2. Sometimes I get the feeling that no matter what I do…it isn’t right. Or at least, the result I desire never comes to fruition. I feel that way right now. I’ve battled a form of depression in the past, and can’t help but feel sometimes that demon is rearing its head again.

3. I don’t miss being married, but now that I only get to see my kids half the week — I miss them more than I ever thought was possible.

4. I hate that good people suffer sometimes.

5. Powder blue and navy blue may be the most beautiful colors God ever created.

6. When did the blue shirt, white shirt, and red tie become the standard uniform for Republicans.

1. To those of you who wrote comments on my last blog (“Thanks”), I can only say: THANKS TO YOU. It is hard sometimes to share such a personal story, to admit to failure, to show a side of you that isn’t pleasant. To all of you who wrote such nice things in response: you are the reason I do these things and I am glad you enjoyed my writing.

2. The judge in Arizona, sadly, is probably right. SB1070 probably does overstep the federal law. BUT. I think the Congress and the President would be VERY foolish to ignore this incredible cry for help from the state of Arizona. People there have had it. We all have had it. And the Congress would be very wise to recognize that.

3. I’ve been criticized lately for voicing my support of Congressman Moran in the Tiahrt/Moran duel for Senate. Just because you’re pro-Moran does not make you anti-Tiahrt. My preference is Moran, but I’ll vote for Tiahrt in a New York minute if he wins next Tuesday. And for those of you who support Tiahrt, I hope you would feel the same in reverse.

4. Buddy Guy may be the greatest master of the blues. The only three potential challengers he would have are Robert Cray, BB King, and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

5. If a man says something profound in a forest, and there is no woman there to hear him; is he still wrong?

6. If I ever stumble upon the person who takes the last cup of coffee at the office and doesn’t bother to refill the pot, I will hurt them.

7. I am eternally optimistic about the future of America. It’s the near future that scares me.

8. Is there a better movie than Top Gun? I could watch that movie every day and still enjoy it.

9. There’s talk that Senator John Thune of South Dakota is considering a run for President in 2012. I like what I see, and could seriously consider getting behind this sort of candidacy. PS: He’ll be on the show tomorrow at 5:35pm.

I will stop at 9, because 9 is my favorite number. Thanks for reading.

A year ago today I was in what most of us would refer to as a “funk”. I was divorced, missing my kids, living alone for the first time in well over a decade and feeling that I was now a failure in the eyes of my late father. I sunk into the depths of a near depression. When I would leave work, I would head home to my tiny apartment, pull the blinds, turn on the television, and probably have more than my fair share of alcohol. My world was spiralling out of control and I was in no mood to slow down the fall.

I even stopped going to church. The way I had figured it: God had let me down. Little did I know then it was really the other way around.

So, one Saturday night I was sitting at home alone, drunk, bored, tired. And the phone rang. It was my Uncle Mike. He had heard about the recent changes in my life and wanted to see how I was. I told him. Not good. He advised me that I needed to get back to church. That I needed to find God again. I thanked him for the call, always enjoying our conversations, and went to bed. I had no intention of going to church the next morning. God had left me, or so I thought.

The next morning I awoke rather early. No hangover, in fact I felt great. And I was overwhelmed with a feeling that I needed to be in church. I had to be in church. It was a feeling I still can not explain.

I went to church, sat in my usual spot in the back right row and listened to the songs, bowed my head for the prayer, and took in the sermon. Oh my, what a sermon. My pastor, Tim Waggoner, was lights out that day, talking about overcoming failure, finding God in life. It felt like he was talking directly to me, like I was the only person in that church. His words moved me. And I cried.

After church, I did something I had never done before. I wrote my pastor a little note on an offering card and left it on his chair. I was begging for help. Pleading for his assistance. I needed to find God again, or I needed God to find me. I had everything in life: a great family, wonderful kids, a terrific career. And yet I was miserable.

Pastor Waggoner called and asked if I would be willing to start meeting with him. I said I would. More than willing.

So began the long process of getting my life back together. Pastor Tim and I would meet every other Friday morning for several months. We talked about everything. The divorce, the kids, my mother, my brother, my career, his kids, his career, God, Jesus, life in general. And scratching beneath the surface, perhaps at the center of all of my problems, my inability to get over the death of my father in 1998.

Tim and I talked about that at length, perhaps he realized he had found the real problem. I told him I felt cheated. You see, near the end of his life my dad was not well. I went home two days a week and took care of him so my mom could run errands, get out of the house, see friends, get a break. And it was during this time that my dad and I became extremely close. Best of friends. It was during this time he told me things he had never told anyone, what happened to him in Vietnam.

As I explained all of this to Tim, I told him I felt God had a sick sense of humor. He let me get so close to my dad, and then ripped the rug out from under me. I asked Tim, “where is the trade?” Why would God do this to me.

Tim leaned back in his chair, looked at me, and then uttered the one sentence that changed my life, and changed my perspective. He said to me, “don’t you see it? Don’t you see the trade?” God hadn’t pulled the rug out from under me. God, it turned out, set up a situation where I could get that close to my father. Where even in death, I feel his presence around me. In the end, I learned, I had come out on top of the trade. The 28 years I had with my father, and the bond we forged, were worth more than I initially realized. And I had been blind to it.

Uncle Mike, you never knew, I have never said it. But you set the wheels in motion that night to give me my life back.

Pastor Tim, you never knew, I have never said it. You changed my life. For the better.

Thank you both.

Yours,

Scott.

But I caution you: political fortunes can turn on a dime.

Remember January, 1991? Then-president George H.W. Bush was riding a wave of popularity following the quick retreat of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. He was pegged a sure bet for re-election in 1992. But he lost. Not only did he lose, but he lost to an otherwise no-name candidate from Arkansas named Bill Clinton.

Barack Obama is a wounded political animal right now. His Oval Office address Tuesday night was so poor that even Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and Chris Matthews had to distance themselves from it. Chris Matthews didn’t feel even the slightest “tingle” go up his leg.

Many Democratic office-seekers have second thoughts about asking the president to campaign for them. And for good reason. Especially in tight races.

The White House seems completely disconnected from the American people. The Gulf oil spill notwithstanding, the Administration continues to tout economic recovery, all the while seeming oblivious to recent job reports that show hundreds of thousands more Americans are seeking jobless benefits. “Recovery?”, many Americans ask, “what recovery?”

But Republicans this is no time to rest. If somehow this gusher in the Gulf is capped, Americans will quickly forget about this disaster. If the economy makes a startling turnaround in the next 24 months — Katie bar the door!!! Because President Barack Obama, barring an unforeseen uber-disaster, will easily win a second term.

The American public, especially the voting public, has a very short term memory. Despite his personal indiscretions, Bill Clinton — polls suggested — would have won had he been Constitutionally allowed to seek a third term. That same short-term memory loss could be Barack Obama’s best secret weapon heading into 2012.

Congressman Sestak now finds himself in the epicenter of a potential political hurricane, one that may claim as its victim now other than the president’s Chief of Staff. The White House, in a statement released today, said the Obama administration enlisted the help of former president Bill Clinton to offer Sestak an unpaid position on a Presidential Executive Branch Advisory Board in exchange for the congressman dropping out or not running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. Right, and I own beachfront property in the Bahamas I’d like to sell.

There is no way in h-e-double toothpicks that he would have been offered something as unsatisfying as an advisory board position to get out of the Congress and out of a Senate race. How stupid does the White House think we are?

Two months ago, Congressman Sestak told a reporter that he had been offered a “high level JOB” in the administration. I would hardly call being a member of some boring advisory board a high level post.

The White House knows it’s in trouble, knows this story won’t wash with the American public, and is unintentionally, yet systematically, digging itself deeper and deeper into a hole it may not be able to get out of.

Now, calm down Obama bashers. Before we even start throwing around the “I” word —- let’s make sure we look clearly at the facts. These are the big leagues after all. There is no chance that a democratic congressman will turn against a democratic president. And there is no chance that a democratic Congress will impeach a democratic president. The president’s chief of staff may soon be looking for a new job. But the president won’t be. And Congressman Sestak will be wishing he had kept his mouth shut all along.

She was reportedly “furious” by what she saw in the aftermath of Rockfest 2010. Furious with the way attendees “behaved” and furious that Penn Valley Park may not be ready in time for Memorial Day weekend.

Unlike Ms. Stackhouse, I assume, I was at Rockfest 2010. I watched the bands and witnessed the pounding crowd of 55,000. I walked through a portion of the crowd, and enjoyed myself. Not once did I see anyone misbehaving or in dire need of a dose of manners. The crowd was well-behaved, respectful, and enthusiastic. The organizers, which include our sister station 98.9 The Rock, had no control over the weather. They had no idea when they started putting this event together in November of last year that it would be one of the rainiest weekends in recent memory. How could they? I have no doubt they would have preferred the forecast for Saturday be sunny and 75 degrees. It wasn’t.

There is an old saying: “never pick a fight with people who buy their ink by the barrel”. I would like to coin a new one: “never pick a fight with people who get their airtime for free”.

Rockfest is arguably the largest one-day outdoor rock concert in the country. It is known throughout the entire country. People come to Kansas City one weekend out of every year for ONE reason: to watch their favorite bands, to mingle with old friends, and to have a good time.

God forbid that a little grass was killed. I’m not sure if Ms. Stackhouse knows this, but grass grows back. In fact, if you throw done sod, it grows back real fast.

Rockfest is also a financial windfall for Kansas City. To the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Aggie Stackhouse said the condition of Penn Valley Park Saturday was the last straw. It was, in her words, the straw that broke the camel’s back. Perhaps she would prefer Rockfest pull up stakes and move to Kansas Speedway — they’ve wanted the concert for years and I am sure Wyandotte County would LOVE the additional money in its coffers.

If the main concern is the condition of the park this close to Memorial Day — then here’s a thought: the very Park Board that issues the permits for Rockfest (and of which Ms. Stackhouse is a member) could always move Rockfest to a date post-Memorial Day. But that would make too much sense. And I am starting to think that some Kansas City leaders are lacking in that department.

Stories of nearly a thousand young mostly black men and women converging on the Country Club Plaza, some with the intent of wreaking havoc, has dominated the airwaves and the front page of the paper for several days now.

According to many people who were enjoying an evening out on the Plaza that night some in the crowd taunted drivers and disrupted traffic, threw to-go boxes of food into nearby fountains and grabbed their genitals and spewed unacceptable comments to women who were otherwise minding their own business.

This can not, and should not be tolerated. This behavior, to say the least, is unacceptable. Yet, the silence from many leaders of the black community in Kansas City has been deafening. Where is Congressman Cleaver, the city’s most recognizeable and famous black man? Why hasn’t he called a news conference to denounce such outrageous behavior and to issue a stern warning to these young African-Americans that they are setting back decades worth of work on race relations in this city?

Where is the Star’s race-baiter-in-chief Lewis Diuguid? He hasn’t even written a blog post about what happened Saturday night. I have no doubt if an angry throng of white youngsters behaved inappropriately in a predominantly black neighborhood in Kansas City that we would have been inundated with column after column in the Star and countless blog postings. Many of them, no doubt, demanding an apology and calling for a strict course of action to prevent such outbursts in the future.

And while he isn’t black, where is Mayor Mark Funkhouser? Granted, he has made a token number of media appearances to assure Kansas Citians that they will be safe this weekend. But why hasn’t he annointed himself the point-man to denounce this sort of activity like we saw on the Plaza Saturday night? Is it because he is up for re-election and knows that he will need at least a portion of the black vote to win another four years in office? If that is the case, and I have no way of knowing, then shame on the mayor. Leadership should take a backseat to politics in a time like this.

Where is the Star editorial board? Half a week has passed and not one word has appeared on their editorial page about this. Why? Is this not one of the biggest stories in recent memory? Only Yael Abouhalkah has mustered the courage to address this controversy, saying in a blog post today, “why are the black kids going to the Plaza? I certainly don’t have all the answers, but one obvious reason: That’s where the crowd of mostly white adults hangs out. And the youth know their presence will be disturbing to people who aren’t used to seeing so many black kids in one place”.

As we are prone to say on the show: “Thank You! Bingo!”