Well, this a lousy way to start a week.

Last night, shortly after I made my post about yesterday’s Jets and Giants game, my office was broken into and burglarized.

We’ve been adding on a two-story library tower to the back of the house. The construction started in June and will continue to December. That’s how they got in, entering through the back yard and construction area and ripping down the temporary plywood wall that separates the new rooms from the rest of the house.

They pulled open a lot of drawers, rummaged through a lot of stuff, and knocked over my computer monitor, but didn’t get much of a haul, all in all. I lost a video iPod and a Bose docking station (although they overlooked the remote), plus two replica swords I had in a corner awaiting the end of construction, so I could hang them on a wall. So far as I can tell, that’s all that’s missing. They smashed the electronics on our safe, but were unable to open it. Some of the tools that the workmen had left at the construction site were also taken; a power saw, a few other things.

One of the swords was a gift from readers, a beautiful piece. That’s the only real loss, though. Easy enough to replace the ipod. The second sword was junk.

(And no, they did NOT take my computers, so the hard drive where A DANCE WITH DRAGONS lives is still there, and safe, and I haven’t lost any work. And yes, I back up regularly, so even if they had made off with the hardware, I have all the finished text saved on disk. So you can all come down off that ledge, please).

The most unsettling part of all this was the timing. I came over to the office last night after football to make my LJ post about the games and answer some emails. One of the mails in my in box was from a friend who wanted to come over and watch television. I said sure, then went back to the main house to tell Parris that our friend might be dropping over. She never did, so Parris and I watched ENTOURAGE and CALIFORNICATION and a couple of episodes of THE DAILY SHOW from last week that we’d TIVOed. Two hours worth of television. After which I went back to my office… and discovered the break-in. Spent the next couple of hours dealing with the cops and the aftermath of all this.

But if I hadn’t gotten that email from our friend, I might have stayed in the office and continued to answer emails, which meant I would have been here when the thief (or thieves) broke into the construction site and then into the house. I would certainly have heard the sound of the plywood wall being ripped down. Most probably a shout from me would have sent them fleeing back into the night… but maybe not. I suppose I could have tried to drive them off with one of those replica swords, but I’m just as glad I didn’t have to try. I am not exactly a figure to inspire terror in night stalkers.

All in all, we got off light, but it’s still a crappy way to start the week, and I’ll be spending most of today dealing with police, insurance companies, locksmiths, our alarm company, and the like. And somewhere out there, some asshole has my sword.

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Life is beautiful and full of joy…

… well, mostly. The Jets and the Giants both won, but Big Blue’s win was much better than Gang Green’s. The Jets played a wretched game against the Kansas City Chefs, who would be the worst team in the NFL if not for the existence of the Detroit Lions, and had to come from behind to win. There were a few highlights, sure — some fantastic play from little Leon Washington, and an amazing catch by Coles for the winning touchdown — but the way Brett Favre was playing had me wondering if maybe the Dolphins would give us back Chad Pennington if we asked really, really nicely. The playcalling was also suspect. Last week Thomas Jones ran for almost 160 yards. The Chefs have the worst run defense in the NFL. So what did the Jets do? They came out throwing, throwing, throwing. Sigh. Sometimes I think Mangini gets too clever for his own good.

The Giants’ win over a tough Pittsburgh Steeler team was much more satisfying. Great hard-hitting game between two tough teams that are almost mirror images of each other. If you love defense, as I do, this was a game for you. The Steelers managed to shut down the Giants league-leading three-headed running attack, and stopped them repeatedly inside the ten, forcing them to settle for field goals again and again… but the Giants did at least keep Eli safe, while Big Ben was getting sacked repeatedly and making costly mistakes in the face of the relentless Giants pass rush. Even so, Pittsburgh seemed to have the game in hand until their long-snapper went out of the game with an injury, and his replacement hiked the ball five feet over the punter’s head for a game-tying safety. You could feel the momentum shift then, as the Giants’ offense finally came alive.

So the G-Men are 6-1 and have passed their first big test. Next week, the Cowboys.

As for the Jets… oh, god, next week it’s Buffalo, and the buzzsaw part of the schedule begins. If Brett doesn’t stop throwing to the other team, the rest of the season could be grisly.

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Once upon a time, before robocalls, swiftboating, twenty-four cable news, sound bytes, blogs, and internet fundraising, when pundits did not yet cover the land like locusts, presidential campaigns involved things like torchlight parades, whistlestop tours, buttons, bullhorns, barbeques, straw hats… and theme songs.

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Can you imagine the ridicule if either McCain or Obama rolled out a campaign theme song like this in the present political climate?

It was a different age, truly. But I am the Ancient One, and I remember.

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Parris and I voted on Tuesday. Big turnout here in Santa Fe for early voting. Good.

If any of you reading this live in a state that offers early voting, I urge you strongly to go and vote NOW. The crowds on election day are likely to be large, which could mean long lines, confusion, waiting. Take advantage of early voting. It will help ease the crush, and make things easier for all concerned… especially you.

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The McCain campaign has been spending a lot of time lately hammering Obama for alleged ties to ACORN, which they’re portraying as some kind of extreme radical group engaged in massive voter fraud.

It’s all bullshit, of course.

Take a look at this if you want the truth about ACORN — who they are, what they do, what this “voter fraud” consists of.

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McCain talks about an assault on the very fabric of democracy, but there’s far more of that coming from the right, with its efforts to disenfranchise minorities, the young, first time voters, and the elderly than from anything that ACORN has done. It worked in 2000 (Florida) and in 2004 (Ohio). We have to make certain it does not happen this time.

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Some of you may have seen the mind-boggling and horrifying HARDBALL interview with the Minnesota congresswoman who wants her fellow members of Congress investigated for anti-Americanism.

Her comments provoked such a storm of national outrage that her opponent immediately received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions, from all over the country.

And I’m pleased to see that Colin Powell shared the outrage.

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Another week in the NFL. The Giants won an ugly one over the Niners, and the Jets lost an uglier one to the Raiders. I have to admit, both games frustrated the hell out of me.

The Giants defense showed up again, after having taken off the Cleveland game. Six sacks, lots of pressure on the quarterback, three turnovers, even a safety. That was the good news. The offense left much to be desired, however. The G-Men are now 5-1, but the creampuff portion of their schedule is over. Next week they face another 5-1 team in the Pittsburgh Steelers, and we’ll get the first true indication of how good they are.

As for the Jets… sigh…

The whole team played like crap in Oakland, but I have to blame the coaching for this loss. After Brett Favre passes them down the field with a minute left to set up the field goal that sent the game into overtime, the Jets win the coin toss… and Mangini and Little Schott turn more conservative than Rush Limbaugh. Run on first down, run on second down, throw on third and long. Not once, but on all of our overtime possessions. The Raider defense was gassed and demoralized by the end of regulation; if the Jets had come out in overtime and continued with the same wide-open passing attack that had tied the game, I’m convinced they would have claimed the victory.

Sad to say, the Jets are not playing like a playoff contender at this point.

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“Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”

That’s what Joseph Welch asked Joe McCarthy at the Army/McCarthy hearings, and that’s what I asked of John McCain in my last post about the election.

McCarthy had no sense of decency, as it happens, and it appears that McCain has lost his.

The last debate is over and the election has turned onto the home stretch, and McCain’s campaign only grows more toxic. McCain and Palin both continue to harp on the thoroughly explained and thoroughly discredited William Ayers non-issue, despite his alleged desire to run a positive, issue-oriented campaign. This is especially hypocritical for McCain given his own ties to G. Gordon Liddy. In the debate, McCain tried feebly to say that Obama has gone negative as well, citing Obama commercials attacking the McCain health care plan. As if criticizing your opponent’s proposals on a major issue was somehow morally and ethically equivalent to saying your opponent “pals around with terrorists.” Is McCain that stupid, or is this the hypocrisy of desperation?

And now we learn about the robocalls the McCain campaign is making. Talk about disgusting. Can these guys go any lower?

I do think there’s a certain hideous irony in McCain’s insistence that he’s not George Bush, and the way he keeps promising change to rectify all the mistakes of “the last eight years.” Those years, of course, being the Bush administration. Notice, he never says “the last sixteen years.” In other words, he’s pretty well conceding that Bill Clinton was a much better president than W. In the debate, he accused Obama of trying to run against George Bush… ignoring the fact that he seems to be running against George Bush as well.

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Ouch.

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