Libya

I am more than a little confused. OK, yeah, Muammar Gaddafi is an evil turd of epic proportion, a dictator as deserving of a Tomahawk missile right to the kisser as anyone currently living. Only a hardcore pacifist would fail to smile at least a little if he were duly offed. But.... is this military action really the "right" thing to do right now? Consider these issues:

--From a manpower/raw-numbers perspective, our military is stressed beyond belief. Two simultaneous wars, at least one of which (Afghanistan) currently has no end in sight, have made it that way.

--From a money perspective, we can't afford this. The budget is busted already. Is this yet another sign that the president doesn't fully consider the financial ramifications of his decisions, or, worse yet, doesn't seem to think an absurd excess of red ink is a big deal?

--What/who replaces said evil turd when this is all over and done? Short answer: we have no idea. Be careful what you wish for. Better yet, don't light a match and toss it onto an unknown substance. Things could go boom.

--While the president's willingness to open a can of whupass on a third Islamic country ought to silence the "Obama is a Muslim" morons, is it really going to help our efforts at diplomacy anywhere? Do we improve our moral standing in the world at the conclusion of this adventure?

Really....I am more than a little confused. Muammar Gaddafi has been a criminal worthy of taking down for many years. But we have never done it. Now just doesn't seem like the time.

Thoughts and rambles, rambles and thoughts....

I'll start with the usual "busy as hell" excuses, then move on to the ones about not having any one topic upon which to direct my focus, and then, yeah....OK, it's been too long since I blogged, and that's that. Here are a few hit-and-runs:

--Work, i.e., the job I never talk about here, has been unusually (or maybe the better word is "particularly")satisfying lately....a strange mojo-filled mix of near laser-like focus, good results and a feeling like I'm riding on the wave, not under it. Good times. And that's all you're gonna get about that.

--Band breakups are funny things. I don't miss Mondo Topless at all. It was a good time while I was in, but maybe it's the zen (ish) training I have subjected myself to over the past few years, or maybe I'm just an asshole, but when I'm done with something these days, I'm done. And, man, was I done. In retrospect? Double done.

--But that's not to say that there's not something still floating about the musical ether into which to tap. Predictably, some of those Mondo boys and I will be soldiering on in another context. We had a bit of a meeting about that over tequila and beer just last week. Thoughts were voiced. Voices were heard. I think we can do this thing. Power troika and all that. And no, it doesn't have a name yet. Hell, it doesn't even have a practice under its belt yet.

--Actually it might have a name.

--Health care. One of these days I'm going to blog about health care, but, in the meantime....Why is it that the "solution" had to be so big and all-encompassing? Or, more particularly, isn't the single biggest problem in health care that people go bankrupt and/or die because they get a life-threatening /catastrophic illness and can't afford it? Why didn't we start by addressing that? Free (or cheap) "well" visits are all well and good, but that isn't the crisis. I'd rather we address the crisis and dial back on the megaspending. Or, actually, if it turns out that the crisis alone requires megaspending, maybe a one-time tax increase to cover the cost of catastrophic-only coverage for everyone? Hell, I don't know, but this giganto plan that we have now looks like too much/too soon. That much change in one big dose is bound to cause issues/resentment.

--The GOP's potential 2012 nominees. Jebus...can a bigger bunch of losers, other than Mitch Daniels and (maybe) Romney or Huntsman, show up to run in 2012? "TPaw?" Bachmann? Good lord...no wonder the president looks likely to get re-elected, a result I am probably OK with because I am all about the divided government these days.

--Earthquakes and their tsunami spawn engender the most powerless feelings around. Add a little nuclear drama for extra, er, drama.

--In a week or so, Queens of the Stone Age are touring their first album and Mike Watt rolls through town a week later touring his latest "opera." Then Mogwai in April and Echo and the Bunnymen and Face to Face in May. Wow. The rock will be brought.