Burgeriffic

Inflation has been with us all our lives. It takes different forms. Sometimes you just have to pay more for things, and sometimes you pay the same, but get less. Either way, you have to be either taking in more money or wanting whatever you're buying more than you used to.
Mona and I customarily go out to eat on Fridays. Sometimes we sit down for dinner, but there's also the takeout option, so it's not necessarily classy food. Last Friday we took that option, then drove to a shady spot on the bay and watched things there - birds, seals and other water dwellers. We've done the same thing plenty of times before in our now nine years in the Golden State. My goal on such evenings is avoiding getting mustard or ketchup on whatever I'm wearing. No guarantees there, either.
Our food, such as it was, came from Burger King. I had what they still insist is a "Whopper". It's not so whopping anymore, but what really surprised me was Mona's "Whopper Jr.". This sandwich can now fit in your palm and still leave a little space. It's pathetic. Calling it a "Whopper" of any kind is false advertising. The "Three-biter" or the "micro-burger" would be more accurate, as would the "Baby-burger", a term I recall from long ago burger history. What we got was no more "whopper" than a Shetland pony is a Clydesdale. But, we payed for it, and ate it. After all, it's just inflation, right?   

Can't ...Resist!..... Temptation....Too....Strong!

My favorite party to poke fun at (the Republican Party) had a big event a couple of weeks ago called the Republican National Leadership Conference. No doubt they had plenty of speakers, but who do you suppose got the most ink for his contribution? The Speaker of the House, Mr. Boehner? The GOP Senate leader McConnell? Senator Cruz? One of the Fox News bigshots? His Excellency in Broadcastingness, Mr. Limbaugh? Nope. None of those.
The highlight of the show turned out to be that Duck Dynasty guy, the one with the epic beard. There he was, citing, incorrectly, I might add, biblical references. He had a suit on, but it's the same one he wears on the show, which isn't so much a suit as a costume. And even HE couldn't resist observing that the Republican Party must have been a little desperate to call on him to be the party's face of  "leadership". Ya think?

If you missed that little gaff, certainly you must have caught last week's massive instant flip flop concerning our country's last POW in Afghanistan, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.  The guy was a Taliban prisoner for about FIVE years, and a deal was finally worked out for his return. At this moment, he still hasn't arrived. He's being checked out and restored to health at an Army hospital in Germany. He hasn't yet said a word about about his captivity to the US public.
Until recently, the right used this situation as one more griping point against the Obama administration. "Bring Bowe Back" was the cry alongside a hundred or so other nasty and factless accusations dreamed up against the Dems by the party of Lincoln.
When the announcement of the release came, a few of the party faithful forgot for a moment that the REAL enemy isn't in Afghanistan or Pakistan, but living (!) in the White House. Twitters and Tweaks celebrating the good news were quickly erased (yes!) when it was revealed that the release also involved letting free five Taliban goons, surely the five ugliest guys you've ever seen, leave GITMO for semi-freedom. AND there seemed to be some question as to how Bergdahl became a prisoner in the first place. Words like "deserter" and "traitor" were suddenly tossed around like confetti. The party instantly changed its tune from "congratulations" to another verse of "What's he done NOW!!??" "He", of course, refers to the president. The speed of this reversal was like a tsunami. Not everyone's signing on to the hate train, but you'll now have to look pretty hard to find a party member who'd even admit having heard "Bring Bowe Back". Even his home town in Idaho cancelled a "welcome back" parade. Guilty or not, I wouldn't blame Bergdahl for never setting foot in the town  again. The right even attacked the guy's father, who's evidently guilty of growing a beard.
So you see, the force driving me to attack my parent's political party is strong - very strong. In fact, it's too strong to resist.