Kenny's Excellent Adventure

The first month of 2008 is over, and I want to take stock. The year started off great for me. I found a pair of Reeboks at a bus stop. The womans Keds I had on my feet at the time were so worn out they weren’t really shoes any more. Though the Reeboks have served me well, my feet; which were once described by a member of the opposite sex, as sexy, are now covered with painful blisters and dry cracking skin, and will probably never be “sexy” again.
It got very cold early on this year, and I spent the first pleasant nights of the New Year at St. Cecelia’s Catholic Church. The rest of the time I was outside, or at the public library. I’ve gotten deep into my quest to explore the short story, and dipped my toe into the comforting waters of science fiction. I invested a good deal of time reading My American Journey by Colin L. Powell and Joseph E. Persico.
I chose to read My American Journey because I’ve always believed in Colin Powell. When I saw him on T.V. during Desert Storm, I trusted him. I believed what he had to say. Colin Powell’s story is an interesting one. He wound up in some very unlikely places at extremely historical moments.
Colin Powell is a man that truly puts me to shame, and you know I don’t shame easily. He rose to power solely on his own hard work, and his ability to make smart choices based on his own sound judgment. I hate to admit that next to his, my own American Journey reads like Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. When I think of all the great opportunities I have squandered, I hang my head in shame. Colin Powell is a man to respect and admire because he made hard choices, and he made the right ones.
Colin Powell was deeply involved in the Iran-contra scandal. He supplied the weapons to the CIA who then delivered them to Iran. He uses up ten pages of his autobiography explaining in plain English exactly what happened. If it was a mistake-it was not his mistake.
Now, about his book, My American Journey. It’s a little over six hundred pages. Toward the end it felt like it ran a bit long, but it reads better than a number of Tom Clancy novels I’ve read. While I was reading I jotted down over twenty words I did not know the meaning of, but not a single one was a military acronym. For a man whose life was the military (they have an acronym for everything) that’s saying a lot! Want to know about the U.S. invasion of Grenada? Turn to page 292. Want Powell’s thoughts on “going in”? Try page 198 where he says, “If you are considering getting into Vietnam, Kuwait, Somalia, Bosnia, Panama, Haiti, or wherever, go in with a clear purpose, prepared to win-or don’t go.” Kind of makes you wonder how he feels about the current situation in Iraq, doesn’t it?
I can’t vote in the coming presidential election. I’m a convicted felon. In my heart I’m supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton. People who have gotten close to me in the past few months have asked me who I support and why, and I’ve said, “I’m supporting Hillary Clinton, because, god knows, we’ve had enough dicks in the White House.” She is a person who knows much about forgiveness, and more about patience. Still if I could cast a vote and Hillary wasn’t an option, I would support the Democrats and would go with Barack Obama. My vote would be cast solely to prevent a Republican from ascending to the presidency. You have to take sides. Not taking sides is one of the things that may have prevented Colin Powell from seeking the nomination. He came close to being VP, but it just didn’t happen. Can you believe we wound up with Dan Quayle instead? Powell served with Ronald Reagan, the first Bush, and Bill Clinton. The guy is so good-natured, toward the end of his book he indicates that if he did run for president he would probably go on some new third party ticket, just because he did not want to hurt any of the folks he’d worked with in the past.
I don’t support the Republicans at all. If I had to choose between McCain or Romney I think I would go with McCain. I have strong mixed feelings about McCain. I heard an interesting anecdote about something he said when he was campaigning for a spot as Senator of Arizona. He was being bullied by someone, who was trying to push the fact that McCain isn’t even from Arizona, and McCain responded by saying something to the effect that …I’m sorry sir, I was a military brat, and then a military man, and the only address I managed to hang onto for any length of time is when I was a prisoner of war in Hanoi. I don’t care for Republicans, but I respect this man. I worry that of the candidates running for president, he is the only one that can truly resolve our country’s involvement in Iraq.
It’s January 31, 2008. The first month of this year is over. You would think a homeless guy would have other things on his mind. Sometimes I do. I prefer to spend my nights as far away from Clearwater as I can get, and I have been keeping a spot in Largo. I like my spot in Largo, but it doesn’t have any cover. It’s under the stars. If I can see bad weather coming, I stake out a different spot less exposed to the elements. While I was at one of these other spots recently, my A-spot in Largo was discovered and most of my clothes were stolen. Dude, where’s my pants?

KGD
01-31-2008