Life

Every day there is a front page story in the newspaper about the Bush administration firing eight U.S. prosecutors. First, what's the big deal? This is totally within his rights. Governor Strickland has fired hundreds, maybe thousands of unclassified "Republicans" in Ohio government and no one is raising a stink because that is his right as a democrat Governor.

I've yet to read in the Dispatch (at least) the fact that Clinton fired every single prosecutor when he was President, 93 in all. Of course, when the media has an agenda to discredit a guy why would you bring that up? It would remind people that this is done often.

Why am I posting at 10:30 a.m.? Because I'm home sick with the flu. For some reason I've been sick a lot this year.

I think I've discovered the biggest consumer scandal in history. Well, maybe not but I'm pretty peeved at Braun and their ear thermometer. We got it as a gift when Henry was born, 3 1/2 years ago and it's already useless because you can't buy any of the lens filters for it. Sure, I could get some on ebay for $20 including shipping but I can buy a brand new one for that amount of money. And the new ones don't need filters.

Henry had a sore throat last night and stayed home from school today because he is sick. I feel so sorry for him, he's always been so healthy. He's really only thrown up once in his life and we can't remember him being sick since they put tubes in his ears. I got him a bunch of treats at Meijers this morning at 6:30 a.m. (definitely the time to shop there) and a few movies this afternoon.

I'm not a big believer in global warming. Mostly because climate change models have never been correct and are only models that depend on assumptions. People are saying this is the warmest period ever and that's simply not true, the medieval age is widely recognized as the warmest in history and there weren't a lot of power plants then. Warming has been proven to be happening on other nearby planets and from my knowledge there are no humans on Mars at this time. So, I'm excited for Al Gore to be questioned today by a couple House committees. Here are some proposed questions for him:

Proposed questions for Gore, which are circulating behind-the-scenes, have been obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT -- question that could lead Gore scrambling for answers!

Mr. Gore: You have said several times that we have 10 years to act to stave off global warming. Was that 10 years from the first time you said that or 10 years from now? We just wanted to get a firm date from you that we can hold you to.

Mr. Gore: How can you continue to claim that global warming on Earth is primarily caused by mankind when other planets (Mars, Jupiter and Pluto) with no confirmed life forms and certainly no man-made industrial greenhouse gas emissions also show signs of global warming? Wouldn’t it make more sense that the sun is responsible for warming since it is the common denominator?

Mr. Gore: Joseph Romm, the executive director for the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions, has said we must build 700 large nuclear plants to stave off climate change. Where do you stand on the need for nuclear energy?

Mr. Gore: Do you think the earth is significantly overpopulated and that is a major contributor to your view of climate change. (If yes, what do you think is a sustainable population for the planet?)

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Part 7

I love going to the race track. There's something about being there with the old characters, watching the ponies and placing bets. I started going shortly after college and probably did a lot better then before I "knew" what I was doing. When I moved to Cleveland in 1993, Thistledown was a place I would go to every couple weeks. I never lost a lot, never won a lot.

So it was natural to one day do what should be on everyone's "Top 25 list of things to do before they die", the Kentucky Derby. I attended my first Derby when I was probably 27 or so, back when money was no object because I didn't have any. About 6 guys went down, I know BG and Shep were involved and maybe some of BG's Cincinnati friends, and we stayed at some cheap motel where half the guys had to sleep on the floor. We partied in Louisville the night before and "watched" the races from the infield on Derby day. Amazing thing about the infield, you really can't see any of the horses but you can drink and make bets and that was fine with us.

I went to a few other Derbys, always in the infield and always more about the mint juleps than anything else. One year we snuck in small bottles of liquor, that was the year that Shep and I drank BGs bottle when he wasn't looking. He didn't need it at that point.

I had a chance to go back to the Derby a few years ago when our D.C. lobbyist called and said a Congressman had canceled the trip they had planned and would I be interested in using it and oh by the way it was paid for already. That took me about two seconds to blurt out yes and I was on my way to Louisville. An ex-Senator friend of mine had told me it was on his list and he was thrilled to be going and was willing to reimburse for expenses (Ohio has tough ethics laws) so off we went, his wife along for the ride.

We had rooms at the Seelbach Hilton, the only 4 diamond hotel in Louisville, and it is very nice. Fortunately, my friend's shower had been used after the cleaning lady had cleaned the room so we got comped at the old Seelbach Bar, at that time noted for being a top 100 bar in the country. We drank bourbon, something I don't particularly like but when in Kentucky...

After checking in, our driver picked us up for the short ride out to the track for the Kentucky Oaks, a race the day before the Derby. I've never had a driver before but I highly recommend it. He was at our beck and call all weekend and it was fantastic. We had a private box for the Oaks and that was nice although we only got to catch the Oaks and two other races. We hit a nice buffet that cost something like $50 a person that night and headed back to the hotel so the Senator could put his wife to bed. It was only 9:00 p.m. so we had our driver pick us up and take us to a riverboat casino in Indiana. Did I mention how great it is to have a driver?

The next day, we ate breakfast at the Seelbach and headed out to the Derby fairly early. Our driver bought us souvenir hats and shirts and parked very close to the track. The first race starts at noon or so and we wanted to get out and start it up. It was a beautiful spring day, we wore jackets and ties but they didn't last long. When you are in the infield, you drink a lot of beer and only a few mint juleps. We reversed that in our reserved seats for the Derby, I don't particularly like mint juleps but when at Churchill Downs...

The race was fantastic. There is so much more excitement in the air among people in the grandstands than there is in the infield. Everyone is on their feet and screaming for the greatest two minutes in sports. I loved it.

After the races, we found a great casual joint that I wish I could remember the name to. They had the best fried pickles. We went out on the town again that night but the bourbon and the excitement had worn us out. We ended up back at the bar drinking the official bourbon of the Derby and the bartender gave us a bunch of souvenir glasses.

It was a great trip and I enjoyed going first class. The infield is great but I suppose at a certain age you outgrow it.

I love the Kentucky Derby and now Sarah and I host an annual party at our house. There are still things left to do on my list of 25 and I'm just waiting for the Bengals to get to the Super Bowl again and the Reds to make the World Series.

FORMER CAUCUS POLITICAL DIRECTOR BRIGGS JOINS SMITH FIRM

Sarah Briggs, who worked as political director for the Ohio House Democratic Caucus, has been named director of government affairs at Lee M. Smith & Associates, the firm announced Tuesday.

Ms. Briggs is a former Ohio House aide who oversaw caucus campaign efforts in 2004 and 2006. She holds a degree from the University of Dayton.

The Smith firm provides workers' compensation representation and legislative and executive branch representation. It is affiliated with the Allison Group, Ltd., a government relations firm directed by Jon Allison, who was chief of staff to former Governor Bob Taft.

You say potato, I say potatoe. Many years ago, VP Dan Quayle told a student that he had misspelled potato on a paper. Quayle told him to add an "e" to the end. Of course, it made all the news and was actually pretty funny. In a post below, I spelled it the Dan Quayle way. I still think it looks better.

When you are on an airplane you shouldn't eat potatoe chips. At least not bbq chips. Certainly not at 9:30 in the morning. But what do I expect froma guy who thinks he owns the entire armrest? He will have to moveeventually and then it will be mine. I always share because that's whatpolite people do. But at some point people need to be taught that they should share too.

Note: The guy never moved his arm the entire flight home.

it's hard to capitalize when you are holding a baby. a crying one at that.

we took jack to the doctor today for his one month checkup. he's great and gained 2 pounds in just three weeks. that's a lot.

i have to go to springfield, il on wednesday, i'll miss everyone but get to come back thursday morning.

I thought it was going to be a bunch of me taking care of Jack but they pretty much stuck around the house and held him all weekend.

This morning I bought a ticket package for the Cincinnati Reds. It included 11 games: opening day and the next two games against the Cubs, the Indian series and five firework nights. It was a steal at $300 for two tickets. I could probably get $100 for opening day alone. I hope Henry likes fireworks, we may be going down to a few games this year.