Tuesday AM bliss... well, not really. I've been contemplating the consequences of change. Sometimes its good, sometimes its bad. Sometimes a short term agony will be replaced by a long term gain -- birth and exercise being examples of the latter. I've been through a lot of changes lately. I was in a situation that was untenable, and extracting myself from it has cost a lot. My father died just over two years ago, a victim of cancer. A divorce, an accumulation of debt related to the divorce, and the subsequent rearrangement of life that follows, has created some stresses that I can't control. I've changed jobs twice in the last three years, and in the process lost the voluminous leave time I'd accrued, along with a significant portion of my income. I had control over some of the events, such as the first job change, but not all of them, especially not getting laid off last August. It's the absence of control that is truly frightening. For now, I can't ust jump on the bike and head to the mountains like I used to. I can't take off a week. I can't spend the money on bikes and camera equipment. I can't even afford to shoot much film, because I can't afford the development costs. Things will change. I'm hard at work on a new novel, and it promises to be the best yet. The future will be brighter. I take solace. I have married a wonderful, beautiful woman. Iraq will fall. Iran will go through a transition without an invasion. North Korea will fall before too long. The world will spin through another day, and life will continue to thrive in spite of the environmentalists claims to the contrary. Micheal Moore will continue to be an idiot, as will Barbra Streisand, Noam Chomsky, and Robert Fisk. Rachel Lucas, Glenn Reynolds, and The National Review OnLine will continue to provide me with entertainment and information.

I was reading a blurb on David Frum's new book The Right Man, and I was wondering -- For some reason, the US has always had leaders that were right for the times -- even when the times hadn't happened yet. Look at the great leaders after the Revolution -- Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Reagan, Bush, Bush. Each was a President who came into office and was forever remembered for the events during his term -- Lincoln for the Civil War, Wilson for WWI, Roosevelt and WWII, Truman for Korea, Eisenhower for the escalation of the Cold War, Kennedy for the Cuban Missile Crisis, Reagan for the end of the Cold War, Bush for the Persian Gulf War, and now GWBush for the war on Terrorism. Maybe it's luck. Probably not. Maybe it's the Hand of God. Let your own convictions decide. What i can tell you is that it's a product of our system. Those who would aspire to power in the USA do not do so without being subject to the harshest conditions for survival. It takes moxie to survuve to the Presidency, political skill to win it, and dedication to maintian it once you're there. Presidents are run through a Crucible and forged into strong leaders, and generally good men. Sometimes, a bad one will slip through, but only every so often. Most of the men in the Presidency are strong, far stronger than they may seem at first. It's something to be thankful for.