Don’t quibble about the cigarettes

If that is Obama’s vice while he deals with the most insurmountable problems of three generations, well, we are just going to have to get over it.

Clinton and JFK were philanderers.  Reagan had Alzheimers and his admininstration kept us in the dark.  Bush II was a “recovered” alcoholic and chose  to let others make decisions for him. 

News flash:  Obama is mortal with flaws.  Not a great example for the kids, but it is a lot better than what most Americans do: slam down some whiskey shots, take sedatives, take out their problems on other people, etc. 

So, everyone, chill.  We gave GWB a lot of slack.

Lou Dobbs

Dear Lou:

As one of the limp-minded, lily-livered lefty lemmings who thinks you’ve gone off the rails, I did have a moment of compassion for you:   Ann Coulter criticized you.  You must have gone so far off the reservation that a limp-minded, lily-livered RIGHTY lemming wouldn’t follow you into the abyss.

Wow.  

P.S.:  Lily-colored liver: (a) is not possible, (b) doesn’t matter anyway, (c) shows a ridiculous attempt at nonsense consonance, or (d) all of the above.   I give you the facts; you decide.

NRA and Judge Sotomayor

From the AP, August 1, 2009:

WASHINGTON – The National Rifle Association‘s threat to punish senators who vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has been met with a shrug by Democrats from conservative-leaning states and some Republicans who are breaking with their party to support her.
I applaud the following who are defying the NRA threat and voting for Judge Sotomayor:

NRA A-plus-rated and NRA-endorsed Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, Montana

NRA A-rated Sen. Jon Tester, Montana

NRA A-rated and NRA-endorsed Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee

Thank you, gentlemen, for doing what is right.  (Now, if only you would put your guns away . . . . )

When there is no “news”

Michael Jackson is still dead and his children are in his mother’s custody. Congress is in recess.  So far, no more GOP family values scandals. The beer summit concluded.  What is there to report about?

Hmmmmmmm.

The economy, health care reform, Iran elections, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel’s settlements, industrial poisoning of villagers in China, North Korea, Myanmar, Nigeria, etc., etc.

Nah, not those.  Too heavy.  Berlusconi’s love and sex scandal!!  Ahaa.   G-d bless Italy.

First, Crowley and Gates, then O’Donnell and Trump?

USREPORT-US-OBAMA-RACEObama hit the BIG KUMBAYA with Officer Crowley and Professor Gates.

Even those commentators who rail against Obama actually complimented him.  I don’t really know how I feel about it because the president cannot settle every dispute and he is not the Referee-In-Chief.  So, maybe it was a teachable moment in do-it-yourself mediation, preferably with some form of social lubricant or liquid confidence.

So, here is the lesson.  IT WASN’T ABOUT OBAMA.  It is about two people who need and WANT a forum to work things out.  And that makes Officer Crowley and Professor Gates the true stars of this summit.  This was a racially/socially/politically charged event and the two in the middle reached across the divide and set an example for a nation.

So, in that vein, Rosie O’Donnell made an overture to the Donald, which he turned down in a way in his typical fashion.  He was offensive.  Rosie, nice gesture, but don’t wait for Donald. He doesn’t have the right stuff.

A beer with the Prez

I don’t drink beer.  After four years of smelling mung beer in fraternity basements in college, the mere suggestion of beer makes my nose hair curl.

Have a beer with the President? You bet.  What, my strong aversion to beer?  Nah, dude.  If that is my ticket to have a sit down with the most powerful man in the nation (who happens to have the cutest ears in the nation), then, what me, an anti-beerist?  I’d even drink a rusty can of Rheingold circa 1969 if it gets me on the patio in the Rose Garden.

So, as I see it, here is how I need to orchestrate my 45 minutes with the Big Guy.  I have to do something outrageous that actually sparks outrage.  (I do outrageous stuff all the time, but no one seems to care.)  It has to threaten the kumbaya veneer of society in a menacing, yet ultimately not physically harmful, way.  Then it has to be on the 24-hour news RE-cycle, just in time for a Presidential press conference where the President is tired and talking about really important things critical to the nation’s future. Then, with seconds to go before he gets to leave the press room, have his make-up washed off and kick back with Michelle, a friend with press credentials has to ask about my incident.  Hopefully, he will be annoyed and the incident will touch a chord in him and he will have an authentic, I-am-human-and-I-have-unscripted-opinions moment.  POUNCE!!  I got my beer.

So, here is my checklist to close this deal:

  1. outrageous behavior: easy
  2. outrageous behavior that is offensive but does not involve weapons: hmmmmm.  Watch celebrity TV shows for ideas.
  3. get attention for outrageous behavior: Get a walk-on spot on “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!!”
  4. get on 24 hour news RE-cycle: [Do I have to say nice things about CNN?] Start by being an iReporter.
  5. time it with an important press conference:  after August recess when Congress is fighting over the health care bill.
  6. have a friend with a press pass to the White House:  We need to break this agenda item into 3 subparts:  (a) Find a friend, (b) find a friend with press pass and (c) find a friend with press pass to White House.
  7. have friend ask a question on my outrageous behavior (which I learned from the celebrity TV shows or the coverage on the Michael Jackson family circus):  do you think tickets to the US Open Tennis men’s and women’s finals will do it?
  8. Get Obama ticked off:  easy, just ask my partner.
  9. BEER TIME!!!!

Obama’s comment

I, for one, cannot imagine what it is to be racially-profiled or black in America.  So when No Drama Obama says something out of character, it may come from a place that I have never been and can never understand.  And I am grateful never to have been “there”.  So, I don’t judge the comment.

At his news conference, President Obama spoke almost entirely about health care until the last question.  The 24-hour news recycle only focused on his answer to that last question, the one about Professor Gates.

Here is a man who is handling crises at home and on every continent every day and who is juggling numerous policy initiatives toward a stronger country (many may disagree with his approaches, but not his commitment to this country).

Whether or not he needed to apologize, he did apologize.  SO, LET IT GO and get back to hitting him hard on the issues that matter — economy, Iraq, Iran, N. Korea, healthcare and where Michelle and he are going for their next date night.

Birther conspiracy theorists and Obama’s Mama

I miss the Jon and Kate plus 8 drama.  I never watched them, never cared about their marriage issues, her diva episodes or his new girlfriend.  Now I am sad that they don’t even hit the summary page on Yahoo anymore.

Why? Because now we read about the birthers, the ones — including GOP congressmen — who think that President Obama was actually foreign born and uses a fake Hawaiian birth certificate.  To be fair, on The Chris Matthews’ show, a congressman said that if John McCain had been elected, we would be talking about him in this way, as well.

So these birther conspiracy theorist would have had a field day over a white male Vietnam War hero born to a Navy admiral living on an American base in the Panama Canal Zone?  Let’s ponder this.  Hmmm.  I think not.

Barack Obama was born in Hawaii to a mother who was a US CITIZEN.  So, what these people are really talking about is President Obama’s MAMA.  Now, if you talk about someone’s mother, be prepared for yours to be dragged into the fray.

If we all go back far enough, one or more of our grandparents or great grandparents were born somewhere outside the United States.  I am not an immigration scholar, but if my mother who was born in, and a citizen of, the United States gave birth to me in Toronto, Canada, while on vacation, wouldn’t I still be eligible to be a sitting president?

Thought for Today, July 23, 2009: Unpatriotic Fox News

For eight long years, I was one of those “unpatriotic” Americans because I loved this country and disagreed with the Bush administration and its policies.  But I still watched the president’s press conferences and respected the presidency while I had trouble with the man in that office (don’t get me started on Cheney).

Fox News thinks it is ok not to show a presidential press conference because it is opposed to President Obama’s politics.  In the prior administration, the talking heads would be challenging the patriotism of any news outlet that didn’t carry a press conference.  Are those at Fox News selectively patriotic, as in only when a conservative is president?

I loved this country and respected the government even when I personally hated the policies.  What is Fox News’s excuse?

President Obama and health care

I watched the President’s press conference last night.  The commentators seemed disappointed that the President is a mere mortal.  Asking for guarantees as one reporter did requires a crystal ball and the reporter posed an unanswerable question.  There are no guarantees.  There are only projections and good faith efforts to fix a problem that has lingered too long.

Let’s support a global, cogent plan to make an efficient system with improved services and work toward making that plan a reality.  We have to change the system.  There will be sacrifices.  But there are already sacrifices now.  Inefficient, costly and below average care for too many people.  We can’t let the system stay as is.  Those who only say “no” need to get out of the way.  Either come up with a plan or shut up.