4th of July Stuff

I have several things to say today, none of which merits a full post, so I'll squeeze them all together...

1) Sarah Palin
I planned to write a piece describing why I thought that Sarah Palin had stepped down, but then I found this Reuters article, which says exactly what I was going to say but does a better job of it. My money, by the way, is on the final option presented in the article, followed by the second option presented.

I absolutely do NOT believe that she stepped down so that she could prepare for a Presidential bid. If she did, she isn't just unprepared to be President, she's crazy! She has a limited resume as it is, and leaving office before her term is up will make her a "quitter" in critics' eyes. "How can you think about voting for her," they'll ask, "when she quit the one substantive political job she had when the going got tough?" I think Obama is salivating at the idea of running against Palin! He could practically not campaign and beat her.

2. 4th of July
Last year on the 4th of July I wrote about how I didn't "get" Independence Day and patriotism. This year I'm feeling a little more patriotic, if for no other reason than I have recently spoken with several soldiers who just returned from or just deployed to either Afghanistan or Iraq. I also have had conversations with family members of several soldiers currently in Iraq. No matter how I feel about the political policies of our country (and I actually feel pretty good about them right now anyway), I have nothing but respect for the boys (and girls, I guess, these days!) putting themselves in harm's way for this country.

Despite that, just like last year, I'm eschewing any July 4th parties and working again today. As I said last year, I'm not really a party type, and I can't be anything other than what I am. Speaking of which...

3. Basement Update
...I'm still working on the basement. Yesterday I got up early, at 6:30, and about 11 hours later I had the entire basement primed. Today I'll try to get the first coat of actual paint on the walls and maybe even begin cutting in the second coat. I hope to be finished with the entire job by mid-afternoon Sunday. We'll see.