I am not ranting

Scott Brown reminds me of John Edwards -- two very good-looking haircuts. Pick 'em.

But I am not ranting today. I did that on Friday, a wicked rant, and I posted it right below this one -- called "What a Bunch of Scaredy Cats.

You can't be in politics if you don't have a sense of humor. I don't associate with angry people. They're boring me. Their fervor and their intensity -- for what good?

They get mad at the government for paying too much in taxes. Maybe they should be mad at their accountants instead.

I don't pay too much in taxes, because I'm smart. And so I'm not mad at the government. I receive many benefits from the government. So it's simple -- taxes go in, benefits come out. Just try to stay even with it, and you won't get mad.

There is the hypocrisy of people complaining about "government handouts" but keeping pretty quiet about various programs that subsidize their own little cottage industry.

But I am not going to rant today. I did that Friday and it was very satisfying.

And I lost my last election bet, so maybe I'm foolish to make another prediction, but here goes:

A Prediction. It seems that President Obama would rather govern than campaign, and him thinking he was elected to govern, but realizing now that he has get out there and stir it up. That is something Obama knows how to do very well when he sets his mind to it.

I admire Obama because he doesn't live for the adulation of the crowd, but he can do it when it suits him, and he will be doing it, like the master conductor of a symphony orchestra. That's why he got elected by a majority of American voters.

Obama, and the Founders, and most Americans, believe in representative government. So we elect these people, and then we're stuck with them.

But the alternative is government by initiative which is a proven disaster in California, or government-by-radio-talk-shows, which would be even worse.

The Future. I believe in the future of our country. My faith was confirmed Friday night when I attended a play at the LaConner High School. The students actors were marvelous. It's take a lot of work to do that well. I was impressed by their freshness and determination.

These students will become good men and women, and we will be turning responsibilities over to them, and they will do all right, and they will fix some of the messes we have made for them.

The Past. History is a comfort. The times seem terrible because we live in them, but little of what we suffer is new. It's happened many times before and we are still here, and I see a beautiful sunrise outside the breakfast window.

Earthquakes tumble mud-brick homes in poor villages and thousands die.

Do you remember the earthquake in Bam? Bam is a poor and ancient city of 43,000 in the mountains of Iran. Nobody ever heard of it. Then the earth trembled in 2003, and more than 25,000 people died in the rubble. More than half the population died.

Isn't that the most important tragedy of our times? Yes, it is a date seared in memory, December 26, 2003, for those citizens of Bam who survived it.

Has Bam been rebuilt with higher earthquake-proof standards? I hope so, but I don't know. We don't go to Iran with aid missions, and we don't need to because we should be paying all our attention to disaster in Haiti, right now, right nearby.

I don't know why I remember the earthquake in Bam, but I do remember it.