I'm Not Sure What the Title Is

Yesterday, somewhere around one in the afternoon, I think, I lost a set of keys to my office and home. I think they went astray at McDonalds.

An aside, I don't much eat at McDonalds; but, I was hungry, there was no one in the office to eat with and I had stuff to do. It's a couple of miles away. I had two double cheese burgers, small fries and a small Coke. Didn't eat but about half the fries. My stomach was distressed for the rest of the day, though that might have something to do with what followed.

I got back to the office and realized that the "valet" attachment between the car key and car remote and the other keys had dis-attached, leaving me with just the remote and the the car key. Back to McDonalds. Nothing turned in. Back to the office and get a key from the Office Manager to duplicate and run home on the off chance that that's where they separated. Nope.

Get spare home key and go to General Hardware in Brookhaven, home of "50,000 Items;" and I believe it. Get extra keys made. Go back to the office. The new key works.

At the end of the day, the new home key doesn't work.

This afternoon I drive back to General Hardware. Everywhere should have a place like this, except for the part I'm going to get to. The aroma, I don't know what it is; but, the only place it exists is in a real hardware store. You look into the store. There's a central aisle with shelves on either side. The ceiling is maybe fourteen feet high with the shelves going to within a foot or so of it. There are signs at the side aisles; but, that is not the way you find things. You find one of the five or six guys that work there, that are the only people in the world that know where each and every one of the 50K items are. And they do.

You show them the broken piece, or the other piece. If you don't have them, you lamely describe what your problem is. They turn away from you and start walking into the labyrinth. You follow. They stop and look at the shelf in front of them and pick up the item you want. Usually what you want is small. They put it in a little manila envelope and put a price on the envelope. Most of the items on the shelves don't have prices; but, you don't mind getting ripped off, even if you are, and I don't think I have been, because most of my bills have been under two bucks.

A few years back, having moved, I was reassembling an antique drafting table that I have. There were little ancient screws that attached the leg/support piece to the table top. I was two short.
Read the previous paragraph again if you don't remember how the process works. Thirty-seven cents, plus tax.

So anyway, I drove over this afternoon. Having been there yesterday, I knew where the key machine was and walked there unassisted. There was a sign that read "Push button ONCE for assistance." I did. Within seconds a man appeared and looked at me.

"Hi. I got some keys made here yesterday. This one doesn't work. The teething is right but I think the blank is too wide because it won't go into the lock."

I held the good key next to the bad key as I said this. After my speech, he took both and examined them. He turned to the wall of keys and rummaged. He chose a blank, put it in the machine with the good key and ground. Then he buffed.

"You bought this here?"

"Yeah, want to see the receipt?" as I pulled it from my shirt pocket. He wasn't looking. He put the bad key and the good key on the counter and put the new key into a little manila envelope. He wrote "N/C" on the outside and handed it to me.

I smiled and said "thanks for your help," as he was turning away from me. Does it help to describe the ambiance to say that he wore bifocals with big lenses, down low on his nose, with a string attached to the earpieces, and looked piercingly over them at me the second or two that he actually looked at me during the encounter? I walked toward the front of the store. I stopped at the counter where the lady that had rung me up yesterday was sitting again, but facing away from me. I cleared my throat and she turned. I showed her my manila envelope with it's N/C. She smiled and said "see you."

I drove the few miles home and tried the key, it worked.

I guess there are all kinds of customer service.

Chicken, Waffles. Sausage, Jelly. You Decide.

I find what piques your interest in posts interesting. Sometimes I write a post that I like, that I really like, and there is nothing. No comments. Sometimes, I say something in a post, in law it would be called dicta, an aside not material to the main point, and it takes on a comment life of its own.

Other times I do a quick post that strikes a commenting chord. That seems to have happened last night. I did a short piece about a Food Network show that had Alton Brown eating simmered and then baked beef tips, with the juice, on pancakes. He and his “motorcycle gang/crew” raved about it. Did not seem appetizing to me; and, I compared it to chicken and waffles. That led to comments. In a comment response, I admitted that I can understand a savory crepe; but, I drew the line at adding syrup to the chicken and waffle. Well that led to more comments, the latest being Pos who found out that a sausage biscuit with jelly on it, though it sounds bad, is quite good.

So he knows, down here in Atlanta, jelly is part of the deal. I stopped at a down home type place and ordered a sausage and cheese biscuit a couple of years ago and asked if they had any Dijon mustard. The nice lady looked at me and said they had jelly. I settled for mayo.

All that said, here’s a link to Wikipedia. Is there any subject that it doesn’t have an article on? My Google query was “chicken and biscuits.” Seems there are two schools of thought on the proper liquid to top the basic bird and batter. Read for yourself at Chicken and Waffles. I’m so proud that I made that hyperlink.

So, here’s a comment starter. What weird food combinations are good? No chocolate covered ants. OK, but you better make a compelling case for it.

Xenophobia or Proper Zoning?

I've noted a couple of times on this blog that my real-life v. cyber friends, for the most part consider me to be a liberal, commie, pinko sort of guy. My reaction to that is to actually use facts and logic. For the most part, they haven't changed their adjectives, so I don't know.

Every now and again, something comes up that challenges my world view. Better put, something comes up that I can't mesh with my several world views.

This time, and again, it's race relations. Atlanta has a simmering, latent, xenophobic ambiance. Merriam-Webster, online, defines xenophobia as: "fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign." Given that definition, which I think is correct, we really aren't xenophobic. We are xenophobic relativists with a bit of economic, provincial fear in the leavening.

No one here has a problem if you have a Swedish Au Pair living in your spare bedroom. But we very much prefer our non-blond, non-European hired help to leave the county by sundown, especially in the northern bedroom counties.

Cobb County, on the northwest side of Metro Atlanta has a long history of wanting to stem the tide of "others" moving to its environs. We have MARTA here: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, that operates trains and buses in Fulton and DeKalb Counties, the two most urban counties. Cobb for years would have nothing to do with it. Still won't but in the past couple of years has been sending its own buses to and from Intown train stations. Same with Gwinnett County on the northeast side of town. People on the north side used to, and may still in some quarters, say that MARTA stands for Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta.

Given what I've written, you can see I'm not joining with my fearful north side neighbors. So, my dilemma? Cobb County passed an ordinance earlier this year that makes it illegal for people to live in a house or an apartment that doesn't have at least 396 square feet for each resident. Forsyth County the furthest north and most rapidly expanding bedroom county is considering a similar ordinance.

From today's Atlanta-Journal Constitution, online: "Chairman Charles Laughinghouse defended the draft ordinance. 'It doesn't target any specific ethnic group,' Laughinghouse said. 'It targets a specific problem that is becoming more prevalent, not only in Forsyth County but the metro Atlanta area.'"

Well, yes, he's right. The problem is that Cobb and now Forsyth want their "Mexicans" (all Hispanic people in Metro Atlanta are "Mexicans") to live elsewhere. (Back in the old days, way back in the late Eighties, Forsyth County used the old tactic of burning out or harassing black people that had the temerity to try to settle in the County. Hosea Williams, a colorful lesser light of the Civil Rights movement held a march on Forsyth that was hailed as a model of peaceful demonstration. Its peacefulness was enabled just a tad by a thousand or so Georgia State Troopers.)

So, again, where's my dilemma? Well here it is. I don't want to own a house, or live next door to a house, that has twelve guys living in it with six cars in the driveway and and in front on the street. Detracts from the neighborhood ambiance and the property values.

As much as I don't want to, I think I have to side with Cobb and Forsyth Counties. Though their ordinances are targeted directly at Hispanic people, they are reasonable zoning regulations. God, I hate facts and logic.

And The Winner Is...

Judi of Talking To Myself at http://emmapeeldallas.blogspot.com/ at 11:44 p.m. last night on the Baseball/Football post. Fermi was closest before the 7,500 mark with a comment, no. 7,498 mid-evening last night; and Michelle came in a bit after Judi at one something this morning (get some sleep).

Thanks to you all, we'll do it again at some appropriate marker.

Something For You To Comment Upon

I just watched the second episode of Feasting On Asphalt, II.

Alton Brown just raved about beef tips in a restaurant in Mississippi that were simmered then baked and then placed with the juice on pancakes. Sounds like the local chicken and waffles, something that just doesn't sound right and that I won't try.

Cheney's Non-Evil Twin

http://posolxstvo1.blogspot.com/ which if I had any ability at technical stuff would read Niagaran Pebbles has a link today to a YouTube clip of our esteemed Vice President talking about the first Gulf War in 1994. Quite cogent.

Pos, this doesn't count as a post.

Baseball vs. Football - A Joint Post

I did a post recently about baseball; and, Pos, of Niagaran Pebbles, see Recommended sidebar, left a comment suggesting that I write about something interesting, though he said it in a kinder way. Pos, from Philadelphia, is a football fan and is salivating in anticipation of the coming season. I’m in the middle of my annual, about to be disappointed, following of the Atlanta Braves.

We decided to do a “joint” series of posts about why we are the way we are. Some of you are reading this on my blog and some of you are reading this at Pos’ place.

Pos’ response is found further down. Kind of a point/counterpoint thing. It may go further than that, maybe not.

Me:

You need to look to history to understand the present, an academic once said. I’ve been exposed to both baseball and football, but baseball “took.”

I grew up in a Detroit, blue-collar suburb. We had the Tigers, the Lions and the Red Wings. The Pistons were in town, but weren’t on my young radar. None of the teams had distinguished itself by the time I got to the point that sports became important. They were really just a backdrop for what kids did back then.

The kids in the neighborhood had a “community” ball and bat. I was the owner of the ball. Bobby, who lived across the street, supplied the bat. Most of us had a glove.

So when you don't you have enough guys for a game? You don’t need more than three. Each is his own team. A batter who throws the ball up and hits it. Two guys in the "field" which, since we were all right handed, was everything to the left of "second" which usually was some object found in the real field. One of the guys played nominal short and the other guy was a kind of Texas League outfielder. You were out if the guy fielding the ball threw to the other guy before you got to first. There weren't any home runs because the one ball was a bit mushy and we were all, how to put it, untalented.

Bobby’s Uncle was a groundskeeper at Briggs Stadium where the Tigers and the Lions played back then. Two summers when I was about eleven or twelve, Bobby and I got to go to a day game with his Uncle when he went to work in the morning. We got to go on the field before the players came out to warm up and after the game when the stadium was empty again. “Don’t bother the players if they come out.” But we did get to see them up close.In 1968 Denny McClain won 31 games, and the Tigers, featuring Mickey Lolich, Willie Horton, Bill Freehan and the one and only Al Kaline, beat Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games for the World Championship. This was big stuff in Detroit. The last time had been in the Forties.

So, I grew up playing and watching baseball. Football was there, but only once a week; and, back then there were only fourteen weeks in a season and no Super Bowl until later on.

As an adult, I went to law school at the University of Miami, then and now with a very successful baseball team. Mark Light Stadium was just down the street from the law school. A student ID and a couple of bucks got you in. Good baseball, pretty girls in skimpy clothing. If all else failed the stadium lights were good enough to read by. Miami baseball was as much a social as a sporting event. And that is probably the heart of my attraction to it over other sports.

It’s there. But, it doesn’t intrude on whatever else is going on at that moment. You can space out at a game and not miss much. You can have it on the TV, read a book, clean the kitchen. If something happens, and it probably won’t, the crowd roar will alert you. If you have TiVo, you are living in a perfect world.

Football requires more attention. Too many players doing too many things. Some may think I’ve just made a case for the superiority of football. Maybe, if you are a fervent sports fan; but, I am not. Baseball is just my speed.

Pos:

At the risk of sounding as though I am making age jokes here, as I read Dave’s explanation, it seemed to me that he and I are simply products of our respective generations. I grew up in the Super Bowl/NFL era. He missed it by a few years.

I don’t want to dismiss the allure of baseball to a young child, hanging out with friends, tossing the ball, hitting the ball, etc. there certainly was that, but I was and still am a decidedly uncoordinated person. Woefully so.

My memories of baseball were not ones of camaraderie, but instead were opportunities to have some fun at my expense. My father was not interested in sports at all, and I remember a single time when he took me to a local ball field to hit the ball a bit. It was a bit like the old story about the dancing elephant – it wasn’t a matter of how well he danced, but merely a wonder that he was able to dance at all.

Later, in preparation for moving from Boston area to Pennsylvania, where my mother knew everyone was “into baseball,” (she was wrong – they were into sports of every kind) she enrolled me in the Instructional League of the town’s Little League Baseball program. I was three years older than everyone else on the team. And I still just plain and simple did not get it. I was placed in the outfield where I could do the least damage. The only real memory of that experience that I have that was positive – a teammate’s father owned an Italian restaurant just on the other side of the big green monster at Fenway. And he treated the whole team to a meal and one Red Sox souvenir item.

When I got to Philadelphia, I found it impossible to cheer for a “philly.” Just sounded a bit less than manly or something. But I was a big kid for my age, and was well suited for being a football lineman, and there was a contact football team at the school I was attending.

I was no better at football than at baseball, but at least now I was not expected to catch or throw or anything like that. And I continued to play until my Junior year of High School when I broke my arm during a game.

So, why do I watch football and not baseball? Initially, it was the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XII to be exact. I was 10. Dallas vs Denver. I watched with my mother’s mother on her big console color TV. And when I went to school the next day, I was able to speak intelligently about the game. And for a brief moment, I wasn’t a social freak.

Fast forward a few years. Many many years. I was living in Hawaii, serving in the Air Force. I had many co-workers and friends from all over. Joe was a Giants fan. Sean and John were Dolphins fans. Dale was a Cowboys fan. In an effort to be a part of the group, I chose a team to follow. Although I was ostensibly from Philadelphia, I had no real connection with the Eagles. But my best friend lived in Pittsburgh, and I knew his wife was a Steelers fan. And they were from Pennsylvania too. It just worked out.

It didn’t hurt that they were in the playoff hunt that year.

And, as Dave says about baseball, it just took.

When I got out of the service, my new best friend (also my brother-in-law at the time) was a Broncos fan. Just about every one of my best friends now has some favorite team. The Broncos, the Eagles, the Packers, the Steelers, etc. Very few of my close friends are indifferent to football. The people (my age) that I know now who are baseball fans, I just don’t get along with as well. Generally.

I now have a fantasy football team. I am running an office NFL pick ‘em pool. I go to Super Bowl parties. I watch the Eagles at the local watering hole. My circle of friends and acquaintances has grown exponentially through a common enjoyment of football.

And now, a word about football itself. In baseball, there are a couple of dominant teams every year. You just know that one of the big spending teams like the Yankees is going to win the pennant. In the NFL, they have a salary cap that allows small market teams to be as competitive as big market teams. They have a thing called free agency that allows a more even distribution of talent, and guarantees that on any given Sunday, any team can compete with any other team. So even a fan of the lowly Browns has something to look for every year. In 2003, the Steelers went 6-10. The next, with very nearly the same exact team, they went 15-1. And didn’t win the Super Bowl.

That my friends is drama.

Attending a game in person is a special event. It better be for $250 per ticket! The tailgating, the cheers, the absolute elation after a big play that causes you to hug a complete stranger. I have been to hundreds of baseball games, and love watching them in person, but never experienced the same sort of, dare I say, religious reverence seen in the football stadium. And because there are fewer games each season, each game matters that much more than each individual baseball game in a season.

I am not a football guru. Don’t ask me to tell you the difference between a nickel or dime defensive package (actually, that one I know), or what an end route is, as opposed to a skinny post. But I know that when Willie Parker breaks out into the flat and is outpacing all the nearest defenders, there is a feeling of joy that is simply unmatched. Even the grand slam home run my son and I saw against the Florida Marlins last year didn’t feel that good.

I could get sucked into baseball. If the Phillies went on a tear and I was lucky enough to see a few games in person, that would be cool. Maybe if they were to win the World Series. But for now, football is enough joy for me.

Ignored Rule of Baseball

A TAG is the action of a fielder in touching a base with his body while holding the ball securely and firmly in his hand or glove; or touching a runner with the ball, or with his hand or glove holding the ball, while holding the ball securely and firmly in his hand or glove.

That is the rule that is routinely ignored on the tag at second base on an attempted double play. The umpires decided not to ignore that rule because the shortstop for the Braves missed the bag by about two inches, versus the foot or two most miss by, on a play about a half hour ago.

I know most of you aren't exercised about this; but, Alberto Gonzales is expected to call it fast and loose. Umpires aren't. If they do, they are supposed to be consistent. If that is the case from this moment on, expect a lot less double plays.

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution and The New York Times, Compare and Contrast

I just subscribed to The New York Times on Sundays, so this morning there were two papers when I opened the door.

I couldn't do a true comparison of the time it takes to read each as I learned that a lot of what is on NYTimes.com on Saturday is in the Sunday print edition. It took about an hour to read the AJC and about two hours to read what I hadn't already read in the NYT.

Much more color in the AJC. Much more substance in the NYT.

Lots of graphics in the AJC. Competent writing in the NYT.

No locally written book reviews in the AJC. The 28 page New York Times Book Review section.

Good coverage of the Braves in the AJC. Nothing beyond box score in the NYT. What's up with that?

For good measure, I read Creative Loafing, Atlanta's "alternative" weekly which is owned by a company that publishes "alternative" weeklies in a bunch of cities. Twenty minutes. But I skipped the ads for strip clubs, the personals, plastic surgery ads and the music reviews.

125 Visitors To Go At About Four-Thirty on Saturday Afternoon

Swear Words and a Thought About Our Societal Wimpiness

It is 6:16 p.m. on Friday the tenth of August, in the year of our Lord, 2007. According to my home page weather it is 102 degrees outside of my abode. Inside, when I walked in about fifteen minutes ago, it was 86, as I turn off the air when I leave in the morning. The humidity is way up, I'm not going to talk about wet and dry heat. Insert some swear words, it's hot.

As most of you know, I live in Atlanta. It's hot here in the Summer. I grew up in Michigan without AC. There was a bit of hot, but you could abide it.

I used to go out to Vegas with friends once a year to play golf, gamble and eat. One of those years, a friend and I were talking after we had gotten there about looking out of the plane at the desert and the beginning of the mountains. My thought was, if I'd seen that in the seventeen or eighteen whatevers as I was moving West, I'd have turned back. Of course, turning back, I might have faced the Southeast's oppressive humid heat, or the Northeast's frigid cold without the benefit of electricity and its wonderful effect on my comfort.

Seems to me that I owe my parents some thanks for having borne me at a pretty good wimpy era in history.

Last Contest Update

As of 3:00 p.m. EDT, the blog has had 7,321 visitors with a current average of 44 a day. Weekends usually have a bit less traffic. So, Monday, Tuesday?

If you don't know what this is all about or want to refresh yourself on the rules, scroll down to previous contest posts.

A Blog Kind Of Thing.

I regularly read Curmudgeon, the author of Second Effort. He lives and works in "undisclosed locations" in the Chicago area. He's a White Sox fan and thus is suffering from clinical depression at this current point in time.

He did a post that referred to another blogger, Chris, that created yet another round-robin post thing. This one intrigued me. The deal is to go back in your archives and dredge up a post that you like. Put a link to it in your post and a link to the post where you found the idea. A traffic builder of sorts.

Other than the embedding URLs and my lack of ability to do it, I liked and feared the idea. Is there something out there in the archive, early on, that I like, that I want re-exposed?

I settled on http://ratherthanworking.blogspot.com/2006/10/golf.html and I am tired of trying to get that to read as the title of the post from last fall.

So read the old post, tell me what you think. Go over to, damn, another hyperlink. Go over to the Recommended sidebar and click Second Effort. Scroll down to the post that is titled something like "Best Shot" from Wednesday of this week. If nothing else, you find a guy that can write.

On that last subject, when you are done with the instructions above, or if you want to ignore them, go to the sidebar and click Pole Hill Sanitarium. The Doctor has a really good post today about Barry Bonds, society and a few other things. Some amazing writing and cogent thoughts.

Black and White? Or Green?

Atlanta, "the city too busy to hate," has found the time, when it comes to our public hospital, Grady Memorial.

The City of Atlanta straddles the border between Fulton and DeKalb (de CAB) counties. Like most big cities, we have a huge public hospital that serves most of our uninsured, poor, elderly, etc. It has one of the best trauma centers in the country.

Given those missions, it is always short of money. The shortfall is made worse by the fact that its patients come from all over Metro Atlanta and to an extent, Georgia; but, its public funding comes primarily from Fulton and DeKalb taxpayers.

The Hospital is currently undergoing its latest and most serious crisis. It is projected to run out of money sometime late in the year. To date, the crisis has been addressed by pontification by the various camps of politicians. There's a "Grady Summit" scheduled for Monday. Earlier in the year a "Task Force" appointed by Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, issued a report that among other recommendations, promoted the creation of a non-profit corporation to take over the day-to-day running of the hospital from the Grady Board.

The Board has ten members, three appointed by the DeKalb and seven appointed by the Fulton, County Commission (the disparity is historical - Fulton had a lot more people in the Forties when the Board was created). The Grady Board and the Fulton and DeKalb commissions have a majority of members who are black. The Task Force has a white majority. Ah, now you know where this is going.

Joe Beasley, regional director of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition said last week "It's about race, if we don't know it and don't deal with it, we're just whistling Dixie." Mr. Beasley is black.

Retorted A.D. Correll, white co-chairman of the Task Force, "this is about green - not black or white, it's about money. We simply have got to quit talking about political power and talk about how we're going to pay for care for people of this community. I don't give damn who's in charge."

Beasley sees the non-profit corporation proposal as a "white" power grab. He wants the Hospital bailed out; but, he wants operations to be controlled by the current black majority Board, the Board that ran the Hospital for the last seven years, losing money, resulting in the current need for an immediate $120 million bailout.

This rhetorical war also needs to be seen in the context of the last several years of Fulton County "secessions." For years there has been conflict between the northern and southern parts of Fulton County. Most of the southern population is black, with whites holding the majority in the north. Property in the north is more valuable and brings in more property taxes, the primary source of county funding, which are spent by the majority black government in the south.

North Fulton residents after years of trying, got the State Legislature to authorize referendums to form cities in the north part of the county. So far we have three new cities: Sandy Springs, Milton and John's Creek. The result is less money going to the county and less to spend in the south. Though the rhetoric about these events has died down, there were allegations of racist motivations for city creation.

So what is the motivating factor? Racism? Money? A combination of the two? "Color" is certainly involved. "Control" is a factor - if money comes from outside the two counties, should control remain with the counties? Absent the ability to control spending, should the State and/or the region throw money at the very real problem? I dunno.

Contest Update

Visitors are picking up; though comments are not. Current visitors are 7,210 with an average of 45 a day. If that holds up, the winner will visit next Monday.

$$$: Three Balls: Glavine, A-Rod, Bonds

Credit first. The idea for this post comes from, as often, The New York Times, online. There was a quick piece on Bonds and A-Rod and their respective 755th and 500th home run balls.

A-Rod's ball is estimated to be worth $100K; but, the guy that got it says he may settle for a boatload of Yankee signed stuff. A-Rod says he would like the ball.

Nothing in the article about who caught Bonds' penultimate ball; but, the "experts" say the next one could be worth more than $600K.

Quietly last night, Tom Glavine pitched his 300th winning game, going into the sixth inning. The closer, I think Wagner, gave him the last ball and a hug. Priceless?

P.S. Blogger spell checker thinks contractions are misspellings; but, it gives a big OK when you type A-Rod.

Contest Update

With all the dither of the jerkstore recently, I forgot my promise to give you an update on progress toward 7500 visitors.

As of a few minutes ago there have been 7153. Still clicking along at an average of 38 a day.

If you've happened along and have no idea what I'm talking about, scroll down a little over a week ago and read the contest announcement and rules.

If traffic holds to current patterns, we will reach the destination on or about August 16.

Sorry Folks

Seems I've attracted a stalker. Until I block the attacks, your comments will be a little slow in showing up on the blog.

Inframaintenance

Structures require maintenance.

You change the oil and sparkplugs in your car. The filters for the house air conditioner and furnace get replaced periodically and you paint the siding now and again.

But, when it comes to this kind of work on big stuff, "out of sight, out of mind" prevails over "pay me now or pay me later."

It's been pay me later time for a couple of decades now for our public utilities.

I've lived in Atlanta for the last twenty years. I used to work in the heart of downtown and parked in the "pigeon pit," which is an area where the streets years and years ago were built up above ground level so the railroad tracks didn't interfere with street traffic. Even back then, the concrete structures were falling apart. Chunks of concrete had fallen out, exposing the rebar in the piers. Our solution? String metal "netting" under and around the concrete so people and cars didn't get hit by the falling debris.

Starting a few years back, a couple of decades late, Atlanta started spending a couple of billion dollars to save our water system.

This morning's paper reported that there are 18 bridges in Metro Atlanta that score under 10 on the 1 to 100 structural integrity scale the feds use in inspecting bridges. The paper reported earlier in the week that Georgia DOT spends about $100 billion a year maintaining bridges but that to bring bridges up to proper maintenance levels would take more than a billion dollars.

When and if we pull out of Iraq maybe the money can be spent on some of the more critical inframaintenance we should have been doing. Probably not. In six months, our bridges and water and sewer pipes will be back out of public sight and out of our public mind.

FDR, Truman, Johnson, Reagan, Bush I, Bush II, You and Me

President Bush's Speech About September 11, 2001

Leonard Pitts' Editorial, September 12, 2001

My post yesterday got me to thinking about September 11 again. I’m going to make a small effort to not refer to it as 9/11.

I mentioned in the post that President Bush made one of his few compelling addresses to the nation on September 11, 2001. That got me thinking about Leonard Pitts’ piece the next day in The Miami Herald. I remember tears as I read it.

Leonard Pitts is no George Bush; and, George Bush is no Leonard Pitts. Our President is a privileged white, Anglo-Saxon, right-wing, religious-right guy. Leonard Pitts is a now privileged, but not always, black, left leaning, moderate at best, religious guy who doesn’t insist you and I live his religion.

Having now reread the speech and editorial, it strikes me as to how wrong, in many ways they both were.

Both were, understandably and rightly outraged. Both extolled the resilient nature of the American people. Who said what?

"These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong.

Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.

When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice.

Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature. And we responded with the best of America -- with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.

As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.

This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time.

As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish."

The quotes alternate between the two pieces. There’s a bit of a difference in style, but the tone is the same. If you care, go to the links to the speech and the editorial and find out who said what.

Here’s some Charlie Daniels for you:

In America

We'll the eagle's been flying slow, and the flag's been flying low, and a lot of people's saying that America's fixing to fall.

But speaking just for me and some people from Tennessee, we got a thing or two to tell you all.

This lady may have stumbled but she ain't never fell. And if the Russians don't believe that they can all go straight to hell.

We're gonna put her feet back on the path of the righteousness and then God bless America again.

And you never did think that it ever would happen again In America, did you? You never did think that we'd ever get together again.

Well we damn sure fooled you. We're walking real proud and we're talking real loud again in America.

You never did think that it ever would happen again.

From the sound up in Long Island out to San Francisco Bay, and every thing that's in between them is our home. And we may have done a little bit of fighting amongst ourselves, but you outside people best leave us alone.

Cause we'll all stick together and you can take that to the bank.That's the cowboys and the hippies and the rebels and the yanks.

You just go and lay your hand on a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and I think you're gonna finally understand.

And you never did think that it ever would happen again In America, did you? You never did think that we'd ever get together again.

Well we damn sure fooled you. We're walking real proud and we're talking real loud again in America. You never did think that it ever would happen again.

Daniels wrote the song in the early Eighties, after the Iranian hostage crisis, at the height of the Reagan resurgence of patriotism. And of course, before September 11, 2001.

In yesterday’s post, I quoted from FDR’s “infamy” speech.

What do these four men say about us as a people?

Well, we seldom start fights; though some would argue that our peace-time activities foment fights.

We do fight back.

When the fight is life and death, so far we’ve won.

When the fight is far away, and in the near and middle term, not one that will destroy us, we wander away. Korea, Vietnam, Iran of Charlie Daniels fame, Iraq the first time, and it looks like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran, this time around.

We talk big, we meddle. Then we seek the current version of “peace with honor.”

The terrorist attack against us on September 11 was barbaric. Without vigilance and action to prevent its recurrence, we will see another attack.

But, we tend to misdirect our anger. Korea in the Fifties, Vietnam in the Sixties, Iran in the Seventies, Afghanistan and Iraq in the Nineties and Iran now, do not threaten our way of life.

We fought Korea,Vietnam and Iran as surrogates for the Soviet Union. We fight with Afghans, Iraqis and Iranians as entities that substitute for the non-nations, the groups, that try to harm us. The new Soviet Union is Al Quada, Hamas, etc.

I think it’s time we identified the enemies we have and figure out how to deal with them.