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-two days left of George W Bush... and I'm baking pies while listening to the news.

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Well, today's news story on constant re-play is of course the governor from Chicago Rod Blagojevich who was arrested on federal corruption charges. Supposedly he wanted to sell off the senate seat that was left open by Barack Obama for his own financial gain. Of course I'm a bit of a cynic (oh all right I'm a huge cynic) and I think many politicians use their political positions for their own gain (travel, trinkets, influence, donations) but seriously this doesn't even really make sense to me. How stupid can you be? Obviously though the governor makes the decision a lot of input comes from the party and elsewhere.
And having phone conversations about the fact... didn't anyone learn from Monica Lewinski's Linda Tripp recorded conversations?
Did John Edwards really think he could have had an affair (and a child?) and win the nomination for the presidency without anyone finding out about it? What a mess THAT would have been. People talk... Think of Clinton, Gary Hart, even Gingrich's behavior.
I'm starting to think politicians are a dumb lot, not all of them of course but... seriously idiotic behavior considering.
Jeeze, don't they get the concept of "being in the public eye?"

If there's a special election to fill Obama's seat instead of an appointment I wonder if there's a strong democrat to win it.
Not familiar with Illinois politicians and I'm sure the republicans would love to gain that seat. We'll see how they handle it.

Steve Colbert was on Conan O'Brien last night and did the "In the year 2000" piece with him. Funny.

Tonight I've been very busy. The next few days I'm baking things for early Christmas gifts and to try out a couple of recipes.
So, here's a few photos to explain why this post is not all that long.
One pie is for us, one for my mom. Was disappointed by how the crusts cracked but house smelled so yummy.
Had a piece with my hot tea just now and it was good. Apple Raspberry!
All that stuff taking up residence on my kitchen table until tomorrow night will turn into Christmas cookies tomorrow...







So forgive me if I have a few short posts here and there but holiday cheer requires me to put in some time baking!

G'night
Doesn't seem like 2009 will bring peace on earth and good will to all.
But you could say that I'm a dreamer, and I'm not the only one : )

Laura

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