Topic category:  Other/General

Some thoughts:

(1) I don’t know how (or if) we’re going to get out of the financial mess we’re in, but I’d sure like to see our government begin approaching every spending decision with just one question given top priority. That question would be: “Just how in heck are we going to pay for this (the following terms are often interchangeable) program/scheme/project/boondoggle?”

And borrowing more money from the countries that already own us shouldn’t be the first answer.

(2) I wonder who’d want the following on their headstone: “OK, so I trampled someone to death to get my new television, but I got a great deal.”

Given what happened during a shopping stampede at a Wal-Mart in Long Island, it’s apparent that many of us have decided that “50 percent off” trumps basic decency on any given day.

(3) Now that Barack Obama has been elected, can we finally shelve the notion that this is a racist nation?

That’s not to say that there aren’t racists (do note that they come in all colors) still out there. It just means that - as regards to opportunity and tolerance - this country is about as good as it gets on this planet.

(4) I didn’t vote for Barack Obama (or John McCain, for that matter), but I’m hoping that he does well as our President because we can’t afford any more of what’s become the norm (for both sides) in D.C.

If such continues, we’ll likely find that the light at the end of the tunnel is, indeed, a fully-loaded freight train headed our way.

(5) Every time I start thinking that the next generation is lost, I get slapped upside the head (poor grammar, I know, but stay with me) by a great news story.

Maybe you’ve read about Moisei Baraniuc.

He’s the 17-year-old worker at a Federal Way super market who found a canvas bag containing $10,000 in the store’s bathroom and turned it in to his manager. The money was the life savings of Fred W. Smith who had accidentally left it in the restroom.

I think that there are many young people out there like Moisei. We just don’t get to read about them as often as we should.

(6) Caroline Kennedy has let it be known that she wants to be appointed to Hillary Clinton’s senate seat.

Raise your hand if you believe that this is a good thing. Mine, as you might guess, will remain firmly at my side because I don’t think that having a “ruling class” was what the people who founded this country had in mind when they got it all started. Too, small gene pools in any arena usually lead to nothing but trouble.

Inbreeding. It’s a bad idea.

(8) Good grief, our latest national tempest seems to be centered on who’s going to offer a prayer at Barack Obama’s inauguration.

Sorry, but it’s Mr. Obama’s party and if he’s going to make the effort to actually do what he said he was going to do - offer a hand to the other side - then I’m not going to speak ill of his choice nor am I going to worry about it all.

If Pastor Warren says something offensive during his prayer (and I’l bet he won’t), I’ll do what most of us do in similar situations. I’ll ignore him. Too, there are other truly scary problems hiding under our national bed and they’re not going to stay there much longer. Best we focus on them.

(9) I recently read that Bernard Madoff’s (the Wall Street wizard alleged to have masterminded a 50-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme) home was recently burglarized and that an expensive sculpture was stolen.

Karma. I think I’m starting to believe in it.

Oh, and if he’s found guilty of that 50-billion-dollar scheme and the presiding judge decided to allow all those who lost their life savings to be alone in a room with him for a few minutes, I wouldn’t lose a moment’s sleep over whatever happened.

(10 ) “I am not a crook.” - Richard Nixon

“I did not have sex with that woman.” - Bill Clinton

"I will fight. I will fight. I will fight until I take my last breath. I have done nothing wrong.” - Rod Blagojevich.

Why do I have the feeling that, in the case of the current governor of Illinois, we’ve already seen how all of this will play out?

Larry Simoneaux

Biography - Larry Simoneaux

Larry Simoneaux is a regular columnist for The Everett Herald in Washington state. He is a retired ship driver for the US Navy and NOAA.