Hey, Nancy, I Might Be Wrong, I Might Be Crazy: I'm Skeptical that the First Is True, But About The Second One?

Now, I don't claim to be a constitutional scholar, but I actually have read the U.S. Constitution many, many times...in its entirety. So today's news that a Florida court has ruled that Congress overstepped its constitutional authority in passing, as part of the Affordable Care Act (lovingly referred to by its conservative opponents as Obama Care), a requirement that all Americans have to purchase health insurance is most welcome news. In fact, the judge ruled, essentially, that if the individual mandate is unconstitutional then the package as a whole is unconstitutional, as that egregious part was not "severable" from the aggregate. The lawyers who wrote it outsmarted themselves by including language that would have provided for severalibilty and then removing it. Well, I guess, Nancy (Pelosi), maybe we should have opened that there 2000-plus page monstrosity up, read it thoroughly, found out was it in it (and we knew, in fact, that this was), thought about it a lot more, before we passed it. In politics in the modern world, one party, regardless of which one it might be, can't railroad, ramrod, and steamroll  a piece of legislation to passage without everyone knowing that is what happened...and that's what happened when this was passed by Congress and then signed into law by the President. Something this huge, this significant to so many should not be subject to the tender mercies of partisanship. It's gotta' be a team thing...you know, all in.


In passing this power play, its supporters most assuredly cited at least two sources of authority to do so. In that the federal government is not expressly given the power to regulate health care, congressional supporters most certainly argue that the broad basis of their doing so rests in. Article I, Section 8, Clause 18, the "implied powers" or "necessary and proper" clause which states, "The Congress shall have Power - To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."
This has oft been interpreted by loose constructionist legislators to mean that Congress can do whatever it wants whenever it wants about whatever it wants...as long as, of course, no one sues and the Supreme Court then uses its power of judicial review to say, "Nope...can't do it." From this broad foundation, these Hamiltonian interpreters of the USC then cite, as more specific grounds for their being able to pass legislation regarding health care and health insurance, which, as noted, is not an enumerated power, its right to enforce the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, which states that Congress the power, " "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes". Now,  re-read that to yourself carefully. Like the necessary and proper clause, this clause has been interpreted by many as a congressional carte blanche to regulate whatever they want...all they need do is deem whatever it is they want to regulate as commerce, especially interstate commerce, and...there you go...voila!!!. The only problem is that this stipulation was included in the Constitution on the heels of the economic chaos that followed the American Revolution during the short-lived Articles of Confederation era. The new states, who had formerly functioned largely as independent units, except for their colonial economic relationship with Great Britain, were acting like little independent nation-states in their dealings with one another and others, going to the extremes of states setting up tariffs (taxes) on goods coming in from other states (so Georgia peanuts, for example, being trucked into New York would be taxed at the weigh station as they crossed the state line). Needless to say, this situation was hindering to the growth of both economic and political unity and national prosperity.


Given these bases for passage, the problems with the whole issue are several, as I see them. First, health care is not necessarily a right. Perhaps it should be based upon the ninth amendment, which basically says that just because a right was not enumerated in the first eight in the Bill of Rights, doesn't mean that it's not. Everyone should be well but what that entails remains to be seen. The courts have yet rule on this specifically. Secondly, at one point during the so-called "health care debate", the administration and congressional leaders, in diversion of criticism that the new law might affect the quality of health care, said that it was really about reforming health insurance, rather than American health care, which is arguably the best in the world. Well, the problem with that as far as the Commerce Clause is concerned is that health insurance is not even sold across state lines. That fact alone suggests that, as things stand today, this type of legislation is more the constitutional bailiwick of the states, under the tenth amendment, than it is the domain of the federal government. Thirdly, and the really dangerous issue in my mind and that of most its opponents, the individual mandate requiring people to buy health insurance, which was a) necessary to help fund the newly insured under this plan, and b) seems clearly designed, along with the new rules and costs to small businesses that will likely cause many to pay fines in lieu of burdening themselves with the additional expenditures for employee insurance, to push us toward, eventually, a single payer system (socialized medicine), did two things that are difficult to comprehend from a libertarian perspective: 1) it required people  to buy a product because they are Americans and breathing, and 2) it instituted a penalty for not doing so...in other words...you could be fined (punished) for...that's right...doing nothing, taking no action, for the decision not to buy a product, for inactivity, for simply sitting at home on one's derriere. To put it in the vernacular, OMG...that is SO NOT COOL.


If the government can tell us what to buy and penalize us for not doing anything, it is not a stretch to imagine what will come next. It is absolutely frightening to me. Don't get me wrong, I think that there are steps that we can take to make the system better for everyone. Coverage for pre-existing conditions? A good thing, I think, though understandably a costly proposition for insurers. Eliminating lifetime benefits ceilings? A good thing, though obviously expensive for the insurance industry. Allowing young people to remain on their parents health insurance policies longer? Good, but 26? Why not 40? Not sure I get the significance. Preventing insurers form dropping coverage? Theoretically sounds good, but perhaps problematic given costs and certain circumstances. Are there other steps that can be taken that weren't? Heck yes! Medical tort reform...let's face it...a lot of suits are frivolous and some of the awards are beyond comprehension or reason. Allowing insurance to be sold across state lines? Could make insurance more competitive and maybe even more affordable (danger? definitely becomes interstate commerce, but like I said...Congress ain't letting that stand in the way right now anyway). In other areas already under the auspices of the government, reducing Medicare and Medicaid  fraud? Bet it's rampant and costs the system millions each year. I think that there are probably tons of different ideas and solutions that weren't thoughtfully and seriously explored during the last two years. What I would like to see is for us re-visit the topic together, Democrats, Republicans, Tea Party members, medical professionals, insurance companies (that's right...these people are in business to make a profit, as are physicians...the decisions that we make should include them)...involve all of the various stakeholders in the process. TOGETHER, TOGETHER, TOGETHER, I believe that we can forge compromise and a plan of action that are significantly better, more effective, and more affordable than what was strong-armed through last year...oh yea, and one that does not trample upon the Constitution and cause the Framers to spin like tops in their graves.


Today's decision, along with the preceding Virginia ruling and the others that may follow along the road to the Supreme Court, begs the question, "How could it be so clear to so many that this was/is wrong but not to the administration and its allies in Congress?" Of course, the fat lady has not sung, sang...darn it, I can never remember the rule on that one..HAS YET TO SING on this issue, but I hope that I'm right (but, as always, I could NOT be) for all of our sakes that the USSC is going to see what seems so clear to many lay people and that it strikes down the individual mandate, which is the lynch pin of  the entire Obama Care package. Otherwise, Congress may one day pass a law that says that I cannot sit here on my butt writing this blog...I mean, talk about your inactivity now... . A parting thought...I loved how the administration's spokesperson, referring to today's decision, said that it (the administration) hoped that this type of judicial activism would not stand...now that's funny...Democrats criticizing judicial activism. Judicial activism and loose interpretation of the Constitution are long-time staples of the Donks. Let's face it, everybody opposes judicial activism unless it shapes the law as they would like it to be... man, y'all funny. 


Later...

Weighing in on the Latest Play of the Race Card: You Don't Speak for Me, Moron

For me, playing the race card is old...it's just tired, tiresome, and antiquated. The once justified and viable civil rights charge from a bygone era is now largely just a dusty ol' anachronism that just won't go away. And keeping it alive seems to have no real benefit, except, of course, for the temporary purpose of dividing people and deflecting blame and attention. Today, the majority of the time that the race card is played it amounts to nothing more than an excuse...and I have a perspective on excuses...about 99% of excuses are just that...excuses. From time to time, the race card is still pulled from the drawer of useless relics, dusted off, and used as an excuse when receiving unwanted criticism, as an excuse for failing to perform, as an excuse for being incompetent, as an excuse for being unable to stand the heat of being in the kitchen or under the hot lights of the big stage. It is so overused that even white people try to play it. Does racism still exist in America? Of course it does. It resides in the hearts and minds of a minority of very "small" people of every race, ethnicity, and religion, and it finds companionship in and draws energy from the various other forms of prejudice and bias that unfortunately can and do infect and blight the human heart. I don't know, given the imperfection of humankind, if that will ever completely change. But today, racism just isn't the real explanation for most of the things that it is used as an alibi or rationalization for.

This week, Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA...sorry, but that's his affiliation), henceforth to be known herein as MORON, in an interview with an Arab news channel, basically explained away the beating that the Democrats took in the mid-term elections in November as the by-product of "straight up" racism, as one of my absolute fave libs, Janeane Garofalo, would characterize it. First off, why do people say stuff like that in that kind of forum? To me, that's like violating the etiquette regarding criticizing one's family...we can chastise each other to each other, but you just don't crack on your family when talking to strangers...you just don't do it. I wouldn't vote for someone who did that...ever. It's been one of my problems with the President and his "apology tour" foreign policy strategy, but of course, I am probably just being a racist for objecting to his "bend over" approach  to dealing with the rest of the world (of course, what it actually makes me is a patriot).

So let me get my arms around this MORON's charge...the resounding butt whoopin' that the Dems took in November occurred because white Americans don't want to be ruled by a black president? To begin with, U.S. presidents don't rule...that ain't the way this ship runs. To his assertion that one of largest defeats in modern political history was simply manifestation and proof of widespread racism among white Americans, I say, "Baloney!" (I say that only because I am striving not to ALWAYS use the exact words that I am thinking when writing). You know, I would probably never even think about President Obama being black if people like this MORON guy were not constantly reminding us that he is. Despite what I heard Geraldo Rivera (I really don't like Geraldo a lot) say to to O'Reilly the other night, I really don't know any white folks who get all racist every time they gather around the water cooler at work or throw back a couple of beers in a bar. Honestly, I see the President as an extremely bright (not necessarily an asset given that he may just think that he is smarter than everyone else...and that ain't always good) and personable guy, who clearly loves his family, who likes basketball and other sports (which gives him a bit of an "every man" flavor...and that's a good thing, I think), who seems to have a good sense of humor and a sharp wit, who enjoys having a beer, who is perhaps the most gifted orator of our time (probably got him elected), who, short of experience (seriously short, I might add), seems to possess in his toolbox all of the attributes necessary to be a gifted politician, who is clearly an idealist rather than a pragmatist (and that could work against him), and who seems to possess the ideology of a far left, progressive liberal, perhaps even those of an aspiring pseudo-European-style socialist. Certainly, most of those things are positive, but none make him a bad guy or otherwise unworthy of being president...and without a doubt, none of them have anything to do with his race.

The explanation of November's loss was not race, but instead, rhythm, or the lack thereof. After the Democrats ran the table in 2008, they interpreted their success, as politicians often mistakenly do, as a mandate from the people, as carte blanche to enact legislation actualizing the liberal agenda of the party's far left and the Progressive vision of the President. In reality, I believe that the 2008 mid-term outcome manifested two things: 1) the traditional war weariness that America always experiences as months of fighting turn into years, and 2) the emerging economic panic of a nation whose financial household appeared to be coming apart at the seams. It may have even evidenced "an inconvenient truth" (get it) of a different sort. Let's face it, though re-elected  in 2004, 'W' had a cloud of inevitable doom looming over his head tracing back to his disputed "hanging chad" victory over Al "I invented the internet and discovered global warming" Gore back in 2000. I theorize that, were it not for the patriotic aftereffects and inevitable uncertainty associated with the 9/11 terror attacks and the absence of a really attractive Democratic candidate (Mr. Heinz Ketchup...really?...for those who had forgotten...and let's face it, that wouldn't be that hard to do), Bush 43 could have and perhaps would have been defeated in 2004. The bottom line regarding mid-term 2010 is that many Democrats were wrong about what 2008 meant and are just out of rhythm, out of step with the mainstream of America. The President, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the rest of the port side of the Democratic party were trying to lead us in some kind of weird, artsy-fartsy modern dance that few of us liked or understood, while most of us average folk are still enjoying the twist, the bump, the disco shuffle, the moon walk, the robot, the soldier boy, the salsa, and crankin' it...you get my drift...my flow.... They want us to dance a dance that we are just not feeling. Their Progressive (and I do not mean moving forward and improving here) vision of social capitalism, radical transformation, redistribution of wealth, collective salvation, social justice, and globalism (one world, one love, one economy, one currency, one government) is not one that I think most Americans relate to. Yes, America, like the rest of this rapidly changing world that we live in, must move forward and keep step; after all, he who stands still is destined to get left behind. But, that does not translate into our having  to turn our backs on the ideals, the virtues, the institutions, and the other traditional assets of our forefathers that made our nation great in the first place. Progress just doesn't mean or require that. When you lose sight of and touch with your roots, you lose your identity, your way, your cultural and even moral and compass. If anything, we should hearken back to those things that made us great and build our future progress upon them. The Democrats did not lose the the People's House in November because white Americans resent having a black president. I don't care if this or future PsOTUS are white, black, yellow, green, Polish-American, Latino, male, female, Hindu, Jewish, gay, etc. My support, or lack thereof, will be related to their policies and how they mesh with the ideals and principles that the founders espoused in the U.S. Constitution...it ain't personal. Instead, the Democrats lost because they mistakenly allowed the more liberal elements of their party to gain control of their legislative agenda. Through their vote, the American people have rejected the European social-democratic model, and I, for one, am glad. Most of the best of Europe is in the past, on a plate, or in a glass...and besides, I'm still enjoying the Electric Slide.

Over the past two years, I have been amazed by those supporters of the President who have suggested, and by some who have all but said (and some just  plain-old have) that we should support the President and his policies simply because he is our nation's first African -American president. Look, I am proud that our nation has moved so far and so fast away from the ugly and unfortunate racism that once existed as a cancer upon our culture and that so limited our greatness as a people and a nation. I am certain that in the future we can and will continue to work to eliminate every scintilla of racism that may still be lurking in our midst that we can. I believe that President Obama is a man that Americans of every race and creed can be proud to be represented by. He is a clearly a decent and gifted American. With that said, however, it is my/our fundamental right, in fact, my/our duty as Americans to express our disagreement with and objection to government policies that we do not feel are appropriate, effective, just, or representative of the America that each of us dreams of for ourselves and for our children. Dissent and disagreement, coalition and compromise are the things have separated us from the autocracies of the today's world, as well as those of its past. It is MORONic that we should keep up our mouths shut and just follow blindly 'cause we 'sposed to. People who do that get led into dark alleys, beat up, and robbed. That is the very mentality that the civil rights movement fought so hard to change. I voted for conservative candidates in November NOT because President Obama is black, as Rep. MORON conjectures and rationalizes, but because I disagreed with the direction that his administration's policies and Congress's legislation were taking my country...plain and simple..."straight up". Like I said, that ol' race card is a tired, predictable gambit in an old game that most people ain't even playing anymore...and like the President himself said in the SOTU address the other night, the rules of the game have changed...so to Rep. MORON, I mean Moran (who, by the way, is himself a WASP)...sir, speak for yourself not for me...oh yea, and you have a nice day.

Afterthought...I chuckled to myself the other night at a Facebook status complaining that labels (like harsh, political rhetoric) are a big part of the cycle of infighting and inertia that so dominates politics today...to me, that is a silly assertion...categories and labels are how we organize the superabundance of stuff surrounding us in our world and how we think about it. People have just become way too sensitive about nomenclature...pretty soon, we are will be reduced to talking about "this" and "that", and "him" and "her," and "it" to avoid offending every conceivable member of our audience...???...oh, and by the way, Wile E. Coyote nor Sarah Palin shot Rep. Giffords and those other poor souls in Arizona...a really messed up kid with evil in his heart and mind did...

Later...

Day Ra' View 1/28/11: Nuisance on the Nile and the Neutering of an American Hero?

Well, the proverbial feathers (nicest thing I could come up with) have hit the fan in the land of pyramids and the Sphinx (and Alaa Abdelnaby, former Duke hoopster who is the only Egyptian basketball player I ever heard of - obligatory Duke reference accomplished). Protests raged against the Mubarak regime again today, while several big wigs of the Egyptian high command attended meetings in Washington, an indication that Hosni isn't real worried about the situation at the moment. I listened to the translation of his speech to his people today, and frankly, he seemed a little cocky and defiant in the face of what appears to be somewhat serious socio-political unrest. Some are suggesting that, on the heels of recent, similar unrest that took place in Tunisia, we might be witnessing the Middle eastern version of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I'm not so sure about that. As Americans, it is natural for us to want to support those seemingly in quest of democracy, but it remains to be seen if a) that is the goal and/or if that will be the end result, and b) if it will be in our best interest if Mubarak falls. If the underground Muslim Brotherhood, arguably the most influential Islamic organization in the region, emerges at the roots of these protests or simply usurps a revolution as and if it unfolds, it could take a distinctly Anti-American turn. BHO is in a bit of a sticky wicket, given that Mubarak is an ally (such as they are in the Middle East) of sorts. If he weathers the storm and maintains power, our not supporting him could come back to bite us in the butt. But, if we stand with him and then he's ousted, we will look like crap with the new people's government, whomever it might be. In his brief comments this evening, he President seemed to be trying to straddle the fence. That's a tough chore. In this case, I imagine that it is probably best to roll the dice and side with the Egyptian folks and democracy, if that is indeed what they seek. We've probably supported enough dictators (sorry, Joe) to last us for a while. Despite those who like to pretend that we (America) live in some sort of hermit kingdom  of our own and that the problems of others in the world are just that, their own, we best keep our fingers on the pulse of this sitchy-ation .

Hey, why don't we make a movie about a comic superhero? Who hasn't been done yet? Superman? Nope, he was essentially the first biggie in the genre. Batman? Nope, done with sequels and then a prequel. X-Men? Still doing them, in fact, filming is taking place here. The Incredible Hulk, check, The Green Hornet, in theaters now...dang, who's left? I got it Captain America, let's do him. And, by golly, they are!!! But this morning, I heard a story suggesting that the politically correct director of this flick is working hard to neuter the patriotism of this uber-patriotic superhero...you know, the one WHOSE COSTUME IS, FOR ALL EXTENTS AND PURPOSES, IS A SPANDEX U.S. FLAG!!! I mean what the...if you are going to make a movie about Captain America, for God's sake, how do you do it portraying him as some kind of jingoistic milquetoast, wimp, and lighweight? Jeez!!! I mean I understand that we might offend the rest of the world if we are proud of own country, and I know that we wouldn't want the film to send the wrong message to our children...you know, BE PROUD, BE LOUD, YOU ARE AN AMERICAN. I'm thinking that when this comes out I'm going to voice my disapproval at the box office...or more likely than not, at the Red Box...I'm not even gonna' spend one of my little movie bucks on a reluctantly patriotic Buck Private America...First Avenger, my big ol' butt...


Oh, and about Charlie Sheen...um, never mind...

Oooh, oooh, oooh...Dawgs got a commitment from the nation's #1 Defensive End...and he's a licensed minister to boot...should help out immensely with our reform school squad...

TGIF, boys and girls...

The State of the Onion Address: Man, Something Is Beginning to Smell Up In Here

I love onions...and I love America, but I don't love them for the same reasons. Vidalia, Spanish, Yellow, White, Red, Purple, Green, raw, sauteed, fried (sound a little like Bubba from Forrest Gump, don't I?)...I don't care what kind of onion you serve up my way I like 'em, and I'll eat 'em (cook 'em up with some equally odorous garlic and I like 'em even more). But the harsh reality about onions is that when someone else is eating or has eaten them or not long after you have, the pungent, lingering smell of the onion is anything but a bouquet to the nose...it stinks, and the smell remains seemingly ubiquitous as long as the consumer is still in your vicinity.

America is a great nation, the greatest on earth and in human history. It is living testament to the idea that we are capable of governing ourselves. It offers a freedom that is unparalleled across cultures, places, generations, and time. Too many Americans are oblivious to this fact and are clueless to the blessing that we call "home". But the cold hard reality is that the good ol' US of A is rapidly becoming "messed up," really "messed up". After all, we are a nation in which one can fall into a fountain while trying to walk and text at the same time and then blame everyone else for your being the butt of their jokes. We live in a society where we don't keep score and where everyone gets a trophy, just for showing up. We live in a country where people who enter it illegally can get discounted, in-state tuition (not to mention free public education and health care), while a real U.S. citizen from a neighboring state gets charged as though he was an "alien" to the state next door. We live in a culture that blames the tragic mass murder of a U.S. congresswoman, a federal judge, an innocent nine year-old girl, and a few others on Wile E. Coyote (just kidding...but not really) and harsh political rhetoric (not mine, of course...the other guys). America the Strong, America the Beautiful is rapidly becoming a joke, a shadow of its former greatness, wallowing, if not drowning in its own politically correct, enabling mediocrity. Like the breath of an onion eater, the stench of our own averageness grows stronger and more offensive with the passage of time. America needs to brush its teeth, scrape its tongue, and take a big ol' swig of "Mean Listerine," none of that wimpy "zero" stuff...it just won't get this clean-up job done.

In a bit, the President will give his annual State of the Union address. Unless he really wears a big 'P' (for Pollyanna) on his chest underneath his shirt and tie, this guy is way smart enough to be able to smell America's rotting exceptionalism wafting in our midst. He's the man, the Big Cheese, the Top Dog, the Big Kahuna, the Fearless Leader, the Chosen One, the Last Air bender, if you will. He's arguably the greatest intellect to ever grace the oval office. I am waiting with baited breath to hear what he has to say, to hear his take on "the state of" things, to find out what he thinks is "up" (as I write this, I am listening to a story about proposals to ban texting while...that's right, while WALKING...next thing you know it will be walking while chewing gum that is prohibited...my big ol' butt). I'll finish this post after I've had a listen...later...

Okay, I've had almost two days to chew on the SOTU. On the surface, it was a good speech, long, but aesthetically pleasing. Let's face it....like him or no, liberal or conservative, the guy's a helluva an orator. He's smooth. I would characterize him as affably arrogant. He's a likable guy, and I think he likes him a whole lot, too. Much of his five pillars (not of Islam...but...were they?), the call for more innovation, boosting education, improving our infrastructure and developing our resources, was the fare that almost no one would argue against or criticize. However, underlying much of it was the call for, the requirement of massive spending, or "investment," as this administration is inclined to frame (or disguise) it. I like to refer to the lingo of this administration as "camouflage communication," using language that folks who aren't too smart will think means one thing when it really means something else far less pleasing if we called it what it is. It was also filled with a number of contradictions...we've put money back in the pockets of Americans to break the back of this recession once and for all in extending the Bush tax cuts, BUT we really think that rich people need to give their tax breaks back...we need to reduce the deficit, BUT in the mean time, we need to spend a lot more money...we are going to cut the corporate tax rate, BUT we are not helping those dastardly oil companies...we need to develop our own resources to reach energy independence, BUT we aren't talking about developing our own petroleum resources. And what is his infatuation with "green jobs" and high speed rail? What the hell is a "green job" anyway? Look, if you show me an affordable vehicle that runs on burning kudzu (my idea...you can grow your own fuel in the back yard OVERNIGHT) that doesn't have to stop every 100 miles, or less, for overnight re-charging, I will buy and drive that bad boy TODAY. But the fact of the matter is that, right this second, burning wood 'bout supplies as much of our energy resources as all of those other so-called "green" energy sources combine. And fast trains? Billions, maybe trillions for fast trains? You are kidding, right. Our air transport system is far from perfect, but less face it...I can get in my truck, drive three minutes up the street, get on a plane here on the Island, and connect from there to fly pretty much anywhere in the country, or the world for that matter, and we don't have to spend any money buying any right of way and building any tracks whatsoever!!! I just don't get it...does he have relatives who are banking on parlaying what I believe will be a another massive, mismanaged, money pit (in other words, a boondoggle) into a personal gold mine? On a positive note, the President was spot on when talking education. It does start at home, our culture is more centered upon the celebration of athletic achievement than it is upon academic achievement, as it should be, and No Child Left Behind, which, while noble in intent, is based on inflexible,unattainable goals, does need to be replaced. BUT, none of that is to say that we need more federal money (code for control) infused into improving this condition. Reforms and improvements in education should emanate from state and local forces for change, as local stakeholder have their fingers more on the pulse of what needs to be done and how it can be best achieved. The Constitution does not empower the federal government to micro-manage this critical area of our culture. And what about entitlements, where most of the non-defense budget is devoted? While the President did specifically call for the simplification of the tax code and did make brief and broad allusion to the reform of entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, I was surprised that he did not use the SOTU as a platform for advocating the immediate enactment of the recommendations made by his very own deficit commission. That he did not is exactly why people roll their eyes and sigh when politicians appoint "blue ribbon" commissions to study and suggest solutions for our nation's problems. In the end, most of them and their findings are ignored and forgotten, and they become, in the hindsight of history, big wastes of time and energy.

Last night I wrote a couple of what I called "stream of consciousness" reflections as statuses (stati?) on Facebook. I was amused that just a little while later an obvious Obama supporter that had recently friend requested me posted that unless people were offering solutions on political issues they needed to keep their mouths shut. I am struck at how "rabbit-eared" many Obama supporters are. I listened, without a whine or a whimper, to eight years of Bush bashing, but by golly, if you bash Barry's policies, not the man himself but his policies, you are somehow automatically a racist who needs to be silenced. I even saw one friend who criticized him as not really being liberal (left). Out of political necessity, the President, who is most certainly a full-fledged liberal, has had to tack to the center...or go down in flames in 2012, for certain. The President is a brilliant and personable man, one of many assets. He has in before him now an opportunity, an opportunity to be that post-racial, above-the-fray-of-partisanship president that he advertised himself to be on the campaign trail back in 2008. He is going to have to peddle a more moderate legislative agenda than he would have otherwise liked to, much the same as Clinton did as his presidency unfolded. Yes, it was a good-sounding speech full of pleasing platitudes and American staples, spiced with some progressive vision for the future. But leading isn't speaking...LBJ was a crappy speaker, boring as the day is long (but NOT Harry Reed boring, mind you), but like Clinton, he knew how to forge coalition and compromise to accomplish what he could of what he believed in. I'm not sure that BHO is up to that...he hasn't demonstrated much acumen or interest in being a "uniter and not a divider" to this point. I hope that he can. I really don't want him to fail. I want him to rise up and reach his potential. I just don't know if he can do it though. Unfortunately, he is president at a moment where we need a tough leader with thick skin who is willing to make the hard choices required to face the economic predicament that we find ourselves in at this moment in our history. We need someone who will "just say no" to more spending and more debt. If we do not reduce our debt, if we go in any deeper to the Chinese, we are going to wake up one day in the not so distant future and find that we are no longer the "big dawg." Instead, we will wake up Pekingese, little lap dogs of the world's new top dog, China. Yep, there is a growing stench in the air...a stench of a slowly decaying culture and nation, going down the road of the Greeks and Romans before them. I don't want America to smell like an onion sandwich that someone ate an hour ago. I hope that the President and this new Congress are up to the task of refreshing America. Time will tell, and I think we will know how it will all go down shortly.

Random Thoughts from a Nice, But Average Weekend: A Glimpse into the Ennui that is Me

A-h-h-h-h, the joy of weekends...

Baby girl had a sleepover Friday night, so me and mama had ourselves a "date night!!!" W-o-o-o-o-o-o-o  h-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!!! Over these past ten years, we have rarely used baby sitters (given that she is ours and all, and that sitters ain't cheap as they used to be), so real "date nights" have been few and far between for us. Getting ready for our night on the town, I decided that I was rockin' my new Merrell mocs that had just come Friday via UPS. Mama, of course, looked beautiful, as always. After dropping our daughter off at her friend's house, we went to Bonefish Grill where we enjoyed a nice meal. I guess, that is, if you call three orders of "Bang Bang" Shrimp a meal. You see, when we make up our minds that we like something, we really like it, and our taste buds become relatively tunnel-visioned. From the bar, mama ordered her standard potable, the pomegranate martini. I spotted a craft beer called "Arrogant Bastard Ale" (how ironic) on the drink menu. I love micro-brews, so I decided to give it a try. When the waiter came out with it, I swear I thought it was a bottle of wine. It was a monstrous, 22 ounce bottle of beer boasting a prodigious kick (7.2%, whoa...). Fortunately, our movie start time was still an hour away, so I took it slow and savored it. It was really very good, though NOT necessarily $11 good (...however, it was, after all, almost two "normal" beers, so I guess it wasn't as expensive as that $8 Chimay that I once consumed...dang waitress didn't even bother to tell me it was that much until I ordered my second one...guilt over greed, I suppose). I was somewhat puzzled by the name of this ale, however, and could not, for the life of me, recall having agreed to any endorsement deal for it  with this brewer. I chuckled to myself at the thought of an endorsement deal. So many of the people that I have brief encounters with in life develop just that impression of me. I really don't know why I emit that aura. In reality, I'm actually rather shy and suffer from relatively low self-esteem. When it comes to having to interact with most other adults, I'm somewhat socially inept, almost hermit-like  I've always rationalized this attribute as being the by-product of my having spent most of my adult life interacting with teenagers rather than other adults...but I think that my aloof, if not completely standoffish curmudgeon routine is probably just a coping mechanism for my inner inadequacies.

After dinner, we drove to the theater where we saw The Dilemma. It was a riotously hilarious portrayal of the quandary that a best friend finds himself in when he witnesses his dawg's wife cheating on him and then struggles with whether and how to break the news to his pal. While Vince Vaughn looked really rough in the flick, he was as funny as ever playing the best bud caught between a rock and a hard place. Highly recommend the film. We had a really nice night together...alone. I look forward to our next "date night." It's good to be "us" instead of just mama and daddy...but that's good too.

Watching Fox and Friends either Saturday or Sunday morning, I heard them do a story about former D.C. school chancellor (we call 'em superintendents in these parts), Michelle Rhee, and her nationwide initiative to get school systems to rely upon performance evaluations, rather than tenure, for making RIF (reduction in force...in other words, gettin' rid of folks) decisions. While I loves me some F&F and a cup of coffee (several actually...been using my new Keurig what Mama got for me playin' Dirty Santa at Christmas) on the weekend, I have always found the otherwise conservative personalities to be somewhat liberal and anti-school when it comes to school-related issues and stories. I'm not really a proponent of tenure (in fact, I have gravitated toward advocacy of merit pay), but on this day, the hosts went way beyond that discussion to generalize that young teachers are all the bomb and that teachers nearing the "twilight" of their careers are basically all skating their way to the finish line, doing as little as they possibly can. Alisyn Camerota made the on-air observation that the grizzled veterans barely managed to "grunt in my direction" when she was a school girl. Being eighty-four work days from retirement, I took exception to their sophomoric (get it?) generalizations. I hammered out an email telling them that I would like to say that on my last day as a teacher I would do the job as well as I did it on my first but that doing so would be a lie. It would be a lie because on my final day I know that I will be so much more effective, so much more skilled, so much wiser, more passionate, more patient, and more invested than I could have possibly been all those many years ago when I began in this profession. I proceeded to share with them that we educators would just have to muddle through, endeavoring to persevere to do the best that we can, however inept it might be, to deal with the challenges and obstacles that education faces today, especially given the fact that all of the really smart people had obviously gone into broadcast journalism. I would have thought that avoiding such sweeping generalizations would have been taught in Journalism 101.

Other weekend highlights...Duke (Blue Devils Men's Basketball) won Saturday afternoon. Duke basketball is one of my passions. Since I gave up coaching almost four years ago, watching Coach K and the boys is how I get my satisfy my "basketball jones." I've been a fan since watching them in the 1978 NCAA tournament. After suffering through UGA and Auburn basketball throughout college, I realized watching them that was how basketball was supposed to be played. We've been mired in our usual mid-January shooting slump and really haven't played very well, except in spurts, in a while. Still, the season has a long way to go, and there seems to be lots of room for growth...Let's Go Duke...repeat...

A-h-h-h-h, the simple joys of weekends..."date night," morning coffee, "cheesy, piggie" hash brown casserole, watching a movie or the game, doing the wash, playing a game, walking on the beach, sleeping late... it's simultaneously amazing and sad, to some degree, that our lives are so centered upon such a relatively small fraction of our time here on earth...