Twenty-one days left of GW

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Everyone's in an uproar about Blagojevich's senate choice of Roland Burris.
I think it's fascinating. This guy is interesting if not a wee bit delusional...
Apparently he decided to blow off just about everyone and go ahead and appoint a new senator.
Once again just when I think our political system can't get much stranger, something new comes along to poke at me.
I'm probably in the minority here but I think though Blago might be removed from office (or rather forced from it) but
I still don't think he's going to jail but we'll see.
So who is this Burris and will "they" be able to remove him from office too? Holy dirty politics batman!
To find out what happens next week stay tuned, same bat-time, same bat-channel.
Our politicians are amazing and I really don't mean that in a good way.

Now Franken is still ahead of Coleman in Minnesota, so of course the "election officials are all unjust and favor Franken."
After the absentee ballots are finished we should know for sure (ha) maybe next week (temporarily anyway).
Sounds like a court case to me either way, perhaps the supreme court of Minnesota has a thought on this fun mess.
Maybe both candidates should harken back to a certain Presidential election and Florida... tear yet another page out of the dirty play book. I don't like either of them, perhaps they should start over with new candidates wouldn't take much longer really.

Our system is starting to seem so ludicrous to me at this point (both sides, all around).
And since we all elect our officials (remember it's a democracy) to represent us as citizens of our own fair states and the country... the part that worries me is that they actually do represent us accurately. It's not possible is it?
I feel like we could compile and release an entertaining DVD titled "Politicians behaving badly" or "Congress gone wild."

And the RNC defends the Chipster's use of "Barack the Magic Negro."
I give up. Seems we're going backwards instead of forwards. Tacky and stupid is in style again.
The Republicans are gearing up for an all out fight on any economic stimulus package of the new administration.
But we need to be very careful here... the economy isn't all that stable, middle class is bleeding and it's no time for partisan politics.
Though I'm not surprised by this as we really don't learn from our past mistakes...
Hey, Senator Bipartisan "reach across the aisle" Maverick McCain, maybe you could help out?
Though it seems that the republicans need to worry about being condemned by their own fellow party members these days.

Well, I'm sure of one thing for this new year coming up:
I'm not sure of anything at all that's ahead for 2009.
I want to believe that it will be a good year, hell, the start of a good decade but...

Maybe I'm just less optimistic when I'm sick, or is it more cynical? ::shrugs::
Going to make mug of hot tea, take medicine, crawl under covers and hide until tomorrow.
Now there's a plan.

G'night

Laura

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Twenty-four days left of Prince George and his band of not so merry men...

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Good God, I'm starting to think that our country is run by a bunch of selfish, angry, incredibly dumb and totally spoiled children...
What is it that has me bothered now?
The cd "parody" that Chip Saltsman (who's jockying to to lead the Republican party) sent RNC members titled "We Hate the USA" which was some kind of ill advised Christmas gift.

One of the songs on this wonderful cd was sung to the tune of Puff the Magic Dragon.
Except that it was titled "Barack the Magic Negro." Amazing. Doubtful that Peter, Paul and Mary liked that infringement.

Great now they think they not only have to remain politically incorrect but they have to be bleepin' lousy comedians too?
Oh, I'm sorry it was only intended as a joke...
Yea. A disrespectful shot at the first black President who hasn't even yet taken the oath of office?
Talk about poor taste... The Chipster apparently didn't get the memo the RNC surely must have sent out about not being seen as racist or doing anything stupid at Christmas time. Remember Jesus the uniter not the divider?

So Saltsman has come out of the closet officially... as... stupid and tacky? Yup.
Ya'll want to have a beer with the Chipster, Cheney, Bush, McCain and Palin? Don't forget to invite Joe the, um, Plumber.
The song was heard last year on the Rush Limbaugh show, and though he was criticized for playing it, nothing happened to Mr."do as I say and not as I do" Limbaugh. So Don Imus had to go and Limbaugh stayed? Not even the obligatory firing and then rehiring? How disappointing.

Which brings me to this thought: Why isn't being called "Joe Six Pack" offensive to people?
What exactly is being implied by that label anyway?
Was I a soccer mom because I ferried my kids around? I'm pretty sure I was atypical and definitely didn't adopt a sports team.
I seriously hate stereotypes they're so damned limiting especially when you start living according to them.

Our political system has me so frustrated, it would be laughable perhaps if it wasn't my country flailing around instead of working together. I hope Obama is right and it is still possible to get things done because congress is a joke no matter who's in the majority.

The education of our people isn't even a prime concern anymore... I've listened to a procession of presidents now that stated that they would be the one that would put education first and fix our public school system. Yeah. Right.
Affordable college... Uh, huh. Universal standards for teachers. That's funny.

We're reaping what we've sowed these days and totally unprepared for hard times, so hope they don't come.
Scam artists rampant in the system like Madoff, officials ignoring warnings deliberately, economy going to hell in a hand basket but hey, everything's fine Joe six pack, jus' have another beer... We're watching out for you.

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So this is christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very Merry christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

John Lennon (Oct 1940-Dec 1980)
Still think of John at Christmas.

Politics as usual gives me a headache these days
Like the saying:
If you're not outraged
You're not paying attention.

G'night,
Sorry I'm so, err, grumpy.

Laura

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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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