Messy

Beginning on the weekend, we have been hit by wave after wave of wind and water, as a series of storms are rolling in off the Pacific. It's currently 43 degrees and raining lightly, adding to the 2.5 inches we've already accumulated. This is the cold, penetrating dampness that will be with us now for much of the next five months. I wish it could have waited until after Halloween. It looks like we will be in cool sunshine for Halloween though, as we leave for Colorado tomorrow. I'm glad we got lots of yard clean up done before the weather changed, because from here on it will not be as pleasant crawling around on the cold, wet ground. But there will be more to do before we put the garden to bed. Right now we're just waiting for Mother Nature to finish making her mess. There'll be plenty of time for clean up after we get back home. Speaking of messy, that certainly describes the state of politics. With the mud slinging going on in TV and radio ads, we're getting buried in filth. I have taken to talking back to them, with things like "that's stretching the truth", "that's ridiculous", "how could you possibly derive that from the facts", and finally "you lie!" While yes, it is politics as usual, it has been exacerbated by the Supreme Court ruling allowing unlimited, secret contributions from large corporations and unions. 501(c)(4) organizations, who get to call themselves "non-profits", are pouring anonymous cash into campaigns, including many companies that still owe us bail out money. Here in Washington our incumbent Dem. senator is under attack by Karl Rove's "non-profit" Crossroads GPS. We have a lot of ballot measures this year, most derived through the initiative process. Of the six initiatives, I may have found one I like. But I frequently get outvoted, so we could have a mess on our hands. Three concern taxes, either adding, rescinding, or limiting future taxes. Several are about state liquor sales. If both pass, we will have contradicting laws. Either way the state takes a hit in revenue, which we can't afford, with cuts at bare bones levels already. Messy, very messy. Tom and I sat down with our 120 page state voters' pamphlet and our additional county guide last Thursday and marked our ballots, then mailed them in. We have all mail-in voting now, and we like it. But it will probably delay vote counting, so with the close races, we may not know the winners and losers for some time to come. Messy. While I'm sure I've come across as calm and clear headed so far, I'm not calm at all. My brain is messy too. Because with all of the campaigning and pundits and tea partiers spouting off, could someone please explain to me WHY WOULD YOU VOTE FOR REPUBLICANS TO RESTORE JOBS WHEN THEY MADE THEM GO AWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?!