Virgie Bell's View: Just good.

I will say up front that I can live with McCain being the candidate for president. Really, any of the Republicans would be alright with me. My neighbor (the one across the street whom I love, not the one next door who took her dog to my front yard to do its doggy-doo) came over the other day. Peggy is a Democrat and I asked her who she would vote for. Her reply..."I don't know. I don't like any of them." So it is not just me being negative. Peggy would be of the Blue Dog Democrat category. It is something to think about. It’s when you go into the voting booth and have to choose the candidate that you don't like the least. This is a sad commentary of how far down we have to scrape the barrel. But even with all the goings-on from the candidates, too, it includes the fact that we won’t have to put up with another Clinton. Bill Clinton just doesn't get it that he is no longer the come-back-kid upon his imaginary white horse.

The only thing I have against McCain is his stand for making 12,000,000 illegals into citizens. In the paper today, I learned that President Bush signed into law the bill that allows truckers from Mexico to haul products all over our country. I am ready for Bush to go if he can ignore a grass roots movement who absolutely has vetoed this very thing. I do not have any complaints about how hard he has had to fight Gushy-Pooh Pelosi and all her little minions when it comes down to the dealing with the War on Terror. The rest of the stuff doesn't matter too much, correction, doesn't matter at all if we lose that, because then we are gone baby gone, we are history, kaput. If Iran gets a nuclear bomb, their illustrious leader has already said he would get rid of the Christians and Jews and the whole state of Israel. Nuclear does not cherry pick the Atheists, They are toast too. The good side is that they will find out if there truly is a God. The bad news is that it will be too late.

I do not trust Obama's Muslim background. Make no mistake, it is there. It is just like the white side of his family tree—it is so well hidden that it is just as if it never happened. I give Oprah points for him winning in Iowa, but in the end, her recommendation means nothing to me or others like me. I don't know if it hurts my reputation or not that I pay no attention to her. I also have never watched the Sopranos, or Sex and the City. Their message is either beneath me or way over my head, you choose. Recent tests have shown that we are doing a great big disservice to our children to let them set in front of a TV, listen to loud music, etc. It is just as harmful as second-hand smoke but we have latched on to that one like Jaws.

Nothing is more exhilarating than to feel superior and there is nothing more boring than to listen to someone who has quit smoking, as if all of us smokers were really interested. We really don’t give two hoots and a holler. If you want a real challenge, try smoking in today’s environment. It is a fact that those who have quit smoking are on the booze, tranquilizers, etc. I gave that up long ago. Smokers are un-cool. I have been so un-cool for so much of my life that it doesn't faze me. I do know that it is a proven fact that there are millions who smoke who do not get cancer. There are millions who have never smoked and they do. Same thing for other related diseases. At one time I was on Valium and if you want a real challenge, try quitting that. I went into a coma from quitting cold turkey. I have finally figured out that I just do not have another withdrawal in me. I stay away from alcohol because it is a well known fact that alcohol is an addictive drug. When we lost Aaron, I could have had anything for depression that I wanted, but I made it through without any of it. Figured I had a hard enough time without a withdrawal to look forward to. Oh yes, I gave up smoking for three months because of flesh eating bacteria. Of course I am shunned because of my smoking, much like I shun others who do not smoke but gripe all the time if anyone does in any place in the world while they pop their pills and have their booze.

My neighbor, whom I love, is a very cool person. She is older than me, very active in her Baptist church, and can outwork and outdo me in any way, shape or form. Her husband is a winner too. Sadly, he suffers from congestive heart failure. No one would dream of smoking around him or others like him. We smokers would fight you if you try. We have not checked our brains and humanity at the door. Peggy receives relief from taking care of her husband for a few days every few weeks. He is put in the hospital and she gets to rest from the burden of being a care giver and to get back on her feet. One time when I went over there to visit her while her husband was in the hospital. She said, “Go ahead and smoke, Thurman is not here,” and I replied that I would love to visit and smoke but could we set outside. I would never dream of putting second-hand smoke in a life like that. I have too much respect for the absolute dignity of such a person.

The editor of this blog has been taking heat for choosing to go on smoking and she needs to for health reasons. When she lost her son, she was telling our family physician that she didn't even have her mother to smoke with anymore (three months you remember) and he told her to come to his house, for his wife would smoke with her. Some people are really about being kind and understanding no matter what. I will be down and out for a while with my surgery but you can bet Peggy will be bringing meals to my bedside. God bless her, on a fixed income and she still does it, I am going to see that my husband drags in some good thick steaks for them. We share food all the time, Peggy and I.

SUPPORT THE TROOPS!