act and his first introduced bill did just this.  But “at least- - when this economy is gasping for breath – we don’t want to saddle it with Obama Care next year”.  Personally I wish I could say this five plus year long recession was entirely over but the evidence is clear that it is not.  The Republicans will not even vote on a plan to approve background check for gun buyers.  And Feinstein’s bill may specifically except over two thousand makes of rifle and such, but the Republicans and the NRA are still squeamish.  I didn’t learn a whole lot from that Scott guy that did the revealing 47% Romney video- - but I learned a little.  I learned that if those Chinese women employees had so much as looked up from their work as Romney passed, that they would have been beaten.  One expert said the guy was a big time liar.  What they did not make clear at least here was that Mitt Romney had ended up buying this very same factory.  Someone who was so paranoid with a "knowledge of his own guilt" would be someone who would not even allow his employees to get even a chance to talk to let along petetion Romney about their plight.  The straw boss just said "Oh, they didn't look up because they are really dedicated to their work".  Yeah- - and they really put up barbed wire and suicide nets to keep others OUT.  Yeah, right.