PETRAYED

Hold on to your soap opera... don't touch that dial! 

This newest scandal is just a head shaker.  Anthony Weiner, retire your gold medal, the general will end up being the prime successor to the now decade+ denouement of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.

6 months ago, General David Petraeus woke up and smiled after having another dream about his road to the presidency.  Schwartzkopf and Colin Powell be damned, Petraeus could go from CIA to Defense Secretary, to Vice President to the surprise.  Perhaps Secretary of State to the top job.  No amount of high climbing was too much for the conservative general who could seemingly do no wrong.

About 3 weeks ago (maybe longer) those dreams changed and Petraeus began to wake up in cold sweats, his nightmares of divorce court, assignations, emails, hedonistic pleasures.... all covered by the extreme pressure that leading a double life creates... exploded each and every day.  Like most caught out, Petraeus never dreamed that the seamy details would come out, each and every one.  That the voracious press, once made aware, would plumb the depths.

 

 

And now, Icarus (as the comparison was drawn by Maureen Dowd) no longer flies so close to the sun.  And another idol proves to have clay feet.  Tsk. 

Gorgeous Day in Tampa

I was housebound yesterday, but it would be hard to stay inside today in Tampa. It was crisp this morning, at 60 degrees, when I went out for coffee, and its just over 80 degrees now.

Going to Chicago in a couple of weeks....I was a little afraid of the cold, but the 10 day forecast says between 50 and 60 degrees. Let's hope it stays that way.

Enjoy a view of our beautiful day from my front door!

Cleaning up the "frolic"

GASPARILLA!



The annual event in Tampa Bay that's a wannabe Mardi Gras. Taking advantage of a real life invasion of the gulf by pirate Jose Gaspar, Tampa "renacts" his landing every year around February 1.


The celebration encompasses a children's parade, an art show, a daytime invasion/breakfast/parade and a raunchy night parade in Ybor City. As time has gone by, the day parade had become drunker and drunker.... prompting the denizens of the beautiful neighborhood along the bay to complain about the drunks, public urination, flashing (in order to get bounty, yes, the inevitable strings of beads from the floats), etc. etc. This year the city agreed to clean it up, warned the youth in schools, bolstered the patrol force, and arrested over 400+ people, mostly for public drunkenness and lewd behavior.

The lead pirate ship "The Jose Gaspar" arrives at the convention center with many, many pirates and an escort of anything in Tampa that has a motor and floats on water.



Sigh. We are all adults. We are all adults. Here's a closer look...

Ok, maybe sometimes we're a little youthful.

Anyway, between the focus on a cleaner atmosphere and the rain we had on Saturday, the invasion and parade were much more docile. I stayed away, but if they continue to tone it down, I may go back again one day. Thought you'd enjoy the pictures!

Damn the rain.

Going for beads, post-parade.

Confiscated! And the denizens on the sidewalk got a court date.