When I got home from hospital, the power was out.  Perfect.  I am woozy, on crutches, need to ice the surgery on my knee, and the power is out. Up here that is a common occurrence.  We get a storm, and then the power is out.  Could be for several days.  I think that says something about the reliability of our systems in the greatest nation in the world, but I will save that for another day.  Or maybe I won’t.  I am wondering why PG&E can’t build more reliable power girds that are not susceptible to even minor wind and rain.  Then I get to thinking about maybe a young family that can barely get by.  They go to Costco and buy in bulk to save money and then their freezer goes out with the power and they loose everything.  Where is the penalty for PG&E as a young family is wiped out through no fault of their own?  Then I think, “Why not charge them a tariff  for days the power is shut off?  Not only do they lose income while the meters aren’t spinning, but they spin in reverse.  You think that would be enough incentive for them to build more reliable systems?

In the same line of thinking on the power, I decided enough is enough and that I would provide the house with a backup generator for the critical systems (freezer, refrigerator, some lights, blower on the fireplace, TV/internet).  Now once again, wouldn’t you think that we should design our power systems so that it is easy to add an external power system?  You need a place to plug your generator into your house electrical system, and isolate the gird and the systems you are not powering.  This would have been fairly simple when one was building the house, but retrofitting is a bitch.  So once again I have to ask myself, in the greatest country on earth, why are our designs so penny wise and dollar stupid?

Then there is my favorite.  If you have a satellite radio or a GPS that wants to talk to you through your car stereo, you are probably using an FM tuner that sends the signals to your car stereo over an unused frequency.  The trouble is an unused frequency in one part of your driving region is not an unused frequency in another part of your driving region.  Why oh why do not all car audio systems come with a standard audio input that is hard wired to simplify our lives and improve the quality of the audio?  An Ipod interface should be standard.  Why is this so hard to figure out?

Then I could launch on cell phone reception.  Why is it that every important call gets dropped or the reception is poor even if you are in downtown San Francisco?  Can’t we do better than that?  The fact that we have come to expect and accept such poor performance is amazing to me.  Then there is my internet connection.  I live in the boonies so no high speed options other than satellite and they are quickly alienating me.  They have what they call a “Fair Access Policy” so that if you download files too big, they throttle you back to the speed of a dial up modem.  That would seem fair, but since most automatic updates of your computer operating system exceed these measly capacities, you are always operating in a slow down mode.  This is service?  This is high speed access?  This is crap and we are starting to think it is normal.

News yesterday was exceptional.  The major media outlets chased around a balloon all day while important stories were ignored.  Of course as John Stewart so ably reported, the major media outlets don’t have time to fact check moron statements by Republicans while they fact checked SNL’s Obama humor.  We are in great shape aren’t we?  Oh did I mention they are having a beg-a-thon on NPR today.  Help, Help, Help.  I am going crazy.

Within minutes there was a paramedic crew here from the El Dorado County Fire Station.  They managed to remove me from the vineyard with a minimum of pain and get me to the local hospital.  The local hospital (Marshall) did an excellent job of managing my care until I could be transferred to my primary health care provider, Kaiser Permanente, for surgery that evening and outstanding care. And when I got home my neighbors were there to help out.

In other words what could have been a very ugly experience was just a minor bump in the road because of the taxes we pay for our public services, the excellent medical coverage I have, which is a public plan (I am a retired federal employee), and a good community.  Public services and the taxes we pay for them may seem like they just weigh us down, but then like a parachute you have to drag around as dead weight, when you need it, it is critical.  Having health care is also critical and I am not special.  Everyone deserves it.  If this little episode doesn’t demonstrate how important our public services are, and how health care access for every one is critical, nothing will.

But at the heart of conservative dogma is selfishness, pure and simple.  It is all about I got mine and I deserve it.  It is about a total lack of empathy for those not so fortunate, because they don’t believe they themselves are fortunate.  They believe that what is theirs they earned and that those less fortunate deserve their station in life.  Any sharing of their fortune would be to promote a lack of discipline and hard work, hence their aversion to any government program.  The proof in this statement is to watch how quickly a Republican “sees the light” when some calamity hits them and then they want to be bailed out.  But this only lasts for a few moments before they fall back on their “I deserved to be bailed out because I am a productive member of society, but the rest are just lazy scum living off the system.”  If you really listen to the underlying philosophy this is its basic underlying belief.  I am special.  The rest of you need to work harder.

Let’s look at their mantra of low taxes, small government, and balanced budgets.  The basic logic of low taxes is that it incentivizes businesses to expand.  But that is a gross over simplification.  Taxes are also how the government accumulates capital to invest in infrastructure and business cannot survive without first class transportation systems, communication systems, and a healthy and educated population.  So it has to be a balance.  But what the conservative ideology has become is a tax hating mob, which is kind of strange since they are suppose to be made up of businessmen and women who understand about capital investments and improvements.  But then why should they pay taxes which will just be wasted on the undeserving?

Small government and balanced budgets are part of the same ideology that says government interference with business equals bad, and free unrestrained markets provide the most return for our people.  Once again this is a gross oversimplification.  Certainly government bureaucracy can hinder business, but sometimes to the good.  Need I remind you of our recent financial crisis or the environmental abuses of the past?  Many of our problems that beg solutions are not local or regional, but are national.  Just how are these to be addressed with an ineffective and small national government?  Global warming (which they don’t believe in), energy policy, our depleted oceans, infrastructure problems, clean water and air, oh I could go on forever, are national problems that take a national approach.  As our populations grow and we become ever more interconnected, these problems will not have solutions at local or regionalI levels.  And of course when there is a national catastrophe, there is all of a sudden a national clamor for government intervention.  And the demand, “Why weren’t they prepared?”  They being that government they hate so much.

The balanced budget clamor is also a red herring.  All of us know that we need to balance the books if we don’t want to go under, but we also know that if we look at the business model, large corporations make long-term investments (read loans here) to improve their competitive advantage in the future.  So why can’t conservatives see this logic when it comes to our government?  We are in a whale of a mess and a lot of it comes from our lack of investment (read here tax cuts) in our future.  We are becoming one of the unhealthiest populations of the industrial countries, we are lagging badly in education, and our infrastructure is sad when you go to other countries and see their investments.  Right now is the time to take on big debts to invest in our future and yet conservatives have derailed any attempt to do this.  Why do they do this when it is so obvious we need it?  Why have their arguments become illogical?

The answer to this question goes back to the issue of why American conservatism, at its heart and in its present form, is evil.  At its basis is “I got mine and all the rest of you deserve your fate because you are lazy or undisciplined.”  It is a total rejection of the idea of the common good. It is a protection of the status quo, either for the individual or the corporation when change is what is required.  It started with Ronald Reagan, and the “problem is the government”, and the idea that greed is good because if you are making lots of money you are smart, deserve it, and are lubricating the economy.  This idea should have been totally destroyed by out latest financial crisis where greed almost destroyed our economy, millions were made jobless, but a few got very rich.  Let’s face it.  Most of us bought into this over the last 30 years as we borrowed our way to massive debt, because, well, we deserve the things we bought.

So what we are seeing in almost every debate now are conservatives who feel they are special and chosen, block anything that might require sacrifice now for our future investment or a change in the status quo.  Whether it is health care to protect our citizens, cap and trade to control global warming, energy tax for moving to green energy, infrastructure investment for better transportation, water and air improvements, or people investment, they are against it because they got theirs and they do not want to share in the common good by making any kind of sacrifice.  It is no coincidence that the religious right is part of this movement.  They believe they are also special and selected people.  This whole movement is about selfishness, being the chosen few who deserve their good fortune and justifying their lack of empathy. Money taken from me and spent on others just encourages their dependence on the system.  That is why socialized anything strikes terror in their souls.  The fact that many services like fire protection, police protection, transportation management, and education are socialized, is totally lost on them.

All of the other associated issues, whether it is hating gays, denying a woman’s right to choose, wanting their country back, interjecting religion into politics, interceding into end of life decisions, demanding the impeachment of Obama, denying his legitimacy, it is all about defending their moral superiority, and their perceived deserved affluence.  I got mine and there is no need to share because you would just squander it.  It epitomizes a total lack of empathy or an understanding of our common condition, that there for the grace of “god”, go I.  It is a denial of our basic common humanity, it is an attitude that is at the heart of some of the most evil acts this world has seen, and it is destroying our once rich and prosperous country.  It is evil.

One other thought:  It is true that the nation sprung up for a highly individualized population that took amazing risks in our past to create the nation we have.  But what we have forgotten in this worship of the individual is that they also knew their vulnerability and their survival in the new world depended upon working together.  We have raised that individualism to a level of worship, and we forgot about all of the cooperation that it took to just survive.  It is time to remember both.

• Marijuana – States are trying to figure out how to legally distribute medical marijuana while the federal government continues raids on local dispensaries.  Meanwhile in our National Forests, they are being overrun with marijuana plots.  Ask any kid and he can tell you where to get some so why are we doing this?  When can we move on from these antiquated laws to protect ourselves from ourselves?
• Health Care – The latest is the concern about requiring everyone to have insurance and penalties if they don’t.  This madness comes from trying to maintain the employer based health care system and the insurance industries.  Why not Medicare for everyone with co-pays depending on your ability to pay?  The rest of the world has figured this out and we tie ourselves in knots trying to pound a round peg into a square hole.  It will cost what it costs and the funny thing is we already pay these costs in so many hidden ways from lost wage increases to high hospital rates.
• Reasonable Gun Control – There was a story in the paper Saturday about a Mom who wore a gun to her son’s soccer match (legally) and was shot to death by her husband. Then there are the nuts who think it is a good idea for kids to be armed on college campuses.  Yes, having a gun when a nut-job starts killing indiscriminatingly will reduce the carnage.  But add to that the number of people killed because there was a gun handy when they lost their temper or were drunk and it is not worth the access.  Wild West towns banned guns in the city to reduce the violence.  Did we learn nothing?
• In Your Face Anti-Abortion Activists – I would be the first to defend one’s free speech rights, but standing outside an abortion clinic and harassing women who have chosen this legal procedure is not free speech.  It is intimidation and a strong threat of violence.  It violates their right to privacy in probably one of the most difficult and personal decisions they have to make.  Believing life begins at conception is a religious belief.  Using the same logic and recognizing what we can do with cloning, then scratching off cells is a destruction of life, not to mention that the majority of pregnancies end in miscarriages that no-one even notices.  We have very reasonable laws respecting a woman’s right to choose and what we need more of is anti-anti-abortion activists to stop this intimidation and in some cases terrorist activities because of religious beliefs
• Stupid Immigration Laws – What do you do when you get a letter from the government telling you that a valued employee who has worked for you for 20 years is an illegal alien and you must fire him for face legal proceedings?  You put him/her on the underground economy and the government loses their taxes and fees.  In the agricultural industries jobs go wanting because Americans simply can’t and won’t perform them.  When will we establish a guest worker program that allows these valuable resources to flow back and forth across the border freely and we quit wasting resources trying to enforce laws that are impossible to enforce?  If there are jobs, they will come.
• Gays with Equal Rights – Here is another no-brainer.  When are we going to stop wasting valuable resources trying to persecute gays for being gay?  What do we care what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedroom?  Sexual behavior in the workplace, heterosexual or homosexual behavior is inappropriate.  So why can’t we judge people based upon their actions and performance instead of their sexual preferences?  It is time to quit worrying about stupid things like this.
• It’s All About the Unemployment Rate Stupid – When will we understand that our well being is not reflected in the stock market, but in the number of our citizens who have good jobs and can pay their mortgages, send their kids to school, and provide for their retirement?  The stock market will follow and all the rest is fluff.  The stock market has been used as a measure of our economic well-being and it not longer reflects either good economic choices or the wise choice of good investments.  It has simply become a large roulette wheel that the rich play with.  If we recognize that employment is the prime indicator, and the stock market is simply a secondary indicator, we will finally have our priorities right.
• Religion in General – Recently the President of Iran stated that they would have nuclear weapons, God willing.  Many of the issues above are also driven by religious belief.  After the earthquakes and tsunami in Soma, people thanked God for sparing them.  It is all totally illogical and irrational.  If you can thank God for sparing you, can you not hold him accountable for causing the earthquake in the first place?  There is no magic hand of God moving men’s actions, only men.  Life would be a lot simpler if we would just realize that shit happens, and men and women are responsible for how we deal with it.  Note that the religious right wants to rewrite the Bible to get rid of liberal tendencies they perceive in the New Testament.  My feeling is help yourself, since that is what happened in the 3^rd century.  Maybe the Old Testament written by various authors would be more accommodating to their lunacy. It’s all nonsense anyway but it gives everyone something to do beside the really hard work of thinking.

I keep hoping that someday we will become a civilized people who use rational thought to resolve our problems.  So far I have been disappointed.

Last night after an orgy of oysters at Hog Island Oyster Bar, I wandered over to my favorite wine bar  (called Wine on Front Street at Embarcadero Center) to finish off the evening with a nice glass of wine before BARTing back to my hotel.  I am sitting at the counter minding my own business when one of the two guys sitting next to me (Dave and Harold) says that Democrats are like white wine, pleasant, but no complexity, while Republicans are more complex and fulfilling, like a good red.  I said out loud, “Bullshit.  I think you have that exactly backward.”  So once again I am in the liberal left coast and I am sitting next to two Republicans. WTF?  Meanwhile the staff is scattering away from this conversation in case there are blows.

Actually Dave and Harold were quite pleasant, and I listened more than talked because I wanted to really understand what they were thinking.  Dave was the more conservative one, but more in line with Republicans before the radical right took them over.  Harold was an independent, leaning conservative.  They ended up sharing their wine and cheese with me so I think I comported myself well but I just have to relay some of the conversation because it is a window into their minds.

Dave indicated that he had voted for Bush, but never really liked him.  Isn’t interesting that the Republican mind is distancing itself from George, taking no responsibility for his failed ideas?  He did agree that the Republican Party was in disarray with no leadership.  He thought John McCain was a wimp and did not care for Sara Palin, but thought Michelle Bachmann could be a leader.  I think I may have used the word fruitcake.

Both were terrified of big government.  They did not want the government running anything.  If medical insurance companies were just allowed to compete in different states, and we had tort reform, problem over.  I pointed out that in Texas they had tort reform and the costs are still growing.  I also pointed out that States regulate insurance companies in their individual states so if they are allowed to compete nationally, who would regulate them?  I also pointed out that police and fire services are “government” provided, but that was different according to them because it was “local” government.  But it gets better.

There is no problem with funding of education because if you really want to go to school, you will earn it.  So I tried to point out that for many deserving and hard working kids, education is being priced out of reach or they start their life in unbearable debt.  Well Dave was firm on this one, that education is not some entitlement, but must be earned.  My counter was that access to education should not be based on your wallet, but on your ability.  He kind of gave in a little on this one, especially when the staff at wine bar could not resist weighing in on this one as several were in school and going broke.  Harold jumped in there on this one also, thinking that if you were qualified, you should be able to go to college.  Hooray for Harold.

The part I really loved was that Obama is weakening our defense.  So I asked how was he doing that, and Dave said by being nice to other countries when all they understand is a big stick, and this stuff about prosecution of torturers.  I just let this lie because the cheese plate they had ordered was really good and I did not want to be cut off.  Finally they said they could support a public option in health care, but there needed to be a level playing field.  When I asked what that meant, I got blank looks and then Dave launch in on how the government does not have to make a profit, but private industries do.  I did not raise the obvious point that that profit is money that could otherwise be paying for someone’s health care.  They were both quite happy with their health care plans and did not want the government screwing it up.  I asked if either had been really sick and tested it, and their answer was no.  I also said that their health care may get dumped by their employer down the road as it gets more and more expensive.  I also pointed out that although their employer pays these ever increasing fees, it is really coming out of salary increases they might see.  Both paused, but then challenged my basis for saying that health care would price itself out of the market.  Again, I wasn’t in an argumentative mood and the bottle of wine they ordered was quite nice.

Oh there were other priceless gems, like cap and trade will just destroy this country, and the Chinese are completely in control of our economy, but all in all we had a cordial discussion and I was convinced that we live in two different realities.  Mine is one where people are struggling and they need some help from the government, and theirs was one that if the free market could just operate freely, things would be hunky dory.  I wonder why our two sets of “facts” are so misaligned?  Can there really be two sets of facts?  I don’t think so.

Well, I went out to play last Friday with an 8 a.m. tee time and I thought I would hit a few balls on the driving range so I would be warmed up at tee time.  After working through the irons, I moved on to the woods; set the ball on the tee; and took a mighty swing with my driver.  YIPES!  Somehow I managed to pull a groin muscle.  For those of you unfamiliar with this kind of injury, think of it like a hernia repair.  You never understood how every muscle in your body could run through that lower stomach area of your body until you try to move after surgery.

So I am thinking there is no way I can play a round of golf, but I need a way to salvage the day.  After all I have already paid my green fees.  I confirm through another wave of pain that there is no way I am going to be using my woods (injury on the right leg groin area). So I think to myself, I can just ride the cart and play a short game that does not require any big swings or pivots and I can work on that part of my game.  If I hit the ball with all my weight on my forward foot (left), there is little aggravation to the injury so off I go.

I am a guy, right?  So, of course I start thinking of ways that I can even play off the tee with my injury.  So I discover that if I swing more slowly and do not drive off my back foot (and the injured groin area) I can actually hit off the tee with little pain, albeit a very soft shot.  And then things really start to surprise me.

I am using a 4-iron off the tee and I am swinging nice and smoothly, with most of my weight on my forward, uninjured leg, and the ball just sails out there nice and straight.  In fact my whole iron game is about 15 yards shorter, but straight and accurate with every shot off the sweet spot on the club.  Finally, I crank up my courage and pull out my 3-wood.  Once again I am careful to make a nice smooth swing and not drive off the back foot and the ball just sails out there.  Then I get out the driver.  You guessed it.  It was a big mistake as I hopped around the tee saying profound things with F words inserted here and there for emphasis.

But here is the message in all of this.  I had a lovely day because I had absolutely no expectations about my game.  It turned that if I had kept score, it would have been equal to or lower than what I normally shoot without my injury.  I didn’t lose any balls, and I actually improved my swing by not trying to hit it hard and long.

All I could think of as I was driving home from a truly fun day was that if I believed in God, which I don’t (and if I did, my God would have more important things to do than concern himself with my golf game), that he had sent me a not so subtle message.  My fictitious God was thinking: “Okay, I have given him every chance and sign to slow down and relax and just appreciate the day without worrying about how far he hit the ball or the giant divots he made on 17, so now I am going to zap him with an injury to make him appreciate what he has.  Besides his swing sucks and he needs a little handicap to force him to relax and just let the club hit the ball and he is certainly not listening to me.”

Well, it worked.  With no expectations, I marveled at every improbable one foot shot.  Because I wasn’t trying to manly man the ball, I developed a little rhythm that truly improved my game and my enjoyment of it.  I came away having just enjoyed the experience and not wondering what I might have accomplished if I had just rotated my hips a little more because I couldn’t.  So if you are at the golf course and you see this guy hitting just off his front foot and every now and then hopping around, but his shots go nice and straight, it will be me.  Maybe in everything else I do I ought to just slow it down and let life do its thing and not pile on all those expectations.  I might even get a little rhythm.

Remember that Caesar had become too powerful and Brutus and his cohorts had decided that the only way to save the Republic was to kill Caesar. Think of Caesar as the Medical Insurance Companies and Brutus as Obama.  Now there are all kinds of lessons here in does the ends justify the means, but that is not what I am getting at.  The conspirator’s greatest fear is how to keep the Roman masses in their favor.  Brutus, a great orator, is confident that he can go out into the forum and sway the crowd with his great communication skills.  Start to see a parallel here?

After the deed is done, Brutus stands before the masses in the forum and delivers a moving speech (”Not that I love Caesar less, but I loved Rome more”).  Even more analogous, Brutus says, “Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe me.” Do we detect a little over confidence and arrogance?  Then he leaves the forum to Anthony, trusting Anthony’s good will and his own skills as an orator.  Not to drive home the point too hard, but Obama assumed he spoke and others would understand, and he trusted the Republicans to then debate and negotiate in good faith.  Et tu Republicans?

Anthony, in one of the great speeches (I wanted to say soliloquies, but he was not alone) in Shakespeare’s writings, turns the fickled masses away from Brutus and chaos ensues.  “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”  And from these simple and elegant words he launches an oratory that destroys Brutus’s arguments.  Anthony has filled the vacuum left by Brutus’s arrogance and it will be Brutus’s downfall.  In today’s world, that could be loosely translated to “I have sketched out an outline, now debate on noble Congress!”

So where was the Obama Administration when this was read in high school sophomore English class?   Did they just read the comic book version?  Maybe like most young students, they just thought this was some old piece of outdated and irrelevant literature that was part of the torture of high school.  Maybe now in the throes of their middle age they are starting to see the insight and wisdom of William Shakespeare.  Or maybe not.  Maybe that insight will be delayed until, like me, they are in their 60s and have time to really reflect on their life and great literature, and wish that what they know now, they had possessed in their prime.  Youth is wasted on the young.

Last night on Keith Olbermann, Howard Dean put his finger right on it when he said, the Democrats are making the big mistake they did when the Republicans were in power, losing their nerve and trying to be more like them.   Remember that this pack of gutless wonders (except for a very few) voted for the Iraq war, the War Powers Act, and I could go on ad nausea.  They finally get elected by a landslide to carry out a progressive agenda and what do they do?  Well let’s just start with the Stimulus Bill.  Trying to get Republican support they watered it down and made it much less effective and then they got no Republican votes.  Lean anything boys and girls?  The climate bill has not even got close to the Senate and we are seeing the same effect.

The health care bill may have been a lost cause from the start because once again the Democrats cannot stand up for what they believe.  They invited forty something speakers to talk about the direction of the health care bill and not one was a supporter of a public option or a single payer system.  Apparently it was rigged from the start.  The panel that is going to tell us what we get in the Senate is loaded with half of the committee Republicans who are controlling the agenda.  Did they win the last election?  I guarantee you after all the compromises are made, not one of them will vote for it.  WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE THINKING?

Maybe my wife is right: Political party is not a discriminator, you all are scum.   What I can’t get over is that we came out and supported a clear platform and we won.  Then the Democrats caved on every issue.  President Obama is the biggest disappointment of all.  I am sorry Mr. President, but you came out and said that without a public option you would veto the health care bill.  Now you are wavering on it.  Et tu Brute?

You want to know where your support is Mr. President?  Where is that grass roots organization you built?  They are like me, seething with anger at your betrayal.  Oh, I know, you are just being practical.  You will “being practical” kill the Democratic Party, your support, and any hope for change.  This isn’t just some progressive rant.  This is a total failure by you to keep your promises.  We don’t need to win every battle, but we want every battle to be fought.  So far as I can tell on the big issues that will change the direction of this country, you have compromised away change.  Oh yeah, I can hear the equivocating by Gibbs now.  We are not morons.  We know when we are being patronized.  Where it counts, you have failed to stand up and fight when it was important to fight and that is all we asked.  Maybe you need someone on your staff who isn’t in the Washington bubble that can look you in the eye and say, “You are f*#king up Mr. President.”  Compromise and bipartisanship are not an end in itself.  Policies that work are what is important.

Here is what we know Mr. President.  The Republicans aren’t just wrong, they are dead wrong.  Worse, so-called responsible leaders of the present day Republican Party are sowing the seeds of violence and civil insurrection.  They are bringing out the fruitcakes who think it is okay to wear a semi-automatic rifle on their shoulder to your rallies.  They think it is the democratic process when you stop free speech by intimidation.  We are such a screwed up country that we think citizens should have that right.  The Republican Party is an extremist party that will destroy the greatness of this nation if you don’t finally stand on your two feet and fight back.

We elected you to bring about change and if you think that compromising with failure is change, then we elected the wrong guy.  Stop being diplomatic and call a liar a liar.  When you see despicable behavior identify it and challenge it.  Stand up for what you promised us as a candidate.  Attack back for God’s sake.  Quit giving their arguments credence when they have none in some wasted effort to be gracious.  Otherwise I will be one of many that just may not vote next time.  Why bother?  Yes I am very, very angry right now.  You are aiding and abetting the Republicans and their failed philosophy that is responsible for putting this nation on its knees.  The country’s very soul is at stake and you are letting it be stolen by a failed ideology.  Maybe we should have elected Hillary.  At least she has some fight in her.

Next blog I will try to be more rational, but right now my feeling of betrayal is just too overbearing.  I don’t mind losing a good fight, but we have capitulated from the beginning.  It is time to quit turning the other cheek Mr. President.

1. Left hand lane – If you are going to be in the left hand lane on the freeway, understand that we operate an autobahn system out here.  Traveling at the posted speed limit in the left hand/fast lane will probably get you shot at or at a minimum several quaint hand gestures.  Speed in the fast lane is approximately 10 mph over the posted speed limit at a minimum.  Yes there will be people who think the left hand lane is their territory and their going the speed limit justifies their territorial claim, but will probably not survive the day and you will not have to deal with them in the future.
2. Following distance – You probably remember the rule one car distance for every 10 mph speed you are traveling.  Forget all that.  You are far more at risk of lane changing morons than from being rear-ended.  If you leave too much room in front of you, some clown will pass you on the right and then squeeze into the space in front of you.  So to prevent this butting in line syndrome, keep the distance between you and the guy/gal in front of you at a minimum.  Besides you can see what the guy in front of you is texting on his cell phone.
3. Moving over to let others pass – Never, never, never move over to let others pass.  It will always come back to haunt you.  If they are riding your bumper and you move over, they are more than likely to get just even with you while passing and then match your speed, leaving you stuck in the right hand lane as you approach that truck that is doing 45 mph.  I think it is the fish schooling effect.  They will drive at whatever speed you drive at, but if you put them in charge, they are lost.  Worse yet, they zoom past you so you can get back over into the left hand lane to avoid slower traffic and then suddenly they slow down and start driving erratically as they answer their cell phone.
4. Driving in the right hand lane – If for some unexpected reason you find yourself motoring in the right hand, “slow” lane and other drivers are trying to merge onto the freeway, don’t give them an inch.  It is important to show them who is boss.  If you give them room or change lanes to make their merge easier, they will see you for the sucker you are and there is no telling what other advantages they may try to take.
5. Car Pool Lanes (HOV) – If you happen to be driving during a time when car pool lane restrictions are in effect, ignore them as most Californians do.  Apparently the cockroaches feeding on the trash and debris under the seat count as people.  Additionally it demonstrates what a special person you are that the rules don’t apply to you.
6. Changing Lanes – If at some point in your little adventure you have the urge or need to change lanes, never, never, never signal your intent.  If other drivers know your intent, they will quickly close up the space to prevent you from merging in.  The best approach here is to keep looking straight ahead so there is no indication you are contemplating a lane change, and then jerk the wheel to the right or left to take advantage of the element of surprise.
7. Merging to exit the freeway – Don’t plan ahead.  Nobody else does except for suckers.  Getting in line and waiting your turn is just not done in California.  Approach the exit at a speed of at least 30 mph over the speed limit.  Wait till the very last second and then force your way into the line of traffic that has queued up to make the exit.  Then ride as close as you can to the guy/gal in front of you so that no one else can take a similar advantage.  This demonstrates how important and special you are.
8. Gray Heads – Finally one really important tip when you get off the freeway and start driving the country roads to Chateau Lightner:  There are a lot of very old drivers up here whose last little bit of independence is their drivers license.  So when you come up behind one doing 20 mph in a 45 mph zone, just give them a break.  Back off and just enjoy the scenery.  They are a dying breed of old drivers who drive slow.  We all know that when we get old, speed will be our last freedom.  “Get out of the way you young punk!”  Oh, and did I mention they have a really hard time staying in their lane on corners?  Be very wary as you go around blind corners and be ready to dodge.  The shoulder is your friend.

If you follow these simple rules you will have no trouble arriving here safely and less frazzled.  Note however that if you see a black and white California Highway Patrol car, all these rules are moot, and you must fall back to that antiquated stuff in the driving manual issued by the state.  Happy Trails.

You might say that in our present day version of Othello, Desdemona is played by the progressive agenda.  She is beautiful and pure, and will provide us a good life if we let her.  Our Moorish general, President Obama, wants so to believe and trust in her (the progressive agenda), but the Iagos of today keep planting doubt into his mind, and his own character flaws of insecurity (both Othello’s jealousy and Obama’s bipartisanship and need for a legislative win) have him listening to these doubts.  His vanity blinds him to the reality that is out there, and he ends up killing Desdemona in a fit of jealousy.  Barack’s vanity (acknowledging that they under estimated the weakening economy, Barack tells us he would do nothing different, and his need for a bill, any bill) blinds him to keeping faith with that agenda and he kills real change and the progressive agenda.

Our present day Othello came into office courting that beautiful lady, the progressive agenda, promising to be ever faithful to her.  But once he had won her (been elected) the Iagos of the world began their attack on his belief in her.  Here are some of Iago’s scurrilous prevarications that have turned our Othello’s head:

• Oh fair General, be afraid of the other generals.  Be wary of their wrath.  Ignore that minor gays in the military issue.  Go slowly.  Trampling the rights of a few is a small price to pay for their support.

• My Liege, tread carefully with the powerful bankers.  They are your friends and can finance your future aspirations.  Do nothing to upset their apple carts.  Long live fat old white men.

• Oh Great Leader, be afraid of deficits.  Scale back your stimulus.  Don’t listen to those who cry wolf and unemployment.  Find a middle road that accomplishes less but bows to the god of deficit fear and tax cuts.  Fear has served past leaders well.

• Sweet Gentle General, your wish to help all with health care is widely beloved.  But you risk failure if you do not accommodate the winds of compromise.  A little change now is better than nothing.  There will be more opportunities later.

• Oh Great Giant of Change, we must go slowly on climate change.  Transferring our economy from polluting and inefficient energy sources to green sources must be painless or the rabble will rebel.  Don’t worry about the rest of the world.  We can always catch up later.  China is a paper tiger.

• Oh Fierce Warrior, do not listen to those soft, mushy, weak-kneed libertarians who do not understand the iron fist of battle.  With some legal easy speak we can justify the last administration’s policies on trials and detention, to say nothing of secrecy and spies.  Better a safe state than one that allows principles to put us at risk and raises questions about our governance.

• Oh Supreme Commander-in-Chief, a won battle at any cost is so much more satisfying than a prudent retreat.  Continue our battles in the Middle East.  The rabble loves a warrior.

• Finally Oh Great Light in Our Sky, fear asking for real sacrifice.  The rabble will not brook sacrifice.  Go slow and do not worry about our future, the ship is slowly turning and that is fast enough.  Real change requires risks and you must not risk your future tilting against windmills like real change.  Just call your compromises change.

So our Moorish General listens to such false arguments and forsakes his Desdemona.  And like in Shakespeare’s original play, I can never understand how he can be such a fool.  Maybe our own Othello will lament as the Shakespearean one did:

“Then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely, but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought,
Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Judean, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe.”

And we would say to the Iagos of the world:

“O Spartan dog,
More fell than anguish, hunger or the sea!
Look on the tragic loading of this bed.
This is thy work.”