I just don't get it

Dubya is 11-12 points ahead of Kerry in the polls? I just don't understand it. Okay -- let me think about it.

Humm. Nothing is too low or too dirty for Dubya. Tell the big lie. (Go over to Father Jake Stops the World for a look at the big convention-speech lie.)

Attack the person and character of your opponent. Get people who still carry all that anger from the Viet Nam era, the ones who believed that any criticism of our government was treason and betrayal of our troops. Fan the flames of their hatred. Encourage them to attack your opponent's war record, not because of his war record, but because of his politics.

Besmirch and smear as you smirk. The Dubya trademark. He and his "have more" power base.

The good news is Kerry has finally gotten really mad about it, I think. Mad enough to sling the shit back on the shitster. I caught Kerry on the attack on Bush for Bush's attack on him: how dare Bush, with his record of evading service, question Kerry's service record?

Kerry sounded mad. Good. He needs some fire in his campaign. I think people will respond to some passion from him -- I get the impression many think he's an Ivy-league, dispassionate intellectual, talking about a "sensitive" war on terror. (More Bush/Cheney twisting and distortion.)

I want to see Kerry on the attack.

***

Meanwhile, the party crasher approaches

Hurricane Frances is sending her calling cards in advance of her visit. It's been a bit more windy and gusty than usual today. A couple of brief, hard showers passed through, then the sun came back.

It's as if Frances RSVP'd to a party to which she was NOT invited. She's a definite party-crasher.

We'll probably get more showers tonight, but the really tropical weather shouldn't set in until tomorrow afternoon. Then we'll be in for it for 24-36 hours, as Frances takes her time moseying on down the road.

I'm going to do some cooking tonight and tomorrow, then I'll have stuff that can be warmed over sterno. I can make coffee on my camp stove, and I've got plenty of PBJ, cheese and crackers, canned and fresh fruit, etc., that doesn't require heating. I'm well-provisioned for this hurricane.

I've filled up every container I could find with water (and I've accumulated plenty for just such an emergency), along with all my hoarded water jugs, so I should have enough water for washing up and toilet flushing, as well as plenty of drinking water.

I notified the church I could take some evacuees here, for some live on the beachside and in mobile homes, but so far, haven't had any takers. The Episcopal retreat center near Orlando opened its doors for such evacuees, and I guess other have gone to stay with relatives. The deacon would have stayed with me, but she's allergic to animals.

I've got plenty of food and beverage. The threat to my safety seems to bring out the buried hunter-gatherer in me. I've hit the grocery stores several times this week, picking up this and that and more of the other, so I could easily provide for a few needing shelter from the storm.

I'm going to tape up the windows in the morning. I wish I had some plywood to put over them, but I don't. Still, I feel safer here than most places. I'm away from the coast and the river. My cinderblock-and-stucco house, tiny and inexpensive, was nevertheless built to the latest post-Hurricane Andrew hurricane codes.


Hope I don't end up needing shelter myself. The forecast of Frances' path now indicates the eye of the storm will come closer to my neighborhood than earlier predictions indicated.

She is a party-crasher, that @#@X#, Frances.

More later.

P.S. -- keep not only us in Florida, but those in the islands in your prayers. The Bahamas have taken a terrible beating from the hurricane.