I was having a good morning, got up at 5:30, meditated, stretched (well 60 year old stretches), painted a bit and got to work early to read a few blogs and there was this picture of Paul Ryan in a clean apron washing a clean pot! Then I read he stopped in a soup kitchen on his way to the airport, talked a volunteer into thinking it was a good idea although the kitchen was clean and none of the unfortunate "takers" were about looking all smudgy so he handed out clean aprons to his family and posed cleaning a clean pot. As the president of St. Vincent St. Paul said "He did nothing, He just came in to get his picture taken." And of course dirtied aprons to be cleaned again.

I should control myself, its ridiculous to get angry over a politician and I did smile when he obviously shaved an hour off a marathon time because in his mind he was an elite runner; posed in a work out showing legs of the true ectomorph and brags about 5% body fat because he did jog walk a marathon and thats no little thing, and he does work out; so he exaggerates, well he really exaggerates but that doeasn't make him a bad man. I but sighed when he had the audacity to lecture his own church on what real charity is and I'm sure his prayers instruct the Great CEO on the need to chastice the poor but I am not that clear on Catholic theology and the Pope is hardly poor. What do I know? I frowned that he is a genius because he has an economic plan endorsed by about as many actual economists as actual scientists denying global warming because he serves a party who finds so many facts too inconvenient to their new definition of Truth.

But to disparage the unfortunate and those who are moved by the spirit to offer them the most basic of necessities, those who Take from their time, generally their own pockets, to face the reality of poverty, misfortune, poor choices and bad luck and look into the eyes of their brothers, hear their stories, know their own small ability to do anything but give a bit of food and comfort; to look down on both the poor as subhuman and those who work for them as misguided, well intentioned fools, and then to mock their service, their efforts, their caring by pretending he has experienced any of it, that he has even given a moments true consideration of what it means because he wants to use it for part of a political strategy to allieviate some of the disquiet some voters may feel in voting for the man he (and his cameleon running mate) has always been- that has filled me with anger and disgust.

Writing this has helped. Plenty of things to get done this day and little reason to waste more time on this little, little man. My apologies for sharing but it did help.