Strategory (stra-tee-ja-ree)

Invoking a fake Bushism uttered by Will Farrell on Saturday Night Live, I would like to salute President George Bush for thinking ahead for the Republican party. In an interview with author Bill Sammon, he predicted that Hillary Clinton would defeat Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination. A small bit of strategy that will help the Republican nominee. At his point, we of course do no know who will be the GOP candidate, but we do know this: Hillary energizes the Republican base! How many times have we seen the Dems go on a campaign tear, getting all kinds of face time and the GOP just sits there with their thumbs you know where. Not this time! So I would like to give credit where credit is due and congratulate President George Bush and the Republican party for a very smart and timely political move.

If mothers ruled the world

"And, let's face it, if the mothers ruled the war, there would be no g**d*** wars in the first place," exclaimed Sally Fields in her acceptance speed after winning an Emmy for whatever it is she's doing nowadays. She was of course referring to the current war in Iraq against Islamic terrorists. She is also a completely silly person. I would like to challenge Ms. Fields to explain that comment, which of course she can't, because it makes absolutely no sense. But rather than explain what her statement could possibly mean, let's examine why she said it. She said it because it sounds good. It doesn't matter if upon even the slightest further examination the thought turns out to be idiotic, it only matters that it sounds good and for Hollywood grand standers like Sally Field, that is the highest achievement. So in the same vein as Cameron Diaz suggesting that you would be raped if you didn't vote, "Women have so much to lose. I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies....If you think that rape should be legal, then don't vote." Sally Field has given us our newest nugget of elitist wisdom that unfortunately contains nothing wise. It is perfectly unchallengeable, an unprovable conclusion derived from a situation that will never exist. In other words, liberal nirvana. But it sounds darn good and it makes people applaud, even though they have no idea why they applaud.

Tennessee doesn't welcome bikers.

In August of 2006, I took a trip to the North Carolina, Tennessee area to a section of US 129 known as the Tail of the Dragon. A gem of a road, that starts in Tennessee and finishes in North Carolina, at least the Tail of the Dragon part. 318 glorious turns in 11 miles. But apparently folks were having too much fun, so Governor Philip Bredeson of the great state of Tennessee decided that it was time to saturate the dragon with law enforcement. But not just any enforcement, but tactics that can be described as at best, heavy handed, and at worst outright harassment with the intent of scaring away, if I may coin a phrase, moto-tourists. Check out the Tail of the Dragon website for the gory details of people being threatened with arrest for such heinous crimes as exceeding the speed limit by 5 miles an hour and not having proof of shatterproof sunglasses. When I first read of these ridiculous efforts to scare my fellow motor enthusiasts away from this beautiful area, my first thought was, heck I'm not going down there only to get a big fat ticket, there are plenty of nice roads in own my backyard. My second thought was: I'm not letting some thuggish and sloppy law enforcement chase me away from an area I fell in love with on my first visit. I say sloppy because rather than have regular enforcement as formally requested many times by the fine proprietors of the Tail of the Dragon, the powers that be decided, the bludgeon approach was best. Scare them all away, not thinking of the local economy built by the moto-tourists that come to drive that legendary road.

<---When I return this year, this is what will be waiting for me. But rest assured, I will go and I will spend money in NORTH CAROLINA and as little as possible in Tennessee. The photo to your left is courtesy of the Tail of the Dragon website. Please visit this site if you think I'm exaggerating the abuse of power by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. In fact just visit the site anyway to get a flavor of this spectacular part of the country.

But better yet, make your own trip and visit Fontana Dam, drive the Cherohala Skyway or just enjoy the peacefulness of a remote mountain region with spectacular scenery and an atmosphere beyond compare. And if you see a green Kawasaki sportbike and a guy with a salt and pepper buzz cut, that will be me, stop and say hi.