Wandering while also pondering

In my daily wandering over hill and dale under the foreboding sky of an Aroostook November, my alleged mind wanders along with me, pondering a variety of subjects in a manner that can never stand accused of being profound. On Thursday, it wandered into presidential politics, homeland security and the price of gasoline.

Presidential politics: When president-in-waiting Barack Obama held his first news conference while standing behind a lectern bearing the sign “Office of the President-Elect” – a bogus office if ever I’ve heard of one – I thought what great fun it would be if President Bush should subsequently show up behind a lectern featuring the presidential seal superimposed over the words “Office of the Lame Duck-Elect.”

Alas, although Dubya does seem to have a decent sense of humor, dueling lectern messages were apparently too much to hope for in today’s uptight times. I was left to speculate that President-elect Obama’s unorthodox reveling in his new status was merely an indication that the man, impatient to get on with the business of becoming the nation’s 44th president, wanted to make sure there could be no misunderstanding as to who would be the main go-to guy come Jan. 20.

No harm in that. Not when you can back it up with 65 million votes in the ballot box and a large slice of the national news media in your hip pocket.

But when Obama later showed up at another lectern with a different sign attached – this one making a statement about that “change” thing that he had flogged unmercifully during his successful campaign – it occurred to me that perhaps he simply has a thing for the power of display advertising. Lord knows during the past two years he’s had plenty of opportunity to become addicted to the genre and what it could do for him. Perhaps this might be just one more trend the universally applauded trend-setter-elect might unloose early in his presidency.

Imagine the possibilities. The ubiquitous Nike swoosh, so prevalent on the uniforms and equipment of professional and collegiate athletes, might soon appear above the great seal of the republic on a presidential lectern near you. Industries now clamoring to be bailed out by taxpayers might purchase lectern space to pitch their products. No money down and no payments until a year from next December. Politicians with an eye toward earning walking-around money might shill for their sponsor from a soapbox adorned with takeoffs on those memorable Burma Shave highway signs of old. (“Candidate Says Campaign Confusing: Babies Kiss Me Since I’ve Been Using … Burma Shave.”) And so on.

Homeland security: The Maine Civil Liberties Union wants to know more about activities and policies of a state center set up after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to bring together the Department of Homeland Security, local law enforcement and intelligence-gathering agencies.

The MCLU worries that the line between law enforcement and intelligence gathering could be blurred and crossed at Maine’s so-called fusion center, otherwise known as the Maine Information Analysis Center.

It notes that the agency’s definition of “suspicious activity” includes someone taking photos of a building, taking notes, using binoculars or night-vision devices or asking unusual and detailed questions about a building, area or event.

Except for the binoculars and night-goggles thing, the description sounded familiar. And with good reason. Taking photos of buildings? Jotting down cryptic notes? Asking unusually dumb questions about a building, area or event? That’s been my job description for the past 54 years. Imagine that – until this week I didn’t know what a subversive was. Now I are one.

Gasoline prices: Thursday’s weekly report concerning the status of the price of gasoline may have sent readers to the dictionary to confirm their understanding of the definition of “plummet.”

“Gas prices have plunged 82 cents over the past month in Maine and it appears that the downward plummet isn’t over,” the wire story out of Portland reported.

A wise old editor once advised me that once things start to plummet in any direction but downward you can be pretty sure that no good will come of it, and I think the man was on to something.

BDN columnist Kent Ward lives in Limestone. Readers may reach him by email at olddawg@bangordailynews.