Musing about Isaac

• Isaac is making the Republican PR people earn their keep. They are being forced to compete with Mother Nature for headlines. Me thinks they will lose the battle. I'd rather be watching a shivering reporter out in a tropical storm than an interview with a male right to life blowhard.
• I can't get too excited about a political party which picks Florida for a convention in the middle of hurricane season.
• I wonder if some relative of Isaac will rain on Obama's party in the Bank of America stadium. Bank of America? Didn't know they hob nobed with the Democrats. Why do politicians insist on challenging Mother Nature?
• Isaac may very well do convention viewers  a favor and keep Jindal home.
• A hurricane may not hit Tampa but a pseudo category 3 hurricane will rage through the convention hall regardless; bullshit will be flying around at 120mph, causing extensive damage.
• Will Mother Nature finally put an end to mega poltical conventions?
• Romney plans to reintroduce himself to the American public if Isaac gives his OK. I knew there was something phony about him right along.

Not funny Mitt

"No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised." - Willard Mitt Romney

So no one ever asked to see Mitt Romney's birth certificate. Hard to believe. I've been asked to produce mine a number of times. In fact, if you apply for a marriage license, most states require proof of identification. Proof of identification and a birth certificate go hand in hand. Did Mitt and Ann come up with some other gimmick. Oh, I forgot - they are members of an elite group whose identity is not subject to proof.

Of course I'm speaking for the 99 per centers. 1 per centers could very well have found some loop hole when it comes to proving who they are. In reality, Romney is still trying to prove who he is - not much luck so far. Only kidding Willard, I mean Mitt - you have to inject a little humor in a campaign, I know you understand, you said so. By the way Mr. Romney, a low blow is rarely humorous. If you've ever been kicked in the balls, you know what I mean. Forgive me, I forgot that you have no caglione. If you had balls,  you would recognize  birthers for what they are - racists.

About Gaffes

I'm sure he would not agree but Todd Akins committed the mother of all political campaigning gaffes when he said, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something, I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child.”  His words, notwithstanding, a subsequent apology caused an uproar.I suspect that Akins considers his words a gaffe only in the sense that they caused the opposite reaction than he intended. The gaffe did serve to expose him for the ass that he is and will continue to be.

 It seems to me that Campaign 2012 as compared to past political campaigns is tainted by more than the usual number of gaffes. Both parties have experienced "I wish I had not said that" moments. Obama "the private sector is doing fine" and "if you created a business, you didn't build it". Romney discrediting the Brits handling of the Olympics and better yet letting us know that Anne drives two Cadillacs ( I  believe it is one at a time).

What I don't understand is that these people have all kinds of aides charged with keeping them out of trouble. The fact that they don't, is exemplified by a Romney aide who compared going from primary campaigning to general election campaigning to shaking up an "Etch A Sketch".

According to Buddha avoiding gaffes is simple; "Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or  ill." Good advice, but then again, Buddha was not a politician -  or was he.

As plain as the nose on Chief Wahoo's face

The Cleveland Indians are on a tear. Not satisfied with being a contender at the All-Star break, they have apparently resolved to clinch last place in the AL Central Division. The Twins will have something to say about this but in the end they will graciously give up their hold on last place. Of course, the Indians could suddenly change their minds and accept mediocrity as compared to being a solid loser. Be that as it may, you can stick a fork in the 2012 season; it's done!

It won’t be long before the sports writers and the fans call for someone’s scalp or scalps. The General Manager, the Manager, the coaches are already circling their wagons. Even the owners will be called upon to sell the team and let someone with a true commitment to winning take over.

This is all nonsense. The reason for the annual collapse of the Cleveland Indians is as plain as the nose on Chief Wahoo’s face. The Chief long ago placed a curse on the Indians. Until he is granted his hard-earned retirement, the team is doomed to be the laughing stock of MLB. That the owners don’t understand this, is testimony to their lack of baseball acumen.

Get rid of the Chief! The cost will be minimal - just some minor changes in the uniforms. Sure, some bigoted fans will tear up their season tickets but that loss of ticket purchasers will be minimal compared to the number of fans lost as seasons such as this one become the norm. It is time to take the Chief’s curse seriously. It is time to bring the Cleveland Indians into the twenty-first century.

Sticking Their Nose Where It Does Not Belong

Romney For President of Poland

I feel better about Romney running for president. A recent campaign ad made it clear that Lech Walesa has endorsed Mitt Romney for President. What a relief; Romney is running for President of Poland. Not true? Don't tell me that the venerable Pole, Lech Walesa, would interfere with our politics. Incidentally, there is no truth to the rumor that in return for Walesa's endorsement, Ronmey agreed to be baptized a Catholic when he goes to the choir silent.

Bibi Netanyahu is also sticking his nose in our presidential politics. Bibi is no piker. He may try getting us involved in a war prior to our election. Rumor has it that Israel is itching to strike Iran's nuclear facilities and feels that the United States has an obligation to make sure they are successful. That sure would put Obama between a rock and the hard place. Why doesn't Netanyahu get it over with and join Walesa in endorsing Romney for President ( my preference would be for President of Israel).

I wonder why Obama hasn't picked up such influential endorsements? I hope it's because he knows better.

Too old to vote?

I’m ready to vote. The issues are clear to me. Waiting another 84 days to vote will only cloud my mind - not the issues. I’m tired of the attack ads. I’m tired of Romney’s smirk. Actually I’m tired of the whole process.

　
There has been much talk about the Republican strategy of pushing for stringent voter ID regulations. The strategy is designed to minimize the impact of minorities and the poor but it will also affect the aged.

Remember James Stockdale, Ross Perot’s running mate in the 1992 election? Admiral Stockdale became the patron saint of seniors when in a debate he uttered, "Who am I? Why am I here?" The confusion caused by Voter ID regulations coupled with a never ending election campaign will bring about mind fatigue for many senior voters. Navigating the mine field of voting regulations may very well result in some of the aged lamenting; who am I and why am I here? If you don’t know who you are, you will never get by the ID requirements.

So what’s my point? I’ve forgotten. Hold it, I remember - I’m tired . No, that’s not it. It had something to do with my voting. The strategy to keep minorities and the poor away from the polls by making it more difficult to vote, also affects the aged.   Many in the  generation that survived The Great Depression, fought World War II and made the U.S.A. into a superpower  will be kept from voting because of confusing ID regulations and the manipulation of voting times.

As for the minorities and the poor, they can be kicked around only so long before they take matters into their own hands. Ultimately they will have their say. Hopefully it will be in the voting booth.

 One must also ask, why isn’t the United States, the champion of democracy, aggressively adopting policies of making it easier to vote , rather than more difficult.

RYAN-ROMNEY?

RYAN-ROMNEY? I'm probably way off base but I don't think the GOP's gift to the electorate is a Romney-Ryan ticket. The Grand Old Party has slipped one over on us. The conservative wing of the party has won the battle for the selection of the man to run the country. The power on the ticket will be Paul Ryan.  Mitt Romney will run as the presidential nominee in name only.

 There is no way a Paul Ryan would have gotten through the primaries as a presidential candidate but he can make it in Tampa. Ryan is destined to be the GOP's pseudo presidential candidate. Romney the business man has been outdone by the politicians and should start getting his tax havens in order. Hispanics, African-Americans and female wannabes president in the GOP will have to wait until 2016.

Obama-Biden have their work cut out for them. Hope they don't play it conservatively. In my humble opinion, now is the time to go after the juglar vein. We can't afford to have a Paul Ryan running the country.

To do or not to do

The High Primal's version of  'going green' is to keep ‘to do’ lists in her head. At her age, getting to them is a challenge but that little sapling in the forest will be forever indebted to her.

Committing a ‘to do’ list to memory may seem like a trivial way to mount an assault on global warming but in the case of the High Primal it’s a big fucking deal. Why, you ask? How many people do you know who make at least three drafts of a ‘to do’ list. Add to that, five drafts of a shopping list and we are talking about a lot of little saps in that forest who will grow up to be big saps and beget more little saps.

I might add that committing a ‘to do list’ or a shopping list to memory is no big deal for the High Primal since rarely did a final draft do its duty. Shopping lists never made it to the super market so shopping was done purely on the basis of what looked good. You didn’t know that shopping lists are home bodies? The ‘to do’ list, intentionally or unintentionally, got lost or became a ‘put-it-off list’. In some cases, today’s ‘to do list’ simply became: do today what you forgot to do yesterday. (The latter only works if you can remember what you forgot to do yesterday.)

The moral of this story is that having a memory, good or bad, sure beats having Alzheimer’s and can do wonders for those saps in the forest.

Blogging 101- According to Buddha

He just does not get it

My blogging inevitably leads to some posts which are pure ranting and raving. This in itself is not necessarily bad; the anger is what gets out of hand now and then. There ought to be some blogging guidelines for impetuous bloggers.

From the sayings of Buddha, one could develop "A Blogger's Primer" or even "Blogging 101- According To Buddha". I reserve the right to write such a book, but for now I'd like to share some sayings of Buddha with blogging in mind.

• There is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind. ( The last time I tried to discipline my mind, it told me to go fly a kite.)

• You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger. ( don't go off half-cocked .)

• Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of  throwing it at someone else; you are the one that gets burned. ( Let it all hang out .)

• With our thoughts we change the world. (Fat chance!)

 One of my rant and rave posts, "Whistling In The Dark" prompted this post. I was out of line with my anger. The gentlemen in Washington have a right to take a vacation while Rome burns - it says so in one of those amendments - something called the freedom to loaf. Gun control can wait until the  the NRA puts a gun in every household. By that time it will be dog eat dog time but it would have done wonders for the economy. Never mind the drought , our vacationers will do a rain dance on the beach after getting permission from their favorite lobbyist.

 If there were a "Blogging 101- According To Buddha" course I might have received a C-. I always try to set my sights high so the best thing is to pretend I never wrote this post.

Whistling In The Dark

Congress’ version of ‘Nero Fiddling While Rome Burns’ is to take a five week vacation. I guess our esteemed representatives must have made some deal with the Devil ( or their lobbyist masters) to put on hold anymore massacres ala Aurora, Colorado and to put on hold any further disasters caused by global warming. The poor bastards have been working awful hard. Bringing a nation to its knees by playing political games instead of legislating is hard work. What makes it so difficult is choosing the lobbyist with the most money.

Charles Leck through his ‘ad astra’ blog has been on a tear lately trying to bring his reader’s attention to the necessity to do something about global warming for the benefit of our children. His quest is well taken but the reality is that we are not hurting enough yet. It will take a disaster of major proportions before our politicians will dare incur the wrath of big business by implementing regulations which will keep global warming at bay. Remember a bullet to the head of a Congresswoman was not enough to influence any meaningful gun control legislation.

Our politicians will argue that they can’t tackle issues like gun control, global warming, Social Security and health care and still expect to be elected. The fact of the matter is that they probably would dare snub the big money lobbyists if they had just one champion willing to get on his horse and lead the charge no matter the political fall out. Such a champion has not come forth. The odds of one coming out of the closet are pretty slim.

No, it will not happen after the November election. The day after the election it will be time to start Campaign 2016 and that costs money.

I hope some group takes a page out of the Tea Party success story and comes up with a third party movement willing to mess with the real issues confronting the country.

If I may resort to some clichés we need a battle royal with the big money interests. We need to rake our representative s over the coals starting with The White House. Only a pitched battle will do the trick. I know that I’m whistling in the dark and at best talking through my hat. Why the clichés - hoping to prove that my clichés are as stupid as those floating around Washington and the campaign trail.

On this Sunday morning, this is the Gospel according to Tony. Go in peace and hope the AC does not break down.

Wimpy Campaign Slogans

As the brawl called Campaign 2012 drags on, one thing is for certain. If a knockout punch was to be delivered based on the choice of a campaign slogan, the brawl is destined to be a draw. Romney would have us "Believe In America" while Obama orders us "Forward". I wonder how many millions went into these unimaginative slogans.

 Romney wants me to believe in America but so far the America he is trying to paint is not the America I believe in. I suspect that when push came to shove the choice of a slogan had nothing to do with coming up with something catchy. It had all to do with wrapping a flag around himself and hope that would cover up his desire to steal my America.

Obama says "Forward". That makes sense. No candidate would ever yell backward - or would they. The question remains however, forward to what? Someone who came up with "Yes We Can", can do better than "Forward". At least the "Yes We Can" had some substance behind it. Mr. President, get bold, then there will be no problem in marching forward.

In any case, the bumper stickers have been printed  but you would never know it from the rear end of cars. That's another story in itself. In the meantime I will continue to believe in America and I'm anxious to march forward to a brighter and smarter America.

 I'm Tony Rugare, and I approve this message.

Dilemmas Galore

I'm caught on the horns of a dilemma! I should be joining in the outcry over gay marriage statements made by the Chick-fil-A Restaurant  President and COO. The politically correct thing to do is to boycott Chick-fil-A but that's where the dilemma horns start jabbing my rear. You see, I've always felt that a Chick-fil-A sandwich is pretty shitty. Obviously such a conclusion reveals that I have partaken in this delicacy. I have - only because the High Primal loves them and many years ago I vowed to go through this marriage for better or for worse. Whether the occasional indulgence in a Chick-fil-A sandwich contributed to my heart by-pass is another matter. The point is , I can't join in the boycott of Chick-fil-A - it would be hypocritical. I'd be making no sacrifice and quite possibly, I would put a strain on my marriage. Wouldn't it suffice to say that I hate Chick-fil-A. I wouldn't feel deprived if I never ate one of their sandwiches again. I think their CEO is an asshole. I will do my best to wean the High Primal from Chick-fil-A sandwiches. Enough said!

 As an aside I read where some former Boy Scouts are returning their Eagle Badges to the Boy Scouts of America in protest over their ban on gays. Another dilemma! I should be packing up my Eagle Badge and return it to whence it came from. Damn it all - as I recall I worked pretty hard for it.  What good did it do John Kerry to return his Silver Star. Cost him the presidency, that's what. I might still make a run for the presidency, so I'll let my heirs worry about disposing of my Eagle Badge.

Gay bashing,WASPS & Headlines

This news is a bit old , but it really raised my hackles when I read about it. That's not unusual since most of the news these days raises my hackles. What in hell am I getting at? The damn Boy Scouts have reaffirmed their stand on gays. No gays allowed! I suspect that any Scout turning in a gay Scout or leader will qualify for a "Gay Basher" merit badge. At least this news has cleared up something I've wondered about since the days I was a Scout. Now I know what the "on my honor I will do my best to keep myself ...... morally straight" in the Boy Scout Oath really meant. Sneaky SOB's, they  should be made aware that gay bashing can be dangerous for your health. It was reported today that the Chick-fil-A spokesman has died . Did it have anything to do with the furor caused by his boss' biblical opposition to gay marriage? I wonder.

Then we have one of Romney's aides letting something out of the bag about his boss. The aide said that  President Obama doesn't understand " the Anglo-Saxon heritage shared by Britain and the United States",  The implication was that his boss does. So be it - another reason to support Obama. It's high time that Anglo-Saxons, aka WASPS, begin to understand that there is more to our heritage than the people who settled our original thirteen states. A look at the people populating the streets of London reveal that Britain and the united States have diversity to celebrate. I doubt that a man like Romney is capable of understanding this phenomenon.

What's worthy of a front page headline? The Olympics - no. A massacre in Syria - no. The sale of a sport's franchise - yes, yes yes! Ohio's largest newspaper carried this front page headline this morning:

BROWNS' NEXT BOSS READY TO TAKE BALL

Oh my God, the Cleveland Browns football team is going to be sold. Great! that will keep all the bad news from around the world off the front page for a few days. Don't worry about the rust belt. As long as sports survive , it will squeak along.

There goes the neigborhood - Apple officials said to consider a stake in Twitter!

Last and least, I survived the Olympic Games opening ceremonies - I didn't watch!

Feet of clay

At the onset let me be clear ( borrowed that from Obama), I could care less that the powers to be at State College, PA have decided to remove Joe Paterno's statue from the vicinity of Beaver Stadium ( the SPCA however, needs to find another statue at State College for dogs to piss on). That being the case I will comment on this earth shaking decision anyway. Before I do I must make this point- anytime lions play in a beaver's stadium you know that there is touble ahead.

Apparently Coach Paterno was a good football coach but had some embarrassing character flaws. Let's face it, as human beings we all have character flaws. To discover a weakness or flaw in a greatly admired or respected person can however, be traumatic. This is especially true when some organization, school or government agency has seen fit to honor that person with a statue only to find that the person had feet of clay. They are then faced with the monumental decision of what to do with the monument. In the case of Joe Paterno, I guess the scrap heap wins. In the case of Abraham Lincoln ( yes, Lincoln had character flaws), the monument lives on.

Lesson to be learned - erecting a statue to a sports hero is foolish. It's an erection bound to turn into erectile dysfunction. Putting it another way, the odds are pretty good that the statue will have feet of clay and will come crumbling down (far better to avoid statues of all sorts- - the maintenance is too high- too attractive to pigeons).

(Note to MLB: get rid of all statues surrounding stadiums. It's too dangerous. Most have feet of clay.)

The right to bear arms

After every gun tragedy like the Colorado theater massacre, the hand wringing starts, the flags come down to half mast, the editorials speak out about our gun culture, the politicians get on their soap box to express sympathy for the victims and assure us that as Americans we have the strength to survive yet another senseless killing. This will all pass in a few days and except for the victims of the crime, life will once again be normal. There will be some efforts to revive the gun control debate, but they will be feeble and inevitably delayed for another day. You see, there is no need for a debate. The American people have had numerous opportunities to insist on effective gun control and wimped out each time. Even the assassination of a president could not lure the public away from its fascination with guns. The American people do however exercise their right to annually commemorate each bloody event with speeches and editorials while  reserving the right to bear arms. Tragically, they also reserve the right to use guns. As the NRA, the organization that has the government of the United States in its pocket, has let it be known, they will spend whatever it takes to defeat any official who dares limit the use of guns. The fact that they can make this boast only proves that they have the support of the  majority of the American people. Americans are satisfied with the proliferation of weapons in our society and their use by demented and misguided citizens. To their credit, they at least draw the line at guns in the hands of terrorists - those people with funny sounding names. Someone with a name like James Holmes may not be a terrorist--only the creator of terror.

Finch Diner Destroyed

Tony’s Finch Diner is gone! Unknown intruders invaded Tony’s patio, raised holy hell with some of the furniture and ripped down the finch feeder. Coming on the heels of past threats from the f***king  homeowners association, the demolition does not appear to be due to natural causes. There have been no reports of an earthquake in the area and we are in the middle of a drought. There has, however, been a report of a masked critter roaming the common ground by Tony’s patio.

Tony suspects that some corporate raiders were hired to put an end to Tony’s Finch Diner. As previously reported in this blog, for the past several months hardly a finch has been seen at the feeder. He speculated that the corporate raiders outsourced the finches to China. Not satisfied with ruining the diner business, the raiders collaborated with the f***king  homeowners association, hired some raccoons and put the diner out of business once and for all.
　

When asked if he had any plans for a new diner, Tony could only mumble something about the f***king  homeowners association , Bain Capital and Romney.

Romney does resemble a raccoon. Hm mm!

For information leading to the apprehension of the critters of interest, Tony has promised to make a generous contribution to the Obama campaign.

7/20/12-BREAKING NEWS:
The critter of interest that put Tony out of the finch diner business is out of the neighborhood. He was last seen strapped atop some wealthy politician's car headed for Canada. Tony has promised to write that check for Obama. He was going to attach a note asking that he get the balls to do something about gun control but decided that Obama had enough on his plate. Maybe next January.

Bring Back The Toga

It appears that Ralph Lauren has done the impossible. He's awakened our sleepy Congress. Everyone is lining up to condemn the USA uniform for the 2012 Olympics-- not for the fashion statement the uniform makes, but because it is made in China.

Sen. Harry Reid was especially hurt and in no uncertain terms expressed his displeasure. I'd be willing to bet that he wears underwear made in China.

I don't like the uniforms either. They are too military looking. I suppose   Lauren was trying to make a statement as to who we are. I have a simple solution for this Olympic uniform bit. Bring back the toga! After all, the Olympics were started by toga-wearing athletes. You say that some did not bother with the toga. Not a bad idea. Just think how NBC' s television ratings would soar.

( published as  a letter to the editor ,"Go vintage Olympic style", in The Plain Dealer, 7/17/12)

Dirty Ball

The best thing that could happen to big time college football would be the house cleaning in response to the Penn State Jerry Sandusky scandal. Now , an independent investigation has disclosed that “the most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.”  All for the sake of preserving a  money making football program. Hopefully other football factories will reconsider just how sacred a powerful football program is.

 Wouldn't it be great if college presidents at the 'big schools'  actually told football coaches to toe the line or pack their bags. Wouldn't it be great if  alunmi football booster associations actually got the boot.  Wouldn't it be great if all college football athletes set getting a degree as their goal rather than a professional football contract. Wouldn't it be great if academia ruled rather than the sports department.  Of course this is all fantasy on my part. 'taint gonna happen. Money talks behind ivy covered walls just as it does throughout our society. Tears and greenbacks will be shed for the innocent people that get hurt but Saturday football will still rule. I wonder when and where the next 'Jerry Sandusky Scandal' will surface.

America's Luxuries

On my daily walks  I don't carry a smart phone  ( a bowed head while walking is too dangerous), I don't carry an IPod ( can't carry what you don't have), I don't carry (I hate guns) - I just observe and think. As I have mentioned in a previous post, walking can be dangerous to your mental health.

 The latest challenge to my sanity came about when I started thinking about how in America we agonize about  "luxuries" like health care for all, aid to the poor  and care of the elderly. These " luxuries" are expensive as is the case with all luxuries. There are those who say we can do without these "luxuries". Even worse there are those who say government is a luxury.  I'm tempted to say that "those" are a luxury, but it is not a luxury I can afford.

Questioning whether or not we can afford these "luxuries" is an indication that the American Dream has become a nightmare as far as social services are concerned. It has become a nightmare because too many choose to define the American Dream as the attainment of materialistic goals (aka get rich). In doing so we betray what this country set out to become.

A while back, musing about immigration and diversity (It's Who We Are), I was drawn to the poem by Emma Lazarus:

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses, yearning to breath free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,

Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

These are powerful words. We invite the tired, poor huddled masses to be part of America. We advertise a way of life that is superior to what other parts of the world have to offer. We fail to mention that the golden door will not be fully opened for the havenots until there is no longer a need to satisfy the insatiable appetites of those who have. We fail to mention that filling our war chests takes priority over filling everyone's belly.

In the meantime,  the tired and the poor must be satisfied to be the rhetoric of political campaigns. The Statue of Liberty still lifts a dimmed lamp by a rusty gate. One wonders what she did to be ignored.

Finches On Strike

No way to run a diner

As Campaign 2012 heats up, I’m surprised that no one has picked up on the dearth of finches this summer. The finch population is noticeably reduced. As a result, finch feeders are in trouble. According to Obama the private sector is doing fine but who’s worrying about the bird sector. The bird sector, as far as finches are concerned, has gone to the birds. Romney has not chirped about this in his commercials. I suspect that he has outsourced our finch population to China.

Tony’s Finch Diner is on the verge of bankruptcy once again. The diner’s business plan took a hit over a year ago when he had to move the diner from a prime location. Tony’s Finch Diner was ordered shutdown by the F------s Homeowners Association. As reported in this blog, “Unknown asses have succeeded in getting the f***ing F------s Homeowners Association to order Tony to get his Finch Diner the hell off of common property. The asses are suspected to be Tea Party activists who don‘t have the cagliones to do anything important in local politics. Not wanting to make waves, Tony has agreed to move his diner to safe ground.”

The “safe ground” worked fine until this Spring. In 2012 finches have been scarcer than a hens teeth. I really don’t think that politics has anything to do with the catastrophic drop in business. I say this because my limited knowledge of finch chatter picked up what I’m sure was a chirp that the finches are pissed with the f***ing F------s Homeowners Association and won’t have anything to do with finch feeders in the area. This observation has been confirmed by The High Primal who emphatically stated that the f**king birds are on strike. Tony’s Finch Diner has fed a few scabs lately but that hardly makes the effort of maintaining the feeder worth it.

Tony’s Finch Diner Board of Directors is scheduled to meet later this month to consider what action should be taken. The rumor is that the diner will remain open at least until the November election. The betting is that if Romney wins, the diner will end up in the trash barrel along with the rest of the country.