Friday's Odds and Ends

Recently a woman in Dallas was asked why she wanted to model for Playboy.  "Before I get married and find someone, it's something I want to get out of my system."

Sure, that's what every young woman should put on her list of things to do before marriage.


Why Hillary didn't win -- she's not a cowgirl. In her book, Big Girls Don't Cry, Rebecca Traister writes about the "rootin'-tootin' female politician" and America's fascination with them. She says it is "symptomatic of the too-narrow ways in which the United States is willing to accept women as leaders."

I remember when Ann Richards was elected governor of Texas in 1991. While she didn't have that "take me to the wilderness so I can shoot something" persona of a Sarah Palin, she was promoted as a tough Texan who could hold her own with the good ol' boys. 

So maybe Hillary should stop trying to prove how smart she is and start acting like a cowgirl.

We've seen record cold temperatures and storms across the U.S. this week, and people still think we are not experiencing climate change?

New approach to airport security - mice who can detect explosives. Israeli scientists developed a mouse trap that contains three canisters, each filled with eight specially trained mice capable of picking up faint traces of explosive residues. The scientists say that  mice are more effective bomb-sniffers than dogs because they don't require constant human interaction, and they actually have more scent receptor genes than canines. 

They don't eat as much as dogs, either, but a dog is more fun. Read more about the mice HERE

Please Don't Do It, Mr. Obama

Dear Barack,

I hope it's not too forward of me to call you by your given name, but you seem like a friendly sort of guy, and you just might be our next president, here in these good old United States, so I'm confident the familiarity is okay.

First, let me congratulate you on you historic win this week to receive the Democratic Nomination for President. I am pleased that you were able to overcome some of the efforts to smear your name and your reputation via e-mail and the Internet, as well as inferences made because of your association with certain churches and certain pastors. Gosh, when a person throws his or her hat into the political ring all kinds of crap crops up.

Now, to the reason I'm writing. I know there is a huge - as in gargantuan - push for you to chose Hillary as your running mate, and I hope it is not too late for me to ask you please not to do that. There are a number of people who registered to vote and voted for you in the primaries because they DO NOT WANT HILLARY CLINTON OR BILL CLINTON associated with the White House again.

The Clinton Presidency was hardly a stellar one for integrity and morality and a lot of folks don't want to see them back in any position of power.

Beyond the Monica issue, there were so many other instances where they were accused of not conducting business ethically, that they have lost the trust of the American people. At least a lot of the American people I've been talking to.

They, the Clinton's, are like children who have varnished the truth so much, it's hard for a parent to believe anything they say.

Hillary is a smart, and probably very qualified person on many levels for the VP slot, but, as many political analysts are saying, she brings way too much baggage with her. So I'm asking you - pleading with you - not to cave in to the pressure from the media and the party. You have run an amazing campaign with "change" as your cornerstone, so let's really have change.

Why not ask Ron Paul to be your VP? He has a tremendous grass roots support and is a man of incredible integrity. And I think it would be a courageous move on your part to cross party lines and truly do something for the good of the people.

Just something to think about...

Sincerely,
Maryann Miller

HILLARY CRIED

I couldn’t believe it when I turned on the Today Show this morning and there was an interview with a woman who was explaining what Hillary Clinton’s tears meant on the eve of the New Hampshire primary. I couldn’t believe it. Another story about the emotional display. I thought we’d pretty well exhausted that topic yesterday.

And speaking of exhaustion. That’s what probably caused the chink in Hillary’s armor in the first place. This campaign stuff is grueling and it is bound to take its toll. I could see the exhaustion in the faces of other candidates, too, but the men are just better at swallowing their tears than women are.

It is ludicrous to me that the media is making such a big deal of this. Come on fellow journalists; is there nothing better to write about than Hillary’s tears?

I turned off the TV, hoping that would be the end of it, but later today I was reading the Dallas Morning News and a columnist actually wondered on paper whether Hillary had planted the woman in the audience who had asked the question that prompted the emotional response.

I shook my head. Have we sunk this low that we have to suspect every move a politician makes?

Then I realized how silly I was to ask. Of course we have. The last twenty years has seen such deterioration in how people behave in Washington, on Wall Street, and any other street in America, that it is hard for folks to know what truth is anymore.

When I start getting this cynical about the political process, I watch “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and pretend for a little while that there is one person of character and integrity who can truly bring change to the government.