I am conservative.

I know that this comes as a surprise to most of you, and I apologize for the shock to your system.

One of the hallmarks of conservatism is a resistance to change. Not a hate of change, but a resistance – in other words, there should be a really good reason for changing something, other than “I don’t think we need to do it that way anymore.”

Saying that he wanted a more “relaxed” atmosphere – since running the country is a laid back, way-cool thing to do anyway – Mr. Obama has decreed that ties and jackets are no longer required in the highest office. I may have mentioned not liking to wear ties, but I sure wouldn’t treat the Oval Office as a conference room – it should be all business, all the time. There is no other way to treat the station. At the same time, asking the country to cut back and make sacrifices while cranking the office thermostat up is kinda hypocritical, isn’t it? Sure, with the temp above 80 then wearing a jacket and tie is a bit uncomfortable, but if you were to display a bit of common sense and put the thermostat where wearing a jacket an tie would be smart – say, between 68 and 72 degrees – then you’ve kept your image clean and your hypocrisy to a minimum. Both traits, by the way, that the American Public seem to enjoy. At least, when they aren’t swooning about speech patterns.

As you may be aware, the President paid a visit to the Valley of the Sun, arriving Tuesday afternoon after signing a $787 billion “stimulus” package in Denver. His arrival, like the arrivals of other dignitaries, tied up traffic at Sky Harbor and on the already-congested freeways here in the Phoenix area. No change there – no problem.

The President decided that the traditional venue of the Arizona Biltmore was not “edgy” enough – or perhaps, since it’s not in need of foreclosure relief, not “newsy” enough – and stayed instead at the InterContinental Montelucia Resort and Spa in Paradise Valley. The Montelucia started bankruptcy protection foreclosure proceedings earlier this month. The Biltmore, having been around for more than eighty years, is a bastion of conservatism – in other words, they make a profit by knowing their limits and working within them, while still providing excellent service and accommodations. OK, the Presidential suite at the Biltmore is less than 2800 square feet, and has more than two bedrooms, and doesn’t have a private pool, and I’m pretty sure the bathtub is just a bathtub and not “a seashell on the bottom of the ocean” but it is not being leveraged in a foreclosure proceeding, either. Every sitting President has stayed at the Biltmore since it opened, and has a portrait hanging in the hall. We’ll see if Mr. Obama follows suit, or wants to avoid anything connected with McCain. Or, perhaps he will continue to lead by example and spend $3,000 – $4,000 per night instead of merely $1,600 for the Biltmore.

The President was scheduled to speak at Dobson High School in Mesa on Wednesday, campaigning to drum up support for his boondoogle porkulus “stimulus” bill. (side note – stimulus – from the Greek, stim, or large pole, and ulus, roughly translated as “where the sun don’t shine”). Naturally, Dobson High is expected to receive lots of “stimulus” money. Good thing, too – they’re going to need to pay for the new sod somehow.

And this is where the flow of this post comes to a screeching halt.

New SOD? To “spruce up” the campus of a desert city high school?

Oh, what a good idea. This will accomplish so much – let’s see, it will prop up the illusion that landscaping here in a DESERT is the same as anywhere with natural rainfall that exceeds the number of sunny days. It will allow the President to think that Dobson looks real purty all the time. It will make conservatives wonder how the hell they can afford new sod when there are programs within the school that are being cut due to budget restrictions. It will provide some much-needed labor for the current crop of illegals working within the school system as janitors. Oh, you didn’t know? Yeah – Mesa’s mayor, Scott Smith, and Mesa’s Police Chief George Gascon are big pro-illegal movers and shakers. Mr. Smith wants Mesa to be known as a “sanctuary city” – that is, if you are afraid that you will be busted for being illegal in another Valley city, go to Mesa, where the Police have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy with regards to your ability to legally work in this country.

My question is, where will the sod go after Obama wings out of here? Or, will they try to keep it watered, only to watch it wither and die when they have to further cut their landscape budget? Did I mention we live in a DESERT?

Mr. Obama could have “stimulused” us much better from his office in DC, where he wouldn’t be forced to look upon the hoi-poloi whilst engaging in serious grown-up politics.

No, I didn’t vote for him. BUt, since he is now my country’s leader, he sure better respond to those he is leading. Unless, of course, he only wants to serve one term, like Carter – come to think of it, that may be the best way to curb him.

Chat ya later…

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