Stolen Nest vs. Stolen Votes

If you don't live in the NYC area, you might not have heard about Pale Male and his mate Lola, two red tail hawks who were evicted from their 12-year-old nest on the 12th story of some fanch-schmancy Central Park co-op. It's truly a sad story with lots of juicy ingredients perfect for the daily rags and evening news: Two beautiful birds of prey; greedy rich co-op owners who couldn't take anymore unsightly bird droppings; one outraged celebrity who lives in the building (Mary Tyler Moore).

Yesterday, 300 people gathered outside 927 Fifth Avenue "in solidarity" with Pale Male and Lola. Not an earth-shattering number of people, but still, 300 ain't too shabby (a local free paper called "Metro" said there were 2,000 protestors but, no, I think not).

So, how many people showed up in Columbus yesterday to protest Ohio's delegation to the Electoral College, urging them to wait until the recount is properly completed? A whopping 100.

Where the hell are our priorities? Don't get me wrong: I hope Pale & Lola get their nest back. But I'd like to get my country back first.

Update: If you think I'm a nutter to still think something stink, stank, stunk in Ohio, check out William Rivers Pitt's latest report over at truthout. Apparently, I have company:

There are people out there who think we are crazy, who think we are bitter-enders, sore losermen, conspiracy theorists and tinfoil hatters. We just cannot accept the outcome of a truly legitimate American election, and we are flailing about like pathetic boated fish trying to change what cannot be changed. But the Ohio Secretary of State is brazenly breaking the law by denying public access to public records. The terrorism bugaboo was thrown in the way of those who wished to observe the counting process in Warren County, though nobody seems to know who tossed out the warning nor why terrorists would want to blow something up in southwestern Ohio. And now, legitimate hearings on these issues are being thwarted.

If demanding answers to these questions, along with all the other questions that have arisen - more than 30,000 reports of voting irregularities and fraud all across the country, including thousands of reports of malfunctioning electronic touch-screen voting machines, plus the disenfranchisement of as many as a million minority voters, and the startling reality that virtually every single 'malfunction' or error favored George W. Bush - if demanding answers to these questions makes me crazy, then damn it, bring on the boys with the butterfly nets, because I am completely out of my mind.