Rick Perry vs Jon Stewart

This week, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) got into the ring with a heavyweight and came out unscathed. Rick Perry is making the media rounds plugging his book "Fed Up!" One of his stops was "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." Jon Stewart didn't lay a glove on him.

After the jump, some thoughts about the highly anticipated (at least in Texas) match of wits.

OTBR: A Gentle Stretch of the Deschutes River

Latitude: 43.9322 N
Longitude: 121.4190 W

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".

Senior Taxes: Pay Now Or Pay Later

Richardson City Council member Amir Omar keeps trying to sell his senior tax freeze. He ran on the idea when he won election to the council in 2009. He lobbied his fellow council members in a July council work session. This week, he was back. There was nothing new to change the analysis I offered in July.

After the jump, rehashing old arguments.

Myths About the Stimulus and Bailouts

Things everybody believes are true that really aren't:

• The Bush administration's TARP bank bailout cost American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. Wrong.

• The Obama administration's loans to General Motors and Chrysler cost the American taxpayers billions of dollars. Wrong.

• The Obama administration's stimulus package led to a huge increase in government spending. Wrong.

Speaking English: Man Up

Sarah Palin said President Obama didn't have the "cojones" to crack down on illegal immigration. Christine O'Donnell told Chris Coons to get his "man pants" on. And, most famously, Sharron Angle told Harry Reid to "man up."

After the jump, what such language tells us about the state of American society today.

The Election is Over. Here Comes the Election.

In the American political system, the next election campaign begins the morning after the votes are counted in the last one. Will Sarah Palin run? (Yes.) Will President Obama draw a serious challenger for his party's nomination? (No.) Those are the big early questions for the 2012 presidential election. (You heard the answers here first.) But there are local elections to watch that are much, much closer on the election calendar.

After the jump, a look at the local elections ahead and what, if anything, the state and federal elections just ended can tell us about them.

When the Lights Go On Again

"When the lights go on again all over the world
And the boys are home again all over the world
And rain or snow is all that may fall from the skies above
A kiss won't mean 'goodbye' but 'Hello to love'

When the lights go on again all over the world
And the ships will sail again all over the world
Then we'll have time for things like wedding rings and free hearts will sing
When the lights go on again all over the world"

-- by Bennie Benjamin, Sol Marcus, Eddie Seiler

Is there a song at once more sad and still so hopeful as this #1 hit tune from 1943, a time of battles and blackouts during World War II?

After the jump, what that song has to say to us today.

Coterie Scaredancing

From 2010 10 Coterie Scaredancing

"Coterie" is an organization of Richardson-area friends who get together three times a year for dinner and entertainment. The theme and activity for each occasion varies. The October 2010 Coterie party's theme was "Haunted Hoedown." For a slide show of festivities, click here.

Twitter Tracks: World Series, Election

Twitter tracks from October, 2010:

• 2010 10 01 - Bank bailout (TARP) not only prevented another Depression but cost much less than once thought. Thank you, George Bush. http://goo.gl/GsVs
• 2010 10 01 - Irony alert: RT @imccanntx: "Happy birthday @dallas_news ! Still going strong after 125 years"
• 2010 10 02 - Had a nightmare where everything I said came out wrong. Good was bad. Up was down. Now I'm scared it was no nightmare but just life as usual
• 2010 10 02 - You Can Count On Me (2000): Single mom, sheltered son, drifter brother, stifling small town. Imperfect family with a big heart. See it.
• 2010 10 03 - No Libertarians? "We find it shameful and disheartening that the Dallas Morning News is abdicating its responsibility". http://goo.gl/wZM1
• 2010 10 03 - No respect. Northwestern (5-0) and Kansas State (4-0) are the only two unbeaten college football teams that are unranked.
• 2010 10 03 - Kudos to Berkner's Mighty Ram Band for finishing 3rd out of 31 bands in the BOA Regional competition at UT-Arlington. http://goo.gl/2C3P
• 2010 10 04 - Conservatives at Abilene Christian University feel marginalized. They really need to get out more. http://goo.gl/kb9r
• 2010 10 04 - Ouch! Wick Allison: "I have accused the Texas GOP of hypocrisy before, but I did not know ... how deep the rot goes." http://goo.gl/8cDx
• 2010 10 04 - DMN recommends Carol Kent ("poised and thoughtful", "non-ideological") over Stefani Carter ("troublingly misleading") http://goo.gl/6BgH

After the jump, more Twitter tracks.

Of Tornadoes and Tea Parties

A tornado is a force of nature. It is mindless, destructive and unstoppable. You can't prevent it. You can't reason with it. All you can do is pick up the pieces afterwards. Political movements are like that sometimes.

After the jump, how I'm trying to come to terms with that fact.