Extended absence greeting

We're hitting the road tomorrow for our first extended family vacation. Okay, it's only a week, but it feels like we'll be going away for a month or two. Our destination is New Jersey, where we haven't been in the summertime for two long years - there we'll catch up with my folks, drop in on my brother's new (old) house, eat some hoagies, go the beach, visit Philly, lose some money at the casinos, and various other things that can only be done in the Garden State and the surrounding Delaware Valley region. I'm looking forward to it.

More Jersey Exile from Jersey, if time permits and the enthusiasm to blog is there; otherwise I'll see you all in a week.

Speaking of the Delaware Valley, Bush and Kerry found themselves in a little tit-for-tat over the issue of what kind of cheese they put on their cheesesteaks. It seems that while the latter was visiting Philadelphia, he made the culinary faux pas of asking for Swiss cheese on his sandwich (any self-respecting cheesesteak addict knows that there are only three cheese options: American, Provolone, or Cheez Whiz, which is surprisingly the tastiest choice). Bush attempted to capitalize on this gaffe by claiming to a Philly rally that he only eats his cheesesteaks with Cheez Whiz, but an investigative reporter following the campaign trail made a few phone calls and learned that Dubya's attempt to seem "down" with the locals turned out to be a total crock of shit - Bush likes his either with American cheese or no cheese at all.

So which is worse - making an honest mistake out of ignorance, or lying in order to pander to the locals? Let Kerry have his Swiss cheese cheesesteak. He may not have that "common touch" that wags and pundits seem to value over everything else combined, but neither does Bush. Our current President's regular guy image is little more than a carefully cultivated sham, a pre-washed denim cloak of mendacity that our media has inexplicably hailed as the genuine article. It's bad enough when politicians lie for what they believe to be noble causes. But lying about Cheez Whiz for a few points at the polls in a swing state? Give me a break!