GOT A SPARE MILLION OR TWO?

It seems our Legislature (yeah, William Payne and his cronies) decided last year that we should all have "voter Id's" in order to vote. So the Secretary of State dutifully had them printed at the order of the electees. And she mailed them out.

They arrived, except in about 200,00 cases, at people's residences, in time for the prmary. Yep, 200,000 people didn't get theirs on time. I called the Secretary's office and was told that no, I did not need the card to vote. My driver's licence was plenty good enough identification. "Why," I asked, "did you mail this useless card to me then?" "The answer," she replied sweetly, "is that the Legislature said we had to mail them out."

Cute, huh? Not when you consider that some cards that were sent to incorrect addresses, there were umpteen mistakes on others, some were mailed to dead people and some went to wrong addresses. And it cost us $1 million bucks.

And our Governator just signed a bill in March that revokes this plan. This bill was thought up by the Republican minority and formally won the Dems vote, too. But so did the original bill that cost us the money. Nothing was mentioned about the hours and hours put in to originate these "ID" cards, nor how much that cost us.

But I'm willing to bet that William Payne and Tim Jennings (another Republican Senator) pushed for this bill, too. These are the guys who want Albuquerque to return to wiping out innocent drivers by getting rid of our red light cameras.

Anyway, how about taking up a collection for us, Washington? We could use it.

HERE'S SOME NON NEWS

Anna Nichole Smith. And Don Imus. These are jokes, right? At least the publicity they are being given must be a humongous joke. The cat certainly thinks they are funny.

The Smith woman is only notable for two things (no, not those two): 1) she was a beautiful woman. 2) she prostituted herself to an old, rich geezer who wanted a trophy wife. End of story if one has any ability to think.

Don Imus. Joke number two. He's known for a few other things. Like not being able to afford a haircut. And his apparent inability to raise his eyes and look at you. And the ridiculous hat (owning a ranch in New Mexico designed for children does not make you a cowboy). And his self importance. He's a undoubtedly a legend in his own mind.

I don't like Don Imus. Haven't since he thought it was hilarious to make fun of bald men. But they don't have big organizations and "political correctness" to defend them. Nor politicians who want the ink. So he got away with that one. And he makes very tasteless "jokes" about some of nature's slipups. But everyone isn't born with a classic profile and high cheek bones. Again, those people don't have big organizations and "political correctness" on their side either.

It isn't a matter of how inappropriate I thought his remarks were. It isn't a matter of "ho" being used. (The Comedy Channel showcases comedians who use it regularly. And worse.) It isn't his cavalier attitude toward other people who were not as lucky as he. It isn't his "look at me, ain't I pretty?" view of life. It isn't the abrasiveness of his posings. Actually, I find nothing even vaguely entertaining nor educational about his television show. To me, it's an exercise in bare naked egoism.

But I have a little voice that speaks to me every once in a while. It's called "memory", or "Americanism", or something along those lines. And sure enough, it popped into my mind and shouted: "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say it with my life."

This flap is an excellent opportunity to make gigantic holes in the idiotic "political correctness" crap. I have a great problem with the lack of political correctness in our lives. Were it a worthwhile consideration in this situation, we would look at this word choice that is hunky dory for blacks to use, but taboo for whites to use. We would recognize that this, too, is a form of discrimination.

The wonderful commedienne Whoopi Goldberg has made the statement that she was quite satisfied with being called Negro. She also has pointed out that she is not, in her opinion, an "African-American". She is, she declaims proudly, an American. I have nothing but admiration for the common sense and patriotism in her words. Ms. Goldberg is my kind of person.

ONE OF THE WORST DISASTERS

I was a little kid when WWII was shaking the world, but I vaguely remember listening, with my parents, to the President of the United States asking Congress for permission to declare war on Japan, Germany and Italy.

I remember Harry Truman asking the joint session of Congress to o.k. the "police action" in Korea.

I do NOT, however, remember Dubya Bush asking anyone for permission to declare war on Iraq. I do vaguely remember him (during his first term) remarking something to the effect that he wanted to be a "war president".

I do not remember George Bush asking if it would be allright to violate Americans civil rights by spying on the entire populace. I do not remember him asking if it would be allright to take away any of my freedoms. Side note for GW: I do not remember you asking me if I approved of this "North American Union" fiasco. Did it slip your mind?

There's talk of a "National ID Card". Don't be mislead. It is not designed to snare illegal aliens. Mr. Bush, sir, when did it become allright to be able to track all movements, all locations of all American citizens? Especially since you don't seem to be able to track at least 35 million aliens in this country?

I am appreciative of the abilities of programmers to give all of us instant communication and the goodness of the internet. I really enjoy surfing. On the other hand, I can see absolutely no practical use, to me, of the RFID chip. You can, apparently, following anything I buy to anywhere I choose to place it. And it's very cheap. And they are now capable of being made so small they can be injected into the human body when you get a shot. Without your knowing it has happened. Why is this technology needed, Mr. President?

Sir, when did it become allright to expand Bill Clinton's wire tapping programs? Do you really need to follow my conversations when I call my daughter to ask her when she will be visiting me? Or when I call for pizza delivery, must you be aware of what toppings I prefer?

I can recall learning that one of the major causes of the American Revolution against England was the arrogance and authoritarianism of the King of England. King George, that is.