. " I
believe that it will be a major mistake if the old men of this country
send the young men and women
to wage war in Iraq.
Sure, we can lick 'em, we can pound
them back into the stone age,
but its the wrong thing to do to the Iraqi people, and when the dust and
smoke settles,
we'll be paying the price for it with Muslim fundamentalists for decades
to come. "
I am not bringing this up in order to
say, "I told you so . . . "
I am bringing it up because this is an election year. This is the
time when we select not only the President,
but also many of Legislators who will go to Washington and run the
country's business.
I believe the politicians who gave George Bush the OK to invade Iraq,
and that was most of them,
were unduly influenced by the lobbyists for the military and weapons
suppliers in America.
What Dwight Eisenhower 50 years ago called the "Military Industrial
Complex".
We all complain that it's business, lobbyists and rich people who decide
who wins our elections.
and if you've ever read my "grumbles" before
you will know that favor public financing of election campaigns
However it need not be true that money controls elections
When you and I go into the voting booth,
nobody tells us where to make our mark.
We make the decisions.
If we rely only to the political commercials, and the TV talking heads
for our information,
we won't have the whole story.
If you are a Republican and you watch only FOX television,
or if you are a Democrat and you watch only MSNBC,
then you are not learning the whole story.
So between now and November, I hope
that we will all do our due diligence,
Let the rich and their super PACs spend all their money, but when we go
into the poll booth,
cast your vote for politicians who, in your own judgment, will act in the best interest of the
people.
Today's
weather
in the Great Smoky Mountains
Each morning (well, almost every morning . . .
some mornings I don't make it out there to shoot a picture) we report
on the weather here in the Smoky Mountains of Western
North Carolina, with a temperature check on the front porch of Prospect Hill and
a photograph taken to show what the day looks like here in
Waynesville. Prospect Hill is at an elevation of nearly 3000 feet,
several of the peaks around us are over 6000 feet.. For the benefit
of guests coming up to stay at Prospect Hill for hiking, shopping, relaxing or
to see the Spring flowers or Fall colors, we venture a weather outlook for the
next few days based on several scientific factors known only to mountain folk.
Factors such as how high the birds are flying; which way the
wind is blowing the flag
down at the Legion Post, and whether or not I get wet when I step off the
porch (that's a sure sign of rain).
We also keep track of the high temperature and low temperature
recorded on the front porch.
Low Temperature on the Front Porch this Year - 6 degrees -
January 12
High Temperature on the Front Porch this year - 95 Degrees,
July20
Lowest Temperature in the Prospect Hill
Record Book - 4 degrees - Jan 25. 2003
Highest Temperature in the Prospect Hill Record Book - 95 degrees
- July 20, 2011
