Of Jackasses and Handguns

Listen, people... you simply cannot have it both ways!  Many of you said that when President Obama comes to town, his presence does not nullify your Second Amendment rights.  He's just a citizen like you.  The fact that he's the frickin' President Of The United Frickin' States doesn't matter. And, as much as I hate to admit it, you're technically right.  Stupid as all hell, but technically correct.

So why is it that the President commented that "Kanye is a jackass", some folks are all up in arms saying that "Jackass isn't presidential" or "That should be beneath him?"  He's not special enough for you to leave your gun at home, but his lips are too special to form the words "Jackass", or "Stupid" (from Beer-Summit-Gate)?

CHOOSE!

Either the Presidency is a special thing and he can't call stupid "Stupid" or jackasses "Jackass".  If that's true, then he's certainly special enough that when you go to see him speak, then you should be, by law, unarmed.  And if he's speaking to Congress, you should be respectful. 

But if that's too much to swallow, then when someone does something stupid like shout out "You Lie!" in a joint session of Congress, then the President, like any other normal person, should be allowed to retort, "Shut the hell up, dumbass! I'm talking here!"

I'm just sayin'...

Bill Clinton, Conservative / George Bush, Liberal... WTF?!

If you click on over to Google, and look up "Conservative", it'll mention things like "Resistant to change" and "Cautious: avoiding excess".  In even simpler terms, a Conservative will find things a certain way, and leave them pretty much the same way.  Not rock the boat, or try for ambitious changes.  President Clinton tried to fix health care, (certainly a Liberal endeavor) and that effort failed.  However, for the rest of his presidency, he saw that things were working pretty well, and let things run smoothly.  The good news was the unprecedented peace and prosperity of the 90's.  Good times, indeed.  The bad news, for him, was that when things ran smoothly, and he had a little extra time on his hands, well, his idle hands got him into trouble.  But that's not the point today.  The point is his presidency was not one that tried to rock the boat.  Things that worked well were allowed to work, and things that didn't work well were vastly overshadowed by the things that worked well.  That sounds like a Conservative to me.  The result of his stodgy, conservative, hands-off approach?  Years of high income, low unemployment, and a budget surplus.  Yay, Conservatives!

If you click back over to Google and look up "Liberal", it'll mention, among other things, "Having political views favoring change and progress".  Hmm... "change and progress."  President George W. Bush came in, saw that things were running well, indeed, was handed a budget surplus of $127 billion.  Rather than be a Conservative, and keep things going smoothly, tweaking where necessary, President Bush instead pushed through monstrous tax cuts totaling nearly $2 trillion!  And he increased government spending by over 20% during his first four years in office.  And let's not forget those military exercises we've been conducting in the Middle East for 7 years and counting. More spending... fiscal irresponsibility... sounds like a liberal to me.  The result of his liberal, change-for-change's-sake policies?  His term ended as  the nation slid into the worst economic downturn in a generation.  Unemployment, savings wiped out, record foreclosures, over $480 billion deficit handed to the next guy to clean up.  In a word:  Disaster.  Boo, Liberals!

What about the current President?  I hope that at his heart, he is a Liberal.  Because we certainly need someone who is "tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition".  We need new answers to problems that we as a people have never faced before.  Problems like an aging population, a truly interconnected economic world, and the rise of not one, but several super-powers at the same time.  You can't use 1950's arithmetic to solve 2010 global socioeconomic problems.  But I also hope that at his heart, he's a Conservative.  Because we will certainly need someone who's "cautious: avoiding excess".  The stakes are too high to simply shoot from the hip.  To allow oneself to be swayed by impassioned cry or loud, emphatic, enraged, yet totally baseless claims to relevance.  To quote the fictional President Andy Shepherd from the 1995 movie "The American President", "We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them."  For us thinking, reasonable folks on both sides, let's try to keep this in mind as the din wears on.

We're Number 37!! Yaay!! Go America!!

I happened upon this absolute gem while perusing The Huffington Post.  I think it says what I've been trying to say better than any words I could try and write.  Mad Props to Paul Hipp!  Visit his site here.   Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Bipartisanship Goes Against Democracy

In an interview with Rachel Maddow earlier this week, Congressman Barney Frank (D - Massachusetts) said something that smacked me across the face with its utter, well, bald-faced rightness.  I know... inelegant grammar, but that's what fit.

Anyway, Rep. Frank said, "... this insistence on bipartisanship really goes against the notion of democracy.  We HAD an election in 2008... the Democrats won the Presidency, and significant majorities in the House and the Senate."  He went on to say, "The notion that those of us who won the election with a solid majority should compromise 50-50 with those who lost, well then, why have an election?"

Wow!

In a lot of ways, and for a lot of reasons, politics is complex stuff.  The notions of freedoms and obligations, rights versus privileges, laws and legality, these are not for the faint of heart or the simple of mind.  And much of it is not a simple matter of black or white, good or bad.  Usually, it's much more complex than that.  However, some things are that simple.  Sometimes, it is black and white.  This is one of those times.

Barack Obama ran on a promise to fix health care, a system that everyone knows is badly broken.  This was a central theme in his campaign.    America responded by electing him decisively.  No last minute recounts, or challenges, or dimpled hanging chads.  Nope... he won fair and square.  Then, to make sure Washington got the message, we also gave him a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate.  Apparently, America wanted there to be no doubt that Republican/Conservative ideology was soundly rejected.  And, let's not forget, the Republicans had 6 years at the wheel, and they started with a budget surplus!  And so far, in this administration, they've offered nothing but "NO!"

They offered no meaningful input to the Stimulus Plan, insisting simply on more tax cuts.  They have so far, offered nothing of value in the health care debate, relying instead on the tried and true Republican tactics of fear (he's gonna kill granny!), confusion (Medicare is great but government run health care is the devil!) and outright lies (illegal aliens will  get free health care provided by death panels!)

So now, after nearly driving the country off a cliff and continuing to try and wrest back control of the wheel, how dare the Republicans insist on equal say in crafting any significant legislation?  At the very most, Democrats should tell the Republicans in Congress that they'll take their "suggestions" under advisement.  And then, do the grown-up work.  But worse, how dare the Democrats, beginning with President Obama, continually capitulate to the infantile demands of a minority so out of touch with the American people? 

In Wednesday's speech, the President implied that enough was enough.  He warned that he would not waste time with those who only sought to kill the bill for political purposes.  For all our sakes, I hope he means it this time.

If You Support The President's Plan, Tell Your Representatives

School Children Safe!

President Obama spoke to school children this morning.

The world still turns.

Hmm...

...So Liberals Aren't Americans?

According to a story on CNN.com, the White House is indicating that it may draft its own health care reform bill.  Check it out... it's worth reading.  But the part that has me so furious as to break away from dinner guests on a beautiful Saturday evening to vent is this quote:

"The bottom line, said the source, is that the president would have to 'move to the center' on the issue eventually, 'and it's not a bad thing to have liberals screaming at him.' That development will help sell the deal to Americans and 'convince them it's a good, moderate deal, if liberals are mad.' "

Dear Mr. Source, you are wrong.  Exactly how do arrive at, "If liberals are mad, then it's a good deal for Americans"?  So if I think that it's a bad idea to protect big insurance companies at the expense of the individual, you're saying that my outrage means that that's a good idea for Americans?  I think interracial marriages are just peachy, so that makes it a bad idea for Americans?

I'm an American!  I've got a birth certificate and everything!

It is OK to be a liberal.   I made that very argument just last week. The United States is made up of all kinds of people with all kinds of ideas.  Conservative ideas are not inherently the right ones, and liberal ideas are not necessarily fraught with peril.  It's that numb-skull thinking that has allowed the right to hijack what should be a serious discussion that affects all of us, and turn it into a joke.  And that inferiority complex that so pervades the left is why I have yet to see the Democrats ever stand up to the Big Red Menace.  If we can't get something done now, WHEN?

A Health Care Story Without All The Drama

As this debate over health care reform rages on, I find myself wishing that there was a way to explain one's position in a cool, dispassionate way.  I mean, really, we've sort of let passion and emotion run away with the discussion.  It has become about fear, loathing, lies and ignorance.  We haven't talked about it as much as screamed about it.  And I'm as guilty as the next guy.  Isn't there a better way?

Then, BOOM!  It came to me!  Just like that (sound of finger snapping).  Follow me, now... there is a point, I promise you!

I have this steam cleaner I bought a couple of months ago.  It worked great, then it just quit working.  So I called the warranty department who explained that I had to send it to them at my expense.  Then they'd repair it or replace it.  No, I can't take it back to the store.  No there's no place locally I can take it. You know the drill. 

So I packed it all up neatly and  addressed it, and it was ready to go.  Then I went online to UPS's website, and got a quote for shipping it.  Their quote:  $16.35, for standard ground shipping.  Then I went to FedEx.com and got another rate.  Their price:  $22.28.  Finally, I went to the US Postal Service website for a final quote.  Their rate:  $18.69.  Here's where the health care debate comes in.  FedEx and UPS are both private businesses.  The USPS is government run.  I guess you could call it "The Public Option".  And in the face of stiff, non-profit competition from a shady government entity, UPS had the lowest price.

Lesson one:  Private Industry can survive in the face of government competition.

But the saga continues...

So, after lunch with my buddy Silas, I went to the UPS Store next door to mail my steam cleaner.  I explained that I'd gotten a quote from their own website.  The very nice lady at the counter explained that that didn't matter.  The website often calculated the weight wrong.  I said that I'd guessed that the weight was 20 pounds.  She weighed it, and it was actually 17 pounds.  Great!  It should cost less, right?  She said no.  The UPS site is wrong, and it would cost just over $25 to send the box.  "What about my quote?" I asked.  "Sorry."

"Sorry?!"

"Sorry."  And a sympathetic smile.

So I said, "I guess I'll go try the public option."   She wished me luck.

Lesson two:  Competition is good.  Choice is good.

So I took my box to the nearest post office, where I encountered a loooong line.  Dang!  Oh, wait, there's one of those automated mail centers. I went there, and put my package on the scale, and it weighed in at 16.9 pounds.  Cost to mail:  $14.65.  Add insurance and delivery confirmation, and I got it done for  under $17.00.

 Lesson three:  The 'Public Option' gives us choice, and often saves us money.

This was not an emergency.  The cleaner could have been sent any time before the warranty expired.  Heck, I might just go buy a new one if I get tired of waiting.  This is not about a steam cleaner or shipping rates.  This is about health care reform.

Under the current system, when an insurer changes its mind, or decides not to cover an illness or procedure, most people are left with little recourse.  They whine, complain, maybe write a letter or two, then go on and try to pay out-of-pocket as best they can.  Sometimes financial disaster follows.  Sometimes worse.

What the President has promised, and the Congress has a chance to pass, and what Americans have asked for is simply the chance to do what I did:  tell UPS that they cost too much, and I'm going to the post office.

"Put Down The Public Option, And Step Away From The Presidency"

Yesterday, the White House signaled that President Obama was willing to accept a Health Care bill that had no 'Public Option'. The House Progressive caucus, joined by Speaker Pelosi, has said that the House will not pass a bill without that component. Would the President really risk losing 86 votes in the House just to get (a promised) one in the Senate? Rumored grumblings seem to indicate that Progressives would view this as base treachery on the part of the President, and they might go shopping for a different candidate in 2012. Republicans would certainly view it as a victory for 'Tantrum Politics'. Watch the discussion by Keith Olbermann and Eugene Robinson on The Huffington Post.

Well, it hasn't happened, yet. So I won't condemn him. During the election, there were many times that I really disagreed with then-Senator Obama, and he repeatedly proved that he's a brilliant politician. But the bigger problem is that a politician, first and foremost, wants to remain a politician. That should mean pleasing the greatest number of people. But the reality in American politics is that it means pleasing the right people, and lately, that's meant pleasing the Right. I could have sworn he promised something different. I guess we'll see when he addresses Congress next week.

The Presidential Address... Not Suitable for Children?

OK, you and me, we're still 'dating'. You know what I mean... I'm a new blogger, most of my readers are still friends and family (thanks, guys!), and I'm trying to find a voice here. So, like any good relationship, it should start out with honesty. So I'll come clean about a dirty little secret:

I never get my news from Fox News. It's not in my Favorites, it's not bookmarked, and I have no idea what channel it's on.

There. I've said it.

But, if I'm gonna provide political commentary, I have to get info from all sides. Even the Dark Side. And that brings me to today's comment. I was having lunch with Sugar (Mrs. Griffin), wondering what news would jump up and beg to be commented upon. The TV set in the restaurant was on Fox News, and the BIG STORY was that parents are apparently in an uproar over the fact that President Obama will be addressing school-kids next Tuesday. I knew about the school-day address, but outrage? What?!

I get online every day at about 9:00 a.m. Any earlier than that, and nothing's happened yet, and any later, I feel guilty. My homepage is MSNBC. I also check CNN, Newsweek, Slate, and the Huffington Post. So I got back online to see if I'd missed this pivotal story. Of all those sources, only the Huffington Post made mention of this, uhm, phenomenon. So, I went straight to the source, Fox.com.

First, you need to understand why I rarely go to Fox. Whenever I read it, I feel, well, dirty. Like I've been reading something, well, dirty. Today was no exception. 3 minutes into reading the story and the comments, and I was furtively looking over my shoulder, hoping Sugar didn't come in and catch me reading such filth. Sure enough, smack in the middle of the page was...

Parents Outraged At Obama "Lesson"

Here's the gist: Many parents are angered that this guy has the gall to want to talk to their precious children during school time, without first telling the parents what it is he'll be telling them, so they can decide if it's acceptable. Like he can just break in on the internet and talk to every child in America at the same time! And he's got this cockamamie scheme about 'Do well' and 'study hard' and 'write a letter to yourself about how you can help the country'. Who the hell does he think he is... the President?! Oh, wait...

What exactly do these parents think a sitting President will say to their kids? The man is the Leader Of Our Country, for crying out loud! I mean, if a President can't get a little airtime between recess and lunch, who can? Some of the folks commented that, just like having to sign a permission slip for their kid to be allowed to watch a PG13 movie in school, they want to be able to opt out. Most of the folks on the comment board swear that they'll keep their kids at home rather than allow them to subjected to such an atrocity. And that is their right.

So, if you really feel that way, tell me this... Does your child have an Xbox? A PS3? Do you know what games he or she plays, and what's on every level? What TV shows does he watch, and what are the lyrics to her favorite song, and what do those lyrics mean? What websites are in his favorites? Who are all their My Space Friends? What goes on in each and every class every day? What does he talk about with his friends on the school bus every day? Who's that boy whose name is on all her book covers?

Don't get me wrong, I know that no parent can possibly know all that, even if they foolishly believe that they do. I'm just saying that, of all the dangers that are out there, seen and unseen, threatening out precious children, do you really think that a Presidential Address, live, on the internet, streamed to every school in America, and received in the classroom, is really a threat to your kids? I mean, aren't there other things to worry about? Look, I don't agree with everything that the President does or says, but surely a Presidential Address, to the children of America, at school... honestly, is this where you start caring what little Johnny sees?

What's Being Taken Away?

Even before the discussion on health care reform, many conservatives have been bemoaning that this country is being taken away, and that President Obama is dead-set on stripping us all of our freedoms, and, by gum, he's succeeding. Really?!
My question for those of you on the right who are so all up in arms about the freedoms you're losing is this: Exactly what freedoms are you losing?
Please tell me one 'Right' that you had last year that is no longer a 'Right' today.

The right to bear arms? That one's obviously still intact, what with fools bringing assault rifles to presidential events. I wonder what would have happened if anyone had shown up to an event where President Bush was speaking with a loaded rifle?

The right for a man and woman to get married? Still intact. Although, in a few states, gay couples have gained the right to marry.

The right of free speech, and to openly criticize the government? Tea-parties and town halls have shown forcefully that this right is still very much intact.

The right to work at whatever you want and make as much money as you can? The fact that the financial industry is beginning to again pay out huge bonuses, despite public outrage over the bailout money they received shows that while the government can help the private sector, it can't dictate to it. Hmm...

The right to worship as you please? The religious have been more vocal, not less. And they are being more hysterical without any intervention from any government entity. Hell, an abortion doctor was gunned down in church (!!), and I wonder, where's the outrage from the left over right-wing terrorism?

The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? How has any one of these inalienable rights been threatened? Obama’s imaginary ‘Death Panel”? The federal government’s secret task force that’s been set up to make Happiness run faster, thus making it harder to pursue?

Tell me one thing that's been taken away. Tell me one thing that's changed about the country.

We still worship money (His name is on all our currency).

We still distrust our fellow man.

Most of us still do nothing without first wondering what's in it for us.

We still love fast food (Even at the worst part of the recession, McDonald's showed a healthy profit).

We still practice religious hypocrisy (People who claim to believe in God openly ridicule anyone who claims to have actually spoken to Him).

The highways still take you anywhere you want to go, whenever you want to go there. (The government builds and maintains the roads, you know.) Additionally, you are still free to buy whatever car you can afford, regardless of its fuel economy rating. Hummer and Land Rover are both still open for business.

The United States Post Office will still take a letter from Key West, Florida to Seattle, Washington for 42¢! And for a couple of bucks more, they’ll personally hand-deliver it to the recipient, have him sign for it, and send proof that the guy got it, all within a week! For less than $5.00! (Some of you may not know that the USPS is also run by the government)

We still like TV (even Reality TV, even though we all know that it's crap!) We are still allowed to obsess over Jon and Kate. Fox news is still allowed to be Fox News. MSNBC is still allowed to be MSNBC. Keith and Bill are still allowed to be Keith and Bill. CNN is still free not to fire Lou Dobbs for sheer stupidity. Fox is still free not to fire Glenn Beck after calling the POTUS a “…racist who hates white people!” (You know, the president’s mother was white, as were the grandparents who raised him. Just thought you should know that.) Millions of Americans are still free to agree with the man and the sentiment, and millions of people are also still free to think he’s a vitriolic fool.

WHAT THE HELL HAS CHANGED?

The fact is the entire world has changed. And the United States of America had better keep up. This is no longer a world where every leader of every country is arbitrarily a white male. This is no longer a world where the smartest guy in the room is necessarily white. Or even a male. This is no longer a world where selfishness and ruthlessness are summarily rewarded. Looking out for the little guy, and taking care of the members of society with the least amount of power isn't socialism... actually, it's sort of what that 'Jesus' guy was talking about. You know, ‘Turn the other cheek, give to the poor, blessed be the meek, yada yada yada…’ I thought you knew that that’s what he was saying.

This is a world that will be driven by the best and the brightest, regardless of their melanin level. I know it's scary. But if you don't keep up, this new world will not wait for you. You will be left behind, stuck in the early-to-mid 1900's when real men were white, and women and coloreds knew their place. And when everybody but you thinks that this brave new world is great, and you’ve been left behind, don’t say you weren’t warned.