George Bush was in Idaho this week. I knew I felt a disturbance in the force. About the only thing that the conservative majority of Idaho has ever criticzed that man for was not visiting the "Great State of Idaho". (Yes, Idaho is a great state, but I HATE IT when politicians use that prefix when referring to their constituency. It's like a band in concert referring to the host city in a song; it's a cheap reaction.) If you want a man who is busy with 5 week vacations, sending America's youth off to die and snowing the American public into thinking it's our duty to force democracy on others (prime directive mean anything to ya Bush?) to visit your state, try not blindly voting for whoever has "Republican" listed under their name.
He was here to do some mountain biking. This I want to see. Not because I don't believe it, just because I want to see it. You see, when politicians talk about skiing or cycling or any other hobby they partake in, it's always interesting to see what level they are at. Most of the time, they are at a pretty low level, and that's expected since they have more important stuff to do than drive to Stanley for a weekend and plant secret service all over Fisher Creek. But I was mildly surprised when I saw video of John Kerry snowboarding in SV. He didn't look like a first timer, although I'm sure, like everything a politician does, there is a hope that images of recreation act as subliminal cues to make participants in that activity "identify" with you. Now, I was a Kerry fan to begin with, and I would never vote for someone because they snowboard, or ski or mountain bike, but yes, those pictures of him carving turns down Warm Springs, a run I have skied numerous times myself, made me feel like this was a person I like as well as respect.
So Bush, I invite you, to gain a little of my "like" (you'll probably never get respect) and come mountain biking with me. No camera's, no politics, a free pass for you to spend some saddle time with a mountain biker (I'll u-bolt the flaming liberal to a tree for the duration of our ride) and we can both enjoy an escape from reality. And it won't take 5 weeks.
