Lewis Black pretty much nailed it when he described our two party system of politics as the Republicans being the party of bad ideas and the Democrats being the party of no ideas.
Black is close to right. But when he goes further with this explanation, that is when he nails it. Black says that a Republican stands up and gives their idea...then a Democrats says that he can make it worse. (Obviously, if you have seen or heard this part of his act you know that I have edited the language.)
We see that in full play right now. Except it seems that a third leg to the stool exists. The White House has one bad idea. The Democrats want to make it worse. And then the Congressional Republicans take it to the next level.
Back in the 1970's, Charles Finley had a slogan that he abbreviated as SSS. It stood for "sweat plus sacrifice equals success" according to Finley. I think all of the parties involved probably think that they are doing just that.
The reality is what the Oakland A's players thought of the slogan. And I will NOT edit this for my sensitive readers. "Shit plus Shit equals more Shit!"
That is what all of those in power are really giving us.
It is their fault.
No, it is their fault.
No, no, no...it is their fault.
Really, that is what we have gotten too.
Apparently, we need a good Kindergarten teacher to get everyone back on topic.
Maybe they all just need their afternoon naps!
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Understand that I think we need to learn from the mistakes that were made so that they do not happen again. But conducting a "post mortem" is very different than finger pointing and blame placing.
Who is most responsible? In a sense, I say Alan Greenspan. But he is not alone.
Greenspan made a lot of moves with the Fed that were based on parts of the equation that changed. One of those was energy costs. He did not predict that energy costs would change as quickly as they did.
But he was also pressured to make some moves to help make home ownership something that more people could attain. I benefited from this policy. And lucky for me, we made changes to firm up our position. Many others were not able to do so.
So know that when I point fingers, I will explain it. My position is not to place blame so that we can get out the torches and pitchforks to attack that person with. My position is to take away a lesson from the experience.
We should learn a lesson here. All of us need to learn from this. Part of that lesson is to get a better understanding for ALL OF US as to how the economy works. Another part of that lesson is for ALL OF US to take a more active role in knowing about what is happening in the world around us.
But the biggest thing that I hope we learn from this is to always trust but verify when it comes to statements from politicians. Because when you go to verify now, you will learn not to trust. Hopefully, that will lead to a new generation of politicians who we MAY be able to trust.
But still verify.
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I am tired of hearing people who are out there portraying Governor Sarah Palin as stupid.
Now, I am not saying that she is a genius. I do not know. But, too many people are jumping to the conclusions that she is stupid. Has she said some dumb things? Sure, the statement about seeing Russia from Alaska was a joke, but too many didn't pick up on that.
The "Bush Doctrine" question from Charles Gibson was something many have portrayed as a stumble. But the question that must be asked is what Palin did back to Gibson, in what aspect/regard. You need to recall that Charles Krauthammer was the one to coined the phrase "Bush Doctrine" and not President Bush himself. Krauthammer took a series of stances by Bush to formulate the most concise version of the so-called doctrine. So, when she asked Gibson her question, it was fair. Though since NO ONE wants to give her a break got that point, they ripped Palin apart.
BUT now all of that said, there is a BIG issue that I have with how Governor Palin is being handled by the campaign. WHY IS SHE NOT DOING MORE MEDIA?
I get not doing NBC or MSNBC because of their obvious bias. And even though the campaign ripped the New York Times, I would have her chat with them. Go in to the belly of the beast.
The more she is asked and answering questions, the more we can come up with our own thoughts on her.
Not what the media wants. Not what the comedians want. And not what the ideologically biased AMONG US what.
And yes, I will ask Nancy Pfotenauer about that when she is on the show this morning.
[UPDATE: Ms. Pfotenauer answered the question. There have been a couple of times when the media has shown their concerns over her appearances. However, she is doing more and more media all the time, including an appearance with Katie Couric. Pfotenauer said the lack of Sunday morning shows is more of a concern to Washington media types and political junkies than the people elsewhere in the country. I agreed with her final point...even though I do watch those shows on occasion.]
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Have a great Wednesday.
