Here and Thereism

Busy weekend: the Grands (Mojo's parents) are here, much to the delight of little peeps, and we've been busy. The Peeper has a very busy Sunday planned for Paw and Nana. Little Miss utterly captivated Nana with her adorable "Baby In a Box" play last evening, getting Nana to carefully shut her in a cardboard box before springing up like a showgirl from a cake with huge smiles and giggles. There's been lots of playing and eating and scooting and multivariate fun.

Paw and I also did some good work on Missy's bedroom, which I'll try and post later. This was part of "Hail the Patriarchy" Saturday, during which the Guys measured, sawed and hammered and the Girls cooked and raised the Children. Mojo promised to bring me home some bacon and fry it up in a pan to personally remind me that it's 2008 and not 1908, but the end result was a house of sleepy, happy kids and satisfied adults.

Other than that, I had a brief moment to enjoy some of the great soccer coming from Euro 2008; yesterday this was the shocking upset that Russia drove in the Dutch. I love the Clockwork Orange, but the result was so thoroughly deserved I could only shake my head at Guus Hiddink's tovarische and their impudent refusal to be the Netherland's latest punching bag.And I note with some mild melancholy the latest sign of the desuetude of our former Republic in the spineless passage through the House of the "compromise" on domestic spying (if by compromise you mean "what's mine is mine and what's yours is also mine"). I've said pretty much all I feel the need to say over at the Intel Dump link. It's just sad, to think that in less than 250 years we have gone from

"There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!"

to Senator Kit Bond (R-Toady) saying on Friday: "I'm not here to say that the government is always right, but when the government tells you to do something, I'm sure you would all agree that I think you all recognize that is something you need to do."

This is how a republic ends; not with a bang, but with a simper.

More later.