Obama's Back Baby!

I haven't spoken for so long I have missed some good stuff. My posts serve as an online diary for me, chronicling my world as I live it; my response to outside forces especially power (politics) and money (finance). What will I think of myself in 2011 without this context to slay my convictions?

So what did I miss? The State of the Union address where the President b-slapped the Democrats, the Republicans and the Supreme Court. Oh no he di'n't!

Then he followed up with a mid-America world tour just to drive the points home. I always liked that line (of many from The Smiths) "it was dark as I drove the point home..." If you know me, you know I digress frequently and often. After all, I am a trivial pursuit.

Anyhow, George Clooney engineered a Live-Aid lite concert to raise funds for Haiti and it was good.

The President again showed some b@lls by attending the House Republican retreat in Baltimore and answered their questions so well that Fox News had to cutaway. Oh no he di'n't!

Since the Democrats are running for the hills and healthcare seems all but dead despite the Democrat majority 59-41 in the Senate, the President now has to swing his own b@lls to the bully pulpit. He has been painting the Republicans as obstructionists and challenging them to come up with solutions.

Obama's Back Baby. I don't know if he'll keep it up but it is a start. But whatever happens, at least I got back my HGTV.

Candidate for Sale

Boy, have I been suffering technical difficulties. My laptop is on the fritz and I can't seem to get myself to a stationary PC to do my post. We have the heat concentrated in a few areas in the house so the laptop gives me the flexibility to write without freezing to death which is what I'm doing now. Since I do not want to be one of those blog writers who suddenly disappears into the blogosphere with nary a notice nor a warning, here I am.

Even though I did not write much down, my brain was a constant whir what with the Supreme Court decision that essentially unleashed unlimited corporate funds, both foreign and domestic, into our election process. The corporation, they determined, is a living being and therefore entitled to free speech. Great! Now they can blatantly undermine the free will of the people by essentially buying elections if they so choose and what can we do about it? Lobbyists just received the largest boost a high court could ever bestow. Congress, so far, has been powerless before them and now, Congress might as well attach sponsorship logos to their suits.

In response, I am offering myself up. I am willing to be a bought candidate. Why not, I'd have fame, power and somehow, after serving in office, I'd be rich. What's not to like for the common man, so sayeth Newt Gringrich. He posited that the Supreme Court decision is great for middle class candidates because now they will have access to a larger donation pool. Oh have we taken a leap back.

Massachusetts Democrats Lose Kennedy's Seat

So the Democrats have lost Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts, thus losing their super-majority status in the Senate. It was the Democratic candidate's to lose and she blew it.

In theory, the Democrats can still get things done in the Senate but they have steadfastly shown themselves to not have much fortitude when they are up against the Republicans so we probably shouldn't hold our breath. Certainly the healthcare bill is threatened but many of us are not so certain we like it in its current form anyway.

The Republicans will call this a referendum against President Obama and the Democrats and we certainly won't hear the rest of it. But, since most of the masses are still ravaged by the recession, and this past year looks like the year Wall Street rooted the Treasury and laughed all the way to the bank, negative populism can easily overcome the masses. And sadly, it has.

In one short year, Americans appear to be forgetting how the Republicans set the stage for their financial ruin and are quickly voting them back in. But then again, if the solution to fixing the economy was to give money to the financial institutions who caused it, I guess the way to fix the government is to vote back in the people who broke it.

Collective Amnesia

Unfortunately, we are suffering in an increasingly acrimonious political climate - the fact that the Republicans can be so downright nasty as to wring any joy or hope out of Obama's presidency is staggering. People are flocking to purveyors of negativity in such distressing fashion that they have managed to blame the President for everything that is wrong in America. Why are we allowing such collective amnesia?

The fact that we have an opinion (in the guise of news) channel that can claim number one status because there are so many followers of its relentless negativity should make us all shudder. Yet, they are making inroads and we will regret this when we start to vote all of these haters into office come November. Because, their supporters will show up in droves, the rest of us will not and by apathy allow it to happen.

There may be many things wrong with America but allowing a culture of hate and by extension allowing the political party that brought us the last not so wondrous decade to return should bring us pause.