Lucky Number 7

It's pretty poignant that the Dow closed at 777 points under its starting point today. In the mecca of gambling, Las Vegas, landing on triple sevens is the equivalent to a near miracle while the triple digit loss in the financial world is a near disaster. But, ironically, both results are the outcome of a large, impractical gamble. As the greatest country in history scrambles to patch the damage and its citizens frantically paw for those who are at fault; the remains of our gamble hover in the air, unfinished business that may result in a longer stint in gambler's rehab than we were ready for. We loved our endless prosperity so much that we can't accept what it's come to; if not a complete end, a serious traffic jam that may result in more than a few angry drivers and passengers.

Like a kid who mis-budgets and, oops!, spends his rent money on beer and needs to make a whimpering call to his better-off parents to bail him out, the government was poised to step in and bail out our frivolous, mortgage traunching financiers out. The beer loving kid would be more closely watched by his parents and, ultimately, pay them back- perhaps with interest. The government, with the bailout, would have been able to more closely monitor and regulate the flippant financial mega-corps and, eventually be paid back by the reckless recipients of survival money. Americans, in their quest for someone to blame, got so caught up in the idea of helping the 'same people that got us into this mess', that they forgot that we are going to be cleaning up the mess one way or another because the financial company has no rich dad...they WERE the rich dad.

Today, as the news of the House rejection of the spending plan sunk in, a slow, creeping feeling of coolness invaded my chest and other panic-friendly zones. "What will this mean for us? How will we ever get out of this?" "Why is John McCain still blaming this entire fiasco on Barack Obama?!" I have faith in my country. I have faith in capitalism. But I lose faith with the partisan crap that gets in the way of both. I really hope that we can come out of this on the other side.

Thank you, John McCain!

Nothing unites the republican base like an angry liberal. So rather than expressing my ire at the recent antics of Team McCain/Palin, I would like to express my gratitude.

Thank you, John McCain. Thank you for having the courage and fortitude to take a hiatus from the exhausting world of campaigning to return to Washington and take the lead on solving the economic crisis. Your lack of expertise or background in the subject of the economy is nothing compared to your sheer willingness to BE there in Washington while other leaders and experts work to alleviate the fear and uncertainty felt by so many Americans as their lives become precariously close to falling apart.

Much gratitude, Senator, for your willingness to pass up the opportunity to refer to Sen. Obama as ‘your friend’ during the debate that has been long scheduled for Friday in order to join your pal George Bush in the depths of government in Washington. Together you two can discuss how much government IS the problem while you guys are effectively problem SOLVERS; the fact that you both ARE the government is simply a fact that we liberals bring up as a ploy to bring you down.

I even appreciate your generosity in dispensing your good cop surrogates to your less-than-ready VP pick. They are SO quick to thank the press during any public appearance that the governor makes that she is unable to answer any questions. Their excessive politeness must be delighting your kindergarten teacher contingent.

For these, and so many others, reasons, I want to say a sincere Thank You, Senator. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for continuing to put Country First ©.

Hoot Hoot

I have never been good at Science.  And since I don't like to do things that I am not good at (read: embarrassingly bad at), only a few lessons from my mandated 12 year science curriculum are memorable enough to pop back into my head from time to time.  One of such notable lessons falls into the fauna/flora category; to be more specific, nocturnal animals.  I remember being floored by the concept of beings that not only can exist, but THRIVE well after the Cosby Show's closing captions wound up the TV and I was shuttled off to bed.  

It appears that our Commander in Chief has become such a nocturnal animal.  Owl-like, he emerges post news cycle with redundant iterations of that which has already been determined.  Bush returned home to TX, several days after Ike's wrath washed through and just before my Houston friends and colleagues regained electricity and water, to certify that a hurricane had indeed hit the Lone Star State and that, yes, it would take a long time to recover.  I bet he thought that he did a bang-up job there, just because he actually landed and talked to people instead of gravely nodding from 10,000 feet on Air Force 1. 

Later that week, our Chief Executive, emerged to note our economy is in rough shape.  Really?  Is that what all of those white people looking sad while holding cardboard boxes is all about?  He finished with a token call for bipartisanship- a call which, to him, loosely translates to, "Congress should let me do whatever I want.  This should be the policy despite the fact that I've not done much right and clearly don't understand what is going on."   

I wonder if our nocturnal president will continue to disregard our daily reality.  I really don't know if I can answer that question because, again, I've never been good at science.  

Employment

Top 5 surprising bonuses to my new job:

5.  Two office mates that have similar senses of humor AND tastes in music as mine.  Let's just say that "No Diggity" graces the play list.

4.  I can go to the bathroom and/or go get coffee whenever I want.  (BIG bonus for any former classroom teacher that has experienced bladder compromising situations)

3.  No longer an intern, my phone calls actually get returned.  Promptly.

2.  An environment that fosters my newly acknowledged inner-contrarian

1.  A seat at the table where ideas are disseminated and decisions are made.  

Oh, Sarah.

Readers, it's been too long.  

I've taken a prolonged hiatus in order to wrap my head around my feelings towards Governor Sarah Palin's rising star and why it disturbs me so.  Yet, despite my extended thinking period the only thing that I can come up with that the politicos in the mainstream media have not yet said is this: for the first time, I know what people mean when they say that someone gives them a bad taste in their mouth.  She holds a strong, repugnant taste that I feel fully whenever I see or hear her scripted appearances.  I long for a breath mint, a wave of refreshment, when she repeats the half truths that I am convinced she believes as strongly as the Word of God.  I wonder if one swish of Listerine is enough to eliminate the bacteria that is spreading from the GOP's personality war- and the lack of substance beneath the facade of 'non-blinking clarity'.  Aside from her social platform, which makes me cringe to think about, she believes that the War in Iraq (and really anything else in life, such as environmental crises) are acts of God, doesn't know her Pakistan from her Tajikistan and considers reform more important than governing.  A winning combination of grit and pragmatism she is not, rather a reactionary and caustic leader who feels that an oblique view of Russia's country side provides key insight into the actions taken from the Kremlin.

In my attempts to cleanse my palate from the countless Sarah Palin media spots, I'm struck by two thoughts:, the first being that John McCain is effectively dodging the spotlight and thereby misleading America as to who he actually is.   The second, more shocking revelation is that I get why some people just don't like Barack Obama, the gut feeling that many conservatives must feel when they hear his voice is the same that I feel towards that of Gov. Palin.  Perhaps they just don't believe him, and their completely different stances on social issues reinforces their belief that Obama is not only dangerous but also oblivious to the needs and realities of the Common American.   But I bet that Obama would have been able to voice his opinions on the Bush doctrine, and I hope that he would have said, "Bush didn't blink, but I guarantee you that as president that I would not only blink but any action taken from Oval Office would be given the amount of considered respect that I hold for the American people."

Republicans Love You!

Until you're born.


...more on this after this blogger cools off and stops her secret evil plans to overtax the average American and threaten health care reform.

Not your Grandfather's Fire Side Chat

In a shocking recent development, I have become addicted to talk radio, especially that of the conservative persuasion.  I enjoy hearing what the other side thinks and to prepare for the times in which I want to be on my toes to counter the economic and social nonsense in their politics.  Most of all, however, I like to pick apart the hypocrisy in the daily rants against the democrats and for the republicans of the world.  Many a time in the past few months I've driven with conservative radio personalities screaming at People Like Me and our destructive liberal tendencies.  While I do think that it is true that I, and the people I choose to socialize with and love, tend to be quite liberal on social issues AND that we tend to be educated to the point of being 'out of touch' with Joe SixPack.  Yet, the vitriolic methods and transparent attempts to brainwash the American radio listeners about the evils of all things democrat seem just as abhorrent as, gasp, Ivy League Universities. 

The selectivity of stories presented by such strongly opinionated conservative havens, inclusive of all Murdoch media outlets, provides a great disservice to Americans who long to be involved in politics.  If this election has the power to do anything, it is to garner a passion for politics and the process that the nation hasn't seen since the our collective spirit was broken in Watergate.  Liberal leaning radio stations are far from balanced in their reporting, yet Conservative talk radio seems to take mind control to a new level.  The goal of each discussion is the dissemination of unilateral opinions concerning the 'other' as well as inundate listeners with so much junk mail that the real messages never make it into the voter's mental inbox.  And yet I still listen, captivated by the slow, methodical pulse of conservative voices beating into the brains of all those who will listen.  

GOP's Morning Sickness

Bristol Palin's baby is a gift from god to Democrats.  The family values party is dealing with the shock of the demise of the 'holier than thou' wedge issues that they cling to, while desperately trying to encapsulate "Palin is a solid choice, is not a thinly veiled attempt to garner Hillary's woman vote AND we respect her daughter's decision," into a catchy 5 word phrase.   It's enough for Karl Rove to need a stiff drink.  Initially, I was insulted by McCain's unlikely running mate choice.  Gov. Palin is, yes, a woman.  That is about as far as it goes for the women-friendly track record of the life-long NRA member.  I've had a few days to calm down about the choice, and I am now slightly hopeful that the GOP are so far off on their assumptions of the American constituency that the choice will push some disenfranchised Hillary voters finally into Obama's camp: the assumption that they just want ANY woman is, plainly, too much for even the staunchest of Hillary Nobama supporters to bear.  

Bristol shall be bearing the nation's youngest GOP faithful, in the spot light with a shot gun marriage to boot.  I wonder if Bush will lend them the family ranch at Crawford to celebrate the holy union.  The girl, perhaps as a giant middle finger toward her mother or perhaps because there are lots of 17 year olds that are sexually active, without access or education about contraceptives.  Maybe this pregnancy was planned after all.  But I can't imagine the Governor hailed for her staunch social conservatism was in support of such a plan.  Either way, the family values party is treading water and hoping (PRAYING) that the democrats do something so scandalous that this little issue becomes a small distraction.  God only knows, the difficulties that are inherent in teenage pregnancies are about to be magnified as Bristol goes through the process in a very choreographed and intrusive manner.  

I realize this is a delicate situation, as teenage pregnancy is a major life-changer for tens of thousands of young American women each year and, needless to say, the opportunity for a woman (regardless of age) to choose how to address an unplanned pregnancy is critical.  I am just happy that the wedge attack that is doubtless planned for launch against Obama's call for early sex education is now off the table.