A rainy football Sunday

I'm watching my Colts, hoping to see them go 11-0 for the season! (Update: Game over, Colts win 35-27!) At least I have a bright spot in Beth's Football World™ with my Colts. Not so with Notre Dame. They lost their last game of the season last night, and that was four in a row. They finish the season 6-6, and now we're all speculating when Charlie Weis will be fired, not if. What's really upsetting to me is that it's looking likely that both Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate will forgo their senior seasons and go into the NFL draft since Weis will be gone. I was sure enjoying watching both of them develop into amazing players, and was looking forward to seeing them play next year. I doubt that will happen now.

I was kind of down about it last night, but today I'm more philosophical. I'll be interested to see who is tapped for the coaching job. In Beth's Football World™, they'd coax Tony Dungy out of coaching retirement and get him. Heck, he's got a relative in town...I think it's one of his brothers! C'mon, Tony, we'd love you here...and you've got family here!

Hey, a gal can dream.

So it's been kind of a gloomy, rainy day today. I've been taking care of some odds and ends around the house, cleaning up the kitchen, that sort of thing. I got an entry written for I Stand Corrected, so if you get a chance, pop on over there and read my fascinating treatise on the semicolon. You'll laugh, you'll cry, it'll become a part of you!I was having a very mellow day until I heard that one of my Senators, Richard Lugar (R), suggested on CNN's "State of the Union" this morning that we delay the health care reform debate for a year so we can focus instead on Afghanistan and the economy. Are you kidding me?!

I am highly disappointed in Senator Lugar. He's always been a moderate Republican, with plenty of foreign policy knowledge. I wrote to him some time ago to urge him to support health care reform, and I got a letter back stating that he felt that with the economy being in the state it is in, now was not the time to tackle health care reform. Of course, every indicator shows that we are out of the recession, but employment will take some time to recover. The actual economy itself is beginning to recover. I felt at the time that it was a convenient excuse for him. Now that things are beginning to improve in that regard, his next excuse is Afghanistan.

What is it going to be next, Dick? A plague of locusts? An asteroid rocketing toward the Earth—and another crappy movie about it? A new Britney Spears CD? There is always going to be something. A natural disaster here or on the other side of the world. A country facing famine. An ethnic group experiencing genocide. Things that we will need our attention around the world in the interest of our shared humanity. Now is the time to make a difference for millions right here in our own country, make sure that they have decent health care, and don't have to live in fear of losing their homes because of one devastating illness. Now IS the time. No excuses, Dick. You can expect another letter from me soon.Yet another reason to love Facebook. (I have several.) We've reconnected with our friend Andy. He's a Notre Dame grad, and was an intern at Ken's company. A few years ago, he headed out to California to attend grad school at Cal Tech (he had a chance to go to MIT, too, but chose California weather over Massachusetts...I don't blame him). We had sort of lost touch a while back, but found each other on Facebook and talked on the phone tonight. It was great to hear his voice, and I'm so glad we reconnected. At the risk of sounding like a fucking schoolmarm, he's such a nice young man!Speaking of the F-word, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who showed appreciation for my dirty whorish mouth. You all are so sweet!

[Postscript: What do you think of the little divider bars? Do they look okay, or are they annoying? Too busy? Any feedback would be welcome.]

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit, look who's here!

Today was an exciting day in our area, as President Obama made the scene in Elkhart, Indiana!

Elkhart is a little east of us, as you can see on the map below. (The red X is approximately where Nutwood is.) Air Force One landed at South Bend Regional Airport and the motorcade made its way over to Elkhart. (Cousin Shane flew back from New York today--I just heard from him, and although he didn't experience any delays, he said that some things were changed a bit to accommodate the President's visit.) As I recently mentioned, Elkhart County is hurting in a bad way, with 15.3% unemployment. The President was introduced by an out-of-work Elkhart resident, an RV worker, who is worried what he'll do when his unemployment benefits run out. President Obama spoke for about 20 minutes, then took questions from the audience in a town hall-style format for 35-40 minutes, followed by lots of handshaking on his way out.

He was accompanied on this trip by several Indiana and Michigan politicians, including Senator Evan Bayh, Congressman Joe Donnelly (our congressman), and Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan. A surprising absence was Senator Richard Lugar, who was apparently invited on the trip but declined. Senator Lugar worked closely with then-Senator Obama on some things, and there has always seemed to be a mutual respect there, so I'm puzzled by his absence. Dan wondered if he was being pressured by the GOP. If so, that's a cryin' shame, because Sen. Lugar has always been a great legislator and an asset to Hoosiers. I'll be writing to Sen. Lugar in a moment and urging him to support the President on this.

Oddly enough, the President mentioned something in his speech that I just wrote about: while it's easy to talk numbers, 15% unemployment, 50,000 more jobs lost, etc., we have to remember that there's a person behind every number. That was my philosophy when working in the lab...never forget that those numbers are real people. I think it applies here, too, and I thought it was pretty cool to hear him say that.

I thought he did a great job, and was very well-received. The calls were not prescreened, so he was going in blind, and had to answer a question about some of his Cabinet selections and their tax problems. The crowd kind of started booing her, but the President was like, "It's all right, it's all right...it's a legitimate question," and went on to reiterate that he made a mistake, and that he is committed to changing the culture of Washington. The woman also inexplicably made the comment that she thinks he should "have a beer with Sean Hannity." What kind of bonehead comment was that? He handled it well...said he didn't know Mr. Hannity had requested to have a beer with him...that Mr. Hannity has made no bones about not being a big fan of his...but he's always good for a beer.

I just enjoyed the hell out of watching this today. It took me back to the heady days of the primaries, and then the Presidential campaign. He's so damn good at this. I thought one of the most powerful things he said was that hey, people in Elkhart want to work--nobody's asking for a handout! He got a big cheer for that one, and he's right. Not just in Elkhart, but across the country. Have you seen the pictures of the lines in Atlanta and Chicago for job calls? People want to work. We need to do something to provide job opportunities for them, whether through job creation, job training, or education. That's why I support this, and why I think it needs to pass.

Off to write my Senator! And no matter how you feel about this or any other issue, I encourage you to write your Senator or Congressman. You might be surprised at how responsive they are, and I've been fortunate in that I've always gotten thoughtful responses to my letters. We have the power and right to be engaged in our legislative process, and I also believe it's a responsibility that we shouldn't take for granted. Happy politicking, y'all! And don't forget to watch the President's address tonight.