The Beast Is Back!

(The thread photo is not an accurate likeness of the author.)

Well, my vacation was longer than I intended, but I am back, ready and willing to resume my nefarious career as a Pop Blog columnist. I enjoyed portions of my time away, enjoyed some of it not so much, but the sun rose every morning and I woke each morning breathing, so all was not lost.

I am looking forward to writing a new and improved column for your annoyance each weekday. My severely demented mind is churning with new and highly disturbed ideas for your perusal. My time away did nothing to change my warped view of the world we live in. It did, however, improve my outlook on life in general, so the desired effect was achieved.

By nature, despite a concerted effort to dissuade me, I remain an optomistic person, perhaps to a fault. The glass isn’t half full for me; it is overflowing. I felt that optimism slipping recently, hence my decision to step away for a bit to take a closer look at my motivations as I journey through this life. The failures that lead to my decreasing optimism were mine, and it required a new approach from me.

“I read the news today, oh boy…………………” (J. Lennon) Well, if you allow it, the “news today” can be rather depressing. You can watch the bee as he goes about his duties and be afraid of his stinger or you can smell the flowers that he pollinates. I choose the latter.

This past year has not been a good one for those of a progressive mindset. Part of that is due to a lack of optimism and belief in our cause. If you think that you are going to lose the game, you probably will see that thought realized. Truthfully, many of us worked hard to usher in a liberal Congress and President, then promptly proceeded as if the game was already won, when in fact, the coin toss was still in the air.

So, my fellow populists and progressives, your not so humble beast is back! I am recharged, motivated and filled with renewed optimism for the future.

And I am glad to be here.

 

(Thread photo by the author, Sedgwick County Zoo, September 6, 2010.)

 

 

William Stephenson Clark

Could the “Tea Party” take over Congress?

This gathering of libertarians, conservatives, and others just plain fed up with business as usual in Washington has some prominent figureheads – Fox News broadcasters and political pot-stirrers Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck –and, is clearly having a major impact on the midterm elections — putting a significant number of more conventional Republicans as well as Democrats into a cold sweat as they look over their shoulders at tea-party backed candidates with a real possibility of winning.  Some of these candidates should scare the hell out of most voters — these are not your average run-of-the-mill politicians, in fact, they’re worse.

Which tea-party-backed candidates do you think will be elected this fall, and why? Which ones are most off center, maybe even off the far edge of ‘right?’

Monday, 9/13/10, Public Square