Thursday, November 20, 2008

Update

Things have been really up-in-the-air, what with being gone to convention last week, getting ready before that, now trying to clean up what we brought back. Convention with 5,000 journalism high school students and their teachers in St Louis went well. We drove and that went well as well. Had lunch at a neat place overlooking the Missouri River west of Columbia MO on the way down on Wednesday. Wow! Ambiance and food both were out of this world, at least for mid-day mid-week mid-West. Name of the place is Les Bourgeois - a winery and vineyard with the eating establishment called the Bistro. 

And then there is my personal life. I've not been in such turmoil for years and years and years. Can't go into it here but if anyone reads this and feels inclined, please pray for God to place His grace and guidance on me and my life right now. I know it is questioning God's divine plan to worry but right now it is a struggle not to. I'm trusting it will all work out (doesn't He always allow that?) but I'm really concerned about what I'm to do in the meantime and how I am to find and complete my part of it. While I believe in God's input, I don't believe we should just sit and wait in the meantime. 

My favorite story is of the man who refused to leave his home even though the water was rising. The police car came, the boat came, the helicoptor came and he always said no, God will take care of me. When he drowned and went to Heaven, he asked God, why didn't you take care of me? Why did you allow me to drown? God's answer? Well, I sent a police car. I sent a boat. I sent a helicopter. What more could I do?

Just hope I recognize the rescue when it comes by.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Political Record

Over my lifetime I have tended toward a record of voting for the loser ----- either my candidate loses the election.... or it turns out later they should have. 

I'm sure hoping that doesn't hold true this time. We really do need something good to happen in our government right now!

One thing that really really irks me is the electoral college system. I understand why it was necessary when our nation was young. Just imagine holding an election when it took weeks, maybe months to get information from one side of the nation to the other.

But I've never understood in this day and age when we can know who took a breath on the coast almost before he actually took it. And because of having all of the state's votes go to the winner in the state, there have been many many times my vote did not count. In historically Republican Kansas, considering the value of the Democratic candidate turns out to be a waste of time. A vote for them most likely will not make it past the state borders.

But I heard someone comment yesterday that if we changed to popular vote, we in the rural areas would never see a candidate campaign because they would spend all their time (and money) in the biggest urban centers. And I suppose the extension of that would be they would loose sight of the needs of the rural constituents, just from not being exposed to them. Or having to do lip service to them.

I found it ironic that Ranch Wife was lamenting that her Republican vote would not be counted in New Mexico if their state went Democratic (which it did). Meanwhile my Independent-turned-Democrat vote didn't get counted in Republican Kansas either.

I think in a perfect world both our votes would have been counted. But as we all know, life is not fair! 

I just hope that the results of those votes that did get counted turn out to help improve the situation! Isn't politics interesting!