A switch to beer from water, and away we go.

I'm listening to "Super Black Market Clash" and basking in the national glow of the Boston Red Sox having won the World Series within the past hour. Quite a performance. The Curse Of The Bambino is now gone. Now, at the rate the Red Sox win world championships, they are due to win their next one in the year 2090, when I am unfrozen at the age of 124 and.....oh never mind.

We are six days away from knowing who our next president will be. I approach this week with equal parts fear and hope. We can't possibly take four more years of the reckless leadership of Bush 43. In Florida, Michigan, Ohio, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Nevada, the Republican Party has too obviously drawn a line in the sand with shady maneuvers ranging from shredding Democratic registrations, deliberately suppressing the black vote and in the case of Ohio, putting a whacko in charge of the state elections who refuses to accept that an election could ever possibly be rigged. We may be headed for another fiasco such as the 2000 election, only in more than one state. I have prepared for election day by taking half a day off to make sure I get to the polls and cast my vote for Sens. Kerry and Edwards. Leslie, much like me a few months back, shook Edwards' hand at a rally yesterday in Racine. Here's hoping the luck of our life together rubs off on the Democratic candidate for Vice-President. I genuinely like Edwards. I voted for him in the primary and I continue to be impressed by his caring for the America that has been left out of the last four years.

Remember, Mr. and Mrs. Undecided Voter, the Republican president who has promised to keep you safer was in charge when 3,000 people were murdered on September 11, 2001. It was his responsibility then, and he failed. He was too busy doing yardwork at his palatial cowboy wonderland in Crawford , Texas. It is with this in mind that I paraphrase Country Joe McDonald's old song "Superbird", which was written in 1967 about another president from Texas:

"Come out, Georgie, with you hands held high
Drop your guns, baby, and reach for the sky
We got you surrounded, and you ain't got a chance
Gonna send you back to Texas, make you work on your ranch"

My gift to the world this year is a vote for John Kerry. Trust me, the world needs it.