Thirty-four days left of the George W Bush rodeo... out to pasture?

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I'm not happy with Rick Warren being the pick for the invocation at Obama's inauguration.
I have no problem with his beliefs as far as they are his but he is polarizing on issues like gay marriage and abortion.
Not all that unusual for many pastors and religious groups but he's not all that tolerant about it.
Could have made a different choice.

I suppose I'll take a bit of criticism for saying this again (said it before the democratic nomination) but while Barack Obama
will certainly add his own slant to the government many things will be politics as usual.
He won't be overhauling the whole system and changing the way all things are done. It won't happen.
As we have seen all ready with the rush to jump on the initial bailout package and now the battle in the senate over the auto bail out... there are things that won't go well, things that are decided for reasons other than nobility and promises made to the public. They are calculated and political chess playing.

Barack Obama is if nothing else very intelligent, ambitious and thinks things through. He knows the game.
You don't rise that quickly without being aware that he needs to placate the right people or when the 2010, 2012 elections come up the party (and him) could lose their favor (read as their advantage of numbers) in congress.
He can't let that happen so like almost every president (and businessperson) before him he will change accordingly.
If constituents don't like something (like gay marriage for instance) and there are a large number of them in key places things change. There are deals and trade offs... just because he's Barack Obama doesn't mean that will all change overnight.

If you look at his picks for his cabinet (and I'm not really complaining here about them at all) you will realize they were picked for reasons, calculated and thought out reasons. The fit into the pattern he wants (or needs) to present.
I'm not saying that's bad or that he won't be a great president but he's only human, a mere man, and subject to certain laws of nature. Knowing the parameters of the game and playing it well isn't necessarily a good or bad thing, it simply depends on how it unfolds in this place, with these particular players, in this particular time. Idealism will have to take a back seat to political necessity. Not if he wants to get anything done and most importantly get re-elected in 2012.
I wonder if "no drama Obama" will hold true over the four or maybe eight years of his presidency.
That would probably nominate him for sainthood...
Hey remember "Read my lips: no new taxes"

And please someone with some kind of power tell the current RNC republicans NOT to campaign the entire next four years.
I'm sick of it all ready and all we have is the president elect Obama. There are more important things to consider.

So we're going to screw the auto industry for now. Sad, for the people that work in the industry: the entire industry not just manufacturing. And they now say the TARP payouts didn't accomplish what they were supposed to do... (Whine, whine, wink, wink)
Hey no shit Sherlock! I'm not a CEO, a business person or an economist and I'm certainly not a politician but I thought that in all it's incarnations the 700 billion bailout sucked and likely wouldn't fix anything.
A whole lotta chump change.

Still think 2009 is going to be business as usual for Main Street USA???

Need to stop now as my cynicism is rearing it's ugly head just like Putin over Palin's Alaska.
I'll put my rosy glasses back on so I can get some sleep and just stop talking about politics.

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Personal:
Finished all the outside shopping today and started wrapping, ran out of energy though.
Still have considerable baking (pies and cookies) to do this weekend, but I'll get it done.
Mentally and physically stressed at the moment.
So I just dug out something to make me laugh (okay so maybe it was more like a smile) but that's an improvement cause I'm really tired and grumpy.
Me and Papa Bear Bill O from the O'Reilly factor (what is it a factor of or in by the way?).
It was a joke, an escapade and I knew it would make me smile.
Now if anyone out there knows Stephen Colbert I would really, truly like to meet and talk to him!
Ain't it cute to see the liberal elitist social worker and the conservative... (what exactly is Bill again?) pun... dit together.
Well, we both hail from New York. Does that make him a liberal, elitist, cosmopolitan like all the rest of us Islanders?
Aw, cute ain't he? Besides you can't hear him talking in a photo... well maybe his fans can but I definitely can't.



G'night
All is well (or at least that's what I tell myself all the time)

Laura

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Forty-five days left of Prince George... Obama to the rescue?

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Listened to Obama's "Public Works Program" speech.
Might work. Could work. We'll see. Probably will need to make it work.
Wondering how the government will payroll all this mess... guess we're going to find out.

I went on an excellent adventure last night.
I used the opportunity to make my first short video with my brand new Flip Mino.
Though the video isn't any fantastic accomplishment I still had a lot of fun doing it.
Making and editing the video was so easy to do I would recommend it to anyone.
I was amazed. Would make a good Christmas gift for anyone who wants to make You Tube Videos
So don't judge me too harshly on the video, I didn't try for anything remarkable and had no idea what I was going to say.
Expected most of the clips to not come out considering my total lack of experience with the whole process.
Pleasant enough surprise.



I'm not a huge Bill O'Reilly fan, actually I'm more a Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert type.
I still do read and watch both sides for that is the way to stay informed and to decide based on all opinions and facts.

An agreement in the Democratic Party on a package to help out the auto industry that could be voted on next week. Hmm.
The dems have to be careful what they do and say... was listening to Barney Frank talking about the auto money issues
and he stated that the Dems were planning on passing what they wanted to after Jan.
"If this were next year and Barack Obama was in office and we had the 58 or maybe 59 democratic senators then we would be able to break a filibuster, but so we'd have to compromise... we will reserve the right next year when we have a better president and a better congress to replace that 25 billion from the TARP, they won't be able to stop us then. We're not asking them to sign off on it we're simply giving notice that's something we have the option to do later..."

Now Barney sweetheart, I know what you're saying and it has merit, substance and logic to it but you can't use that language without irritating folk especially republican congressfolk and senators... Seriously you sound like the republicans that took over that you've previously complained about their lack of inclusiveness and um, arrogance? Not very humble language there.
I'm a democrat, fairly liberal for the most part and it really annoyed me Barney.

Are we getting rid of Gitmo or not?
And wonder of wonders I didn't hear or see anything about Sarah Palin today. Oh Happy Day.
Read at CNN that Sunny von Bulow died. I remember that case, she was in a coma and her husband Claus was tried and convicted of trying to kill her and then it was overturned. Probably have to be older to remember that story but here it is:
28 years in a coma

Okay well, going to bed need some of that ever elusive sleep...

G'night

Laura

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