Polimom Says

We’re in New England this week.

Among other things — I’d forgotten how incredibly slow dial-up is.  Once one has grown accustomed to broadband, it’s really difficult to make oneself sit down long enough for the pages to load.

(grrr)

Been a great trip, though, right up until yesterday afternoon — when I discovered that hiking half a mile out of the woods on a broken foot is hard to do.  (On the good news side, the emergency room people were impressed by how tough I am.)

So.  I’m coming back tomorrow night.  On crutches.

Can’t wait to navigate the airport with luggage.

My apologies for not posting in over a week.  The aftermath of the Iranian election has caught me up fully, and I’ve been unwilling (unable) to take my eyes from it.  And what, really, could I add to the general cacophony online?  When things are so very fluid, there’s little to do but watch.

Today’s address by Khamenei, though, has brought the situation to a head.   He totally affirmed his support of the election and Ahmadinejad, essentially telling the protesting millions to take their objections and stuff them.   They’ve now been told, in no uncertain terms, that if protests continue, they will get hurt.

This is where the rubber will hit the road.  Either the people will react to 30 years of obedient conditioning and accept the status quo, or they will reject Khamenei’s authority and join together in the streets tomorrow.

Mousavi has already responded that tomorrow’s march is on.

And when they do — if they do — then the Sea of Green, supported virtually by people all around the world, will either break upon this dictator’s beach, or wash him away.

You know people have gone all addlepated when they latch onto a story about Obama having a food taster in France:

When the World’s Biggest Celebrity and his wife had their glam-date in Paris, part of their Family Dream Weekend in Paris, their food taster was on hand, ready to die for his president.

Yadda-yadda.  It’s all over the right-wing blogosphere.  Must be a slow news weekend.

However, a little bit of “teh google” brings a bit of balance — from 2008, no less — to the question:

What seems clear is that when the president eats somewhere other than 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., tasters — in the form of Secret Service agents or military personnel — are likely to be involved. According to a Washington Post article from July 1990, George H.W. Bush ate out at Washington restaurants a lot by presidential standards, about once a month, and when he did he brought along his own condiments, bottled water, and a taster. On at least one occasion the taster was seen to personally wash all of George and Barbara’s tableware before use and subsequently monitor its whereabouts, sample the food, supervise its service, and uncork and taste the first couple’s wine.

Inexplicably, that column totally overlooked George W. Bush’s 2003 food security at Buckingham Palace.

It’s a dangerous world.  But hey — don’t let a bit of reality Obama Derangement Syndrome get in the way of a good story.

h/t to Ed Morrissey, who rises above the feeding frenzy.

I’m outside on the patio right now, researching for a post about Obama’s speech in Cairo today.  (Added:  post’s finally up!)    It’s a breezy, not-yet-hot day — and I’m anticipating the arrival of any number of hyper-excited young teenagers here any second.

It’s time to cue Alice:  School’s Out for Summer!

It’s quite amazing.  I can actually hear them coming!  Cars are honking on the main road a few blocks away, and kids are cheering in response.  Madness!

Summer at last — swimming, sleeping, playing (and sleeping some more).  Lazy crazy days, leading to many happy memories for Adorable Child and her friends in the years ahead.

But…  I wonder how long it’ll be before I’m counting the minutes until they return to classes?  And quiet sanity…

:>

On the heels of the assassination of Dr. George Tiller on Sunday, some wondered about what they see as relativism, and complained that radical actions from the extreme Left don’t get the same treatment.   As a commenter to my Chron post on the subject asked “Where’s the outrage over extremists from the left?”

Leaving aside the obvious immediate answer (the Tiller story was a current event and the extremist left was not), there’s a valid question there.  Because the radicals on the extreme Right and Left have some crucial commonality.   More at Polimom Too.