Hey Hil, Are You Listening?

On Friday of this week, I was fortunate enough to listen to the AFA Report on American Family Radio. For those that have not listened to it, it is a roundtable discussion of the day's events from a Christian perspective and is sometimes light and entertaining, but is always informative.

The guys had an interesting take on an article written by Peggy Noonan in reference to the Hillary Clinton vs. Bosnia lie - a take that made me relisten and then look up the article by Ms. Noonan. As you may or may not know, Peggy Noonan was a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan and is always very cautious with her words. She also has a knack for making you look at the dictionary every once in awhile, which is a good thing as far as I am concerned.

I encourage you to read the article by Ms. Noonan as the article really tells it like it is. Hillary is at her lowest point and is drawing straws and shaping them to make her look better than her opponent when she should be counting her losses and stepping out of the ring.

Of the article, I must say that the whole thing can be summed up in two paragraphs:

What, really, is Mrs. Clinton doing? She is having the worst case of cognitive dissonance in the history of modern politics. She cannot come up with a credible, realistic path to the nomination. She can’t trace the line from “this moment’s difficulties” to “my triumphant end.” But she cannot admit to herself that she can lose. Because Clintons don’t lose. She can’t figure out how to win, and she can’t accept the idea of not winning. She cannot accept that this nobody from nowhere could have beaten her, quietly and silently, every day. (She cannot accept that she still doesn’t know how he did it!)

She is concussed. But she is a scrapper, a fighter, and she’s doing what she knows how to do: scrap and fight. Only harder. So that she ups the ante every day. She helped Ireland achieve peace. She tried to stop Nafta. She’s been a leader for 35 years. She landed in Bosnia under siege and bravely dodged bullets. It was as if she’d watched the movie “Wag the Dog,” with its fake footage of a terrified refugee woman running frantically from mortar fire, and found it not a cautionary tale about manipulation and politics, but an inspiration.

"The worst case of cognative dissonance in the history of modern politics." I just love that line and would have to agree that Ms. Clinton's perceptions have completely been muddled though I think that Ms. Noonan is being too kind as I would have to say that either Ms. Clinton is a pathological liar or that she is suffering from a severe case of dimentia. In either case, she has no place as the leader of any country.

It's Officially in the Books

I know that it is quite strange that here I am, end of March and I am posting yet another blog entry about the snow. Not that I necessarily want to post about the snow, but that I have to - and then I hope that this will be the last for this winter season. I have to because I can now say that I have lived through one of the worst winters in Dubuque history.

Yes, folks, it is now officially a record breaking winter. As of 6:59pm CDT today, we had received 76.2 inches of snow and surpassed the 135-year record of 75.7 inches set in winter 1961-1962. If I wasn't so darn tired of this 'endless winter' I would probably be jumping up and down, but alas, I am just thankful to have survived it. However, the worst is not over as we are looking at rain starting Saturday and continuing through next Thursday. Sure it will melt the snow and the frost, but the down side is that the ground is completely saturated and any rain will only run off and cause flooding.

Has Spring Sprung?

According to the calendar, it is mid-March. This is supposed to be the beginning of spring, but to anyone walking about in all this snow and ice, you would think that it is still winter and that there is more yet to come.

Well, Lisi and I went to our wonderful and local Irish boutique (Shamrock Imports) the other day and my how things really stay the same. I did find out that the annual St. Patricks parade has been canceled this year though, because Dubuque's finest feel it would be too dangerous with all the snow and ice out there yet. Maybe next year.

The weather is warming up a tad though. Supposed to be in the 40's all week and that should take a fair chunk of the snow with it. Most jobsites that I am on are like a mud bath now, but this melting of the winter is surely to cause a huge problem. Too fast of a melt and the river, creeks and streams are all going to flood. Won't affect us here at the house, except what gets in the basement, but will be nasty for those low-lying areas and further downriver. Will be interesting to see how this all goes down.

Lastly, I thought that I would let you all know that I am going through a bit of a musical change at the moment. To make a long story short, I will tell you that I have discovered a liking of Gaelic/Celtic music and particularly the band, Runrig. I love their style and am just plain hooked on their tunes. Even Lisi is started to get annoyed with my listening and singing their songs all the time. Oh well, she will either get to like them too or will just be annoyed.