22 July 2000

Reading:  The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav

I went to Kmart today shopping for various household goods.  My mind was on this when I vaguely heard someone asking "Do you want to help Jerry's kids."  I turned to the Kmart employee who asked this and said in an almost incredulous tone, "No, not really."

I think my tone surprised her.  She didn't know what to say.  She looked at me like "But nobody answers that way."  My own thoughts afterwards were:  why would I go to Kmart to help Jerry's kids?  Why do Kmart employees expect me to help Jerry's Kids?  Why didn't I have the wherewithal to ask the woman, "No, would you like to help Kevin's dog?"  I'm sure Kiwi would have enjoyed a few new toys.

Not to make light of the amalgamation known as "Jerry's kids" but they aren't my problem.  I don't have a moral obligation to take care of them.  I don't care for Kmart employees who imply that I do or should.  

* * * *

The Gore people are getting desperate.  A relative political novice, Governor Bush, is hammering them on the issues.  The media so far seems more sympathetic to Governor Bush than Mr. Gore.  All of Mr. Gore's "risky scheme" bellyaching isn't playing well.  So now, all of a sudden, they've created an issue in Texas:  Texas has a huge budget deficit!  The assertion was so laughable that the Gore people were in full retreat by the end of the day, and the Bush people were pounding them.  All that was missing was Ronald Reagan saying "there you go again" and sending them scurrying for their Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young records and memories of better times.

I really hope the Gore people keep it up, though.  If they want to turn the race into a referendum on the governing of Texas, they lose badly.  In Texas, the governor is quite weak actually.  The legislature meets for an extremely limited time in comparison to other states.  The constitution is designed so that not much "gets done" in Texas.  Bush has been a fine governor in that he has gotten a few things done, and has overseen the state's overall fine fiscal health.  In comparison to Texas, DC under Clinton/Gore has gotten ever more bloated, and several investigations of Mr. Gore are pending regarding his dubious fundraising scandals.  

So I say, keep on comparing that to Governor Bush's Texas record!  It just contrasts the two candidates that much more effectively.  And now it looks like Danforth or Cheney will be on the ticket.  I'm sure somehow that will be a "risky scheme."  In reality, it makes a fine ticket.