lurkitty

Obfuscation. It's a tactic used when one side has made a decision and the other side wants to push them away from that opinion. I sometimes use my Albert the Alligator icon, taken from one of Walt Kelly's Pogo comics, to illustrate obfuscation. The quote says, "I may not understand what you say, but I will defend to your death my right to deny it."

Case in point. A man comes to my door for the second time in as many days. His buddy sits in a pickup truck idling in the street, a freezer in the back. He offers to give me the freezer if I buy the meat inside. Last time he was here, I politely explained that, not only did I have a freezer, but I am a vegetarian and don't eat meat.

This time, the man got nasty and began arguing that "not all vegetarians don't eat chicken or fish!" Obfuscation. Trying to tell me that I am being unreasonable, that my definition is non-standard. But it is not. You do not come on my property and tell me what I do and do not eat. Carnivores do not define vegetarianism. No sale.

So it is with the impeachment process. Some Republicans want the general public to believe that the Democratic Congress is spineless in not immediately starting impeachment proceedings. This is pure obfuscation. Look at the work of the Judiciary Committee. Slowly, but surely, they are building an airtight case. They are tallying up the offenses, along with the proof, so that when they do bring charges, there will be no wiggle room, no doubt and no way out other than resignation. The net is cast wide so that all of the guilty parties will be indicted.

In overall performance, this Congress has accomplished more in its first few weeks than the last six Congresses did in their entire terms. The next time someone says, "They ought to get off their asses and do something," tell them you don't buy that! They're making so much progress that the Republicans are nervous and getting desperate.

Since going veggie, my tastes have definitely changed. I find certain foods I used to crave, like bloody, nearly raw steak, turn my stomach. Other dishes I would not have considered eating before are now delectable delights. Take tonight's entree. It being T's birthday, we went to the best restaurant in town. I had roasted eggplant with white beans, squash, tomatoes, peppers, fresh basil and cheese over the top. I finished every morsel and felt like licking the platter.

The waiter came by partway through the meal and wondered that we hadn't switched plates. T had the turkey. I explained that I am vegetarian. I didn't explain that T would never eat the dish I had savored.

There was a Katrina promo at CDbaby so I got on and bought a bunch of music the other day. It came in yesterday and I was really excited. I ripped most of it last night and loaded much of it into my pod. I like most all of it -- you know how it is, buying sampled music. I was so excited that I gave three CDs to T to take on his commute to Newport.

The verdict is in. I have no taste in music. The carpool universally vetoed all three. I am informed I must be going through a phase. T said I must be listening to the lyrics, not the music. I'm pretty used to T not liking my music, but two other people, too?

I guess I should keep my music to myself from now on.