Senate Frustration

So, does Ken Salazar not have any spine? Or maybe it's just that he flip-flopped on a major issue, just like his party likes to do. Or maybe he's just a flat out liar.

Of course, I am referring to Colorado Senator Ken Salazar's position on the appointment of judges to the Federal Court of Appeals. We all know the senator's current oppinion on this issue. And that is to follow the other liberals in the Senate and filibuster President Bush's court appointments and not allow an up or down vote on the senate floor. Apparently this has not been done for 214 years, so presidents is not exactly on their side.

But since we all know that, does anyone remember what Mr. Salazar said to the people of Colorado when he was running for Senate? He looked us in the eye (or camera) and told us that he would not filibuster judicial appointments and would vote up or down, just as Senate is meant to.

So that raises my initial question: is Ken Salazar a liar? Or does he just bend whichever way the Beltway wind blows?

I am sure that Senator Salazar is a fine person, a good man, etc., but as a Senator he seams to be lacking. But, Colorado, that's what we get for electing a so-called "moderate" democrat to the United State's highest deliberative body, the U.S. Senate.

~~~~~~~~

But if we go beyond Ken Salazar for a moment, and on to what may be the much bigger issue here, we find what may be the underlying issue. I am not referring to the "anti-Christian" sentiment of liberals in positions of power, because I am not going to question the convictions of many good people. But I am referring to the lack of gumtion that the republican party, at least republican senators, are currently demonstrating. The prevailing attitude of this party seems to be compromise equals victory. They start with something they want (and legally have the power and votes to implement), let liberals and special interests whittle away 50% of it, and call it a victory for conservatives.

This half-assed attitude, I have no doubt, will alienate their "republican base" and cause a loss of the senate to the democrats. It sure tickes me off, and I am pretty sure I am less reactionary than a lot of folks.

I don't understand

Just a quick post-let tonight...

I'm so confused. Why is it that the things I like the most cause me the most angst and depression?

See? Confusing, eh? I love dancing, but I question my ability to a point that it makes me not want to try anything new for fear of fucking it up. And cars, and girls (I do like girls!), and basically everything that I enjoy makes me feel less than adequate. Oh well. Gives me something to thing about.

Oh yeah, and no sympathy postings! It's not like I'm distraught here, just confused. Luckily the 80's stream at sky.fm lifts my spirits. (currently The Gap Band - You Dropped A Bomb On Me) Yea!

In the Poudre!

Went campin' this weekend.

Now, glance at the date, and remember that I'm in Colorado. Add 7,800 ft elevation, and what do you get? COLD, that's what!

Actually, on Saturday it really wasn't bad. Probably in the mid 50s in the afternoon. It was just a one night trip with Katie (who had been "camping" two times previous) up the Poudre canyon, north-west of Fort Collins. We pitched our borrowed tent at the Big Bend Campground (nine sites) at around 12:30 and proceeded to go on about a six mile hike up the Roaring Creek Trail. After returning at around 5 with a huge blister on my heel :-( we started a nice little fire, drank a few beers, grilled dinner, and hunkered down for the cold to settle in.

What a beautiful night though! Some late afternoon winds whisked all of the clouds out and a super-bright full moon rose out of the east just after sundown making for a very scenic night. The moon was so bright that it never really got dark. But without cloud cover, and remember the 7,800 ft elevation, it got really cold.

This may be a good time to mention to those non-campers among you: When you're camping, you get tired earlier than in the city. Especially with just a couple of people, cold weather, no TV, no radio, no artificial light, etc, you end up turning in somewhere near 10 o'clock. But I think we were still the last ones in the entire campground to turn in.

So, by the time 8 o'clock rolled around and it was still frigging cold (it had gotten really cloudy overnight, so no solar gain), my back couldn't stand being on the ground much longer and I slowly got dressed and ready for the day. When I put my shoes on, I realized that another hike was probably not a good idea, so I went for a little wander around the campground and down to the river. From our site (in which, by the way, sat my '67 Fairlane - campin' machine!) you could hear some little rapids, and I wanted to see them. When I got a couple hundred yards down stream I found them, and it was less impressive than previously indicated. But still nice. So I wander back to camp, Katie's still sleeping, and I get my camera, head back to the river and squeeze off a few frames before heading back and starting a fire and breakfast.

So, this is getting obscenely long (hehe :p )... I'll summarize: Start a fire; Katie gets up; make breakfast; clean up; break camp; yada yada yada; re-pack the car; head home; unpack; wash all of the now campfire-scented stuff, including myself.

Yeah, good times. Very successful weekend, especially when you consider how bad things have the potential for being when you are camping.


On another note; I have $55 worth of Borders Books gift cards. Any suggestions?


And another, completely unrelated note, click here if you have fast internet and Winamp or here for Windows Media. Enjoy!

Tonight's Near Death Experience

Ok, so it's not really that near death. Mmm... so not even close.

Monday night's are practice for Blam, CSU Swing Society's performance troupe. Since we are nearing the end of the school semester (only one more practice this year) we were reviewing some of the choreography that we had learned thus far. After a painful hour-or-so of the Big Apple (which I didn't learn so well b/c my knee was still too bad to do it) we moved on to "The California Routine." It's a good time. There are two aireals involved that we don't know yet, so we were going to learn them. I practiced the first move, a Lindy Flip, with one of our peoples and it was going pretty well, but then I attemped it with my regular dance partner... who we'll call "M"... and it was kind of a failure. So, try it again. And again... But to no avail. So, because we're stuborn, we've got to try it again... back-step, down-push! And M doesn't make it all the way around, comes down half on top of me and manages to step on my hand which I had put down to avoid falling over. Good times.

So that was tonght's near death experience. Really not that bad, but my hand is still a little red. I'm sure I'll survive.

Living to Blog another day!