Observations From Flat On My Back

As many of you are aware, I recently underwent foot surgery to reconstruct a left ankle that was never constructed very well in the first place. I have been enduring periodic bouts of immobility and pain for more than seven years, trying to treat the problem with orthodic inserts. I guess I always knew they wouldn't work, but when the only other option is to put yourself off your feet for twelve weeks, procrastination becomes a viable option. Finally, though, my orthopedic surgeon convinced me that the longer I postpone the inevitable, the worst the problem might become, until it could turn into a permanent disability. So, here I am, flat on my back, hoping that correcting my left foot will finally correct my golf slice.

For those people who think that a serious procedures such as this is 'elective' surgery, let me assure you, it is not. Nor was it caused by lack of exercise, poor eating habits, smoking, drinking or chasing women. Many of which I gave up while in my mid-20s. Which reminds me of an old Dean Martin joke. A man asks his doctor what he has to do to live to a ripe old age. The doctor replies, 'don't smoke, drink or chase women.' The man says, really, will that help me live to 100? The doctor replies, 'No, but it'll sure feel like it.'

Time on my back has afforded me the opportunity to catch up on reading newspapers and following foreign news reports from around the world. From my perspective, there seems to be a growing conservative movement among developed countries, particularly in the West. Much of the cohesiveness among governments is coming about because of a perceived common threat, which is generally pretty typical. Nothing brings enemies together like a common threat from the outside. And nothing has been as 'outside' to the Western world like China has for several thousand years. China is taking it on the chin (pun intended) for their unwillingness to allow their money to float on the open monetary markets. By setting their money value at an artifical price, it gives the appearance that their trade imbalance is outragious. Banks and governments around the world are saying that we will only discover what our true debt to China is after we discover what the true value of their money is. From flat on my back, that seems to make sense.

On another note, I am reading more and more negative news from around the world about the fringe elements of the U.S. party system taking control of our politics. I have always been a supporter of the two-party system because it means that our elected officials will almost always have at least 50% of the vote behind them when they enter office. Here in Minnesota, the rise of the Independence Party has given us nearly twelve years of governors with only 34% of the vote. Let's face it. A governor can't get anything done when 63% of the voting public didn't support him/her in the first place.

But on the national level, party politics means that good, middle-0f-the-road candidates are stuck trying to appease the party 'base' which is too often the wingnut fringe. From my perspective, this is more the case in the Republican party than the Democrats, but maybe not. So, an independent candidate might be able to truly reclaim those of us in the middle, without worrying about playing to the fringe during the party nominations, then running as fast as possible back to the middle for the general election.

Other thoughts and observations: The world seems lined up against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, much more so than I thought. There is a growing consensus that Americans are finally beginning to do things right, even with our mistakes. We still rely too much on long-distance weapons systems that blow up innocent people when they miss their target by half a mile.

The large offensive taking place right now is making an impact that actually shows some promise of being permanent. In the end, nobody in the local population really want to become slaves to a religious/political system that relies on carrying a rifle strapped across your back and enslaving the female population. So, let's hope the world can continue to unite.

Till later.