Trim the bottom 40

Most of the time I look at presidential and other elections and think that what you see is a repackaging of the same old cr*p. When McCain picked the little known governor from Alaska, I thought to myself that this is really odd. Then I saw her speech at the convention, it was fairly impressive in it's delivery, not to mention a bit frightening. In the next weeks, it became obvious that there was not a lot of depth to be found. At the end of the Vice Presidential debate, it was clear that all Palin was capable of was rhetoric, and claiming to be a Maverick, which I'm not entirely sure she can spell.

Over the last few days, the theme in the media is how she is dragging down the ticket. One poll said that 55% of people thought she was incapable of being president, while 40% thought she was.

This morning in the Washington post, I saw this quote:"Overall, 52 percent of likely voters said they are less confident in McCain's judgment because his of surprise selection of Palin; 38 percent are more confident because of it. That represents a marked reversal from the initially positive reaction to the pick."

The other day, she told Brian Williams that the Vice President is in charge of the Senate. Um, maybe one of her handlers ought to have fed her the right answer after blowing it a few weeks ago. Those pesky ambush journalists.

My question is, who the F*ck are these morons that make up 2 out of every 5 adults? From which planet, or parallel universe, does she meet the minimum qualifications to lead a country? Perhaps knowing what her job description is might be a place to start. If someone wants to make the argument that McCain would be a better president than Obama, I would disagree, but would have to acknowledge that it was an opinon of merit. If the twit can't handle the tough questions posed by Katie Couric, how is she going to represent, let alone lead a country? Anyone who thinks that Sarah Palin is remotely qualified to be president needs to have their right to vote rescinded.

Apparently this opinion makes me some form of elitist selective racist who disparages rednecks, and casts aspursions against the real people of america. Based on the fact that I like to fish, enjoy NASCAR, have a garage full of power tools and drive a 14 year old Bronco, I myself might be categorized as a redneck. While I don't have anything parked on my lawn, don't have a gun rack, and I obtained a graduate degree in business might disqualify me, we'll leave that aside. Maybe I should start a grassroots group, Rednecks for Obama, or even better, Rednecks for Literacy and Cognitive Processes.

I guess I could go on with the litnany of reasons she is unqualified, but anyone who reads a newspaper and thinks for themselves should understand this already.

The fly of the day is the Yellow Sally Stone Fly, courtesy of the nice people at Fly Anglers Online




Thight Lines,

Dave

On the Shelf

One of the facts of life if you play a contact sport, is that you run the risk of getting injured. You are guaranteed to have soreness and pain if you play hard, but actual injury is one of those things that you would rather avoid.

It's never a good idea to blow up a joint or crack a bone, but more of a nuisance than the pain and discomfort, is the amount of time that you will spend going to doctors, getting X-rays, killing a day of work for the surgery, and the next 3-12 months going through the frustrating experience of rehabilitation. It's been 8 years since my last significant injury, but the memory of the seeming eternity that is rehabilitation is still clear in my mind.. The key to a successful rehab is that you fundamentally have to start over and refrain from doing even basic exercises. Even though you can take stairs 2 or 3 at a time, you need to take them one by one until the doctor gives you the green light. Even though you know you can start doing slide drills, you have to work with the little rubber band for the next two months. Arghh...


A couple of weeks ago at Ruggerfest, I ended up at the end of a string of passes "through the hands". It was almost like we knew what we were doing. (Oh yeah, we're old and we've been playing for a long time, we're just slow.) I had the angle to the corner, but there was no way I was going to beat the last defender to the try zone. After an amazingly deft move, amazing in that I couldn't believe that he bought it, I turned back toward the middle and was running toward the posts. With each step, I was getting closer to scoring (This happens about every 2-3 years). Right as I was getting to the try line, the defender dove and swept my ankles. As I was about to lose my feet, diving seemed to be the thing to do, as I figured I could reach the try zone and set the ball down. Somewhere shortly after I set the ball down, the rest of my body followed. At this point, the shoulder attached to the arm that was holding the ball buckled (that's technical term). I figured I twinged it pretty good, but no major damage. Guess again, Dave. I've yet to meet the person who has had an MRI and not had surgery, which will likely be my fate in about a month.

Long story short(er), I'm out of action for the next while. One thing that is important for any rehab stint is to have a goal event that you are getting ready in time for. While this may sound strange, my target events are Cowpie and Mother's Day, as in the Cowpie Classic rugby tournament in Steamboat, and the Mother's Day caddis hatch on the Arkansas river. May and July are a long way away, but they'll get here soon enough. About the only thing I'll be able to do between now and then is tie flies, so all is not lost.

The fly of the day is the spent caddis. A particularly hot fly, right after a hatch. (This particular video features A.K. Best, an angling legend in these parts.)



Tight Lines,

Dave