MEANDERINGS – by Peter Rocchio

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Only one year and a month have gone by since the last presidential election and I’ m about to break my pledge.  I was so disgusted with the outcome of the election that on November 3rd, the day following the election, I declared to my political junkie friends who were calling to talk about the debacle and wanted to begin speculating on the what the second term (ugh!) would hold.  I firmly declared, with all the pomposity I could muster, “Look, get out your day books and mark them for January of ’07. We can talk presidential politics again at that time.’’  Well, here we are two years and one month before the assigned time and I can’t hold out any longer. 
Here goes!

Starting with the GOP.  There is no clear front-runner for the Republican nomination for President which, for an incumbent party, is an unusual circumstance. I fully expect this will be remedied within the next eighteen months with the resignation of VP Dick Cheney and replacing him with a viable candidate for President thereby giving them the leg up they would hope to have.  Chaney's resignation could either be as a result of the still growing CIA/Libby/Rove matter or heart condition related.  As for replacement – well, you speculate.  Sen. John McCain?  a loose cannon; Rudy Giuliani? – a cultural liberal. Condi Rice? Maybe. Such a move would not only position her for a nomination but would provide America the opportunity to get used to the idea of an African-American female at the top of government.

As for the Democrats – now there’s a dilemma. Sen. Hillary Clinton is a lightening rod; Sen. John Kerry, undistinguished; Sen. John “Edward, attractive but with no constituency; then there’s Al Gore.  Yes, The Al Gore. His name has been popping up in various columns and on talk shows.  Is something afoot? I for one hope not.  Been there, done that. At this very early date the only name, which stirs my interest, is Bill Richardson of New Mexico.  Being a Governor and not a Senator is essential this time around and the fact that he is Hispanic is also a major plus and one with a resume that spans from the congress to the United Nations to Secretary of Energy to Governor wouldn’t hurt.

I realize that The West Wing and Commander-in-Chief are televisions shows but each gives a glimpse into the possibilities looming on the horizon. On the West Wing it would appear that Jimmy Smits, Hispanic is about to be elected President of the United States – And on Commander-in Chief, Geena Davis is the first female President providing us with the opportunity of seeing how a woman might function in that role.

The Presidential election of 2008 has the potential of being the most groundbreaking ever – stay tuned.

This damned Iraq thing has me totally confused.  We're in a war, which our President says we must continue until we are victorious – until we have completed, our mission. I ask, what is our mission and when will we know when we have won? 

Here we go again!   The Vatican has spoken on the subject of homosexuality and we now are told that being gay may be transitory.  This is from the same group who incarcerated Galileo for proclaiming the world was round  and believed that Christianity could most effectively be spread via the Crusades.  I respectfully ask the Holy Father, "At what stage of my homosexuality can I expect to wake up one morning only to discover my lustful need to have a woman?" And if homosexuality is transitory may not heterosexuality also be transitory?  The foolish premise if further made laughable by the Vatican statement declaring that an otherwise homosexual candidate for the priesthood would be ordained if he has been celibate for three years.  So tell me, who and how is this verified? The statement is so absurd on it’s face as to have no credibility. For those of us who are Catholic and gay and love our faith, we will just keep on keeping on and hope and pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the hearts of church leaders to recognize that the God whom we love has created us all in His image and all - male, female, gay or straight should be treated with respect and dignity and equality.

A post-Thanksgiving memo to Ocean Spray:  Under what rock to you live and work? Many in America still prefer your jellied variety of cranberry relish.  I may not be among  them but to satisfy those who do, I recently attempted to plate up some of the ‘wobbly’ cranberry relish. The traditional method of getting it out of the can is to open both the top and the bottom of the can and simply slide the jellied relish out onto to a serving plate.  Has anyone in your company ever served up a can of the relish?  I can only speculate that no one at Ocean Spray has done so recently.  For some inexplicable and frankly, stupid reason you have taken to making the bottom of your can with rounded edges making it impossible to open with a traditional can-opener.  So much for opening both ends and sliding the 'wobbly' onto a plate. I suggest a return to the past.

Now that the hurricane season is behind us for this year, what will we stress over?
Oh well, I suspect we’ll find something – we always do.

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