Folks, I apologize that this blog has been offline for so long. Without boring you with the details, we had some technical problems with certain aspects of the site that necessitated keeping this blog down. We're back up now, as you can see. Thanks for your patience and I hope you'll keep checking back.

- Bill

I watched a show on NJN the other night. It was one of those narrated documentaries about the Delaware River Watershed. It had lots of neat footage of crabbers and other commercial interests working the Delaware Bay, and those images really got the blood flowing. Combine this with all the recent chill in the air, and my mind can only think of one thing...Delaware Bay stripers!

There's something really special about fall on the bay. Sure, the presence of some of the world's largest striped bass is a big part of it, but there's more to it than that. There's nothing like a November evening, with a fiery red sun dropping toward the horizon and a pesky wind dropping out to nothing. The sound of hissing whitecaps is replaced by a gentle lapping of waves on the hull and the barking of waterfowl in the distance.

The air chills quickly and we dig through the dry storage for those jackets we shedded earlier in the day. We picked at fish throughout the afternoon...mostly 10-20 pounders along with a smattering of big blues and those everpresent dogfish. With water cooling sharply, the horn dogs are now mixed in with the smoothies, a sure sign that winter is coming.  But we know the next hour holds the most promise, and despite being a little punch drunk from a day on the water, our focus remains sharp.

We chum heavier than we did earlier in the day, as we no longer have to worry about conserving bait. The tide is running just right and the four conventional setups are positioned properly and doing their thing. The clickers on the reels are all locked up. This method worked better throughout the day than keeping the clickers on, so we're playing the percentages. Every day is different in this regard.

Whether or not a runoff follows is irrelavant. Experiencing a beautiful fall evening on the bay is worth more than what's in the cooler, and it's the kind of thing that can see an angler right through the winter. Fall is quickly approaching, folks. Are you ready?

Contrary to what some may believe about me, I have never been particularly fond of politics or politicians. These feelings transcend government politics, and apply to the corporate world, as well. From my perspective, being a leader has everything to do with making committments, doing one's best to keep them, and being man (or woman) enough to admit when something doesn't go so well. These days, politics seems to be little more than the practice of covering up one's failings and expertly diverting blame toward someone else.

It takes only a few minutes of television news watching or internet blogging to reveal some very poignant examples. The current financial mess is one such example, as are both Presidential campaigns. The American public is now being lied to as a matter of course. In fact, we now expect that everything we are told to be an outright lie. Amost without exception, "news" sources no longer report the truth; instead, they feel the need to spin the truth into something that satisfies their own agendas. And the candidates themselves? Forget about it! They'll say anthing that will give them a better chance of coming out on top this November. It's disgraceful, what American politics has become, and it's left many of us wondering where all the true leadership has gone.

Regardless, we have the opportunity next month to choose the next President. These are challenging times, no doubt, and our collective decision will likely be one of extraordinary consequence for our nation. We have two completely different choices; two polar opposites, with two remarkably divergent agendas. It's up to us to determine which agenda is best for this country at this moment in time.

For me the choice is obvious, and it has been since the primaries.  In fact, I am so convinced that my guy is the right choice that I find myself becoming increasingly angered by those who disagree with me.  A simple, otherwise polite political conversation quickly morphs into a heated exchange. My blood pressure rises when I see a bumper sticker or lawn sign supporting the "wrong" ticket.  I can't watch the television news broadcasts anymore without developing a nervous twitch in my right eye.

If only I had the opportunity to make the decision myself...to bypass the entire election process...to ignore the perspecitve of half of America that is about to make a blunder of epic proportions and put the wrong guy in the White House at a time where we desperately need the right guy. After all, I know who the right guy is. I'm sure of it, and I won't even listen to others' perspectives at this point. If America would let me make the decision, I'd do it in a heartbeat, and it would be the right decision.

Surely, I know better than everyone else.

And hence I am reminded of exactly why our Constitution is written the way it is...why we must deal with the seemingly inefficient system of checks and balances that is our government...why we must endure an election process that often seems more like a circus that a hallowed ritual.  Yes, we are all Americans, but we are all different. We have different values, different religions, and different views regarding how our country should be run. In the end, it is our differences that define us. No one person, or group of people, determine what is "right" for our country. We all have a say.

On November 2nd, our country will choose its next President. A bit more than half of its citizens will be happy about the outcome, and the a bit less than half will view it as a disaster. But the real disaster would be not to have the opportunity to vote at all.

Get out and vote for the right guy.