I actually laugh a lot more than I rant, but I would like to state publicly that I refuse to use the abbreviation LOL. (The jury’s still out on ROTFLMAO.)
Patriotic Veteranism
I am so tired of all the Bush/Kerry crap about military service and Vietnam. Who made up the rule that says a politician ought to be a veteran anyway, and better yet, a decorated one? Serving at all makes you a hero, but unless you have to hold up under torture or something, isn’t getting wounded just bad luck? Is it better to have a medal you didn’t really deserve, or no medal at all?
By the way, did you know that some people consider Clinton to be a draft dodger?
Now I know it ain’t patriotic, but I for one would think that if you’ve got it together enough to find yourself leading an advanced country of 300 million, you ought to be clever enough to find legally valid ways to avoid serving in a badly justified war. So I wish Bush would quit trying to deny one of the few things I actually respect him for having the sense to do.
And if your daddy doesn’t have enough clout to help you get out of it, dodging your way into a Rhodes Scholarship to wait it out at Oxford will do just fine, thank you.
Looking Forward to My Retirement
Several of the people I work with and for are nearing retirement age, and one guy has a sign up over his desk that he’s updating every morning with the number of days till he retires on his birthday in 2006, so based on current assumptions regarding Social Security, I’ve decided to do the same for my 67th birthday.
As of right now, my whiteboard shows I’ve got only 9018 days left to go!