Think what you wish about the senior senator from Massachusetts, one thing is undeniable; no one gets the blood boiling on the right and is so closely identified with the liberal agenda as Ted Kennedy. Through his family legacy, his near fifty years in the senate, and a 1980 primary challenge to a sitting President of his own party, few democratic members of the Senate carry the same name ID or knee jerk rage age as Kennedy.

A favorite for Republican fundraising letters, and a frequent star in anti-democratic adds, his absence will be a great loss to the RNC, NRSC, NRA…etc. However, yesterday in their unanimous decision, The Minnesota Supreme Court offered up to the Republican Party their new whipping boy. Air American’s own Al Franken.

While Franken may not carry the same legislative heft as Kennedy, he does offer similar name ID and knee jerk rage. All you need for a quality fundraising letter. Of course all of this is before Franken has even been sworn in as Senator.

As the years progress and footage accumulates Franken will continue to be cannon fodder for conservative causes.  Unless of course the Minnesota Senator elect finds his internal reserve. Even if he is able to restrain himself, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly will be parsing every word he says and every piece of legislation he proposes. (Franken has best sellers criticizing both men, Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot and Lies ‘And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them’: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right respectively).

Franken has said that he plans on keeping a low profile, at least in his first few years, it is hard to see how that will be possible.  Having a seat on both Judiciary and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee he is front and center on two of the key issues confronting Congress this summer.

The Sotomayor confirmation hearings will be highly televised and heavily scrutinized. From Coburn being caught doing a crossword in the Roberts confirmation to Kennedy making Justice Alito’s wife cry, Supreme Court nominations are a place it is hard to keep a low profile.

As for the Health Care debate, Franken made universal coverage a signature focus of his campaign, requiring states to cover all their citizens. It’s hard to see here how Franken will be able to keep a low profile on such a high profile issue.

Regardless of the profile he seeks in the near future, his previous stature will remain.

As Kennedy begins his exit from the Senate, he leaves behind him a great legacy. Expert of the floor debate and backroom glad-handing, it will be a long time before someone comes along and fills the void he leaves behind. Until another Lion of the Senate emerges, the GOP has a their new sacrificial lamb.

The comforting blanket of my home
Works its way into noose

No sense dormant from the past
The smell of lilac, the sound of laughter and the tender touch

Closed to the world both known and unknown
I am able to live the life I knew

Around me people are unsure what to say, or how to act
So I don’t speak, their silence is my shield

To others I’m a pillar or strength, sturdy against all odds
Yet the pillar is hollow, questioning how long the support can stay

I am a huge fan of tapas.  When my friends and I went backpacking through Europe many of my favorite memories were going to a different tapas bar every night and preparing for a night on the town.  We would alternate getting rounds of beers and tapas.  A full round would cost you $5 or $6 American and you get 3 beers and 3 mini burgers, sandwiches and garlic fries.  Switch it up and you can get some fried calamari, Jamon Serrano, fried eggs on toasted rounds, bowl of olives or whatever you can get your little paws on.  If you’re in the mood for something else you can just go for the paella.  They serve it up straight in the cast iron skillet, scorching hot.  You can hear the sizzle, smell the saffron mingling with the various seafood; shrimp, baby squid or anything that was once alive and would not still have eyes attached to its face were you in the States.  The yellow is so bright that it should make you squint.  Instead your eyes widen because you know it’s about to slide down your gullet.  That’s the Spain I know.

Bar Pintxo in Santa Monica west of Los Angeles, is NONE OF THOSE THINGS! One day I read a positive review for Bar Pintxo in Wine Spectator that got me drooling.  So I hyped it up all week and got a couple friends to go with me.  Both of whom traveled with me to Spain.  All of us left completely empty, both inside and in my back pocket.  I even apologized to my friends for taking them there.

At its best, the food was mediocre.  At first sight I got excited.  Everything was plated nicely and fairly creative.  I examined the menu for awhile just because everything looked good and I couldn’t decide.  After the server returned a couple of times I picked out the first round; chorizo and quail egg.  Now, I love chorizo and eggs.  I did not love this.  I looked up at my friend and he got the basic Jamon Serrano with tomato.  We looked at each other and I saw the same thing in his eyes.  My first thought was “I hope the next thing I get is better.”  Next was the Dungeness crab wrapped in smoked salmon.  Only came with one piece for six dollars!  I could have gone to the sushi place across the street and gotten something better in an entire roll for less money.  Stuffed Crimini mushroom with jamon and veggies was alright.  Best tapa on the menu was the bacon wrapped date, but c’mon.  Bacon makes everything better.  They should have put bacon on everything and this would be a better review.

After being disappointed, we decided to go with plan B and try a couple of the other plates on the other side of the menu.  There was a tortilla on display in front of me, or rather a Spanish omelet/frittata with potatoes and onions.  That was alright but the chef who put it in the oven grabbed the wedge with his bare hands instead of using a spatula or tongs.  That turned me off.  Finally as a failsafe, we decided to go for the paella which was one of the specials.  How do you screw up paella?  Saffron is a lot like bacon, it makes everything better.  I’ll tell you how…BY REMOVING ALL OF THE BROWNED CRUSTY RICE PIECES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAN.  THAT’S THE BEST PART!  As I said before, in Spain they serve the paella in the pan in which it is cooked.  When you get to the bottom, all that is left is the rice that sticks to the bottom of the pan.  I watched the chef scoop the rice out of the pan and dump it into a smaller iron serving pan that did not sizzle or have crusty rice pieces at the bottom.  The chef might as well have removed my heart from my chest and thrown it in the dumpster out back for a homeless man to collect.  Although they did serve it on a cool little cork hot pad made from wine corks but there was almost no point to that because the serving skillet was not even hot.  Oh and the paella had zero flavor.

On the positive side though there were some good things about Bar Pintxo.  The service was helpful and friendly.  The atmosphere was nice and cozy.  They had Spanish beer, which I always enjoy and brings back fond memories of getting tanked at crazy Spanish clubs.  The wine list was solid and extensive.  I’m also a big fan of Spanish wine mainly because it’s generally cheaper and completely underrated.  I did have a nice glass of Cava.

Overall, the food wasn’t good enough to justify spending the kind of money they want.  I spent around $50 just for myself but I was still hungry and sober.  The real let down was that I went into Bar Pintxo wanting to remember my awesome trip to Spain and that didn’t happen.  The only thing I thought about was how I could make one of those little cork hot pads for myself.

After a few other similar Tapas bars, I have yet to find a decent one in the States.  If you know of any, please help because we do it all wrong.  Tapas are about friendship and casual conversation.  We’ve effectively turned it into a trendy hotspot where the douche-bag in your office goes because he wants seem cool by dropping tons cash like he’s getting a lap dance.  That ain’t right.

In 1964 the Republican Party was split on the direction of their party. Granted there were several extenuating circumstance, such as Rockefeller’s personal life, but the root debate in 64’ was the question “shall the future of the Republican Party be Conservative or moderate”? This is a question being echoed again today.

In nominating Goldwater the party decided to stand on principle, and in essence give in to loosing the battle only to set up a strong base for future entanglements. The party could have gone for a candidate that went to the middle, instead they nominated a man who in his acceptance speech stated: “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” The Arizona Senator was a galvanizing figure that gave a voice to future generations. The Reagan Revolution was the offspring of 1964.

This brings us to the current state of the GOP. Granted, 64’ and 12’ are not identical, but they are close enough to draw comparisons and discussion.

Several of the leaders in the Republican Party fall victim to a bipartisan truth: Hypocrisy is a politician’s third certainty along with death and taxes. If you are in politics long enough, you are bound to contradict yourself or find a change of heart. But there is a limit to hypocrisy, even for politicians. Be it a family values born again Christian who cheats on their wife, or a fiscal conservative who supports large government spending.

(We are all human and make mistakes, so this is not a judgment on any of these individuals – but this is Politics we are talking about, and running for President is the Super Bowl.)

If the GOP is to find their galvanizing figure in 12’ they will need to find an individual who can walk the walk they talk. Sanford looked as though he could fill this void, but then Buenos Aries called. As a political junkie and an American who loves debate, I put forward Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. Coburn is a friend and stanch ally to both the Grover Norquist wing of the party along with the James Dobson wing. Some say Senator DeMint is their man, but to those individuals I direct you to this debate and ask if you think he has what it takes to carry the water.

Granted Coburn and Goldwater are not mirror images of one another, and the political make up is not identical, but they are close. In a muted field, people will gravitate to the purest voice. Coburn’s candidacy would insure a loss in November 2012, but, he could very well be the voice a desperate party needs.

Dice the onion and saute in olive oil until the onion is transparent.

Add the ground meat and cook all the way through, then drain.

Add cans of beans, tomatoes, corn, and green chili.

Stir in cumin and chili powder.

Simmer for several hours.

Serves about 8 people.  Total cost = about 10 dollars

Abu Mohammed had driven me in record time up and down Jordan, making stops at the Dead Sea, Wadi Rum, Petra, and of course Aqaba. These four days of racing from one tourist attraction to another were my “vacation” after a month of taking Arabic in Damascus, Syria. Now it was time to head back to Europe, where the toilets flushed, one could make fun of the President and say Israel as often as one wants.
Through some haggling Abu Mohammed finally found me a car at a decent price to drive me from Amman to Damascus. There would be three passengers in the cab; an old Iraqi diplomat, a Lebanese kid, and myself. The drive would take about 4 hours, depending on the lines at the immigration office at the border.

After about an hour of silence, the diplomat asked to smoke, and within three seconds all three of us and the driver had lit up with the windows rolled down, and the A.C. blazing. Though a hazard to your health, in the Middle East a cigarette is still an excellent ice breaker.

Through the cloud of smoke I was able to strike up a conversation with my Lebanese co-passenger, let’s call him Said. He was on his way to Beirut, coming from Kuwait, where he worked for a Swiss hotel. He was going to Beirut to finally meet a girl he had met online, without her knowing he would be stopping by.

In the West, this would be viewed by many as a form of stalking or harassment. Said was able to convince me, however, of his honorable intentions to simply meet her face to face, and to declare his love.
Like many Arab males Said possessed a child-like (and in my book praiseworthy) quality, where he was completely genuine about everything he said. Sarcasm for example, while a standard mannerism in the West, has not taken root in the Middle East. One of the reasons negotiations between the West and the Arab world are so difficult in my opinion; they believe that you will actually do what you say you will do.
Even my cynical chain smoking-self felt my heart melt a little by Said’s story of how his friends told him not to do it, and his family disapproving, since they already have an excellent candidate for marriage. Hell, a guy that is traveling through so many countries to declare his love for a woman, whom he only talked to on the phone and internet, will make a romantic out of anyone! I therefore wholeheartedly encouraged his endeavor and told him that if he didn’t go, he would never know how she felt about him.

The border crossing between Jordan and Syria was madness. Busloads of Saudi tourists were clogging the lines, and passports were literally flying through the air. It looked as though we were going to be there a while.
Said gave me his sunglasses and his wallet, since Syrian border guards tend to pick on Lebanese passing through their territory, and Said had served in the Lebanese National Army.
The Iraqi diplomat, who had ignored us youths and our talks of love, was growing impatient. He grabbed our passports, went to the immigration officer and stated that we were on a diplomatic mission for Iraq. Within five minutes we were on the road again heading towards Damascus. I never found out what happened with Said and his quest, though as I write this I imagine him happily together with his Lebanese internet girl.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis has reported that the personal savings rate of Americans has reached a ten-year high at 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2009.  This is great, finally, some of us are getting it.  However, they also reported that household income has dropped.  But people can start saving well before the economy tumbles and jobs are being lost.  Saving $20 a week can result in $1040 a year.  Not to mention the retirement fund you should be putting something into.  If your employer offers a retirement plan, and especially if they offer some type of financial match, contribute an amount that you will not miss (3-5 percent is a good start).  It is plain stupid if you are not contributing something to a retirement fund.  What are you going to do when social security runs out?

I understand that you have to pay for rent, food, gas or transportation, car insurance and those pesky student loans.  Saving is hard and especially now that your dollar does not go as far and the amount of money you are getting paid does not keep up with inflation.  But is the $20 all you can drink happy hour before 9 pm really worth it the possible hangover, extra cash on drunk food, apologetic email/text the next day and the fact that you just lost at least twenty bucks and then repeat the next week?  Maybe that Friday you lose your job, gas prices have gone up and low and behold you are broke.  Skip the happy hour, keep the cash.

Life is about choices and there are some tools that are out there that can help you make these hard choices.  I am personally not a fan of the advertisements for certain financial institutions, but www.mint.com is a free way to help you manage your money and create budgets.  It allows you to set up budgets, provides email alerts and can show you item by item what you are wasting your hard earned money on.  Some friends use it and love it.

You have all seen the commercials for www.feedthepig.org and are a bit scared of the guy in the pig head, but it’s a good site.  It also has a link to www.360financialliteracy.org which provides additional information for people of all ages.

I am not going to tell you to stay-in and be a hermit.  But there are ways here and there to avoid spending excessive amounts of money, keep your social life and protect yourself in the case of another financial meltdown.