Home Fries

Okay, in a few days you're going to have a lot of turkey hanging around, and the issue of what to have with it is going to come up. Well, here is one idea, and it happens to go well with a lot of things (all right, it goes best with eggs,but that's where turkeys come from).

I learned it at the Turtle Pier in St. Maarten, and it goes a little something like this:

Assume that there are four if you having this. You'll need:

five or six red skinned potatoes

3 Tbs unsalted butter

1 Tbs sweet onion or shallot, chopped

sweet paprika

tamari (or soy sauce)

salt & pepper to taste

Microwave the potatoes until nearly done. You don't want to cook them until completely done, because they will fall apart when you cook them and won't retain their shape in the pan. While you are cutting them into a large dice, get the skillet good and hot. You really want to use a cast iron one here, to get that good brown crust on the potatoes. If you don't have one, I suppose you could use a good quality skillet with a heavy bottom. If all you have is the non-stick kind, don't bother reading this. Go play a video game or something, and eat home fries in a restaurant. You don't deserve homemade home fries.

Put two Tbs butter in the pan and let it almost get brown, then put your potatoes in, making sure to have them in a single layer. Then LEAVE THEM ALONE, at lest for a few minutes, so that they can get brown on one side. While this is going on, chop the shallots. Sprinkle the shallots over the potatoes, then dot the pan with the remaining butter.

Now it's time to turn the home fries over (see what I did there? They're no longer merely potatoes, because they've picked up that crucial color). Once again, make sure that they are in a single layer. This is a good time to salt & pepper them. Remember, all potatoes love salt, so don't be shy. You can lower the eat to medium now.

You'll probably have to turn them at least one more time, and add some butter if necessary, but the entire cooking time in the skillet should be less than fifteen minutes. When there is only a minute or two left to cook them, give them a good dusting with the paprika and toss them about in the pan, allowing the spice to cook as well.

Once you have done that, turn the heat off and immediately splash a Tbs or two of the tamari over the home fries tossing them around so that they all get coated. This is the secret to these amazing little fellers.

enjoy

Are We Babies?

Seriously, are we? If things aren't exactly the way we dreamed them, if they fall short in any way whatsoever, why is it that we throw a fit? Of course, I'm not talking about me, or you, hopefully.

Okay, the Dems got hammered in the mid term, as predicted here a couple of weeks ago. Did cracks actually open in the earth's surface, swallowing us all? Is not the Democratic Party still in control of both houses, and will be until January? Then why the hell don't they make hay while they can, and and pass some truly progressive legislation while they still have the whip hand? There is a lot to be accomplished in the weeks ahead, if only they tap into some courage. Then, for the next two years, they can and should hone their message, and relentlessly point out to the public every time the Republicans abandon the American people in order to further enrich the wealthy. Believe me, you won't have to wait long for examples to present themselves.

Meanwhile, the breast beating over Obama's performance continues to be way over the top. The guy can't win: If he admonishes someone on the Right, he is "punching down" when conventional wisdom says one should never attack someone weaker in politics, but always punch up. If he fails to correct one of his opponents, then he is accused of being weak or indecisive. Also, I'm as progressive as anyone I know, but I also live in a real world with real obstacles, that I recognize as real. With the blue dogs in his own party, and they mad dogs in the opposition, he was never going to get a single payor health plan, let alone a public option, never mind how much obvious sense it makes to thinking people. The fact is that he got Health Care Reform, something no other President has gotten in sight of.

He passed Financial Reform (albeit a gelded version), something unthinkable in business-friendly Washington. The guy has accomplished a lot. I know, we want more. But for Christ's sake, if you look at it objectively, the dude has done a lot. And he is holding firm (at least for now) to a Rich Guys' tax hike.

I would like to see Dennis Kucinich become President, but that's never going to happen. Not in this country. Realistically, the choice will come down to Obama or someone like Romney, Huckabee or Palin. Is there really any debate? In 2000 I voted for Ralph Nader because I was tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. I wasn't wrong, because if Gore had only won his own state, he would have won the election (for that matter, if he had won the President's state, or had kicked Bush's ass any any of the debates, as was so attainable). So, I don't regret my vote in that election.

However, now we know how perverted the Right Wing of the Republican Party can be. We know how far they are willing to go in order to pursue their neofacist agenda. A wasted vote is no longer a viable option. Let the Righties split the vote between a grey face like Romney and a tinfoil hat wearing Tea Partyer. We can't afford to do likewise.

If Obama gets a second term, it will be his opportunity to do some really progressive things as other second termers have done (I know, Clinton blew that premise big time). He's a pragmatic son of a bitch, but he's also a student of history. We can still hope. Think of the scorched earth policies we'd have to endure under a Republican.

For the last few days, we have been overwhelmed with nonstop news reports about the poor, fat Americans stuck on a cruise liner, denied hot showers and possibly forced to eat Spam (later denied - they were forced to eat hot dogs) for less than a week. Yes, this is far worse than living in a tent city in Port-au-Prince, or having to survive a tsunami, or volcano, or drought, or genocide. After all, these were Americans, forced to deny themselves the buffet. So, by all means let's focus on that as the only really important news item.

Meanwhile, we Americans continue to cry over the potential of a tax increase. When will you get it through your brain pan that 95% of you just experienced a tax reduction, and that no one is calling for an increase that would affect over 5% of the population? For that matter, I am OK with a tax increase. Go ahead, whack me, if it means that we get to keep Healthcare Reform and introduce other reforms that help Americans less advantaged than me. Isn't that what being a citizen means? Do we have to reject everything that helps others, if it means that have to sacrifice the least little bit? We never had to surrender anything in pursuit of two wars (other than those who actually served, along with their families). Are we really such big assholes? Thus, my titled question.

Answer: Yes, we are Babies.

What's Next?

The pundits are racing to be (among) the first to predict how the minority (!) Obama administration will perform with the Elephants in charge of legislative initiative. In other words, since the House of Representatives will be Republican, and they are the ones who send new legislation to the Senate for their approval (and from there to Barack's desk for signature), how will he respond? With vetoes? With a lecture?

Some of the more prescient commentators have focussed on the pressure soon to be faced by the GOPs themselves.

Now, we know that they want to begin impeachment proceedings as of Day One. No, they don't have to have a legitimate reason - just something to kick them off, like Whitewater was under Clinton, and then go from there to the next thing, and then the next (like from WW to Troopergate, to Paula Jones, to Monica), until they've got the public focussed on salacious shit that doesn't have a thing to do with the real concerns of the American people. It worked, sort of, with Bill Clinton (although he was still popular despite all of the drama, yet nothing of significance was achieved on behalf of the American people).

Even as I speak, Darrell Issa is poised to become the next (semipermanent) Special Prosecutor, whose reason for existence will be to hound the President until he has been emasculated as a political force. The subtext there is fully intended, as any honest Republican or Tea Bagger would admit.

However, this could be a disastrous strategy for them. This is not 1998. The public has a much smaller appetite for Congressional bullshit than they did back then. They want results, and they better get it, or this group will out on their ass as well. Seeing the Black man on a spit may entertain the mob for a while, but most people will want something in return for our corporations' hard earned millions, spent on poorly qualified candidates.

Which brings me to my penultimate point. The Teabaggers who survive the public's common sense and actually get elected (a small minority, but a loud one), will have to produce for their tinfoil hat wearing fans. Expect them to act as though they have been in Congress for decades, presuming that they should call the tune for the other 95% of their colleagues. Can Boehner (the actual Brown Man in this scenario) herd this crew of crazy cats?

Finally, me & the Ms. spent Saturday on the National Mall, being entertained by John Stewart & 200,000 fans. We loved it, but we missed the biting commentary we have grown to love. Granted, he had made it clear that he was going to avoid overt mention of politics, but come on - you were a hundred yards in front of the Capitol building! And, conflating MSNBC with Fox just didn't work for me. One of these two does not lie. The other almost always does, and presents it as news. And... his name is Yusuf Islam. He has a LAST name too.

Anyway, if you ever do this again, you can sign me up.