Given that we are having a huge debt ceiling brewhaha (more on that in our sidebar) here in the United States, one might be expecting a political rant from me. But, those few astute blog-readers who actually read what I have to say will notice that it's been a while since I went on one of those.
And, as someone on the center-left politically, of course, I will praise or defend President Barack Obama no matter what, though I do wonder why he was so into the music of the 'B-52s when he was in college (according to Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stones"). But, I assume this was before they released the much overplayed, and somewhat annoying song "Love Shack."
But, I do have a beef about the weather as it is quite hot here in the Virginia-North Carolina region. Amazingly, Minnesota has been one of the world's hot spots this summer which seems to suggest that even the fringe likes of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) can't possibly continue this global warming denying much longer, or can they?
According to a somewhat disturbing article by Walter Shapiro in the current issue of "The New Republic," then-governor Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) was going to actually travel to the North Pole to see the effects of global warming first-hand. But, when John McCain started courting him as a vice-presidential running mate, Pawlenty did an about face.
Similarly, Mitt Romney has gone to great lengths to distance himself from his own health care iniatives that he helped pass into law when he was governor of Massachussetts. Both Pawlenty and Romney are two of the more serious Republican candidates for presidents, and it seems the message they won't to send car mechanics in Des Moines, Iowa, is that: "I am the true backward caveman in this bunch." (Of couse, Michele Bachmann is the true cave woman in the group.)
But, to illustrate just how it is today at 6:00 p.m., eastern time, I am going to list various temperatures for cities from Maryland to Georgia. The town of Washington, NC, which reached 128 degrees a few weeks ago, was 91 degrees today, but still things seem a bit too hot:
Virginia:
Blacksburg 90
Charlottesville 97
Danville 94
Floyd 90
Mount Jackson 94
Norfolk 92
Richmond 92
Roanoke 95
Tazewell 87
Woodbridge 92
North Carolina:
Boone 82
Chapel Hill 94
Charlotte 94
Fayetville 98
Madison 94
Ocracoke (Outer Banks) 90
Winston-Salem 90
South Carolina
Columbia 99
Gaffney 98
Myrtle Beach 93
Rock Hill 92
Spartanburg 97
Georgia
Athens 97
Rome 98
Smyrna 98
DC/Maryland
Bethesda 94
College Park 97
Frederick 99
Washignton DC 94
West Virginia
Huntington 90
Lewisburg 89
Morgantown 87
The interesting thing here is that the most southern states of Georgia and South Carolina are as hot as Maryland and Washington, DC!
SIDEBAR: Though I don't know this officially, I imagine if you are looking for "Hot Stuff" comics (Hot Stuff was pictured for this entry since it's hot outside), you may well be able to find some issues of the '60s-'70s children's comics icon at Chapel Hill Comics in Chapel Hill, NC, which was 94 degrees today (see the chart). And, tomorrow night, the comic book shop hosts Ryan Claytor, the head of Elephant Eater Comics, for book-signings from 5:00-7:00 p.m.
SIDEBAR TWO: Ahh, yes, we are getting back to politics. I must admit the whole debt ceiling debate always gives me a migraine, so I shall keep this brief. My friend Morgan Griffith (R-Va), who I usually (and strongly) disagree with politically, was among the reported 161 members of the House of Representatives* who voted against raising the debt ceiling.
The interesting thing here is that Griffith, who has reportedly varied from center right to arch conservatism over the years (he was also the majority leader while he was in the General Assembly in Richmond), voted along the lines of some of the Hill's firmest ideologues. This includes Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Jared Polis (D-Colo) on the left, and Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Ron Paul (R-Tex.) on the right; all of whom voted against the bill. I guess uber-partisans can agree on some things!
In the Senate, the debt ceiling bill also passed 74-26. Among the most progressive U.S. senators, Al Franken (D-Minn) voted 'yes,' while Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) and Barbara Boxer both voted 'no.'
A similar disparity was on the right as the arch conservative Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) voted 'yes,' whereas Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) both voted 'no.'
In the center of the political spectrum, moderate senators including Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.), Kay Hagan (D-NC), James Webb (D-Va) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) all voted 'yes.'
*-We made a dubious mistake in the first draft of this entry stating that Morgan Griffith was one of 24 house reps to vote no. It was actually 24 U.S. senators who voted no.
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