Commentary from the boondocks. If it makes any sense, it is just by chance. billyjoebobsbbq@yahoo.com

 
Boy, is Cletus excited. He says he was mentioned in Lileks' Bleat today. Bubba, Elroy and I read the entry and we believe that Lileks is talking about a generic "Cletus", but Cletus insists it has to be him since he is probably the only "Cletus" in the Blogosphere and Lileks obviously has heard about him. We agree that the "Cletus" in the Bleat sounds a lot like ours, but then Lileks could just be thinking about how a "Cletus" should sound. Anyway, go here and see what you think. Cletus is mentioned in the 1:09 PM entry.

It is good to have a little excitement even if it is just little. It looks like we are going to have rain again this weekend. We were all looking forward to the reunion at the old two room school this weekend, but it will probably be rained out. Kudzuacres wrote about the reunion earlier this week. We see quite a few of the people who went to school there fairly often, but it would be nice to see some of those who live off and only come around for funerals.

Posts have been few and far between and a little light the past few weeks. Cletus has been a little depressed and doesn't provide nearly as much fodder for posts when he is down in the dumps. Maybe if the rain slows down, he will feel a little better and get back on his feed and there will be stories of Southern living galore. Bubba says I am mistaken in saying Cletus is off his feed since by his guess the boy has gained about 20 pounds the last few weeks. Bubba raises hogs and is pretty good at guessing the weight of a fattened pig, so I trust his estimate.
posted by <"Billy Joe Bob"> at 8:53 AM

 
It's raining again. Seems that it rains a lot lately. Looks like the government orta be able to do something about it, but since we have all them conservatives in office, they don't want to help the little man such as Cletus who really does need to get out and cut a little wood. He likes to get a good bit cut before the really hot months set in. Sales aren't too good until about November since people have a hard time thinking about firewood when it is over 90 in the shade. Anyway Cletus thinks the government should do something about the weather. He says he saw that Stargate show with MacGyver and they had a machine that controlled the weather. Bubba says he thinks that is a science fiction show not science, but Cletus insists it is hard to tell these days and if the CIA could produce dust storms in Iraq, why can't they do something about the weather here in the good old USA. Bubba says Cletus definitely thinks like a politician since the seems to think the government can do everything for everyone.

Cletus is trying to figure out if he will be getting a rebate or tax credit on his income taxes. Bubba says he doubts it since Cletus doesn't have any kids and he thinks that the rebate or whatever is for those with kids. Cletus says that sounds about right to him. Anyway, if he did get money back, he would probably just spend it on something useless. I said that he could put it against his tab and I could think of several things to spend it on that would help the economy like paying the electric bill. Elroy said that would be nice since his payday is coming up. The truth is none of us have any kids at home anymore and a lot of things we are supposed to be concerned about are not high up on our priority lists. Cletus says he really doesn't think the tax cut will mean much of anything. He has a theory that deficits show up as extra costs somewhere and we pay about the same whether you call it taxes or interest. He says he thinks deficit spending will mean more treasury notes will have to be sold and the government will have to pay a higher interest rate to get people to buy them and higher treasury rates will mean higher interst rates for all other borrowers. That sound right to me, but what do I know. I am not one of them high paid economists and neither is Cletus. (Note that we have managed to get both economic and class conflict in the same post. Maybe we can offend a few more people before we post this!)

The Guv and the head of the Alabama Education Association had a little spat over the proposed big tax increase and the Guv said he would walk if the AEA guy got his way. Elroy says it doesn't matter a whole lot since it appears that anyway you look at it, the taxpayer gets screwed. I don't know. Alabama needs to improve a lot of things and that takes money, but on the other hand, our politicians are not known for any statesman like qualities. I guess the problem is most of us here at the old BBQ Emporium, at least the regulars, are what you call libertarians although we are careful about mentioning that word when certain preachers come by since they think libertarians and libertines are the same. Come to think of it, they may be close to right. I wish that the state government could get its act together but I am not taking any bets in that direction. My guess is more of the same.

The problem as I see it is politicians belong to political parties and political parties tend to stick to positions long after it has become apparent to everyone else that the position is totally nuts. Bubba says that the biggest problem he has with politicians is they are all people who think they have the answer to how to improve other people's lives and everytime he has had his life improved by a politican, it cost him more than he could have got it for himself. Bubba's daily paryer is for God to deliver him from the grasp of those who would do him good. Anyway, looks like we will get a tax cut from the Feds and a tax increase from Alabama and I'm bettin' there will be a net loss for just about all taxpayers even if you don't consider the money involved.

On that cynical note, good day!


posted by <"Billy Joe Bob"> at 3:17 PM