November 16th- Chris and I arrived home in Van Wert around 2:30 a.m. last night and right away I was greeted by a strong wind coming in from the West and a bone-chilling temperature that I hadn't felt in a long, long time. Dear Virginia weather, you always were so nice to me. Thanks for peacing out with me somewhere around Columbus.

I couldn't sleep of course because of the excitement of just being HERE in Ohio--- mostly nervous about tomorrow's trip to Columbus, and then my journey to Cleveland to see friends and co-workers. But a major reason why I was awake every 2 hours was because my beloved dog, Katie, slept right next to me on the couch and would continually wimper because of the raging storm outside.

What's on tap for today? Well, first I want to unpack the Focus, do some laundry and relax..... then it's time to show Chris around the booming metropolis of Van Wert, Ohio. Last night he actually commented that he didn't think this part of the state should be considered the "Midwest." When a Nebraska guy tells you that at 2:10 a.m. in the morning after 8 hours of driving, you really have to hold back from dropping him off somewhere between Wapakoneta and Mendon. I think he came to his senses when we got out of the car and were almost blown over from the wind flowing in untouched from Fort Wayne and beyond. Dear 1787 ordinance settlers.... thanks for that whole "clear every tree in sight" thing. It worked out great for people, plants, animals, and topsoil I think. Thanks to you, settlers of old, I get to put up my parents snow fencing on Monday or Tuesday when I return from the real Northeast of my dreams----the beloved Greater Cleveland area.

**Ok, here's some shop talk for you all this morning: I was flipping through the channels to catch the early news on CNN and to check what time the Daily Show came on when I stumbled across this morning's 700 Club airing---featuring everyone's favorite former attorney general of the united states of america and of course the noble squinting host, el robertson presidente de jesus. And what were they discussing? The fact that the Patriot Act was a beautiful piece of legal safeguard policy, and why Christians should speak of its overall glamour. Get this, ole "Eagles Soar" actually believes in his invasion of privacy - denial of constitutional rights pact so much that he swears that there has not been one real complaint. He cites a Senate Judicial Committee hearing when Feinstein brought up emails and letters and testimonials as trivial and non-applicable to the collection of laws, and then reported to our boy Pat that the ACLU didn't even have beef with it. Hmmmmm, what's this technique you ask? Right, so the ultra right wingers (the ones that give actual conservatives a bad name and ruin all Republican policy reputations) like to hate on groups like the ACLU when they defend constitutional rights and applied situations when they seem like pinko-commie-traitor ploys, and then do a double-take and double-suck up when they actually need the group's help. Funny thing about the ACLU.... they believe Klan members should have as much right to organize as a Sunday school session, and will defend an NRA golden boy just as quickly as an abortion advocate.

Today's bottom line: don't let ultra-conservatives do the double-speak to you. Fancy words, well-honed statements, and years of continual repetition of policy pivots don't make your leadership QUALITY. And I'm tired of the complaining. If something is so wrong with America..... fix the damn problem. You control EVERYTHING.... not just the usual ALMOST EVERYTHING. And you can't spin that.