Monday Blues, October 11th

It has always been hard to get started on Mondays. Not so much now days of course, since my "retirement" has the advantage of letting me set my own hours and, except for television programing, each day is pretty much the same as any other. I guess it's from 40 years of having to get started each Monday knowing that you have an entire week before the next day off. Habits are hard things to break. When it comes to Mondays I have a well entrenched prejudice (shhh, don't tell the ACLU or they'll have me in court).

Remember John Edwards? He made a stab at running for president in 2008, but then he fell for a crazy lady who wasn't his wife, and they made a baby. ABC News: "An investigation into whether John Edwards illegally funneled funds from his presidential campaign to cover up an affair with a staffer who bore his love child intensified this week, as federal investigators subpoenaed a host of new witnesses to appear before a grand jury... At the conclusion of an initial investigation into whether Edwards used contributions to hide away [Rielle] Hunter and staffer Andrew Young, Justice Department officials in Washington instructed local investigators to keep digging, interviewing more people to find out exactly who donated money." The saddest thing? He STILL might've made a better president.

I like Ambassador John Bolton. He appears fairly regularly on FOX and other venues to offer some usually astute observations about world events. Over the past few weeks he has been asked several times about the possibility of running for President. The first time it was more of a good humored poke but his answers seem to indicate that he is actually thinking about tossing his hat in the ring. Normally this would seem out of reach for some one like Mr. Bolton but the next election, against an unpopular President and equally unpopular political parties (Democrats and Republicans), maybe this is not all that crazy, just a long shot. Now that I think of it, maybe I should run....President Gary.....not......

Hey, CIA, what is going on with these Iran – Venezuela flights?
For three years now, there's been a twice-monthly "Axis of Evil Express" that shuttles "passengers" between Iran, Syria and Venezuela -- with occasional stops in Lebanon.
The flights, courtesy of Iran Air and Conviasa (Venezuela's national airline), are supposedly filling the travel needs of Iranian, Syrian, Lebanese and Venezuelan business-people and tourists. There is commerce and cooperation going on between Iran and Venezuela on some industrial and manufacturing fronts (e.g., autos, tractors and petrochemicals), but the tourism angle is a bit hard to swallow. Can't you almost see the Venezuelan family huddled over glossy travel brochures, explaining how much fun they'll have on vacation in the Islamic Republic of Iran? Plus, the flight doesn't accept open bookings, as transport for entrepreneurs or sightseers surely would. No, these planes are more likely carrying the likes of Hezbollah, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Guard's Qods Force. Hezbollah has been in Latin America for some time now -- witness its attacks on the Israeli embassy in 1992 and a Jewish community center in 1994, both in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as its documented drug and arms trafficking. With Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez becoming so chummy. The IRGC and Qods Force, which provide internal security and train and equip other terror groups, could be coming to tutor Chavez's security services. It's also been reported Iranian "advisers" are embedded with the Venezuelan military.

Last Thursday Harry Reid made a campaign speech: “Part of my constitutional duty is to do congressionally directed spending,” he said, pulling out a copy of the Constitution given to him by the late U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd. “I am vigorous in going forward with congressionally directed spending. I fight for it.” --need I say anything more about this guy???



Live Long and Prosper.....