The Obligatory Goddaughter Picture

Yep – Dagmar and I got to see our happy little goddaughter, Maddie, again this week. Maddie is starting to look a LOT like her older sister, Peyton. Nephew Hunter is growing up quickly, too. Small children and teenagers change from week to week, it seems, and Dagmar and I often don’t get to see the kids but once a month, if that. Suddenly Justin’s taller than I am, and Torrey somehow turned into an articulate adult. The world happens whether we want it to or not, I guess.

Cheney’s Got a Gun

It’s been all over the news. Republican United States Vice President Richard Bruce “Dick” Cheney, 65, shot millionaire republican lawyer Harry Whittington in the face with a shotgun, sending Mr. Whittington to the hospital. The two men had been hunting tame quail at a ranch in Texas. Mr. Cheney, a Yale dropout, neglected to inform President George Walker Bush for quite some time that he’d shot a man in the face with a shotgun. In spite of Mr. Cheney’s two drunk-driving arrests and the fact that beer was involved in the incident, the official line is that alcohol was not a factor in the shooting. Evidently, aim was not a factor, either… Mr. Cheney may have had more control over his firearm had he any military service. (In the 1960s the Selective Service declared that married men with no children were eligible for the draft. Nine months and two days later, Mr. Cheney became a father. Hmmm… In fact, he actually applied for the “fatherhood deferment” when his wife, Lynn, was only ten weeks pregnant.) source

Should Mr. Cheney be asked to resign his position as Vice President of the United States of America? No. Absolutely not.

I can see you out there, scratching your heads… “Did Radloff just say that a Republican should be allowed to stay in power? That’s odd…”

Reason it through with me.

First off, no one in the Bush Administration has taken any personal responsibility for anything. Mr. Cheney admitted in an interview with Fox News (the unofficial propaganda outlet for the Bush Administration) that he did indeed shoot Mr. Whittington in the face with a shotgun, and that he takes full responsibility. It’s easy to say, “I take full responsibility for shooting a man in the face with a shotgun,” when the only ramifications for that action are saying you’re sorry and paying a seven-dollar fine for having the wrong hunting license. Had Mr. Cheney been faced with a prison term, arrest, etc., I doubt he would have stepped up to the plate. It’s not in his nature. His first reaction, actually, to shooting Mr. Whittington in the face with a shotgun, was to blame Mr. Whittington for being in the wrong place. So, asking him step down from his post as vice president isn’t going to get us anywhere, nor is asking the President to replace Mr. Cheney going to get any results.

Secondly, and this is the big reason, Mr. Cheney is unelectable. He’s an elderly gent who’s had four, possibly five heart attacks and one bypass operation already. He’s shown the wonderful judgment to shoot a man in the face with a shotgun. His approval ratings have always been in the cellar. He has experience now as vice president, but no one trusts him. Why would we want him to step aside so the Republicans can put a more effective person in his place, grooming him or her for the presidency? Dr. Condoleeza Rice (who has an oil tanker named after her) has already held two top spots in the baffled and befuddled Bush administration – why give her a chance to add “Vice President” to her list of titles? That would only bolster her chances of giving the democrats a hard time when the elections roll around in a few years. No, we should leave the Mr. Cheney where he is – he has no credibility and is therefore no longer a threat to America.

The only time we should ask for Mr. Cheney to resign would be if President Bush were to be impeached. Mr. Cheney should under no circumstances be allowed to govern.

Should we replace Mr. Bush? Absolutely. He must be impeached. He has lied, cheated, manipulated, spied, misled… The litany goes on and on. The government he has in place condones torture. We have secret prisons hidden around the world. We’re being spied upon by our own government. The economy is in trouble. The country owes massive amounts of money. This is a very dangerous situation. Mr. Bush must be removed from power. The elections are coming up in a few years, though. If we start impeachment hearings now, would they be finished by election time? Do you see where I’m going with this? I think that the best strategy for the democrats, libertarians, and greens would be to mount a simultaneous attack – bog down the administration with impeachment hearings so they can do no more damage for the next few years, and at the same time position candidates to take advantage of the confusion in both the 2006 and 2008 elections.

Them’s just my thoughts.

Closer to Home

Yep, the rumors are true. I am no longer a Smokin’ Clam. I love the guys to death, and I’ve had a LOT of fun being in the band the past two years. It’s just time to move on… Why? I quite simply want to play a little more often than the rest of the band, that’s all. I certainly have no hard feelings towards anyone in the band, and I encourage everyone to go see them play! They’re a good band, and good people, too. You can tell just by lookin’ at ’em. (For some reason I don’t have a picture of everyone with the elusive Miss Amy. You can see a picture of her here.)