I’ve had a little taste of what it feels like to be one-armed this past
two weeks, and boy do I appreciate the ability to use both my arms! I received
little post-operative instruction from my surgeon as to what I can and cannot
do, and of course Shauna and I disagree as to how much I should do. She’s right, of course, and I need to give the surgery
sufficient time to heal before I start using the arm. Driving a car has been
particularly challenging, as I would normally use my right arm to insert the key
in the ignition, to put on my seat belt, and to place the car in gear. Thank
goodness I no longer drive a manual stick! I now have a little more respect for those who
are missing limbs. Later today I am scheduled for my first post-operative
appointment, and I’m hoping I can start physiotherapy soon. I am going a little
bonkers rattling around the house, doing little but whining. Everywhere there
are unfinished projects of mine which require the use of both arms, and of course,
there is the guitar which sits on its stand in the living room, taunting me. I
have kept the arm immobilized as instructed but now I am eager to see if the
surgery was a success. “Don’t it always seem to go you don’t know what you’ve
got til it’s gone …”
The American midterm elections have turned the Senate back over to the Republicans,
and of course the elephants are boasting this sends a clear message: Americans
despise Obama and the Democrats. But come on, has anything really changed? There
will still be divisive gridlock in Washington. It’s still the crazy Republican
extremists who will make the news for suggesting that Ebola victims should be
rounded up and exterminated; it is the Republicans who still believe climate
change is a conspiracy foisted upon us by the liberal donkeys, it is those
humorless Republicans that are perceived as bible thumping troglodytes. Mark my
words, come election time in 2016, no matter how badly Obama stumbles, it will
be the Republicans who once again fly off the rails and come across as the
party of bat shit crazy nut balls who promote bigotry, religious extremism,segregation,
homophobia, pollution, and greed. In short, it will be the same excruciatingly
long spin war of opposing television networks and PACS as it was in 2012. As
much as we (and by we I mean I) the voters claim we want change, we still vote
for the flavor of the month; we still drink the toxic but brightly colored Koolaid.
Here’s an idea: take all those billions in partisan PAC money and donate it to
UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, and The Red Cross. It could not be spent any
worse than it has been so far, and perhaps it would even the playing field. Let
the Republicans and the Democrats compete to see which party is the most
charitable. Leave the spin to print mediums and cap each party’s campaign contributions
to $10Million. When even the new, enlightened Pope is shedding the blinders of
ignorance, religious extremism is still gumming up the works of world politics,
and certainly of the GOP. Much was made
among the pundits about how badly the Democrats fumbled the ball in the
midterms, by distancing themselves from the presently unpopular Obama. It
always boils down to bad press, and sadly few candidates have the testicles (or
tits) to take the high road. What does it say about us voters that,
statistically, we encourage the stalemate by not insisting on an end to the
obscene election spending and lack of meaningful dialogue? And therein ends
this week’s indignant rant.
Tomorrow is
Remembrance Day here in Canada. I have yet to write a meaningful song about the
profound sacrifice our veterans have made and our soldiers continue make to
preserve our freedom. But my good friend Bobby Cameron did, and if you are
reading this, I beg you to listen to
a song he recently penned and has just put up on YouTube, entitled Here and Gone. www.youtube.com/user/bobbycamerontv
. It’s one of the best songs
I’ve heard in a long time, and I wish I’d written it. It beautifully summarizes
the sacrifices our service men and women make for war, and reminds us to show
respect and gratitude for the men and women who fight to preserve our freedom.
As I watch winter’s grey-white squalls blow in to denude to trees of their last
remaining leaves, on this now deserted lake, I thank our veterans for their
ultimate sacrifice. I think we North Americans are the most fortunate people in
the world.
As always, thanks
for reading my self-righteous rants.
- Written by Jamie
Oppenheimer c2014 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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