Prelude to Thuggery

This rather eloquent quote is from Michael Gerson of The Washington Post.

"The most basic test of democracy is not what people do when they win; it is what people do when they lose.  Citizens bring their deepest passions to a public debate - convictions they regard as morally self-evident.  Yet a war goes on.  Abortion is yet legal.  A feared health-reform law passes.  While no democratic judgment is final, respecting the temporary outcome of a democratic process is the definition of political maturity.  The opposite - questioning the legitimacy of a democratic outcome; abusing, demeaning, and attempting to silence one's opponents - is a sign of democratic decline.  From the late Roman republic to Weimar Germany, these attitudes have been the prelude to thuggery."

I just hope it's not too late...

I Speak Flowers!

It usually takes me a few days of pouring over my numerous texts of flowers to get back my 'spring vocabulary' -- but I think I'm there. 

In spite of chilly temperatures and no sun today, we spent most of the weekend in the backyard cleaning the flower beds -- and we finished!  And in spite of the reversion to colder temps, the perennials continue to pop through the ground: columbine, yarrow, day lilies, clematis, dicentra, and hosta are some of the latest arrivals.  Now we just have to edge.  We've ordered 40 bags of mulch to be delivered in about two weeks.

The colorscaping for the pots continues and today I also purchased two more Knock Out roses (rainbow and double pink) (These were on sale for $10.00 a piece!!), red altsromeria, a dwarf Key lime, a dwarf butterfly bush, and a few perennials. 

On an angry note,  someone left a comment in Chinese on my last posting advertising porn.  So I wrote a short message back, translated it from English to Chinese and posted it on my blog.  I doubt if the SOB scum will read it, but it was the best I could do since his/her blog site didn't contain any information.  I'm not hurt -- just pissed.  This is MY place; a place where my friends and I can share ideas, console one another, laugh together, and make the world a smaller place.  The perverts are not welcome here.

And on an angrier note, I am appalled at the lack of civility that some of our citizens have shown this week about the health care bill.  I have always loved respectful discourse; that's what this country was founded on.  What they're doing is not respectful discourse and it's also not really about the health care reform.  We all know what it's about.  I can only hope they drown in their own hatred -- the sooner; the better.