Comic Opera

 Calhoun's Cannons for Nov 6,2014

The U.S. seems a country hell-bent on its own failure.

                                    Clive Crook

Well,, that election was a head scratcher.  From the first days of the Obama administration, Republicans determined that their number one priority was to become the Party of NO! And for years, voters caterwauled about this do-nothing Congress, yet when given a chance they elected even more Party of No Republicans and sent them back as a majority in both Congress and the Senate to do even more nothing. 

According to a Pew Research Center poll, likely voters disliked the Republican Party even more than they disliked the Democrats and 68% said they'd like to fire every incumbent. But when the chance came to do just that, they reelected the incumbents and sent even more of the "disliked" Republicans to Washington.

So either the voter's wails of discontent to the pollsters was all an act or the American voter has an inability to grasp the concept that if you don't like what A is doing, electing two more A's won't solve your problem.

The comedy got even better when Congressman Mitch McConnell gave his victory speech. "Just because we have a two-party system doesn't mean we have to be in perpetual conflict. . . We have an obligation to work together on the issues where we can agree," said the man who vowed that his number one priority in Congress was to make Obama a one term president by stopping anything the President proposed.  Now that Republicans have both houses, he is proposing comity with a straight face? It does not get any better than that.

Democrats, of course, are now covered in sackcloth, wringing their hands and wondering why they lost to a political party whose popularity rated lower than dog poo.  True, some of the losses came because of Republican gerrymandered districts and the new Republican efforts at voter suppression, but the real answer for the Democrats is in the numbers:  Not enough of them bothered to go vote. 

So either their wails of discontent to the pollsters was all an act as well, or Democrats are hazy on the concept that if you don't like what A is doing, and you have a chance to vote A out of office, sitting home on your couch on election day won't  solve your problem.    

What a country!

Well, good luck to 'em all.  McConnell has his work cut out for him -- herding Republican House cats, a gaggle of Tea party anti-government types wishing to burn the place down, ambitious men with knives, eyeing Caesar and dreaming, with El Gato Primo, Ted Cruz, being the biggest dreamer of them all. The President said he'd sit down to sip bourbon with McConnell. Good advice.  And bring a bottle of aspirin.  It's going to be a bumpy, comical two years.

Not so comical is that through all this nonsense,  Mother Nature's clock is ticking. A recent UN report on global warming has made it clear that we only have a narrow window of opportunity for major political and technical action to pivot away from carbon-based energy if we're to avert the worst of what's coming down on  us.   Recent polls have shown that global warming now has a majority of voters concerned, yet they just voted for a House and Senate controlled by the party of climate deniers, a party committed to King Coal and Big Oil, a party that will ensure two critical years will be lost while the Big Burn continues or accelerates.

So, either the American people really don't care about their future and are lying to the pollsters, or they don't understand the concept that Mother Nature does not negotiate.  Her terms are clear: Burn it now and your grandchildren will burn later.  Very simple.  And not funny at all.   

OMG! OMG! Sewer Wars Half-Over?

Poor Pandora.  Her efforts at getting her Boys (Storm, Baltimore, Tornatzky) elected to the CSD by trying to re-start the Hideous Sewer Wars with her letter-to-the-editor (Oct 23) attacking candidates Cesena and/or Swanson failed.  One of her targets (Cesena) got elected to serve alongside her two boys, Storm and Tornatzky.

The immediate result of this "voter's choice" is that the LOCSD's general manager's job is safe, for now, but the meetings will likely remain a bit testy, which is as it should be.  A too-cozy board is a board that's not doing its job. And a board that defers with too few questions to an administrator is also a board that's not doing its job. So, with this new slate, it's the CSD that's the winner, IF everyone takes a deep breath and takes as a given that this vote was an indication that the voters did, indeed, want everyone -- Tri-Wers and Move the  Sewerers -- to serve together on the Board and . . .  "move forward."

Congratulations to the winners (and my deepest sympathy -- now comes the hard part: governing this growling, contentious bear of a community) and thank you to all the candidates for running for a tough, thankless job. 

And Bones Will Fall From The Sky: The New Old Lemos Open for Business

Lemos Pet Store in Morro Bay is now back in its old site but in fine new rags.  The new building looks like a cross between a barn and an old timey railroad station, complete with a “rusty” metal roof and other fine details. All beautifully done.


There’s now a Dog Wash complete with various sizes and heights of metal tubs for scrubbing your pooch.





And plenty of room for a wide variety of stock, including dog dog beds



 And, of course, a cat corner.





But cat houses  held no interest for “Sarge,” a Mastiff/Geat Dane puppy who was checking the place out.


He was after  much more interesting game. 


As for the rest of the two-legged shoppers . . .

Oooooo Nooooo, Not The Sewer Wars Redux

Aw, dang!  And things were going along so nicely here in Sewerville.  The sewer pipes are in, the sewer plant is a-building right along.  A new Los Osos CSD election was on its way.  The letters to the editor pages were filled with snarking about every other race but our own.  The CSD candidates' forum was very  informative and collegial and collectively respectful, the only "controversy" was over why two of the candidates apparently failed to contact the organizers (the local Democratic club and/or whoever was handling the arrangements) to say they couldn't attend and could we please set another night. But, everyone soldiered on nonetheless.

Then everything started to go sideways: The CSD decided that use of Channel 20 to broadcast the debate was verboten because the group organizing the debate was considered a "political" group, even though political affiliation has never been a part of the CSD candidate qualifications or of the CSD election itself.  So the debate had to air on You Tube, of all places, until it finally aired on AGP's Channel 21.

Then Pandora Nash-Karner fired an opening salvo in the pages of the Tribune, directly attacking two of the candidates, dredging up the Old Sewer Wars, then touting her own slate of candidates.  It was a letter that caused me to snort coffee out of my nose and think:  It is supremely delicious how the architect of the original disaster now points with faux-dismay at those who were left to deal with the inevitable cascading debacle that resulted from the original disaster.  Sudden concern about the fate of the CSD from the woman who demanded Roger Briggs fine the CSD out of existence?  Quel gall.  

But I said nary a word on this blog and hoped everyone else would zip-it.  A few days later a clone of Pandora's letter appeared.  Again, I posted nothing. And waited, with bated breath, but no counter letters appeared, so I figured maybe Pandora's targets and her Chosen Three would ALL rise above her baited opening salvo and stay focused on what's become our favorite mantra out here: A relentlessly smiley-faced "Moving Forward!" 

But, no such luck.  Saturday front page, the Sewer Wars erupted, with Pandora's Chosen Three now joined up and issuing a flier attacking their two opponents over the (ancient history) sewer while defending their own attack flier by saying that Cesena and Swanson are to blame since they criticized  the two incumbants over "not holding the [current] district's administration accountable."

Yikes!  Criticizing incumbents over current issues.  In an election, no less.  Who would have thought? 

Well,  you can see how splendidly our smiley-faced "Moving Forward!" mantra is working.  As is our loudly stated insistence on not dredging up the Bad Old Days, our relentlessly positive efforts to just focus on current-and-future CSD issues, so long as candidates don't disagree with or criticize any incumbents for present-day administrative difficulties?  

So, here we are once again in a fifth-grade Poo fight. With an added bonus: A Tribune front-page story that also tosses Mr. Storm's temper and obscene gesture issues front and center, a piece of information I doubt the average voter had been aware of prior to this.

Sigh.  More proof positive that knives in a knife fight have blades that can cut both ways.

Since a good many people in Los Osos use mail-in ballots and vote early, the CSD election may well have been decided after the candidate forum but before Pandora's first shot and/or the Tribune headlines and this morning's final tit-for-tat final two letters. Wouldn't that be interesting to contemplate? Well, two more days and we'll see what happens.  Good luck to all the candidates and thanks for running. 

Except for the Tribune's final parting shot: The CSD candidates didn't even rate an editorial recommendation.  Poor Los Osos.  Still the county's Red-Haired Stepchild.  

Your Sunday Poem on a Saturday.

 
RAIN! RAIN! RAIN!
Soft rain, sweet rain
longed for rain, prayed for  rain
a blessing on the earth. 
RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! 
Puddles of rain, gutters of rain
delicious on a run-out tongue,
tasting of  . . .  "More, please!" 
RAIN! RAIN!
Hallelujah!
Thank you. 
Amen.