Items, Issues & Nonsense

Republcans say No Deal to Obama's New Deal

2009-01-29T15:06:00.002-06:00

On the national level, we have John Boehner of the 8th Ohio District telling us that there are to many problems with the Obama stimulus bill. Boehner maintains that Obama is sneaking into the proposal, elements of failed liberal programs that go far beyond stimulus and is using the stimulus as a way of advancing tired old programs that don't work.

More locally we have, the up and coming conservative Republican Wisconsin Congressman, Paul Ryan. Ryan has problems with the stimulus bill because of it's regressive tax breaks (his words)

Congressman Paul Ryan calls for a fiscally-responsible extension of a popular children's health insurance program, rather than a deeply flawed expansion beyond the program's original intent. Ryan voices his concern with the imposition of permanent tax hikes, a $42 billion spending gimmick, and the crowding out of consumer choice in favor of government-run health care.

And right in our back yard we have Milwaukee County Executive Scott "We don't need no sinking stimulus funds from Washington" Walker, who has basically run Milwaukee County into the ground with his "no more taxes" approach.

To a man, their approach to the proposed changes coming from Washington are the usual talking points from the conservative Republicans.
Government is bad.
Taxes grow the government.
Cut off the funds and Government has to shrink
Less Government, less regulation
Less regulation means greater economic growth.

In the past this has been called The Starve the Beast approach to shrinking the size of government So, instead of badly needed investment in the infrastructure which would create jobs and improve the lives of all tax payers, Republicans want more tax breaks. They are falling back on the Supply Side, Reganomics, Trickle Down, Bush Free Market, take your pick of the labels, that basically tells us to give the money to the rich. The theory is they will spend it wisely and create wealth for all of us.

This mixture of 1800's Calvinism and Milton Friedman Libertarian Free Market Economic theory has dominated Washington thinking ever since Ronald Reagan brought it to popularity in the early 1980's I'm here to tell you, I don't know if Free market Economics works or not, but the last thirty years have taught us that if the Republicans practice it we get the following results. These are the people that brought you, through deregulation,

Companies that are deemed "to big to fail" and suddenly government bail outs are okay.
Since the 1980' the erosion of the middle class because of the growing gap between the working man and the executive remuneration. (By the way this is a US phenomenon only)
Savings and Loan Failures
Enron
Internet Bubble
Telcom Scandals
The Virtual Crash of the financial markets resulting from the mortgage markets being mishandled.
We have health care costs rising at an exponential rate with less people being served
Higher bankruptcy rates directly related to uninsured catastrophic health costs.

This list merely says one thing to me, if Friedman Free Market Economic Theory works the Republican leadership has lost the directions when they throw out the box it came in.

FACTS:
We are bailing out the American Auto Industry, which got itself into the bind through mismanagement and poor industry practices.

Many of the entities we have bailed out have misused the funds or not used them for what they were intended. (Banks are not making loans, but they are paying bonuses. Same in the Auto Industry.)

So I don't know if Free Market Economic principles work or not. (Somebody once said that socialism didn't fail it was the communists that screwed it up) But I do know the Republicans, and to be fair some Democrats, don't know how it works either.

I know we need jobs and that building roads, bridges and schools will produce things we need and that will serve us for a long time. Financial products that give you slightly better odds than the blackjack table, are not as good as a health care program that takes care of everyone. Taxing people that have more money than they need, makes more sense than stomping on the average guy who is literally in the ditch economically.

We have a way out of this mess that the Republicans and weak minded Democrats allowed us to get into. It is the newer new deal that Obama has proposed. Boehner, Ryan and Walker have had their day and failed. It's time for new idea's or at least old idea's that we are reasonably certain will work.

The Brown Team Party

2008-11-22T11:05:00.002-06:00

What glory is this and can there be more tomorrow?

Last night I sat down to dinner and conversation with my team mates from the Obama presidential campaign. We delivered the votes from our area in more than expected amounts. We regaled at the sight of the young people who were going to be enthusiastic , but according to the cynics, in the end, were not going vote. The polls showing Obama ahead, they would decide to stay home and text each other. They voted in record numbers all across the country.

One ward in the city recorded thousands of votes for Obama and one vote for McCain. The total was double the number of votes ever recorded in that ward. We talked about the numbers of first time voters and the people who admitted they had never volunteered for a campaign before.

We talked about the so called "grab and drag" tactic of going to supporters homes on election day and almost forcing them to the polls. In truth, this didn't happen very often. Indeed, traffic at the polls was lighter than we thought it was going to be because people had voted absentee in such great numbers.

We talked about how long the campaign was. Some had started working in the cold of winter to assure victory in the primary. As a result, many had been working on the campaign for almost a year.

We were happy bunch. The number of hectic hours, the crush of tasks in the last four days of the Get Out The Vote campaign and the poll watching were complete and out of the way. Victory, sweet victory was ours. We exchanged stories about Palin and reflected on the cabinet and leadership selections. The group talked about the moment that the feeling of success sunk in. Some said it was Barak striding onto the stage at Grant Park. Others mentioned seeing Jesse Jackson shedding tears as he waited for Barak to give his acceptance speech. Still others remembered the moment the television screen flashed the news that the West coast polls had closed and the networks declared Barak the winner, the 44Th President of the United States. We were, in the tradition of the campaign, "telling our story".

But no one was smug. Most of us knew that this was not an ending, but instead it was the beginning. No one gives up power. Already, we had all heard on the news of the conservatives scrambling to recover their dead and wounded so they could retreat from the field only to reorganize and return. Yes, it was time to celebrate, but we left on the sobering thought that indeed this was a battle won, but the war continues.

It's Not About Sarah.

2008-09-19T06:58:00.000-05:00

The press and the public seem to be fascinated with Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate. We are evidently sexist, elitist or blindly liberal if we don't see the value in this candidate. If we claim she doesn't have experience, we are blind to the same charge against Barak Obama, because he has never had to make "Real" decisions like rejecting the bridge to nowhere (thanks but no thanks is the mantra)

There is little doubt that Palin evokes images of a better looking Rosanne Barr, a kind of Gidget goes to Washington persona. She's good looking, smart, tough and looks like she could be someone from your neighborhood. She has accomplished a lot in her short government career and like most politicians some of it's good and some of it's...well not so good. She is the stuff of mythology. Working side by side with her good looking hunky husband, killing moose in the Alaskan wild, and raising her large family, she's the mythological woman who can do everything. Why not run a country?

As David Brooks, New York Times columnist has pointed out she embodies the everyman image of the can-do American with the added advantage of not being a professional politician nor a pointy headed intellectual. She has the mythical common sense that defies education and all of those experienced politicians years of public service. She reaches across the aisle to build consensus. She fights and defeats corruption, even in her own party. She leaps tall buildings in a single bound... Okay, I've gone to far. And like most good fiction stories there is enough of a whiff of truth in all of these perceived traits and experiences to give her a veil of reality.

But there is one thing that makes Palin patently unfit for office. She's a Republican. Yes, an unapologetic member of the party that has brought you the last thirty years of grief, if your a member, or maybe a former member, of the middle class. With a mindless mantra of we need less government, less handouts to welfare queens, adherence to free market economic principles, privatize government and other such bright ideas, we have gotten Enron, the aftermath of Katrina, the dot com bubble. contaminated food, bad drugs, he mortgage crisis and the current melt down in the financial markets. The Republican answer to all of this is a huge social welfare program to save the world from unwanted pregnancies by preaching abstinence and preventing abortion, stigmatizing gay and lesbian people, arguing about the meaning of patriotism and a stupid war in Iraq.

While the middle class disintegrates, more of us do without proper health care, good paying jobs become more and more difficult to find, the cost of living keeps going up and the globe gets warmer and climatically more unstable. Gidgit and her friends want us to worry about the horror of gay marriage, the tragedy of not teaching creationism and the unfairness of allowing rape and incest victims to simply decide not to bear children that result from these atrocities. Instead of the things that really matter to all of us Republicans, Democrats and Independent citizens of this planet. Sarah Palin is a decent person who undoubtedly believes strongly in her adherence to conservative political stance on the issues and that is why she should not become that person that is a heartbeat away from being the President of the United States, as well as why John McCain should not be our next president. It's not who they are, it's what they believe in that disqualifies them for office. They are simply wrong on the issues that are important.

Hillary Supporters

2008-09-01T09:37:00.002-05:00

When I hear that die hard supporters of Hillary Clinton will "never pull the lever" for Obama, my first reaction is why would they say this? I understand and sympathize with their disappointment. If my first choice, Obama, had been defeated, I would have felt the same way, but evidently not quite as strongly. Because this election has to be about change and the kind of change we need is not just on the edges nor is the kind of change we need going to come from Republicans. It needs to come from motivated Democrats, disgruntled Republicans and energized independents, who are just plain fed up with the lack of leadership in both parties and the demonstrated inability of the Republican Party to lead.

As such, I would have had trepidations about voting for Clinton because I'm not sure that she believes that wholesale change is not only necessary and do able, nor do I think she can do it with all of the negatives she would bring to the office, but the options are clear and I would have done it. Four more years of coddle the corporate interests, supply side economics, lassie faire social policy and funding a war without end is not an option.

Clinton's attempt to be the first women to run for president on a major party ticket didn't happen for a lot of reasons and most of them were not her fault, but circumstance often controls the outcome. Her reputation, earned or not, is out there like the Goodyear blimp at a golf tournament throwing it's shadow over the field of play. What Hillary supporters sound like and are acting like is almost a third party movement. and left to it's own devices could easily lead to to another of the famous and historical splits in the Democratic party.

However, third party's are mainly based on policy differences with the major parties and the policy differences between Obama and Clinton are not great. There is no civil rights division in the party. There is not antiwar division in the party. Women are well represented in the party hierarchy and even though women thought they had the opportunity to nominate Hillary as the first female presidential candidate from a major party, it didn't happen. No this is a cult movement. It's a movement based on personality; indeed it appears as perception of personality. I say this because this movement has no momentum if Hillary isn't in the picture, but even when she removes herself as she did with her courageous and history making speech and subsequent nomination of Obama, the movement persists.

Obama is no doubt a catalyst for the change movement. He has defined it and he will lead it, but like the "New Deal" and "The Great Society" this movement can go on without him. For I believe that the movement was looking for a leader and it found Obama. He works because the articulates the heartfelt anger and dissatisfaction people have with government. He exemplifies the need for a political atmosphere of respect and cooperation rather than the politics of the personal and animosity. I believe if Obama had not risen to this task we would have eventually found someone else.

And make no mistake, this is not over on election day even if Obama carries the day. The forces against the change in the status quo are not about to fold their abdicate their power, no matter how diminished that power might be. No, a return to a government that represents all of the people instead of those with access will not come easy and a President Obama can not do it alone. He is going to need all of us every step of the way.

What does President McCain mean for us?

2008-08-19T08:10:00.000-05:00

If I were to just list the anticipated result of a McCain victory in November, it would look like a bullet list of talking points from a liberal blogster or commentator. But the facts are hard to ignore. I anticipate an even harder turn to the right on the Supreme Court as the retirement of some liberal justices will occur during this next four years. I'm sure that no one in the one million five hundred thousand of the US wealthiest people, currently threatened by an Obama proposed tax policy, should anticipate any tax increase. The world will wait, but not for long, I'm sure, to see what McCain will do about the mess in the middle east. Look for more troops and more saber rattling as a solution to world terrorism. In general, look for a continuation of republican policies that have gotten us where we are today, in deep trouble.

The labels on these mini-movements have feel good sounding words like trickle down economics, faith based initiatives, education vouchers, patriot act and family values. We are regaled with flag waving, bible touting, and apple pie laden images of happy folks who feel better with less civil rights and economic clout as long as they can buy things cheaper at Wal Mart.

As far as an National economic policy, I would expect it to be the same "free market Friedman policy of Regan and Bush. Slowly over the last thirty years we've been fed a line of reasoning that goes like this. If you'll just trust the rich people to run things you will be fine. After all, they are rich because they are smart and know how to run big complicated things like government. Smaller things, such as Enron, the Banking business and Restoration efforts in New Orleans, they don't do so well.

What we have is less. We have less and more expensive health care costs. We have less money to spend because the average income for most Americans is falling. We have less Government because the Republicans in particular think that government is bad for us. The results is we have less enforcement of rules that might help us such as banking regulations, healthy food inspections and corrupt business practices. We make less investment in public infrastructure.We have less enforcement of labor laws. We have less standing in the world, as our allies have turned against our go it alone foreign policy.

We do have more of some things. We have more government corruption, more national debt, and more of our young solders in VA hospitals recovering from wounds. We have more people without meaningful employment and more people without health coverage. We have more roads, bridges, levies and other infrastructure in bad need of repair or replacement.

We need more National policy on things that count, such as transportation, energy, health care, and the environment. Recent Republican efforts in this area have represented the best interests of the business entities that profit from these issues. The consumer was not invited to comment. They basically have thrown the consumer to the wolves. What has resulted is bad loans, bad food, bad health care and higher costs on everything. (Oh yeah and the stock market ain't doing os well lately either if you're looking at your 401k.)

McCain will owe his victory in November, not to the people of the country so much as the corporate America and the people that serve those corporations. It is no wonder that Wal Mart practically ordered it's employees to vote Republican. A vigorous enforcement of existing labor laws would be uncomfortable for them, much less what might come with a Democratic take over of the White House.

No matter how nice of a person John McCain is and no matter how much he might have opposed the worst of Bush policy, he is at heart a conservative republican and they, my friends. have not proven to be good leaders of our country. Yes government can be a problem. It appears that even a govenment run by people who vowed to restrict the size and pwoer of government. But be aware that the problems government might bring effect some people more than others. A conservative republcan government seems to serve only those who have much and want more.

Is Obama the Answer?

2008-08-08T07:18:00.002-05:00

As I have articulated my disappointment and suspicion with John McCain, I have failed to look at the candidacy of Barak Obama. I do not think Obama is a Messiah. I do not think he is "the answer, the heir of the Kennedy mantle or the better version of Bill Clinton. Senator Obama is the man the Democrat votors were looking for when they realized that it wasn't the Republicans that were preventing our country for progressing into the twentieth century, but the lack of leadership and ability to engage the electorate in the idea's that matter. While I respect Al Gore and John Kerry, neither one of them were able to articulate a campaign that could get the liberal voters to the polls. (Where was the Al Gore we love to see expounding on the inconvenient truth?)

Obama does excite people in a conceptual way. He represents change, not only from the failed policies of the talentless leadership of Bush and Company, but the uninspired resistance of the Democrats. Consider the current debate on energy. The old guard Republican approach of drilling our way out of the oil shortage has little or no chance of solving the problem, but the Democrats have not come up with a compelling case for why we should build a thousand windmills either. what is needed is Obama's comprehensive plan of a national energy policy, which is going to have to include increments of transportation, pollution abatement, and just generally telling people what they don't want to hear. We need to change the way we live.

Obama, in a typical don't show your cards until all of the bets are in, has hinted his approach will be more comprehensive and I'm sure it will be or he will be a one term President. What Obama is doing is talking about issues that matter to people and he is not promising an easy time of implementation. For instance, when you talk about a sea change in foreign policy, you're talking about changing the opinion of our country in the minds of millions of people across the globe, friend and foe alike, that remember that in spite of evidence in abundance to his incompetency, we reelected George Bush. That was not a miscalculation of George Bush's, it was a colossal mistake on the part of the citizens of this country. Like it or not, voted for him or you didn't, we brought the world a incompetent leader. The power that the US has in the world makes that choice a issue for every citizen of the world and now they are deeply suspicious of our judgment.

Furthermore, if we are going to finally tackle the health care problems in this country, you only have to remember what happened the last time anyone had the nerve to take on the establishment. it is not going to be any easier this time and probably worse.

The infrastructure of this country is rotting like a ninth ward New Orleans abandon home. Bridges, roads, affordable housing stock and many other necessities, that we require to keep our life style and offer similar prosperity for our kids, is suffering from neglect and overuse. The anti-tax movement has stopped the progress of this country for almost thirty years. Even if they gave up and went away, it will take a major infusion of cash to bring our situation into anything that's reasonable and trust this, the anti-tax guys are not going to just go away.

Obama would be the first President that will have to answer for his environmental policy. prior to the recognition that we are experiencing climate change and that it's driven by human activity, everyone else got a free ride as long as gas was cheap and the road builders were happy. Now, even though we are exporting jobs and pollution to China, a drop of fifty cents a gallon my revive the Humvee industry and resume the accelerating rate and huge contribution the American automobile makes to world climate change.

Here's my point. Obama has the right idea's and has shown some competence in surrounding himself with the right people to get things done. If the stars align properly and we do elect him, and that is a big if, he will be powerless unless we persist. He has been campaigning for this job for almost two years. Those that believed in him from the beginning and those who have come around to supporting him need to understand one thing. If he wins it's not over.

In order to affect meaningful change, it will take a concerted campaign of persistent pressure on the congress and press to hold them and him accountable for the promise of change. If we elect him and than go home to watch TV sitcoms than I can assure you the effort will fail. The rich and powerful will not go away and they will be influencing every congressperson they can to hold to the status quo or even make things worse.

No one speaks for the average person in this country after the election. We are like the crowd at the NFL football game. We pay a lot of money to get in, they use us as necessary atmosphere for the broadcast and while millions get to watch commercials for everything from cars to cardiac cures, the fan in the stands freezes during the TV timeout , forgotten and awaiting the resumption of game. In the case of the country, after the election, if we let them, the politicians will forget us.

The Paris Hilton Vote Block

2008-08-06T07:46:00.001-05:00

Even by writing about this latest fiasco, I am contributing to the thing I dislike so much about American Media. In one of his attack ad's, straight talking John McCain (Whatever happened to that man?), likened Obama to a person who is famous only for being famous, Paris Hilton. The implication is that there is no substance to Obama, he's all about the latest cult of personality. The genius here is that it doesn't make any difference if you accept the premise or not, the ad still works in McCains favor. McCain was so far off the press radar, his handlers had to do something. This ad got them the attention they so desperately needed. Talk about doing anything you need to do to get elected President, this one is going to be discussed regardless of the outcome.

Here's the sad part. This is non starter as an issue. Hillary Clinton beat this issue to death and it got her nothing. But the Paris Hilton ad gives the thing legs with the press. First Hilton's mother, a McCain contributor, whines to the press. The only thing this produces is a truly pathetic confrontation by the press with McCain. He looks absolutely silly trying to chuckle and bush off the ad as, "we were just trying to have a little fun". I think McCain shows us how desperate he is to allow his name to be attached to this nonsense, but on it goes. Now Hilton, don't get between her and a camera or you'll be risking your life, comes out with her spin on the thing. It gives her a chance to get some spot light and keeps McCain in there with her. And
what burning question does this million dollar TV exposure answer? Lest we forget, Obama is not experienced enough to be President.

The outcome of this event is not certain. My guess is it will effect how some people think about the campaign and may cause some vote shift. However, I think more than likely what it will do is what all of this trash campaigning does is direct the focus on issues that have no substance and no gravitas for us the citizens for whom one of these guys is going to be President. I would hope that McCain supporters would let their candidate know that this is silly and embarrassing to them as they try to convince others to support him. I would hope that Obama manages to keep his head and stay above this type of campaigning. I would also hope that undecided voters would discount this effort and look for substance in John McCain's plan for the future of this country instead of his silly grab for headlines and TV time. But OMG didn't you think Paris's new look is just FABULOUS!

The Constructive Use of F words

2008-08-05T07:51:00.002-05:00

It's a three letter word used to describe a homosexual. It begins with the letter F and it goes with all of the other divisive F words that conservatives will roll out once more this summer to vilify the progressives, as they try to hold onto their power in Washington and their command of the national agenda.

As some one once said, you have to hand it to them they are the masters of legerdemain. While we are arguing about what to do about fetuses, flags, firearms and ..well that other three letter word for homosexuals, the conservative minority is, in the name of democracy, taking away our civil rights, securing the fortunes of major corporations, and serving the needs of the few, while abandoning the masses.

The enactment of change, being the watch word of this years presidential election has come down the choice between two men, John McCain and Barak Obama. If you're talking about regime change, you have to think that McCain is going to be a better version of Bush, before you'd ever define his election as change.

McCain is still going to advocate for armed conflict over negotiation. You have to understand that to these people, Democracy is not evolving form of governance, it is a set in stone almost religious belief that we must force on people if they won't accept it. He will decide for unilateral preemptive war versus building a consensus amongst our neighbors. He is still going to advocate for Friedman's free market or trickle down economics. He will submit tax breaks for the rich. McCain will owe it to his base to appoint judges that will vote for limiting the rights of individuals versus the perception of security of the many.

His policy will be the same as Bush, his delivery will be more nuanced and far more articulate, but than the standard set by Bush is so low that exceeding it has to be, excuse me, "a slam dunk". I would expect many of the same people who surrounded Bush to have influence in a McCain administration. And why not, these people succeeded in bringing us into a playground atmosphere with regard to foreign policy. Starting with the "he looked at me funny and called my dad names" reasons for the Iraq war, that resulted all time low world opinion ratings a huge deficit in our budget and not to mention loss of life and limb.

We are in the worst economic situation in decades. Please don't tell me how nice it is for many of the people. Average income in Wisconsin is down for seven years in a row. The dollar is at a record low against other world currencies. This is allowing American corporations to be bought at wholesale prices by foreign interests. Oil is selling at record high prices. World environmental polluters have had an eight year vacation. God forbid, lest I sound like a conservative, The stock market is in a mess and has lost considerable value in the last six months. Health care costs keep going up and all the conservatives have to say is that we have to install more market based solutions.

Please imagine yourself laying on a gurney, after you've suffered a heart attack, receiving quotes from various vendors trying to bargain down the cost of your need for immediate care. Or better yet, let some one whose interest lie in saving money for the insurance provider not your health, make the decision for you.

And why do things like the failure to respond to Katrina and the lack of action in regulating the banking sector, the contaminated food outbreaks and problems with prescription drugs happen and are happening more frequently. Because the conservatives believe these government agencies are the problem and they continue to fund them at lower and lower levels so that any effect they might have is hampered by their inability to respond.

If government wasn't the problem when Ronald Reagan said it was in the early eighties, it certainly has become the problem under the control of the conservatives. If you don't fund and support your regulatory agencies you get Enron, Katrina aftermath, a Housing mortgage bubble and lack of proper food inspection. Clearly Government has become a problem, because the folks running it don't believe in it and have down everything politically possible to destroy it.

If we want to continue feeling safe from the threat posed by those F words, we can continue down the road we are on. If we think our nations infrastructure, economy, general populations access to health care and the basic rights of our people are more important than the F words than we have to vote for real change.

Sabbatical notice

2008-05-22T07:11:00.000-05:00

Actually, I'm not an academic, nor am I getting paid to not write my blog, but I am taking some time off to do some personal writing. I expect to be back in July. If you are one of my regular readers, I hope you'll indulge me.

The Denial of Change

2008-04-07T15:30:00.001-05:00

How difficult is change? So difficult it seems that it can be denied for even the slightest reason. Think of people, whom despite all information to the contrary; don't take the job, move to the new location, marry the one that truly loves them or deny themselves opportunity, only to realize one day that it could have meant everything to them if they had. These hesitancy's, for often a door opens only briefly, can cause us second thoughts and remorse. But denial is a refuge that is deep and comfortable. Denial is one of the mainstays of religion and the most used countermanding control of the status quo. Typically, change is modeled by those opposed to it, as stepping off of a cliff into unseen depths and unknown outcomes.

If you chose not to believe there is no science, there is no rational thought and to error on the side of continuation of failed efforts is better than the unknown of change, you are bound to believe in the one percent solution. The one percent solution postulates that if there is a one percent chance that something will fail, we best not try it. If there is a one percent chance that change will damage us in any way, we dare not risk it.

My explanation is a interpretation of a theory advanced by vice-president Dick Cheney. The vice president was quoted as saying that if there was a one percent chance that a rogue state had nuclear capability than it must be regarded as true and we must act as if it were fact. In this case, he was using the idea as justification for "preemptive war" and the invasion of Iraq.

What if there was a one percent chance that a new coalition of voters would vote in their combined self interest to seek better health care and to assure that social security would remain a significant factor to assure that our aging population would not fall into poverty. What if they signalled that building a strong infrastructure in America was at least as important as building democracy in the middle east. What if people saw through the smoke and mirrors of "supply side free market economics's " and insisted on fair and vigorous regulation of the corporate business community and called for an end to "corporate welfare". Let me assure you this is the one percent that conservative Republican interests fear more than Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iran.

Just because the term for the Republican tactic of "starving the beast" or choking off funding for social welfare programs is not in vogue, do not believe for one second the tactic is not working. Let's be clear, the Republicans cast the democrats as tax and spenders. When they inherited the White House and gained Congressional control in 2000, there was a surplus and we were a hugely solvent nation. They have through irresponsible tax policy and a ultimately stupid war in Iraq indebted this country for many years to come, possibly even handcuffing progressive rebuilding for the next President. Now that friends is Mission Accomplished.

The Sorry Legacy of George Bush

2008-03-17T11:31:00.001-05:00

I dare anyone to tell me something overtly positive about the legacy of this President Bush. From assisting in deepening the differences between rich and poor, allowing the nations infrastructure to go to hell and emasculating us in the eyes of the world with his amateur and silly foreign policy, he has weakened and hobbled us as a nation.

A willing disciple of the Republican experiment of redoing the social order with "free market economics" (his own father referred to them as voodoo economics" to his libertarian bend on the reduction of government. Bush has left the house in a mess and pretty much maxed out the credit cards. Any good parent would be practicing tough love and throwing the kid out of the house with the clothes on his back and an i-Pod stuck in his ear. But we don't do that. We let this disaster careen down the highway out of control and racking more destruction as we label him a "lame duck".

From the Republican viewpoint, the rank and file true believers and far right conservatives are sorry to see him go. After all, what I detail above as failure, they see as kind of a progress back to a better time, pre-Franklin Roosevelt to be exact. And while we allow them their beliefs, I question their logic and sense of fairness, might I say, their sense of Christian concern for their fellow man.

This transformation of our political, social and economic atmosphere to a contentious and virulent field of battle. We've lost all control on the system which should at the very least respect the rights of elected officials to express opposition to the majority opinion. It wasn't working that way. Bush in the final look was the apex of a movement that used the politics of the personal to control and intimidate opposition in to silence or at least rendered them ineffective. The amazing breadth of this tactic is that it included opposition within the Republican Party as well as the Democrat's.

One can only hope that the opposition will take control of the White House and congress and use the opportunity to turn this ship around. If they squander the chance for a opportunity fr revenge we are apt to live with a version of the Hatfields and McCoys for long time

When It's all Over

2008-03-12T07:57:00.001-05:00

The Democratic Party's nomination process, which started as a Calvary charge is now looking like a two horse race to the finish line. The lead is changing, depending on how your counting, and there is no break away winner. All of this is interesting and, as you might believe, the press is eating it up. The problem is that the contest has ceased being about ideas and has spiralled into a contest of personalities and all of the other things we didn't want it to be about. Those other things being the possibility of having our first women president or our first black president. I think on the level of the next winner of American Idol, the country is ready for either possibility , but in the lonely dim environs of the voting booth, the concept may not stand up to with the courage it takes to vote with your head instead of your heart.

Either Obama or Clinton are capable of being President of the United States. Given the standard George Bush has set, almost anyone with a high school diploma could qualify. The question is and, in my mind, will continue to be is who can bring this country together. Pundits and Washington insiders argue that no one can. The distance between the right and left has for to long taken center stage in the conduct of our representatives, at the expense of the vast majority of those of us in the center. The masses of people who may have opinions about the direction of the society on social issues, but recognize that governance is a matter of dialogue and compromise. This inability to get our government to respond has been in the last resort our own fault, because we get the leaders we deserve. Mostly the leadership of the past has been elected by zealous factions of the extremes of both parties and they have dictated the agenda.

I would venture that Obama has changed that situation by providing a new possibility for voters that in fact represents them. His early opposition to the war, his emphasis on issues that affect the middle class such as jobs and health care resonate with the citizens who in the past haven't been motivated to become involved in the process.

There is no doubt that Senator Clinton, also has created a constituency in otherwise disaffected voters, specifically women and Hispanic voters. So here is the problem. What do we do when one of these nominee's is finally declared the parties candidate? Do we coalesce behind the winner or do we split the party and give the failed policies of the Republican Part another four years of opportunity.
PS: Do even think about the joint ticket of Obama-Clinton or Clinton-Obama. They both have a future in politics's no matter how this comes out. For either of them to run as vice-president is political death even if they win.

Old, White and Irrelevant .

2008-02-18T16:48:00.004-06:00

Of course the Republican party looks old, white and irrelevant in this 21st century, but it wasn't planned that way. The condition it finds itself in started in the nineteen sixties like the mythical flutter of the butterfly wings. My peers, who are not. as my wife fervently points out, part of the baby boom generation, were upset with our younger brothers and sisters who embraced the Drugs, Sex and Rock n' Roll culture. Some of us have been waiting for them to pay for their misdeeds, but, unlike what we had raised to believe, mom and dad never did make them truly answer for their adventures. Not only was this disappointing in the sense that secretly we knew they were having more fun, it was also defaming our values and mores.

Some of us, have never forgiven our parents and our siblings for this disappointment. It was like getting to the gates of heaven and finding out that all of the things you had been told were wrong as it turned out made no difference at all. Imagine finding out that Mother Theresa was no better than Broadway Joe. The malcontents and angonizers are called Conservative Republicans and they refer to the rest of us by various labels, but mostly we are liberals with some kind of pejorative associated.

This election maybe noteworthy in that it could be the last audible scream of that demon that lives in the mind of those kids that behaved in the sixties and it's anger with the kids that didn't. The sheep's cloak has been coming of this wolf ever so slowly. But the betrayal of the Republican party and a true conservative movement is so corrupt that it is no longer impossible to ignore. Social conservatives motivated by ultra conservative religious factions have fueled an intolerance in the political arena that is unprecedented in modern politics. It is so narrow as to exclude even worthy followers, such as Mitt Romney, for not being sufficiently Christian and John McCain for not being Conservative enough. Either one of these guys policies is enough to make a true progressive gag, but for the true believers they are not pure enough.

And that is why the spotlight is now shinning on the Campaign of John McCain. McCain is a war hero, stalwart Senator from Arizona, and a guy that gave the Bush administration fits with his observations of their incompetence in the handling of the Iraq War. He has been a man who can transcend partisanship and get things done. He was even mentioned as a possible running mate for John Kerry on what would have amounted to a coalition ticket against George Bush in 2004. He's the "straight talking', John Wayne like figure that a lot of independents like and he is going to be formidable competition for whomever prevails on the Democratic side of the ticket. But his problem is that to get the wholehearted support of his party he's going to need to sound like one of them and if he doesn't he will suffer the same fate as George Bush I and Bob Dole. The get-out-the-vote Christian right will not perform and his fate will be in the hands of the independent voters.

In any other election, that might be enough, but unfortunately this election has a true phenomenon in the person of Barak Obama, who also has wide appeal amongst independent voters and has made the mending of our divisions the corner stone of his campaign. As McCain makes his way to the right of his party, gets the nomination and than inevitably tracks toward the center, he will be spotlighted like a prisoner crossing the barbwire zone of a maximum security prison in the middle of the night. The only thing that can foul up this plan is to nominate the only person that can get right wing conservatives to vote no matter who their party nominates, Hillary Clinton. While this is regrettable, because I think she would make and excellent President, I would not want to risk the chance to hobble the far right movement in this country by playing into their hands strategically.

This is the Democrats moment, but they must make good use of it. Wanting leadership and being a leader is two different things. I'm sorry, you can win a nomination of your party, run a competent campaign and win the office, but that does not mean you're a leader. I present the George Bush II as my proof. Obama or Clinton, (I will vote for her if she wins the nomination) must build a coalition of the center and force the radical wings of the parties to co-operate or shut up. The Democrats are discussing the value issues that effect all of us. Health care, education, jobs and repairing this nations infrastructure are things that all of us can benefit from. If they don't keep their eye on the ball and get re-involved in partisan bickering the Republicans may lose the battle but the War may still be lost.

Big Ideas? It's to Soon

2008-02-14T07:44:00.001-06:00

In his recent New York Times (NYT) column on Bob Herbert praises the candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama for their historic significance and for the genuine quality of the candidates, yet he questions the lack of vision.

"What’s missing in this campaign is a bold vision of where the United States should be heading in these crucially important early years of the 21st century. In their different ways, Senators Clinton and Obama have shown themselves to be inspirational and at times even heroic figures. But neither has offered the vision that this moment in history demands."

What Mr. Hebert knows to well is that it isn't time to roll out your vision of the future. In this artificially long, election season, which began the moment the midterm election of 2006 was settled, we are just getting the chairs arranged around the table. Pundits and policy wonks are having a great time speculating on everything from hairdo's toneer-do's . Every special interest with a power position is weighing in on which candidate will serve them best. The candidates are keeping their cards very close to their proverbial vest in order to look as vanilla as they can across the board. Once the party nominations are settled, we will see a little ankle, a glimpse of the leg and the top button will loosen on this subject, but we aren't going to see the "vision statement" in anything but the broadest terms. Laying you cards on the table before the betting has closed is a mistake even the a rube inLas Vegas knows is stupid.

However, Mr. Herbert has a good point. We should be talking more about the candidates vision of the future and he is right to demand they give to us before we vote for them. There is little doubt that we really are at a turning point in our history. It is not a campaign slogan to merely spread a tent and try to get everyone under it. Fortunately a significant number of young people get it and are energizing this movement. Their support of Obama have surprised and gotten the attention of the public in general and the political wonks in specific. What these young people have realized and what their involvement in the this political process has highlighted are issues that have been on the back burner for too long.

We need to to do, in general, is invest in this country. We need to reassess our foreign policy. We need to restructure our government to answer the needs of this century.

Investment in this country is usually interpreted as code for isolationism by right wing politicians, but the truth is while we try to build roads, bridges, schools and other infrastructure in Iraq, our own needs in this area is decaying. We need to set aside the rhetoric and take a clear look at the needs in our own country.

Leaders of the future need to recognize that the class structure in our society has changed forever and that protection for the former middle class need to be introduced n the face of global corporations. Unions, local and state government are generally helpless in the face of the strength and mobility of these entities.
Tax rules, health care protection, requiring the payment of a living wage and other so-called left wing issues become more reasonable when faced with the monolithic global corporation. We need to look at the rights and responsibility of citizenship in order to empower people to control their communities. On the other hand we have to increase the opportunity for education and underwrite that effort. We do not have a shortage ofeducatable workers in almost any field that you might name. What we have is a shortage of affordable opportunities for educable people to gain the knowledge and skills they need to serve.

(Example: Educated workers from foreign countries who are granted work permits in this country because there are shortages in their fields of expertise, are often educated for free in their own countries. College degrees in their fields can cost the American student thousands of dollars and usually is represented by debt upon graduation.)

We clearly need to debate the real issues of our time. Economic and social needs are important and have been neglected for far too long, however we still represent he strongest nation in the world and can't abandon that responsibility. Global terrorism is real, but engaging ourselves in land wars in the middle east is not the way to fight this battle.

We need to look at the world with fresh eyes. Unfortunately recent decisions by our government have damaged our reputation and standing in the world community. We need to repair that by making good decisions in our partnership with other countries to achieve a balance that allows the rest of the world to grow and prosper, rather than exploiting them for our own short term interests. We will not always like nor will it be in our best interest to witness the journey other countries will take in their own self interest. However, the directions they take and their goals, unless they include our destruction, are and never have been, any of our business. Currently, we relate to the rest of the world, like a meddling mother, who knows no limits on her justification to manipulate theirchild's lives and influence their actions. Instead, we need to be that shinning example of what works and the sympathetic good neighbor, not the global bully that gets it's way or strikes out in anger and vengeance.

Clearly, our armed forces are the best in the world, but as we have seen, and let's admit it the world has witnessed, we can not police the world. The military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched or resources to the maximum. We not only exhibit our limitations to the real enemies of freedom, but we are wasting our assets in yet another attempt to protect oil company assets. Rather than asking our selves why we are "hooked" on this oil consumption habit and how we could break it, we engage in war to feed our habit. Our foreign policy is always about us and as a result we are left with bitter and vengeful allies with the thinnest veneer of allegiance.

Yes, we need a big idea vision of the future, but we also have to have the dialogue in the public sector to build a coalition of thought and purpose to a new vision of America. Change does not happen quickly nor without resistance. The next President has to build a body of public approval that is prepared to remain committed and vocal in their insistence on change.

Overconfidence

2008-02-05T12:38:00.000-06:00

They haven't decided whose won the nomination yet, but the one thing I'm starting to hear is the don't count your chickens before they hatch speeches on the edge of the discussions. Electability has been and issue from the start on both sides of the aisle. McCain looks like he's cruising to a win for the Republicans. His job is to bring the factions of his party together and in his case, this is no easy matter. The insanity of the extreme right has reasoned that John, war hero, defender of Bush's War and fiscally conservative senate voter is not conservative enough. He is evidently not pure on the loony issues, fags, flags and fetuses.

Republican conservatives don't want to hear that he is popular among independent voters, that group that ultimately will decide the election. They don't want to hear that he and he alone may be the only candidate that can beat Hillary Clinton. They want to believe, evidently, anyone can beat Hillary because...well because..goll darn it she's wrong and we're right, don't ya know. That is what passes for policy in a party that is so splintered that the demographics probably look like phone book with each person believing themselves to be a power broker. These are the folks that still can't believe after all the energy and money they invested in trying to bring down Bill Clinton, that he's still kicking their ass.

But they do love their cheerleaders. Remember, if Rush Limbaugh didn't exist, some one would invent him. His constant campaign to bring down McCain will only bring down the party as it will further drive a wedge between the party faithful to the point they will not vote and give up the field of battle. This is a lesson the Democrats learned post McGovern and Clinton. Maybe.

The Democrats are posed on the edge of new era in American Politics. It appears they will nominate the first woman or the first black man to become President of the United States. This is no small thing. It is suppose to be the Democrats office to take. It's generally conceded, they have to lose the election. Anti Republican feelings are running high in the country. Most experts feel that they have to take their act out of town polish it and come back another day.

Or do they? Two things can happen that could be bad for the Democrats. The Obama-Clinton fight could get so vicious as to split the party. Not only would they squander the advantage they apparently have, but they would turn the country back to a revitalized Republican Party for yet another round of disastrous leadership. Secondly, they will have destroyed the chances of two very talented and important politicians. I for one am uneasy about this slam-dunk victory for the Democrats. Given the malevolence the Republicans will bring to the general election, after all if they will sacrifice their own, what do expect they will do to the competition, I think we have a right to worry.

Lame Duck, It's not just Bush

2008-01-29T09:06:00.000-06:00

Last night the pathetic spectacle of George Bush, in my opinion the worst President of my lifetime, gave his final State of the Union speech. It is required by law, but I'm sure most of the participants would have voted to let him e mail it. As it was, the leader of the free world stood powerless, clad in failure in front of two of his likely successors, Clinton and Obama.

I need not go through the list of failed policies that Bush pursued while in office. Enough said that his constituency, the religious right and the economically privileged are not really better off than they were seven years ago when he took office with their hopes and prayers lifting him up as the next saviour. Yes they have their Supreme Court and their tax cuts, but even those will fade. Karl Rove's dream of a generational Republican dynasty was destroyed in the wake of inept leadership, the strum and drang of the War in Iraq and the total lack of dialogue with anyone who could have told them they were not in touch with the majority of American People.

We are not a nation of bigots. Nor do we believe that getting rich is worth setting aside any commitment to the common good. We do have noble intentions. Some of us do not know what to do with those feelings. We crave action on the matter. Like the physician we seek to do no harm and feel it would be nice to leave this place a little better than we found it. From time to time, a leader comes a long that inspires us Some bring out the worst of our fears and inclinations. Some inspire us to do better.

We may have such a leader in Barak Obama. Regardless of whether he becomes President, because there is a lot of work to be done in that effort, his candidacy represents the turning of the page on an ugly story in American Political History. The rejection of the social contract for individualism, the elevation of economics over citizenship and the criminalization of poverty may have felt good as long as you were on the winning team, but when the fact that the game was rigged became apparent it behoves all of us to be a little bit ashamed.

It is a time for change. This word might become a campaign cliche, but it is true nonetheless. I believe we've had enough partisan politics. Make no mistake no matter how weakened the Republican Party might be after the election, they will not go quietly in the that good night. And if you don't believe there are some Democrats that will waste their time looking for payback, you've in for a shock.

But as the will of the people becomes more apparent, it is my hope that we can coalesce under an agenda of the real issues. The issues that balance the needs of the people against those of special interests (which will not go away either). We have problems of global proportions. The mismanagement of environmental issues, the belligerent conduct of foreign policy and the neglect of infrastructure issues are bad enough, but we must be aware the policies of change need traction. Moving from one direction to another will take time, patience and most of all leadership that keep it's eye on the business at hand.

Clinton's Folly, Bill that is...

2008-01-27T06:31:00.000-06:00

No one owes more to a wife that stuck by him through thick and thin, than Bill Clinton. Be warned, I discount the Monica thing. She has been his conscience, his soul mate and his minister without portfolio during times when his enemies were people like Delay, Armey and Gingrich. This unholy force was enough to make anyone wish they were teaching at a small University in some obscure state, such as Arkansas rather than living in the bull ring that is Washington DC. Everything from her effort to straighten out the health care mess in the country to the hairstyle she chose was criticized by lead brains that included Moreen Dowd, who writes for a paper that is rumoured to be liberal. During the eight years of Bill's presidency she was vilified and hated by some of the highest ranking Christians and right wing nuts in the political spectrum.

Generally, Hilary Clinton was more intelligent than her opposition. She showed more class and restraint in the onset of attack after attack, than any of her partisan pot-shooters. The only time she really looked pathetic was when Bill lied. (I didn't have sex with that women.) She believed him at a time when she should have known better. At the time, she told the media that it was a conspiracy by the right wing. And it was, however for once they didn't need to rig the charge.

All of this being said, Bill has been on the campaign trail trying to get Hilary into his old job, and no one is working harder, maybe to hard. As you regular readers know I have my doubts about another Clinton White House, but that would not prevent me voting for her. I do like the prospects of an Obama White House, so sift my remarks good citizen, I'm not totally without bias.

Bill is swinging the ax that has two edges. He might cut Obama with his relentless, "his record isn't clean on the War in Iraq" and "he isn't experienced enough", but what happens dear friend when one of them becomes the nominee of the party? We will need both of them to form the coalition that will put this partisan gridlock behind us and get us moving again. That's when the other edge of the ax might hurt us.

How to Lose a Sure Thing

2008-01-25T07:42:00.000-06:00

I, like I'm sure many others are totally dismayed at the current democratic campaigns for their parties nomination. Talk about he said she said and all of the school yard antics to go with it. I have to say, as Bill Cosby soeloquently titled his latest book, "Come on People!".

The Republican Party is in melt down. The various factions within the party are trying to position themselves for a post Bush era and they have failed to find a rally point. The candidates are stuck defending Bush's failed policies because to not do so would lose them a significant part of the party base. Remember, they have to appeal to Republican voters not the general public. The real candidate will emerge after they are nominated.
The religious right, that vaunted two edge sword that Karl Rove and company sharpened so well for Bush, can't find a candidate that will pass their narrow litmus test of social engineer and true Christian.

The anti-Tax guys, Norquist and Company, just don't get it. The mood of the electorate has changed. We have seen less government and we don't like it. It seems that lack of regulation and free market economics produces Enron, Wall StreetBanditry and home loan panics. With the rich obviously getting richer, the poor getting nominally poorer and the middle evaporating like spilled beer on a summer sidewalk, it seems the myth of everyone being welcomed at the country club has vanished.

Health care costs and educational opportunities are more important than spreading democracy to the Middle East. And while Iraq is on the back burner because the "Surge" has put a relativedegree of calm in the area, most of us still don't see the way out. Maybe a newer version of a dignified retreat?

Amidst all of this Republican chaos is the gloom of failure. Supply side economics, the hallmark of the Reagan era, has failed. Peace in the Middle East is still not a reality. We have lost the respect and admiration of most of the world including our friends. Trust me, nothing will happen on the international front until thisadministration is gone. Our domestic economy and infrastructure has been ignored to a large extent. The only thing that is sure since Bush has taken office is that Corporate Welfare entitlements are firmly in place for theforeseeable future.

And the Democrat? Fighting like kids in a school yard over which is better girls or boys, he said she said and my friends are cooler than your friends. Come on People!

The American Ayatollah's

2008-01-14T16:39:00.000-06:00

No, they didn't insist on women wearing headscarf's or hiding their bodies completely in floor length gowns. Nor, did they insist that they travel only with male members of their own family. And they weren't Muslim extremists, but other similarities to the Taliban are frightening.

In my mind, any religion that subjugates either sex is wrong on the face of its belief system. I can't think of one religion that considers men the inferior of the two sexes. While the equality of women in American culture is new, (Yes, I know that will surprise people under the age of forty.), the blow-back from the feminist movement of the sixties has always been at the forefront of the conservative, may I say, extremists in the US. The recognition of equality between the sexes has been blamed for the break up of the traditional American Family, the higher divorce rate, the resulting escalation in single parent families, the abortion rate and the general lowering of morals in the society. Are these issues all solely the results of the feminist success?

Many men who were caught in the cross over from "a mans home is his castle" to the "why doesn't he help with the housework' eras, were frustrated, some say emasculated by events and there is no doubt they were motivated to strike back. Women who felt that the freedom to be all they could be was nice, but the practical application of the day to day reality of the concept was hard. In the early days of the movement the talk was easy, the walk, as a lot of women will tell you, was another story. Your security and future, when you have kids, a low paying job and no husband doesn't look to good and slogan and conscious raising nights out with the girls isn't a lot of solace.

Those of us that lived through the sixties thought that society had changed irrevocably on number of social fronts, but what we forget is that power is never surrendered. Finding a coalition of frustrated and seemingly disenfranchised, religious leaders formed a movement called "the moral Majority". Let me say this that while admittedly the movement gained a lot of power because of its solidarity and visibility, at its core it was neither moral nor a majority, but it often times appeared that way. T V Evangelists and mega church pastors did one thing differently than their predecessors, they took sides in the political arena. Billy Graham, used to be the pastor to presidents. He never seemed political, but he was always welcome in the White House. The new Ayatollahs however, hung their hat on the Republican party and rode the moral and social discontent to a position of power so great that even during this election process in 2008, we are witnessing the republican candidates jockeying for "Evangelical Christian" support, similar to the Democrats scrambling for the Labor Union support.

The Ayatollahs have been able to keep their flock together because they successfully convinced these good folks that these issues are personal and that they are being persecuted. The government is the problem. The government is controlled by liberal interests that do not have their best interests in mind when they legislate laws that protect gays, promiscuous single moms, and convicted criminals. This movement is highly symbolic. Prayer in school, protection for the American Flag and focus on banning abortions are all highly visible rallying points. I call The guns, flags, sluts and fags" agenda.

The problem is that while the support of these groups might be important to get the nomination from the party in some respects they are toxic in the general election. The American Ayatollahs are no different in one respect to their counterparts in the Muslim world. They have to convince their followers that they are the victims of society, that they are persecuted for their beliefs and the enemy is the defiler of their sacred beliefs. Abortion is murder and those that practice it can be justifiably killed. Women are vessels of God and should be sheltered and defended from sin and degradation. Only their husband can do that and they must trust and obey him in all things. Homosexuals are all living in sin and can not be tolerated. If we do not pray in school we are losing the Christian foundation of our American beliefs. And the latest scare tactic, illegal immigrants are a threat to our society and must be expunged from our country.

This deliberate and calculated reliance on discontent and fear is no different than their counterparts in extremist Muslim countries. Unfortunately, it worked for a long time. A minority of malcontents have held this countries deliberative process hostage for far to long. For Republicans it required being the right kind of conservative to gain admission to the inner circle, moderates from either party need not apply. And so in each election process, the candidates would march to Bob Jones University, pay homage to the Ayatollahs and get their blessing. The power, of course, came from motivating a huge voter turn out that blindly voted their pitiful one issue minds. Their need to be assured that the candidate would not make them license their guns, would not recognize gay marriage, fight to overturn Roe v Wade, allow them to pray in schools and, subtly but clearly understood was, the need to assure them that they were candidates of a Christian America.

What's changed? The stark realization that the Ayatollahs had sold out the needs of the average Joe. Somewhere along the line, people began to realize that all of these social issues were important, but not so important as to not recognize other needs, pressing needs. Poor health care delivery, the instability of jobs in a global economy. failing infrastructure and lack of emergency preparedness all became more important than abortion rights, flag burning, commencement prayers and homosexuals rights.

As a matter of fact, people became aware that nobody was preventing them from pray silently in school, forcing them to, burn a flag, have an abortion or adopt a homosexual lifestyle. They could still object to these things on moral ground and more to the point they did not have to prevent others from holding their beliefs. In short they weren't being persecuted for their beliefs, they were attempting to inflict their beliefs on others by law. Does that not sound like religious extremism? Of course it is and while you can try and call it strong religious belief, it's fascism with a holy face. I am hoping this next election deals a death blow to religious extremism in our political system. I want the Republicans to field meaningful candidates and provide honest opposition to the Democrats in matters of civil law and statecraft. The Ayatollahs will not go away, but at least they will be relegated to the fanatic fringe where they belong.

Analysis of Change

2008-01-13T06:48:00.000-06:00

The race as of this date is still on. Obama was not able to administer the knockout blow to Clinton in the New Hampshire Primary. Nor were the Republicans able to sort out their dysfunctional differences, as John McCain won on the Republican side of the ticket While these people are running for the same office the differences between the major parties is huge.

The buzz word on the campaign trail is change. Every Candidate has been urged by their handlers to incorporate their two cents worth on the matter of change. The question is change from what. Obama and Edwards talk about changing the way we do business in Washington. Ultra partisan politics and the gridlock and stagnation it causes has exasperated the public, regardless of party or political tendency.

Bush, with the total cooperation of the Republican majority spent this country into a corner, started an war that is costly not only in money but its tax on our countries spirit and moral and he has squandered our reputation worldwide because of his lack of vision and management skills. This failed philosophy of preemptive war and supply side economics is what people want changed. How do we change that?

Some would say, vote out the Republicans. That might be a good idea and it certainly helps the Democrats in that some people are going to vote that way as they did in the midterm election in 2006. But what have the Democrats done with their majority? As it turns out, dammed little! It's clear that with a change in the White House and assembling a coalition of centrist or progressives,as they want to be called now, Democrats and moderate Republicans would help to start to straighten out this mess. Who is best sited to do this?

In the Republican Party there is only one obvious candidate, John McCain. McCain's problem is simple. He'll have a chance at winning because he is popular with independents, palatable to some Democrats and moderate Republicans, but he has to get his parties nomination. This is a huge problem since McCain has been a maverick in his own party for years. The far right wing does not trust him, the evangelicals don't like him and the Bush people hate him. You can make a case that given the low quality of the rest of the field that the party may hold it's nose and nominate him anyway, but I wouldn't bet the ranch on that happening.

The Democrats are suffering from an embarrassment of riches, to borrow the current cliche, with the Edwards, Obama, Clinton Troika on the Democratic side. Edwards is fully capable man who has forced the issue of middle class neglect and exploitation onto the agenda for two election cycles. He has enough of a constituency to be at the bargaining table and end up with some job in the new administration, regardless of which party wins, but I doubt he'll be the nominee of the party.

Reality set in after the Iowa. Hillary Clinton was so ready to be President that for a while early in this campaign she was assuming that she would be and started acting like the presumptive nominee. While she won in New Hampshire, she won in a three way race. What is interesting is that nobody is talking about what is going to happen when Edwards finally drops out. Where would those votes in New Hampshire have gone if Edwards is not on the ballot. Regardless, Clinton as the candidate is not your coalition candidate. You can argue that her husband did it with the opposition in control of the House and Senate, but we've sen Bill Clinton in action and Hillary is no Bill Clinton, regardless of her obvious qualifications. While it is true is that Hillary has more practical experience thanObama it is also true that she is far more polarizing. Obama is clearly the guy who has an involved and new constituency (See my comments about the Tiger Effect in my last blog). He can "reach across the aisle" and work with the opposition.

We need someone who can bring together the great political center of the society. Notice please, that the center of the electorate is not overwhelmingly Republican or Democratic. It is the independent voter who shifts back and forth between parties. It is this constituent that the parties seek after they have received their party's nomination and than forget once the vote has been tallied. The independent voter who has no organization to fall back on, no lobbyist in Washington, they are the true victims of the system. This is the group that is crying out for change. And excuse me Mr. Rove, by serving this constituency a party can build a future of long term dominance of the political system, not by pandering to the fears and prejudices of the fringe.

Where Did You Think They Would Go?

2008-01-08T11:24:00.000-06:00

In the search for a new community, we ended up at Starbuck's. I remember when it was fashionable, in fact "way cool" to meet the love of your life in a bar. Squares, today I think they are called "dweebs", paired off at church socials or, God forbid, they were high school sweethearts. Some will argue the grocery store and the coin op laundry are better places to meet perspective mates, but I have the sense that these people are the new breed of multitaskers. There was the health club fad which still has it adherents, but the rest of us gravitated to the coffee house.

Let me assure you, I'm not looking for a new mate, but socializing with friends and having short business meetings still is a part of my life. Like a lot of fads, coffeehouses, when observed in a rear view mirror, were a thing waiting to happen. We need a place to gather and bond as a community. I hate to sound old school, but I don't believe that the Internet will ever replace interpersonal relations. (I do think the net can help get people together, if they have a common interest.)

In my investigation of coffee houses in Milwaukee (www.espressoexpressions.com), I note that there are some group characteristics to some of them. The college hangout, the yuppie spot, the smokers spot and the Seniors roust are pretty apparent after you've stopped a couple of times. My son, Todd, in Seattle, the capital of Espresso, tells me some shops, for the most part, serve just one office building.

The coffee explosion was probably the direct result of the melt down in the two martini lunch and the neighborhood watering hole. Granted there is some of this going on, but let me assure you, it's not like it was back in the day. Health concerns and an new emphasis's on drunk driving enforcement probably did as much as anything to make people drink more responsibly, but than folks will always find someplace to congregate. My families for me figured out. I got three gift cards for coffee houses this Christmas. So I'll see you latte.

Down the Rabbit Hole with Obama

2008-01-06T06:58:00.001-06:00

Well it wasn't Kansas but it was close. Obama's victory in Iowa woke up the press and the country to the fact that this guy is the real deal. You're going to hear pundits going on about why he resonates with the common man and that his message is messianic in it's recall of the great changers of society; Franklin D Roosevelt and John F Kennedy are most often mentioned.

What the pundits and the deer-in-the-headlights mainstream politicians don't get is that the electorate is not amazed by Obama and his populist appeal, they've been waiting for him. Maybe we are all a little surprised that our next leader is going to be a black man from Illinois, but than he's not running to be the President of Black America either. His ability to connect with a broad spectrum of people is partly because he doesn't bring the baggage that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton did.

We've know for a long time that people have had it with politics as usual in Washington. Governor Shwarzenegger in California saw it and abruptly changed his confrontational tactic's to great effect. Signaling that Republicans who are going to be successful in the future are going to be moderate Republicans. The Republican Party is not your evangelical, gun toting, tax cuts at any price, gay bashing, Karl Rove crowd anymore. People have woken up and realized that the snake oil sales men left them with a product that is of dubious value.

I don't see why we ever thought that arming the ordinary citizen, segregating Gay's and relegating non-Christians to secondary citizenship was more important than health care, education and the growth of good paying jobs. I know we bought the bag of baloney that giving the wealthy more money would benefit all of us. I just don't why. What I do know is that we did buy into this, or at least enough of us did so that people like George W Bush got two terms as president of the United States.

What Obama's victory in Iowa meant is that era is in all probability over. I've mentioned before Obama's "Tiger Effect" on the voting public. Like Tiger Woods, Obama has people who were on the outside looking in, coming into the event and participating. Young people and disenfranchised Republicans, independent voters and moderate Democrats have responded to his message His cutting across demographics has amazed the experts. His challenge will be to keep them engaged long enough to get elected.

The cynicism of the electorate is understandable since after the Democrats routed the Republicans in the last election they have done little or nothing to effect change. Why is Obama any different? Maybe to much was expected, but the price for the Democrats is that the new face looks better than same old, same old. In truth, it's not just the Republicans that the public doesn't trust anymore, it's the establishment politicians. It's to bad for Hillary, Joe and Chris and time for Obama

Winter in Wonderland

2007-12-16T06:56:00.000-06:00

We got another 4-6 inches of snow last night (December 15, 2007). That snow is lying on top of God only knows how much more snow that has been falling for weeks. We are in this cycle of cold and dry, than warm and wet which produces snow or freezing rain, than back to cold again.

Today all of that fluffy white snow that fell all day yesterday will be blowing back onto the sidewalks and streets from which we removed it last night and this morning. This Wisconsin in the winter. This is how it should be. We are latitude of seasons. Our summers are hot and winters are cold. it is part of the environment that produces the hardy and optimistic people we are.

I know, you hear people that live here complaining about our weather, but than people in good families complain about their relatives also. We complain about the weather because it's fodder for small talk. Secretly, we are proud of the fact that we experience these extremes. I for one do not know how much I would appreciate a great day in the summer if I had not gone through the splendor of fall, the white fury of winter and the rebirth of spring.

Wisconsin has not experienced winters of white fury as of late. The season has opened with a historical record for snowfall. Since these trends seem to get stuck in a cycle, we have no reason to believe this trend won't continue. If the jet stream moves a few miles north or south, if the arc of it's structure loops further north or south, it can change our weather in days, sometimes hours. What I'm saying is that we may lose all of this snow in a week and never see anymore until next December, but that is highly unlikely.

What makes this opening act noteworthy is that we haven't had a winter like this for years. Young people think it's unusual. More experienced residents know better. This is the kind of winter we could count on almost every year. This winter is like hearing your favorite oldy done by a new group in a movie sound track. The memories come in rush and you wonder if it was that vivid in the reality or if the event only rests in your mind in the filtered form you currently feel.

I sound like an old coot when I talk about a winter in the early sixties that had thirty plus days where the temperature never went above zero degree's . When I tell about winters where the city not only plowed but hauled snow away because there was no pace to plow it anymore. And yes, horror of horrors, we actually built tunnels and ice igloos in the drifts.

I don't know if we are going to see that kind of winter this year, but the severity of this winter should not be looked at as unusual. It's actually the kind of winter we used to have. It's the kind I remember

You Better be Paying Attention

2007-12-12T06:44:00.000-06:00

Dear Non Involved Potential Voter;

I'm telling you that better become involved. You better start paying attention because the man or woman you will have the opportunity to elect president of the United States is being selected and according to the national pools, you are not paying attention.

It's to early.
My states primary is not until next spring.
I've got lots of things to worry about until then.

In sense you are are correct. The early primaries, that are romanticized in our political ritual, are highly influential, but so are the national polls. When the governor from a Midwestern state suddenly rises above the pack in Iowa, it becomes national news. When it became obvious this was going to effect the front runners, the microscope focused on his record. Previously, no one cared much about his record on immigration and taxation, because he wasn't a threat.

The thing is that no one is going to tell Iowa or New Hampshire voters how to vote. It's true that their influence is beyond their political importance and numbers. However, if voters who are not involved in early primaries, work for and support the candidate of their choice, candidates will have the reason and resources of continue campaigning. Those of us who sit on the sidelines waiting patiently for our turn, will find that the person we want to lead us is already out of the race.

President Obama, Get used to it.

2007-12-04T08:44:00.000-06:00

I'll be the first to admit he doesn't have the kind of experience that we normally look for when we select or President. But that my friends is why I think, he is the best choice. Because the kind of people we have been electing for the past few years have not been getting the job done and just as only Nixon could go to China, only Obama can change the direction of the ship of state far enough to make a significant and necessary change.

The direction of government for the last eight years, and for sure and to a great extent since 1980 with the election of Ronald Regan, has been less government. Even a bleeding heart liberal like me has to admit in retrospect that maybe government was too intrusive. Time after time we have seen State and local governments come up with solutions to problems that the federal government could not. My issue with the Reagan approach was to throw the baby out with the bath water. Seeing government wasn't effective in certain area's he reasoned that eliminating the government all together was the proper response.

We have had trickle down economics and starve the beast legislative agenda's since then, except for the eight years Bill Clinton was in office, and the average person is less well off because of it. We are not keeping up income wise. More and more of us are falling behind in savings and health care costs. We certainly have given up our individual freedoms out of fear from our latest bogeyman, fundamental Islamist terrorists. The average guy is getting the shaft and I think finally we are waking up to it. We are getting a grasp on the idea that middle class is evaporating and the lower class is getting to be a larger more inclusive group.

Families who are relatively secure are fewer in numbers and are making astronomical amounts of money in comparison to most of us. The differences in the salaries makes no sense other than to reward managers for making sure the work is done at the lowest cost by the least amount of people, regardless of the social consequence of high turnover and job insecurity.
My favorite cartoon is of the boss complaining to an associate that he can't get any loyalty out of his temporary workers. The insecurity in the job market feeds a paranoia that encourages a shut up and take what you can get attitude. This feeds the cycle of "let them eat cake" postures by management.

There seems to be nobody that speaks for the most of us as most of us were dreaming that just any day now our ship would come in and we be one of the fat cats at the country club and weren't listening to the folks that raised the alarm. "Free Market' economics is just another closed loop kind of thinking that says we are right and concern for anything other than the free flow of dollars from the street to corporate accounts is not acceptable. Like fundamentalist religion there is no room for dissent or disagreement.

Note however in these politically correct times, the mantra of most organizations is that their most important asset is their employee's. And this is true, but not so true that the working people in an organization should profit from prosperity. That should go to the managers and stockholders, who under examination one sees have usually done the least.

But now there is a voice. Obama has struck a chord with the millions of people who are slowly but evermore vocally realizing that the deck is stacked and system isn't working for them. Forget the man behind the curtain. Bush has wrought havoc on our concept of democracy and res assured he will do his damnedest to reward his supporters by trying to extend the perks he got for them this past eight years. No doubt no matter who becomes President, much of the work of this next administration will be undoing the mess Bush has created.

None of he candidates with the notable exceptions of Obama and Edwards are even discussing the issues that should be foremost in the minds of voters. We need to level the playing field. We have to deal with the failing infrastructure, out of reach health care costs, and welfare costs, corporate welfare that is. We have to give what's left of the middle class some hope and we have to give the underclass, which at this point maybe bigger than the middle class, more than hope.

Obama has what I refer to as the Tiger effect. No, I don't mean that he is multiracial. When Tiger Woods became a professional golfer, he brought people into the sport that never felt they belonged. Professional golf was a sport for rich old white guys. What Obama is doing is bringing people into politics that think that it's time that rich old white guys move aside. The telling point will be if this constituency organize, work and vote for him

Choosing Our Next President

2007-12-04T07:58:00.000-06:00

Peering across the ruins on the political battle field one does not see a pretty scene. Year of partisan politics's and loose leadership have left the field strewn with victims; some of these people deserve their fate others probably don't.

Hillary Clinton is a case in point. Clearly and ambitious women, Hilary is often described as being strident and cold. Politically, she is divisive. For various reasons, she is either loved or hated, with very few in the undecided category. She got the reputation for being a person who would do anything to get ahead, by not divorcing her meandering husband when he got caught with his pants down in the company of a White House Intern. She also tried and failed, as the first lady, to organize and legislate the first major health care reform in this country since Medicare.

In the first case, her loyalty was challenged by right wing "Christians" who taut the divorce rate in this country as one of the reasons for our moral demise. Let me note here that right wing Christians are selective in their application of morality, since many of their leaders and representatives have been caught in similar or worse circumstances. Suffice to say if Hillary Clinton had chosen to divorce the sitting President of the United States, she would have been equally vilified. The horns of that dilemma are wide and tips are sharp.

Her opponents don't like her because she is not an in-the--kitchen woman and does not bow with unqualified reverence to the ole boy establishment. The press and more importantly her constituents give her high marks as a Senator from New York State. The predictions of her inability to get along with the opposition being dashed, she now suffers from getting along to well with the enemy in a horribly partisan arena.

Representative of Bill and Hillary Clinton's two for one Presidency was the Health Care fiasco. Granted her tactics were suspect, but building support for a democratic bill of this magnitude with a ardently opposed republican controlled legislature would have been difficult if not impossible. And that may have been Hillary's first big lesson in Washington politics. You can be right, health care still needs an overhaul, but overreaching without building a consensus is folly and half a loaf is better than none. She took some great idea's and unwittingly turned them into fodder for late night comedians and right wing pundents.

Hillary Clinton could be a fine President and Leader of the Free World. She could turn around the terrible aftermath of the worst president we have ever had in a shorter time than almost any candidate we have running, except one. (I intend to clarify this in another blog soon) To redirect this country from an over reaction to world terrorism and redirect the fight from a unilateral contest to a true coalition of the free world and to face directly the horrible results of the so-called free trade global economy and mend the infrastructure here at home, she would need the support of the congress. If she got a mandate of 60% of the vote she might scare the republicans into being more the loyal opposition instead of ardent obstructionists, but that scenario is unlikely.

What is more likely is she would win by a slim margin and have to depend on what is so far a demonstrably weak democratic leadership and more embattled and cornered republican minority, that never showed the ability to lead even when they had the power, to work with and that spells disaster.

I like Hillary Clinton. She is to me a good leader. She has good ideas and she has showed she can work with others and get things done. The world will be a better place after four years of Clinton even though the poor woman is going to have to spend most of that time cleaning up after her predecessor.

The irony of seeing George Bush standing in the door of the White House giving back the keys to the Clinton's might be worth giving her a chance.

Taking Resposbility

2007-11-25T07:21:00.000-06:00

I recently participated in an on-line discussion about voting in America. It was live chat concerning many aspects of voting in America, mostly the lack of pticipation. The power of the press to steer the conversation, the dollars of big doners to inordinately influence the outcome and just plain apathy were cited as a few of many reasons Americans don't vote. The responsibility of citizenship and the value of the right to select our leaders were mentioned as reasons we should vote.

(As an aside, we met for one hour each week for four weeks. while we discussed voting the conversation inevitably turned to the Conflict in Iraq.)

What didn't occur to me than and what was not discussed is the responsibility we have to the world as citizens of the world. I and many others have opposed the war in Iraq from day one. I continue to remain opposed to further interference in another sovereign countries business and I certainly remain steadfast in my opposition to expanding the war to Iran. While I can say that I didn't vote for Bush, because I didn't, but that does not give me the right to say that I have no blame in my President's actions. What we have to understand is that we vote for the Leader of the Free World, not just the president of the United States. And what he does affects the lives of people all over th world.

It may make Mr. Bush and his band of true believers feel good that they have exerted death and suffering on some people to bring about vengeance for the World Trade Center Attacks on September 11th, but I have to share in the disgrace and shame of that decision, because I didn't work hard enough to defeat Mr. Bush. I allowed the process to play itself out. It may even be said that if the better candidate did not surface to run against Bush, I was not active enough or smart enough to see that person and work for their election. Sound simplistic and naive? Well if it does it's because we have forgotten that the strength of a democracy lies not only in an educated voter, but an active voter.

Recently, we've heard that the election season is too long. Voters are not tuned in. This season is for the "Wonks" and insiders. What's really happening is that the candidates are choosing teams, the staff and contributors that will support them. They are trying to force the conversation of the election toward an emphasis on issues they think they can win. Trust me a lot will happen between now and the election that can not be predicted, by even the most informed insider, but what is said and how it is perceived is important. Being involved, even it means you're just listening, at this point is important.

Maybe the election cycle is too long, but until it gets shorter a good citizen of this country has to be engaged. Don't let anyone tell you it doesn't make a difference. If you don't think it does ask the people of Iraq.

God Talking

2007-11-20T16:06:00.000-06:00

I'm tired of people that wear their religion like a t-shirt with a smart ass saying on it. Thank your Lord and Saviour all you want, the reason you scored the touchdown is because the defensive secondary blew the coverage and your quarterback spotted you open. You child is not a miracle baby because it survived a terrible illness. some very hardworking intelligent people worked their ass off using the latest medical equipment and knowledge and your kid has a tremendous will to live.

No, I don't believe the answers are in the bible. I think there are lessons that can be learned in the stories of the bible, but there are lessons to be learned from all literature. I don't believe in churches, but I will admit that some of them do good work taking care of people in need.

What I do believe is that if there is a God, she's talking to us in ways we aren't listening for.
If God gave us any commands to follow it was, "I'm giving you all of this and the potential it represents. Don't screw it up! " I don't believe we are following that command. None of us are, including me.

When this earth cries out so loudly for relief and we come up with carbon credits, we aren't listening. When the water supply is short and we build swimming pools, we aren't listening.
When the air is foul and we drive gas guzzlers simply because, we personally can afford it, we aren't listening. I believe God is talking to us and we aren't listening

The Price of Global Warming

2007-11-14T20:12:00.000-06:00

For the past five years, it seems that I ride my moped later into November (November 20 this year). I and my friends play golf later into the fall. Not only are Fall Seasons longer, but winters are shorter. Caution, these trends can't be posited as proof that we are being affected by global warming. Even Scientists that believe that we are causing massive climate change, caution that looking at the changes in the local weather is poor proof of global warming, but it's hard to ignore.

I have kidded my friend that if short sleeve weather in November is the result of global warming, maybe it's not going to be that bad. Jokes aside now, a highly credible group of scientists working for the United Nations have now issued a report that tells us the facts. We have to do something to reduce carbon emissions or we will alter the climate of the earth. This alteration will change the way we live or result in making human in habitation impossible.

This report predicts massive population dislocation, starvation and general hardship in the short term and chaos in the long term. The problem is that while we might be worrying about the future and the price we may pay, the reason we are in this pickle is because we have not paid the price as we created this situation.

Tom Friedman, in his NY Times column, mentioned his late in the season round of golf in the Washington DC area. While he enjoys the opportunity to play late in the season but he mentioned that he felt guilty about the price we are paying for this. Price! What price?

Americans in particular have used carbon fuels with abandon with no thought or plan as to what the results would be. I truly believe we don't have the right to pollute the air of the world so that we don't have to walk two blocks for a DVD. Yet, I can assure you if you asked the guy on the street to give up his car, we would have a revolt on the order of general chaos. Horse Power can represent manhood. Any political leader that lead the way on serious prohibition on Automobile travel or other life style sacrifices will be laughed at not only by the late night comedians, but the general public.

Al Gore aside, people are urgently interested in other people giving up their SUV's, moving to smaller homes and erecting solar panels to keep their on-demand 100 gallons of hot water ready and waiting, but can't adapt their lives to recycling or simply walking more and leaving the car at home. The problem is that people need leadership in order to see the problem in terms of their contribution and how their changing can assist in solving the problem, but as mentioned, being in front of this problem can cost.

I think we're coming around. There is a modicum of recognition of this problem. And as you might expect, there are the naysayers. "This is another Y2K fiasco" "It's a liberal trick" "Tree-hugger revenge" "There is no scientific proof"... etc. but i think the average guy is finally getting the message. It's being helped by three dollar plus gasoline, which is throwing the whole gas-guzzler equals I-am-successful syndrome. into question. What we haven't done is calculate the cost and, at least as important, is how to exact that cost from the consumers

The Current Problem for True Believers

2007-11-14T07:50:00.001-06:00

It seems that in my lifetime I have drifted from the mainstream in my political beliefs. From the knees of my parents I learned that the "New Deal" saved the nation from depression and helped create the new middle class. The big tent of the democratic party got so big that not everyone wanted to be sheltered by it. As with any movement, the worst thing that can happen is success. Success breeds a complacency and a lack of forward motion that usually puts out of the fire of belief in the soul of the movement.

Once the idea of women's liberation and black equality became a reality, the house was built and the only thing that remained was maintenance. But as most of us know building the house, erecting something completely new, is exciting. Painting and fixing plumbing leaks is not so exhilarating. It also became apparent that moving out of the tent and into the house produced some restlessness in some who were surprised and disappointed with the facade.

There came a time of "to much change and the domination of the extreme left wing" that created something called "Regan Democrats". Personally I saw these people as individuals that never were comfortable with the objectives of liberty and equality particularly when it visited their backyard. School desegregation and single mom's became a rallying point about which these folks could jump ship and sail with folks who gladly pander to their fears and made them feel good about their prejudices.

Liberals became the scorn of the establishment and government was the problem. To much government at a cost too high became the underlying cause of all our problems and the only way to reverse things is to starve the beast, that is not fund the programs that were at the seat of the problem.

The "New Deal" was welfare with another name. An incentive killer in that it discouraged work and took money out of the system that could better be used to invest in businesses that would produce jobs. The "Trickle down" theory of economics became the buzz word. This is a variation on the old Calvinist-Social Darwinian thinking that basically says that if you let rich people keep their money, they will invest it wisely and the benefits will flow to those around them. After all they were smart enough to make the money, who better to trust the future with than those who have already succeeded. Oh Yeah, there is a little of that God stuff in there also. God rewards those on earth as well as in heaven who obey him.

I could write a book on the failures of this kind of thinking, but let me shorthand it by saying that it's to bad that the good Christian, God fearing, patriotic citizens that bought this line of crap weren't better served by the fornicating, draft dodging, grafters and crooks that they voted into office.

By now it's obvious that government is still the problem. The disdain of the New Deal has brought about the destruction of the middle class, more money for the rich and a switch from social welfare to corporate welfare. Some of us pay less taxes. We have reduced the size of government and regulations. We now have tremendous debt and more scandals with regard to lack of oversight than we have ever had.

True Believer's are still trying to sell their program, but the big tent the right built is leaking and some of their people have left the comfort of their belief and are questioning the man behind the curtain. Once the lop of thinking is no longer closed, people can stray into area's the mind managers would prefer they not go.

Tell me is your life better than it was eight years ago?

Marking a Sad Event

2007-11-05T10:10:00.000-06:00

Today I discovered that a women who meant a great deal in my life passed away suddenly. Marsha was first a friend. I met her when I took up with her husband, John, or as the old rascal likes to be called Johnny B. She and John didn't make it and I'll confess I don't know her married name.

Over the years I would hear of Marsha through John and his kids, Sean and Kelly. Marsha was a nurse. She, like so many people like her, practiced nursing not from the "for profit" side of the ledger but from the"what's good for the patient" side. We prefer these people when we are the patients.

I next met Marsha when I checked my mother Mary Jane into Franciscan Care and Rehab. Mother was suffering from Dementia. She couldn't take care of herself. Marsha was one of her nurses. She took care of mom, but as important she took care of me. Marsha made sure that I knew exactly what was going on with mom and what she needed. I always felt like mom was Okay because Marsha was looking out for her.

I know that I was not special. I'm positive that all of Marsha's patients were treated with the same care and concern I'm just saying that making the difficult decision to put my mom in someone else's care was made easier knowing that someone was Marsha.

What lies in the heart of an Urban soul?

2007-10-25T20:50:00.000-05:00

Some one asked me today about our move to Milwaukee. Regular readers know my standard reply about moving to Milwaukee because I can't afford Manhattan. If you've read my recent account of our annual trip to New York, I submit that at heart I'm an New Yorker in exile. But that ignores the fact that I have never lived in NYC, my enduring love for Chicago, a rough and tumble Midwestern city, my suspicion of LA, a collection of suburbs, and my new found affection for Louisville, with its southern charm and culture.

I love cities because they are alive. They thrive on a speed cocktail of culture, history and big dreams realized. In any city worth it's salt you'll find the remnants of better days gone bad and the revival and recovery from the slump. My own city of Milwaukee has taken years to shake the "rust belt" label and in all honesty isn't 100% there yet. The rebuilding of Times Square and the financial rescue of New York is an epic tale. Cleveland, Philadelphia, St Louis and other Midwestern cities have pulled themselves up from bad times. Detroit and Gary haven't made it yet. That this rejuvenation is taking place in Northern Cities that had been written off, is of special enjoyment of those of us who finally realize that the South is still fighting the Civil War and feel foolish for not realizing it earlier.

Cities are where young people go to realize their dreams and where others return to find them again. Cities are where the social contract is tested, reshaped and refined. Cities are where the culture is nurtured and allowed to grow. It's where our music is written, our books are born and our art is created. Cities force us to confront "those "people and find out about our prejudices. Cities are where we come together, like it or not.

There is a lot wrong with America's cities. Part of what is wrong is the myth that life is better in the suburbs. This draws many people out of the cosmopolitan and into the confines of provincialism. Many of these suburban dwellers wake up to a new world when their children are out of the nest and they find the culture of family no longer welcomes them. Like a divorcee at a cocktail party, they are quickly relegated to the edges. They are coming back to the city in droves. And with them, thankfully, are those young families who aren't buying the suburban myth of serenity and bliss. Many of these couples are products of a suburban upbringing and recognize the bland and narrow lifestyle.

Politically, particularly with the rise of conservatism, cities have been the equivalent of an ethnic joke. The premise being that everything that's wrong with American society seems to emanate from cities. this bias has cost major American Cities clout and leverage. They have had to rely pretty much on their own resources to push forward and pull themselves up at the same times. Evidently we can bail out failed American corporations and the Savings and Loan Industry, but we loath to help cities improve their infrastructure. When the local team is the heat of the battle for a national championship, we love them for all their worth, but don't ask anyone outside of the local area to help build a new facility.

In the Milwaukee area the news stations and papers pander to the suburban rich by constantly parading all of the violent crime they can into their venues. Granted there is enough to report, but never is there anything written or spoken about as to what we as the metro community can do to turn things around. No, it's The Cities problem and we have to deal with it. And then they do everything they can to make sure "those "people don't move into their communities. Even if those people are filling the badly needed service jobs these communities need to support their life styles.

What is exported to the suburbs is wealthy and educated group of people who feel that the constant struggle to revitalize and recreate a city is not their job. What is equally true is that this same group of people will brag about how close they are to the city so they can take advantage of the cultural events and other advantages the city affords. It is true, that the further away you are from home the closer you live to a major city. If asked in California where someone lives, the answer will be Milwaukee, because no one outside of Wisconsin knows where Waukesha, Mequon or Oconomowac are.

Theater, Theater, God How We Love the Theater

2007-10-24T12:23:00.000-05:00

MBC and I arrived in NYC a bit earlier than Snags and Missy. It afforded us the chance to see one more play. We chose a play in preview called The Farnsworth Invention, written by Aaron Sorkin (West Wing) about the invention of television and the fight for the ability to claim that distinction. Despite tremendous performances by Hank Azaria, as David Sarnoff and Jimmi Simpson, as Philo T. Farnsworth, this production has a way to go before the word Tony becomes associated with it. The characters are interesting and the story is epic when you look at how the medium has changed the world. But instead of delighting us with new perspective and information, it drags and sputters along

I think MBC hit on it right away when she noted Sorkin's famous walk and talk style. On Television we get a break from the frantic pace that this technique sets with the commercials. Not so on the Broadway stage. However with some adjustments in the pace and an overly scientific dialogue, this play could be worthwhile and entertaining.

Once we teamed up with the Tin Man, Snags and Cowardly Lion, Missy, we decided that we should see our one allotted Musical. Explanation is necessary here. Dorothy, MBC, refuses to see more than one musical per visit. Therefore this decision is always the most debated. This year Missy wanted to see Xanadau. Even I, the passive aggressive one, flinched.

We had all agreed the Disney on Broadway was for tourists. We are not tourists. We are New Yorkers in Exile. Avenue Q was fine. Putnam County Spelling Bee was charming, but overdone. Under no circumstances would we resort to seeing Tarzen, Lion King or Legally Blondie.

So there it was. Sitting there like glitter ball in the ballroom of a Victorian home, Xanadau. You never know, you know. Snags, Missy and I loved it. Instead of being a revival, it was staged as a satire for everything that was wrong about the eighties. It was done with humor and expertise by a cast of talented and energetic people, featuring the dynamic and funny Kerry Butler. She so captivated us with her switch from the goddess Clio to the rollerskating muse Kara, with the Aussie accent. You couldn't help but look on with a smile on you face and amazement in your mind for her performance.

(MBC laughed and smiled all the way through it. She however, claims that she was enjoying the gay guy next to her who gushed and vamped all through the performance. It's her story and she is after all, Dorthy)

When you go to Hot Tickets booth for discount tickets, you have to know some things in order to be successful and not look like a rube.

Cash and Travelers Checks only. NO CREDIT CARDS. It doesn't matter what metal it represents. They don't take them.
Have more than one play your willing to buy because by the time you get to the ticket booth the one you select first maybe sold out.
DO NOT ASK FOR BETTER SEATS. They automatically give you the best seats available. If someone gets better seats from the theater at the last minute it's because someone turned them in and the customer was just plain lucky.
There are two lines for tickets. Most people do not know that the little P next to the name on the board means play. Because there is less demand for these tickets, as a rule, there is a separate line for play tickets. It's always shorter. Ask a security person. They will help you find this line. Do not ask for tickets to musicals when you get to the booth. What happens is not pretty.
Don't ask the booth people their opinions of the plays. They are busy.

What is fun are the people you meet in line at Hot Tickets. Many of them have seen the performances you are wondering about and have no ax to grind. If they didn't like it they will pretty much tell you so. After a few moments conversation you can ascertain if their tastes are comparable to yours. If someone tells me Lion King was the best thing they have ever seen on the stage, I'm going to discount much of what they say. If they tell me they haven't seen a good play since Proof, I probably will listen closer.

The final play we saw was part of and off-Broadway experience that is something you get after you realize that all the good plays are not on Broadway. Of course, it doesn't make any difference if you are going to the theater on Broadway or, in this case, Chelsea you have to take the S train, but you've read that story.

Eating outside in the delightful, reasonable and tasty confines of Elmo's, is an unexpected treat for a visitor in late October, but the unusual warm weather permitted it this time. After a promise to return for desert, we marched down to The Atlantic Theater for a performance of the critically acclaimed play by Lucy Turber, Scarcity. The Atlantic is a converted church space and is slightly quirky but effective as a performance space.

The cast, headed by the recognizable Kristen Johnston,(Tird Rock from The sun) took us on journey through the night featuring the visceral features of dysfunctional family. It was, excuse the cliche, like watching a car wreck just before it happens. You know what's going to happen. You want to warn the people in the vehicle, but you're powerless. The play survives on the timelessness of the lessons it portrays and the faint glimmer of hope it extends at the end.

The strong cast and solid script make this play my favorite, but admittedly this season was not strong for us. We all agreed. There were no bad plays, but we have seen better. Even in the case of Scarcity, I'm not sure I wasn't overly influenced by the meatloaf from Elmo's. Good food can put you in an accepting mood.

The Dubious Adventures of Missy, Snags, MBC and Jeff Jay, NYC 2007

2007-10-21T07:35:00.001-05:00

Missy said to me during our trip to New York City, “You guys wouldn’t have as many adventures as you do if you didn’t travel with directionally challenged me.”. This is true. We’ve suffered many a detour because Missy has this thing about second guessing herself. This is most discouraging when she makes these bad decisions with the map on her lap, but alas that is the crux of the matter. We don’t let her forget the many times she has been wrong and god knows she always remembers the once of twice she has actually been right. But as MBC always says, “She may be a pain in the ass, but she’s our pain in the ass and we love her.” Snags, Missy’s husband says, “Speak for your self.”

But directions and adventures is a lot of what our trips to New York City are all about. Much to the horror of some of our more skeptical friends, we use the subways. Almost the first tthing we do when we land in the City is buy the seven day unlimited Metro Pass. ($24.00) This is a deal in that we are moving all about the system. The Pass includes passage on the subway and the bus system.

New York is a city of people that walk. And as a visitor you will too unless you have unlimited money. There are alot of expensive things in New York and a car is at near the top of that list. Only the independent spirit of Americans in other cities allows them to discount and ignore the high price of owning and operating an automobile. Parking and the other ineffciencies of automobiles in the city, help place this problem in clear focus except for those who drive for a living.

Directional disorientation often occurs in the subway. You enter the ground level ramp and walk down. The subways run at defferent levels and often the stairs twist and turn in what appear to be odd angles and directions. With the loss of references, street signs, the sun and landmarks, you are reduced to making sure you are going in the right direction, by relating to the uptown, downtown on the signs. Downtown generally means toward The Battery. Uptown means away from The Battery. The Battery is the southern most tip of Manhatten Island.. Once you get that down cold all you have to do is orientate all of you destinations from a subway station and you’ve got it made, as long as you can fugre out North - South, East -West when you get above ground from the subway. MBC reccomends a compass.

When this unlikely troop is in New York City, we are centered on Times Square. This means that we are more thna likely to take the S train more than one a day. The S train is the shortest subway line in the bunch. It travels from Grand Central Station to Times Square with no other stops. Being as we were staying at the Thirty Thirty the closest subway was the 6. All trips to and from Times Square included a ride on the S. Seamless and flowing travel back and forth required a timed arrival at the S platform. Missing one meant minutes to wait for another one, but somehow that wait seemed to be the longest.

Southern Hospitality

2007-10-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

It may be that you get a different crowd at the one of the largest art shows in America, but all in all everyone I ran into in at the St. James Court Art show in Louisville, Kentucky represented the stereotypical southern image of politeness in gentility. And please I'm not canonizing these people, but many of us could learn something from them.

Let me start with the hucksters that were working the crowd near us. These folks were trying get prospects for their gutter magician, a system for keeping leaves out of the rain gutters. The approach to the passing customers was to ask them if they had trees in their yard. These people were nice enough and I am sure that my irritation level with them came from the constant repetition that the passer by didn't hear. Believe it or not a common response was, "I don't but thanks for asking." Thanks for asking? I think in Chicago you could get arrested for asking the question, for sure you could get shot. Time after time these folks got a polite and respectful response, for what I perceive as a question that could be ignored or even receive a response of none of your business or don't bother me. The whole approach is the equivalent of a telemarketing call at dinner time, but to these folks it was unthinkable to just hang up.

Waitresses, desk clerks and other service people may be expected to be polite, but these folks put politeness and respect on a level that's hard to duplicate. I didn't hear any crude language and please remember I was less than a mile for University of Louisville and they just lost a football game. I would test my mettle as to cursing and crude language as my Badgers, Cubs and Packer's all lost this weekend. When compared to my new southern friends, I'm afraid my language was a little more unacceptable than "darn".

The ladies seem to regard the event as one that required a modicum of proper dress and their mates and escorts responded appropriately. It seems that team shirts and nylon NASCAR jacket can be replaced for certain occasions. It's not that we didn't see this type of attire, it's just that it wasn't the predominate style of attire for those over twenty-five.

The crowds were tremendous, stressing the wide walkways to the maximum, but people were polite and gracious. I will never know how someone can be walking down a sidewalk jammed with people can suddenly just stop without regard to anyone around them, but I observe this happening all of the time. While many times this results in hard feelings and short remarks, these art lovers not only seemed to understand how a piece they not consider worth stopping to appreciate might be appealing to someone else.

There were 750 artists displaying at this show. There were innumerable little stands that were hi jacking the crowd from the legitimate vendors, by using front yards and alley's to hawk beverages, sandwiches and non-art. The street musicians were scattered throughout the venue adding even more flavor to this visual stew. The experience was not even diminished by the extreme heat.

Tobacco is no longer king in Louisville, UPS is, but the dignity and charm of this city is infectious. Frankly, I can't wait to go back and give my new friends a big hug and a howdy.

Tin Roof Blowdown

2007-09-30T07:40:00.000-05:00

I'm angry today. Not Andy Rooney whining about little things such as people talking through movies angry. No it's more like I'd love to take someone by the scruff of the neck and wop them on the ass angry. I'm reading James Lee Burke's latest "The Tin Roof Blowdown". His fictional character, Police Officer from New Iberia, Louisiana Dave Robicheaux, is showing us the aftermath of Katrina from his viewpoint and it isn't pretty. My anger comes from the knowledge that it isn't much better two plus years later.

But from this anger comes a solution to the problem that frustrates me and most people today. It's the old, how come we are spending billions in Iraq trying to build a stable society and New Orleans and our Gulf coast still sits in ruins waiting for the greatest country in the world with a free capitalistic economy to fix it. If I was a citizen of Iraq, I would be questioning the capability of a country that tore my country apart, to reassemble it again, if that country could not take care of it self.

It has become a cliche to say that it is disgraceful that the Gulf Coast is still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. People are getting into that mind set, which I'm sure the current administration was counting on, that nothing can be done about it. Wrong! My suggestion for the solution is entirely doable and I am confident will produce results faster and fairer than any solution Bushwacked can come up with in the few months of his disastrous reign remaining.

What we have to do is reconvene the United States Congress, The Louisiana Legislature and move them along with the President of the United States including his cabinet, Officials of the Louisiana State Government and New Orleans City officials to the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. While we're at it since many of the candidates for president would be stuck there, anyone who wants to be the next president of the United States should volunteer to move there. if they don't go they can't run.

They must live in existing homes and work in existing buildings that have been abandon by the owners. If the owners can be established they must pay them rent comparable to their own residence in their home community. (Can you see the cash flow possibilities?) If they can't find existing homes they must reside in FEMA trailers. As to the public buildings and offices that will need to be built, they must be of a quality that will last 100 years. No prefabs or temporary buildings will be allowed

Our politician legislative guests can not go to the French quarter for meals or entertainment more than once a month. They can not go home, however their families can live with them. In short, they must live, work and recreate in the Ninth Ward until such time that the Gulf Coast has the resources and the wherewith all to recover on their own.

It's one thing to pass bills of intention and it's another to fund them. It's one thing to set aside funds for a project and another to oversee the results of the spending in order to ascertain success based on the intentions of the legislature. What our government has done is what politicians always decry as wasteful and that is throw a bunch of money at this problem. What they got for the investment is little or no results to show for it.

Trust me, if they have to live in the squalor, things will be fixed. The Levees will be built to withstand the eventualities. The schools will be funded in order to provide education. The cops will patrol and the judges will be putting the bad guys in jail.

And as far as business is concerned, it's easy. All contracts for rebuilding would be let to local contractors, who hire local people. All property taxes would be suspended until the property could be proven to fit for use with all utilities and infrastructure restored. (Streets, sewers, water, electrical and gas service)

And don't worry about the prohibition on the French Quarter for politicians and their families, the press, that will be living with this story, will take care of them to start with. The lobbyists will have to move in from Washington and that will kick up profits bon sweet. Than there will be the tourists. Can you imagine the number of people that will pay to see their representatives having to work in that environment. They will have to expand the airport.

Once they get this problem solved, we might want to get them on planes and move them to Iraq. If stability in the middle east is so important maybe having the bulls eye on their backs will help getting to some commonsense solutions to the problems, so they and our soldiers can come home. Look for early abandonment of the we have to stay until Iraq is stable theory

The Fine Art of Conversation

2007-09-24T16:29:00.000-05:00

My son confessed to me not long ago that he didn't feel as if he was a conversationalist. "I don't make small talk,"he said. Of course this wasn't news to me, but you see the fallacy. Small talk is the opposite of a conversationalist. Small talk is passing time, filling the silence with noise. We all do it in varying degree's. It seems there is nothing so disquieting as quiet. It's the elevator full of strangers or the shared taxi that make people nervous.

Another nervous situation for most people is the neighborhood party where no one knows anyone of at best very few people. This results in groups of casual acquaintances hanging out trying to sound bubbly and at the same time casting nervous glances at the strays and the unknowns. The strays grab out eagerly for anyone to stand with so they don't appear on the outside.

It's the unusual person who excels in these arenas. I've met a few and I've tried to emulate them with varied degrees of success. They are the ones that can toss the lit conversational grenade into the group and get everyone to comment and often never reveal their thoughts on the subject.

I witnessed a young father at a table of his peers toss this comment into the small talk babble of a lunch table. "Does anyone here think the concept of organized sports for five years old children is a good thing." And then he stepped back out of the center of attention as first one than another comment promoted the degree's of interest in this subject.

I'm totally amazed at how people with this kill can get a conversation that has depth and meaning started in a group of relative strangers. Trust me, mention the fate of the local sports team will get the guys going. If you express and interest in the latest must see evening show you can probably get a rise out of the ladies. But commentary on local politics or the school bonding issue takes skill and nuance.

I remember being at a meeting of a New Comers in my former home in Northern Wisconsin. The folks in this group probably ranged from somewhat liberal to somewhat conservative. An older gentlemen, obviously from the south with his gentle accent asked, what we thought of Newt Gingrich, who at the time had just ascended to the leadership in The House of Representatives. A polite but spirited conversation took up the next hour, spinning off into comments on then President Clinton and other figures of political importance.

Claude, the older gentlemen who asked the kickoff question, was a former newspaper man and true to his profession observed with interest and delight. I got to know Claude fairly well in the next few months, he demonstrated to me that he was no one trick pony by pulling off this gambit many times to great success.

Good conversation to me provides a coupe of things. As in all things, I like to learn something I didn't know before. I think the conversation should have some meaning to everyone involved. And I don't like seeing blood on the floor. We can disagree, but we don't have to be jerks about it.

Time slips through the glass.

2007-09-20T07:40:00.000-05:00

If time were unlimited, I could get all I want to get done before...well let's just say before I can't do anything anymore. Of course time isn't everything. The physical ability to perform some tasks is another asset that diminishes with time. I don't have the same dreams for my golf game I once had and walking distances for health reasons is important, but not running.

The clock that bothers me is not so much the one on my wrist but the time lapse my mind tells me has occured. It's been many years since I raced our sailboat. I have three kids that are over forty. Those cuddly little grand kids, I marveled at, it seems like yesterday, are starting school.

I may never get a novel published. It's probable that my blog will never be widely read, but in my heart of hearts, I will be content because I wrote and only mildly disappointed that they are not on reader's shelves.

What I need to do and will never have enough time to do is learn more. I've always
been a scatter brain when it comes to education. I never concentrated enough in one area to be an expert. Instead I wander from this to that realizing that my excitement today will cool, but there will be some unknown in another area that will trigger by curiosity and pull me away from today's must-know. I think you might say that my mind is like the attic of a world traveler, eclectic and yet interesting.

Not only are there remnants of skills there, I've tried oil painting, photography, writing, design, and computer programs of many different kinds. There are thought journeys also. I became somewhat conservative for a few years before I realized the folly in all of that and returned to my liberal roots. I looked at, but did not embrace, atheism, reincarnation, and eastern religions in general. (I still do practice meditation).

After all of the books, films, lectures and classes, I still have not had enough. The only thing that saves my sanity from all of this is that I'm old enough to realize that I never would have had enough time even if I had realized in my youth the value of time.

The Women Who Raised Me

2007-09-11T07:18:00.000-05:00

I was privileged to hear Wisconsin Author Michael Perry , Population 465, at an author appearance at Harry W Schwartz Bookstore in Brookfield. Perry is a gifted writer and a magnificent storyteller. He follows the precept that you write about what you know and Michael writes, with love and caring, about his hometown in Western Wisconsin.

He told so many stories worth remembering and repeating, but all of them are from his book, so I would recommend just buying them at you local independent bookstore, or go to his website sneezingcow.com.

What resonated with me most directly was a comment he made when he was talking about the "strong" women in his life. He referred to them as the "women who raised me and continue to raise me". Men don't often admit the debt we owe to the women in our lives and it was particularly timely for me to be reminded of that debt.

My mother passed away this year. I've written about this before, but, as we say, time has passed". I told you that my mother suffered from extreme dementia and was gone from us years ago. The nice little old lady that I visited at the rest home passed away on March 24, 2007. She was loved and beloved by many that knew her right up until the time of her death. She had her detractors and they did not relent nor forgive her even in her death. Unlike me who saw her faults along with her many good traits, they couldn't get past a perception of a mistake or slight even after death, but the Blaylock's are like that and you have to have been raised by one of them to know how to handle that situation.

Like many parents, after the game is over it easy to look at the scorecard and see where they might have done a better job. God knows, I'd love to have a few dozen do overs. but it's the little things parents do that never make it to the statistic's that can make such a difference.

While we never talked about "things" in our family, we always had hot meals, clean clothing, a comfortable place to sleep and a safe neighborhood to play in and I must say a sense of why that was important and why we were lucky not better because we had such benefits.

And it's true that the smallest slights were never truly forgiven or forgotten, there wasn't a stray human or animal that couldn't get sympathy and comfort from my mother. She was as I like to say. "A good Catholic girl who wouldn't go to Doctors because she felt you never took your clothes off for any body but your husband and than only rarely and certainly not after your forty." But she had a pat on the head for a kid that did a god thing and a hand on the backside of the kid that got out of line. She seemed to discipline, not in anger, but the frustration of personal failing as to how she could ever brought into the world children that didn't obey her without question.

Typical of the Irish stock she came from, Mary Jane always questioned authority unless it wore "the collar". She voted as a democrat, because the other guys no matter how nice they seemed wore suits and somehow didn't get their hands dirty at work. I never could understand how my dad got by her scrutiny as he was a businessmen all of his life.

I think she passed away oblivious to the fact that she was on the "dole". She wasn't, in her mind, in a rest home. She was in a hospital trying to get better so she could go home to an apartment she vaguely remembered. Mary Jane lived in a world where decades came and went in seconds and reality was whatever she thought it was. Unless... unless she woke up one morning and reality came back to her in a rush. Maybe seeing the condition of her life and the hopelessness of it all she decided it was time to let go. We'll never know.

Credability

2007-09-04T06:54:00.000-05:00

The analogy is cliche, but apt. The once proud champion, now older, slower, stumbles about the ring. There is blood in his eyes and his face is stamped with pain and confusion. His opponent is being merciful, respectful. He circles the weaving confused and tired opponent attempting to give the champ a chance to end it. The manager in the corner reaches for the towel to signal capitulation before more harm is done, but the battered hulk waves him off and puts his fists in the air signalling he is ready for more.

In the movies this is good stuff. We may have learned through the story (Raging Bull) to dislike this guy, but we admire his courage and purpose, no matter how foolish it seems. It leaves the impression that maybe the champ may get up off the
canvas and prevail. But that's the movies. It is the seam in the story of redemption and grit. It's the conquering of the old west, It's the flight into space. And it's always against all odds.

But when you're President of the United States and the world is waiting for you to just lay down and get it over with, there's a lot more than your pride on the line. We've been back into a corner in this match and not by a superior enemy. We've done this to ourselves. We have no credibility in the worlds eye's because we don't deserve it. We have against the advice of our allies, invaded a sovereign country, because...well you pick the reason of the week.

First it was a preemptive strike against a terrorist sponsoring state that had WMD potential. Than it was because we could build democracy in the middle east. Than for a very short time, it was justified because they tried to kill Bush I, (My daddy). None of these reasons were worth the price that we are now paying. The price is that we can do nothing right in the eyes of the world. Everything we represent is challenged by enemy and friend alike.

And now it has spread to the domestic front. The Bush administration failure to deal with the domestic problems is an extension of outmoded and reactionary politics's we can't afford to continue. But alas, because of our political system, all our president has to do is turn to Rove and Company and wave off the attempt to throw in the towel. There is so much blood in his eyes, he fails to see that one by one his handlers and managers are leaving his corner and sulking off into the dark areas of the arena to shake their heads and wonder how things all came apart

The United States, World Power?

2007-08-29T06:41:00.000-05:00

We are told that we live in the country that is the last remaining Super Power. Politicians, pundits and patriots preach that we have the best of any society on earth. We represent the finest in health care, educational opportunities and chances better ourselves, and these benefits are there for the taking.

Not only that, we are challenged by the current administration to spreed this freedom and bounty with the rest of the world, by force if necessary. We went to war in Iraq, President Bush would have us believe, to give the middle eastern countries a model for democracy.

Let's face the facts. We have failed to rebuild Iraq and New Orleans. We neither have the will, the assets or the organization to pull off both. We have bridges falling down in Minnesota, as the recipients of our largess in Iraq blow up the oil production facilities, hospitals and schools that we built for them.

Recent revelations from Medical Journals confirms that we've fallen in the world rankings in birth rates, life expectancy and excel in category of cost of health care per capita. On top of all of this we have more people who can afford the cost of health care and are not covered by insurance. However that compression is not fair. We are being compared to other western democracies that have government sponsored health care of one sort or another.

The whole mess in education is beyond the boundaries of this commentary. But can be summarized in findings that relate our low ranking among world students in math and science.
So, we as a world power we are losing in every category that matters. How does it feel to be a Super Power?

Fall, and other myth's about Wisconsin weather

2007-08-28T06:47:00.000-05:00

Seasons in Wisconsin seem to transition overnight. This is the state where dressing in layers became a fashion statement out of necessity. One week we were drenched in sweat as the temperatures and the humidity raced each other at new heights. The next week we were soaked with warm rain. As I write, we are experiencing a significant cooling off period with a day or two of heat that visits like an old lover, tempting us to uncover, but with the knowledge that nothing is permanent in this seductive behaviour. Let me be clear, this is normal.

When I tell my wife that I can hear the death-rattle in the throat of winter and it's only February, she derides me. Her problem is that she confuses long gray days with sloppy snow piles with winter weather. To me, this seemingly endless, suicide inducing gloom is spring.

Spring in Wisconsin isn't a dream. It happens. It just doesn't happen for very long. It may happen while your taking your afternoon nap or stopping for lunch. You wake up or you come out of the restaurant and it's over. Needless to say, enough people miss the event to the extent that a great number of people don't believe in it or if they experience the phenomenon think they were mislead by an over consumption of mind altering drugs or alcohol.

The wide extremes in our normal weather patterns lead me to believe that global warming is nature way of giving us break. if we even slowed down the pendulum to swing from only highs in the 90's and lows of minus 20 degrees to say 85 and 0, we would become a mecca for people that lust for Ireland or some other country where the artists flourish because of genuine lack of interest in going out doors and yet it's nice enough to cultivate poets that are sad but not suicidal.

City Mouse vs Country Mouse

2007-08-27T06:44:00.000-05:00

We were having dinner with old friends this last weekend. We are in contact with these folks on a regular basis, but because of schedules and the distance between our homes, we don't get to see them as often as we would like.

The subject of conversation was about trips to New York City. We all agreed it was a great city and wonderful to visit, but there the similarities began to evaporate. It was obvious to me that we would not be good traveling companions in NYC with these folks since our tastes and interests went in wildly diverse directions. I think it was when his lip curled when we related that we likes to just walk through Greenwich Village and dream about living there that I thought to myself, he'd rather go to see "Lion King". As it turned out I was wrong, it was "Mama Mia".

Don't misinterpret here. I'm not being a theater snob. Anything that keeps the lights burning on Broadway is a good thing, but my wife and I prefer drama to Disney. We live in the city and love it. They live in the suburbs and to them it's heaven on earth. I have another good friend that thinks living in the suburbs is living in the city and if he doesn't have acres around him feels penned in.

I have difficulty thinking of why the other guy's preferences are so great, and I 'm sure the reverse is true. I like to visit the burbs and the country, but I would not like living there. They think the city is a place of pollution and crime and I think their lives are devoid of any kind of human stimulation.

They claim they come to the city for theater and culture, but on examination they don't partake nearly as often as we do. In fairness, my wife points out the very often a neighbors in the city don't either. But I know Maria and I wouldn't involve ourselves in the cultural aspects of the city nearly as much if we lived in the burbs.

The other glaring difference is the cultural diversity of the City of Milwaukee and the suburbs. Put bluntly, there isn't any diversify in the suburbs and unfortunately both the white community and the black and Hispanic community seem content with that. We are not.

Again, I don't want to sound righteous and indignant. These likes and dislikes, and the differences in our comfort zones are what make us human. All bigots don't live in the burbs and many people from the burbs regularly take advantage of what the city has to offer. My point here is that there are differences and these folks are still friends and we can relate in areas where we are comfortable.

Because of our interaction we learn from each others experiences what is going on in their world and they in ours. We find that their world is not as sterile and lonely as we might think, and they find that we are not awaken to the sounds of gunfire every night. All in all, it's a good thing to have some contact with your opposite mouse

If you've been reading this regulary...

2007-08-27T06:39:00.000-05:00

please forgive my unannounced absence. My time to write has been overtaken by life and the unexpected things it can throw in our path to make the journey interesting although bumpy.
I will resume today with a small piece. I've got to exercise my muscles before I try and run a race.

The Futility of Faith

2007-08-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

I was discussing my personal philosophy of religion with a friend recently. This is not a regular occurrence in my daily conversations. Somewhere along the line I learned that in polite company one did not discuss religion and politics.

I got over the political prohibition when my personal beliefs were in vogue. Than came the tough years, when liberals replaced communists in the major bogyman category and we went into hiatus only to emerge recently as progressives. (Actually we were always more progressive, but when you let the other guy define and label you, you have to take what they give you.) At any rate, I've been speaking out on my politics more recently because if I don't relieve the pressure of living in this age of conservatism, I will implode. Sometimes it feels like these snotty smug conservative bastards are here just to make my life living hell, and then there's the God factor.

So many conservatives are draping the flag around their shoulders and holding a bible that you'd think they owned them both. They, like so many despotic movements, use religion as a method of control. God said this,and that, and that is why we must do whatever I say because I need you to fulfil the agenda, which usually results in you giving them money or power or both. And let's face it if you care enough to vote, and trust me no politician cares about anyone who doesn't vote, you probably think of yourself as a patriotic American. So the flag thing works pretty well also.

I was raised Catholic. As an organized religion, Catholicism is no better and no worse than any of the major religions. Throughout history they have had their high points and their low. Religion is a human invention so it's inherently going to have flaws. The crusades, the Inquisition, ignoring the Holocaust and politicizing the church come to mind when I think of the Catholic church. But the one that they are good at and have performed well for hundreds of years is the holding out of false hope in order to mollify and comfort people who are normally without hope. Telling an women trapped in poverty, who is trying to hold together a family with no husband, that God loves her and has a special place in heaven for her as long as she doesn't practice birth control and gives weekly to her church, is holding out false hope. Sadly the desperate grab at scraps like this.

The reason I don't like to discuss religion is that my views are very far out of the mainstream. I do believe in a God like spirit. This belief may be categorized as faith, but there is an increment of logic also. I have a tough time believing that throughout the history of man that it consistently reflects a need to believe in God, that there wouldn't be a reason for it.

My God does not publish books. He did not instruct anyone to publish his rules for him. He doesn't appear to people and he doesn't intervene in human activity. Pray to him all you want the dog will still die if it gets hit by a car. If your cancer goes in remission there is a medical and scientific reason, even if we can't explain it. We don't know everything there is to know about the human body. God is not a Packer fan nor does he curse the Chicago Cubs. He is not Catholic, Jewish or Muslim. He does not feel that women are inferior to men, nor does he necessarily believe in monogamy.

My belief is simple. I believe this benevolent spirit did set into motion the possibility of a super species that could do all of the marvelous things that mankind has shown the ability to do. I believe that man has the potential to do even more. What God said essence was, 'Look what I've created for you, look and recognize it's potential. Nurture and grow it for the good of man and all of my other creations. But whatever you do, don't fuck it up". In my mind there are no other corollaries or codicils. Any thing else you've heard that God said was dreamed up by some guy with an agenda. Follow this guy if you choose to, but keep your hand on your wallet and watch your back.

Nice Celebrity, Not So Nice Celebrity

2007-08-08T07:41:00.000-05:00

There is no denying it, we are addicted to celebrities. Some of these people deserve our attention. Let's face it many politicians, Barak Obama for one, are, at this point, little more than celebrities. However while Obama has demonstrated the ability to excite our imagination n positive ways and possible become a great leader, Paris Hilton, has demonstrated the ability to be, and I quote some forgotten pundit, famous for being famous. She is talentless and boorish, but she has the ability to garner headlines, because of the ability of her publicity people.

Like Paris, some celebrities want headlines. I remember when I was stocking magazines at the bookstore. Cover after cover featured Angelina, Brad and Jennifer. "Oh, " one customer remarked, "It must be terrible to have your life splashed across the headlines like that." I assured her that Jennifer was probably paying someone serious money to make sure she stayed in the headlines, regardless of the personal tragedy. Bad publicity being better than no publicity, celebrities often take what they can get.

Which brings us to today's celebrity, Barry Bonds. Last night in San Francisco Bonds broke Hank Aron's home run record. The Giants lost the game but they got what they really came to see. Their man, Barry "I didn't take Steroid's" Bonds smacked a home run to the deepest part of the park to break the record and cement a place for himself in 'baseball history. Now what that place is we don't know yet because Barry is under investigation for Steroid use.

The question is, what happens if he is charged and found guilty of using illegal drugs to enhance his ability. Would this knowledge nullify his record, starting the inevitable O.J. type controversy. He did it, He didn't do it. White people hate him because he's black, yaddah, yaddah... Or will baseball push this to the back burner, "for the good of the game"

I've met Bud Selig and he seems like a nice enough guy, but don't look for him to be courageous on this or any other controversial decision. He's well aware that's what's good for baseball is what's good for the Television networks and their sponsors. They don't care about fans who, after all pay to sit out in the rain, cold or scolding sun to watch these young men compete.

But Bud may have a problem. The credibility of his sport is vital to it's existence and a few politicians can make real trouble for him and professional baseball. Baseball is the only legal monopoly in our society, if you look past utilities and political parties. If some enterprising politician, with his or her finger to the winds of public opinion decided to make the event an issue, the headlines would follow and we could be in for another round of culture wars.

I can see the headlines, "Presidential Candidate (fill in the blank) takes on Baseball Over Bonds Scandal". That would be the headline from he Murdoch Press. Don't expect the New York Times or The Washington Post to be much kinder.

The point here is that nothing seems to be up or down when it involves a celebrity because of one factor. Some of us identify so closely with these people that any attack on them is taken personally. The idiots that surrounded the stage... sorry... courtroom during the Michael Jackson trials, show us that anyone or anything can become an attraction for lost and lonely people seeking a community that they can latch onto. These unfortunates become attractive to the press and as a result become media surrogates for all of us. They are on the front page and fodder for the "twenty four hour crisis of the moment" media. As the rest of us watch and comment, we begin a tsunami of attention that seems to have a life cycle that some media, not unlike leech's, need for life support.

I think the low point for me was CBS newsman, Bob Schieffer making a tongue in cheek apology for not bidding on the exclusive first interview with one of our media diva's after her release from jail(name excluded on purpose). He had to realize that by even commenting on it he gave the incident credibility it didn't deserve.

This is the kind of air pollution that is hard to stop and I'm not suggesting anything formal be done about it. But I do ask you, who gives this kind of media engine velocity? It's us. It's the reading, watching, blogging public. And I am almost ashamed I even commented on it, because we are the one's that push the accelerator. At no peril to yourselves or your loved ones, Ignore these idiots, please.

Passing of A Close Friend

2007-08-04T17:20:00.000-05:00

When you lose someone you've spent the better part of ten years with, it's a profound loss. She saw me at my best. She saw me at my worst. Hell, she saw me naked and was often curious about my elimination processes. I'm sure she wondered why I didn't have to go out in the yard like she did.

Sadie, our "Golden" was ten years old, but acted like a puppy pretty much until the cancer in her stomach exhibited itself. She was frisky and immature right up until the day she stopped eating. Which except for the not eating part is pretty much a mirror of my activity level. Maybe that is why we got along so well, kindred spirits.

It seems like just a short time ago, Maria told me that she and the kids went out to a home west of Appleton to pick her out. Maria knew she wanted a female. The lady told her that she best bring a collar so they could assure Maria that we got the dog she and the boys would pick out, because the pups were to young to leave "mom" at that point, but the puppies were being spoken for quickly.

Some people like puppies but tire of raising a dog. Sadie would be perfect. She was off the wall hyper from the day we brought her home. She loved Maria, me and the boys equally. Later she spread her affection to Dan, Stacy, Grace and Eli. When we moved to Milwaukee, she embraced everyone in our building.

I know everyone speaks well of the dead, but in this case Sadie earned our sorrow at her departure. I will particularly miss her when I complain about the redheaded bitch. Everyone will now know I'm not referring to the dog

Looking for Balance

2007-07-31T09:07:00.000-05:00

One of the nicest things my daughter, Mary Jo ever said to me is that she thought I had achieved a nice balance in my life. At the time, she was right and I continue to strive for that balance, but it becomes elusive at times.

As the family grows bigger with new grandchildren and new outlaws (affectionate term for in-laws), It's harder to maintain contact and stay up to date with the crowd. Thankfully we live in the Internet age were greetings and photo's fly back and forth easily. But having those precious few moments with loved ones a difficult experience when the people you love are miles away.

The other challenge is the ability to stay in the moment. Enjoying today for what it brings instead of wishing it were the weekend or next month when supposedly better things will be happening is a difficult.

All of this is not out of the womb genetic code, although I note that some have an easier time than others. I think it's learned behaviour and some of us need to learn more. The tales of the career driven spouse that literally abandons the family to make money or achieve success in one area is the stuff of the Sunday Night Disease of the Week Movie. But stereotyping the role doesn't make it any less true. Many of us become absorbed in events to the extent that we lose a grip on the reality of our lives and become a myth in our own family.

Many a conquering hero ends up on the pillar of success and looks around to find he is alone.

Sitting by the Sea

2007-07-22T16:28:00.000-05:00

Some of us are water people. I have heard it explained that man's attraction to water is rooted in the fact that at one time we were living in it before we evolved into the beings we are now. Kind of like my need to visit Ireland, the land of my ancestors. Others claim that our need for water in order to survive is the basis for or need to have it close by

I don't know what the real reason for the affection is but I'm hooked. We live about three blocks from Lake Michigan. Aside from the fact that we have a late summer algae problem that makes swimming disagreeable, Lake Michigan is an inspiring body of water. I've boated across her a couple of times and I can vouch for her temperament and demeanor. For the most part she is calm, cool and easy to get along with, but she can have her moments.

Looking out of the water is one of those activities that can reduce your significance in your own mind. Looking at stars at night can make us realize that in the scheme of things, individually we don't amount to much. Gazing out into the expanse of Lake Michigan can give you the same feeling. You sit for a while and watch an approaching boat. As it grows bigger you realize how large it appears on the shore and how small and frail it appears on the horizon.

In the last few days, I've had a lot on my mind. I found myself sitting by the lake and just contemplating my situation, my life. It wasn't that there were any answers on the waves that washed the sand beach, but somehow the important issues surfaced in my mind.

I guess it would pay to take a moment on a regular basis to sit by the water, realize that my problems are comparatively small and the like water, life gets more chaotic when the winds blow fierce, but just like the issues in our lives, they always abate sooner or later.

Feeeling Entitled

2007-07-20T06:07:00.000-05:00

Brand Names, Positive or Negative

2007-07-16T09:45:00.000-05:00

No one who talks or e-mails with me on a regular basis can be unaware of my recent conversion to the Mac format of computing. It's made my life tremendously easier and the transition was pretty easy. But make no mistake, I still like Microsoft and Dell and I will not say I would never go back or use a PC. It's just that the machines and software they are presenting don't fit my needs and I find them unnecessarily complicated and fussy.

But there are other brands that not only do I find I can get along without I find that I have visceral feelings about. Walmart is probably at the top of my list. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have disappointed me but I don't dislike them.

Walmart, I am afraid to admit, I am adamant about avoiding. Recently my wife found out that she might be able to get her prescriptions filled for less money at the Walmart pharmacy. She actually felt she had to apologize to me for caving in. As it turns out, they couldn't do any better than the pharmacy we currently trade, so the matter went away and our integrity on this issue is intact.

I dislike Walmart for all of the liberal exploitation explanations, but it goes deeper than that. I don't think their policy of lowest price is in my long term best interest. I probably should do an essay on that, but suffice to say I don't think their offerings have total value. Total value to me is the quality of the product, the service after the sale and the price. When you deal with Walmart you can usually count on a low price and nothing else, and the wise buyer will even check the price, because the low price is not a given.

I don't like any of the national TV networks, but Fox is a hot button for me. I realize this brands me as a liberal. I don't deny that the right wing have the right to their propaganda outlet, but they don't even do it well. Their merciless beating on a subject with no substance is tiring and unprofessional for a station that touts it's journalistic credentials like a talisman. Obviously I am outside of the massive public audience that cares passionately about the love life of Brad Pitt, the rehabilitation of Lindsey Lohan and the antic's of Paris Hilton. And I'll be the first to admit that Fox's addiction to this type of "news" has influenced the other news providers. However, for the most part, they do not participate with the moment by moment, breathless enthusiasm of Fox and certainly not with the everything that happens in this moment depends on resolving the "truth" of this incident outlook with the endless parades of experts to tell us how we should think and why it matters.

I know that the brands we buy are suppose to say something about who we are. I guess that means that I'm a Kohl's person because I find most of the clothing I like at their store. However, I also shop at Lands End. I'm never sure what all of this means because rather than trying to exhibit a lifestyle, I'm try to cover my rapidly aging body against the elements. Adding to my confusion is my total lack of knowledge about what shopping at the Gap versus Old Navy means in the code of social value and status.

I support the brands I do because what they provide works for me. I don't think that makes me unique, but I'm sure it drives marketing people nuts. (Assuming they give a damn about my category.) I don't know if I can be pigeonholed in the marketing category ladder. I think I'm and Advanced Age Urban Empty Nester. but that can't be, because the acronym isn't sexy, AAUEN. It's sounds more like a mantra for meditation than a marketing category.

Vacation Over

2007-07-09T07:24:00.001-05:00

I just got back from a weeks visit with my son's family in Seattle. Aside from the mind boggling concept of having to fly from Milwaukee to Detroit in order to get to Seattle, I have to say our flights were uneventful, and I consider that a compliment.

Seattle, as a city, has enough attractions by itself is reason enough to visit, but the attraction of spending extended time with my grand daughters is reason enough to visit. Devon, eight, is a wonderfully smart and imaginative child who is both athletic and intellectual. She had just returned from soccer camp and her favorite thing was to get "Poppa" off of his butt from the lounge chair on the patio to throw wiffle balls for her to hit with a plastic bat. We'd start with seven of balls and usually end up having to hunt down two or three of them from behind the neighbors fence.

Abbot is six. I predict she will be the first Jordan to win an Oscar, Emmy or Tony Award. She is a natural mugger and simply loves to make people laugh. She amused me with her running commentary during our viewing of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" In one scene, Ferris disguised as his girl friends father picks her up from school so she can join him on a skip day. After she runs down the stairs to greet him she gives him a kiss. Abbott remarked that she wasn't kissing him like a Daddy.

Grand kids are the best thing that happen to you after you raise your own kids. they are a new promise of hope and a fresh start on the whole continuum, excuse me but, "the circle of life", as the Disney folks say. I am hugely proud of all of our kids and what they are accomplishing with their lives, but equally inspiring is the promise of these young ones. To be subjected to a solid week of them is to only feel the loss of their companionship when we returned home. I wish I had someone to pitch a wiffle ball for.

Cue the Orchestra.

2007-07-01T12:12:00.000-05:00

There is a theory that each one of us subconsciously thinks of ourselves as the lead n our own life drama. Take notice that means everyone else is a bit player in our script of characters. This is an interesting way of thinking and might explain why everyone is eat plugged with their iPod. We are listening to the theme music.

There never is enough time

2007-06-28T07:35:00.000-05:00

The old joke is that on facing their impending death, nobody ever wishes they had spending more time at the office. The joke is that it takes the threat of death to place value on our time and how we spend it. Humans, as far as we know, are the only species that knows that it has a limited life and it can end at any time. Still, we have this built in mental blind spot that allows us to spend our lives without dread.

We do place special significance on death and we ritualize in various ways how we treat the end of life. But even these rites are celebrations of the living. We speak well of the dead, despite what they might have done in their lives. We remember the good times. This is done to bring comfort to the living for it's obvious it can do nothing for the one that has died. And most importantly it creates a time for us all to stop and think of our own mortality.

I suspect that like a drunken New Years Eve promise to change our lives, we think briefly about how we spend our time and if we have our priorities straight. Following that moment of reflection, the burdens of life and the habits we have developed creep back in. We return to spending to much time thinking about work. We waste time watching mindless television. We shove off our kids on organized sports and computer camps. We don't visit our aging parents and we lose track of friends. sometimes. we actually lose them. Have you ever meet an old acquaintance and enquired about a mutual friend only to find that they have died?

I think we need more than funerals, birthdays and weddings to renew our relations with family and friends and I don't have an answer for myself much less anyone else. I do know that while many deride e-mail, it has kept me in closer contact with friends, except those that don't see the value in that crap. (This is the same person who can't conduct a conversation with you in person, but somehow values person to person contact exclusively.)

Our world has changed and will continue to change and is irrevocably on a path of widening our sphere. small towns have interstate highways near by and cities have ever more busy airports and train stations. We move about in ever widening circles to what avail, I do not know. But keeping track of those we love and need in our lives is made more difficult because of the demands of life and the distance between us. It's sometimes easier to feel fulfilled by going to the office.

Lifestyle Vs. Style

2007-06-24T09:24:00.000-05:00

Can you live in your house if you're expecting Cottage Living magazine to visit any minute?

My wife, as reported in my blog entitled "Hunks with Hammers", is a big fan of remake and remodel programs on the cable. If you watch enough of these programs, particularly the ones that help the client stage their home for sale, you learn that having your house look good for buyers is not the same as it will look if you actually live in it. Example? Look at your house before a formal dinner party and than the way it looks after the party is over.
So what is acceptable is in the eye's of the resident is the standard. In our case, my vote doesn't count, ever.

I do agree that beds should be made. But our viewpoint is divergent on the issue. My wife learned how to make a bed from her father. The former navy veteran taught her the "bounce a quarter" style that the military is famous for. And I might point out that if you're five four and sleeping in a king sized bed tucking the sheets in at the bottom of the bed is fine. However, if your over six feet and your feet are being confined to the narrow pocket formed at the juncture of the sheets and the turn of the mattress, this is not so good. I learned to make beds from Martha Stewart. She maintains that you shouldn't tuck in any of the sheets or blankets except the bottom one.

My wife, Maria, has a fashion sense that is light years beyond me, but to me life style is as important as style. I need a lamp that gives me enough light to read by. She is does not. Her younger eyes and lack of cataracts allow her to read by the light of a candle. She does not like my high intensity floor lamp, because it doesn't fit our decor. Evidently if you put a dress on a pig it still pretty much looks like a pig.

My friend John Brownson framed for me a commemorative to legendary Green Bay Packer Quarterback, Brett Farve. My wife hates professional sports and in particular football. This piece, no matter how well it's crafted, will not hang on our walls. Fortunately we both agree on the numerous paintings we have purchased form our friend Len Nagler.

Maria has a reputation for her interest in housing and home decorating that is in unassailable. She has suburb taste and an excellent eye. she sees potential were others are thinking of writing the building off.

Where we differ is, when looking at a property or a decor, I think of what my life would be like if I lived in the neighborhood or how that room would work in my daily life. This is not Maria's first thought. She is looking at putting the thing together and making it a masterpiece. Maybe this difference is why all of the things I brought when we put our households together is been sold at a rummage sale or is in storage

In Service

2007-06-21T07:15:00.000-05:00

How difficult is it for you to be in service to someone. I've worked in a number of service jobs from waiting tables to industrial sales positions. We serve our customers, clients and co-workers in a number of ways and often think of ourselves in that capacity. There are a number of characteristics that I find in common; some are exemplary and others are kind of off putting.

In the positive category is the joy of sharing special knowledge. It can be as simple as telling a customer that the special of the day is not as good as the menu is tauting and that something else might be better. Or it can be as complex as passing on new information to a client that has the potential of saving them money, time or effort. At Discovery World Museum, I get the privilege of showing our visitors things they will never see in the real world and how these things affect their lives daily. All in all, these examples are part of the job description, but can give the server a good feeling and the receiver a benefit

In the negative column, we can put the "we versus them" syndrome. Ask retail people how they feel about customer that show up ten minutes before closing, keep them in the store until after closing (most managers will not kick shopping customers out of the store allowing them to linger until they leave of their own accord) and then leave without buying anything.

Ask sales people how they feel about customers asking them for new idea's and products when they know that the buyer will take their idea's and shop them to the lowest bidder. The practice of shopping in retail stores and buying on-line is a growing tactic, which is obviously detrimental to local retailers. You will note that many large retailers are promoting their on-line outlets. Live people working in retail outlets never get the satisfaction of knowing if their help produces the sale.

When I was in sales, I had a buyer, will call him Greg, who was new to the profession. Greg was emulating someone in his organization who had the professional persona of an oaf. Greg and his mentor had to maintain an arms length from the sales people that called on them for fear, and this distinction is important, that he might get sold something. You see they are people out their that never, in their mind, get sold, they might buy, but they never get sold. They are in charge. They are the innovator's, the discovers and they make informed decisions.

Greg once asked me how I put up with the humiliation of the rejection and the general lack of respect that he felt my profession suffered from. I gave him an diplomatic answer because he was one of my contacts at a major customer, but it told me a lot about what Greg felt about sales people. The unfettered truth is that the slights I might have felt from him were far outweighed by knowledge that the service I and my team provided to his company that saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars. I knew he took credit for this accomplishment, but I also knew that his co-workers and other key people in the company knew otherwise.

Someone told me recently that if you dealt directly with the public you were doomed to a life of long hours and low pay. This seems to be true. But than most professions that are important to us are not compensated fairly. I don't know why we as a society tolerate this, but we do. I want to have police officers, firefighters, teachers, airline pilots and medical support personnel fairly paid for what they do for me. Instead, we pay more to people that don't benefit us as much. It's not that the doctor, CEO and professional athletic doesn't contribute to my enjoyment of life, but hardly in the difference their pay reflects. From these people, I feel the need to justify their status and worth. In contrast, their underlings are obvious in their value. Maybe it's because the overpaid people are not serving us well

What is Creativity?

2007-06-19T07:47:00.000-05:00

Even Creative people can't quite agree what creativity is or how it expresses itself. If you were at my house Sunday night where Maria and I deliberately brought together four of our friends that are creative in a certain field but do not make their living at it, you could have come away with a better idea of the nature of creativity.

A painter, screenwriter, photographer, and musician all gathered in our home and discussed their passion. I thought it bit odd that they were more inclined to listen to others than talk about their own efforts, but maybe that was because they didn't know each other that well.

There were a couple of things that I could say were important to all of them. First of all, they would all create even if their work never sold. Steve, the musician, put it best when he said good music was not and should not be about money. Kieth has been active in marketing his poetry and screenplays, but his relative lack of success has not dampened his will to continue writing. Patty has sold her work, but for the most part her photography has been a part of her job description or to enhance her job performance, Ann is changing her style and approach to her paintings and isn't ready to "let them go"at this point.

On the other side of the conundrum, is the desire to be appreciated. Creative people have something to say and their product is their way of expressing it. As such, they all wanted to be seen, heard or acknowledged.

Often the maturity of an artist is marked by the discovery of their "voice" or message that they discover by working with their talent. Practicing our art maybe just a way of finding our heart. It is easy than to see why one would continue to perfect and work on a mode of expression for years and not be discouraged by a lack of success.

We all agreed that most people probably have some creative talent in them. Some have a strong need to express it and others repress the urge. Why? I ventured and most agreed that doing something that produces nothing except personal satisfaction is considered somewhat selfish and wasteful in our society. We need to give ourselves permission to "play" for no other reason than it feels good and gives us insight into ourselves. Easy to say, but difficult to do in these times where demands are made on us that pull us toward the practical rather than the magical

Mirror of our soul, You are what you buy

2007-06-12T07:34:00.000-05:00

I'm reading an article by one of my favorite writers, James Fallows. In this article, entitled "China Makes, the World Takes" written for The Atlantic, Fallows is making the case that what is happening in China is a good thing for all of us.

I have not read the entire article so I want to hold my opinion, but like another one of my favorite writers Thomas "The World is Flat" Friedman, he seems to be guilty of the idea that the market will eventually cure all evils.

The laissez-faire logic goes something like, sure the workers are exploited if you compare their working conditions to US or European standards, but then you have to remember how the industrial revolution affected our society when it first thrust it's considerable influence on our life styles and economic institutions.

What 'these let us not try and influence the invisible hand of the market" people seem to conveniently forget is that the great prosperity of the American and European middle class came only after the labor movement did intervene with the invisible hand of the market.
It is in the name of getting cheaper goods for Wal Mart that has sent manufacture to the lowest cost labor market's of the world. One of the reasons given for this export is the cost and difficulty of dealing with a mature labor market. Read that mature as meaning expensive and demanding work force

The advantages for industry are obvious when the working conditions described are all in the favor of the employer. While the Chinese workers get paid overtime (based on a 40 hour week) the real work week is twelve hours a day six or seven days per week. And while they get free or subsidised meals twice per day, the clock or the quality control police are looking over their shoulder constantly. A quote from and American Manager in a Chinese manufacturing plant spelled it out quite nicely.

"The people here work hard..." "They're young. They're quick. There is none of this ' I have to go pick up the kids nonsense you get in the United States'"

Whatever Fallows writes after this about this subject, the refrain of that American Manager's disregard for his employees' is going to resonate in my mind. Has anybody thought that this manager is in fact the face of American to these Chinese workers? If that is what we are going to represent in the mind of the Chinese worker, than we might as well anticipate the worst. The Ugly American just grew another zit

2007-06-12T06:22:00.000-05:00

Destiny, Fate and Other Excuses

2007-06-07T06:30:00.001-05:00

I am often amazed at how often story plots involve the concept of fate or destiny, which are virtually the same thing. Fate is the concept that our lives are predetermined by some supernatural power to turn out a certain way. There is an implication or belief that we can't or shouldn't avoid this life plan.

The idea that events in our lives are predetermined to happen regardless of our efforts to avoid them or that trying to avoid our fate is to court disaster is repugnant to me. There are somethings we can't avoid such as our race, gender and sexual preference, for example (Michael Jackson not withstanding). And there are somethings we can only tinker with such as education and employment choices. But the idea that I, or anyone else, is destined to be whatever we turn out to be is to me silly.

Yet many people cling to this notion with dog on the leg determination and no doubt wars have been fought because of it. President Bush has publicly declared that he feels that God has tapped him on the shoulder to do his work on earth. Rationalization or closely held belief? It makes no difference really. The outcome is the same. Those that believe nod their heads in reverent assent and the rest of us shake our head in disbelief.

I think the reasons for doubt are obvious. If we believe we are human beings with free will than we should be ale to alter our fate, for better and worse by the choices we make. If we believe in destiny than...well...I guess...I don't know. Do we go with the flow and whatever happens happens? Or, do we pray for enlightenment. For those of us who believe that God is not out there waiting for our call, this is a huge pill to swallow and an impossible concept to accept.

Why is this idea of predestination so popular. I believe it's because the idea is so comfortable to those that succeed in their definition of life and allows those that don't to blame someone other than themselves. I don't mean to say it's a cowards way out of failure, but it sure works that way if you want it to.

Like the concepts of turning yourself over to a higher power, admitting that you can't live your life alone, that you need others to discover your true meaning and role in life, I think fate deserves an asterisk next to it's use. Such as, when a young person is killed in an auto accident where they were operating a vehicle at high speed while under the influence of alcohol, we should avoid the bromide that somehow it was fate and God has a lesson in this event that is meant for all of us. This might be good graveside rationalization and comforting for the parents and loved ones of the deceased, but on review it's kind of hallow and damming. What part of fate does the parent have to bare in their grief.

Often life's experiences have no apparent explanation. The issues surrounding events can be complex and confusing. The complexity can lead to frustration over the cause and effect of experience. We have this need to have things explained, to lay blame. This, I submit, leads to the shortcut thinking of, "Oh well, it's just fate."

A Matter of Honor

2007-06-01T06:36:00.000-05:00

We all believe that given a chance to prove it, we will behave honorably. While the concept of honor can be elusive, sometimes it just stands out so clearly that the choice is undeniable. We are now considering the conduct of some of our combat soldiers who are accused of killing unarmed civilians in Iraq. The accusations are that these people were executed, in other words, the victims weren't the unintended victims of an exchange of gunfire between our soldiers and actual combatants, but that they were gathered together as prisoners and executed. I do not know if these accusations are true, but if they are, it is obvious that these soldiers did not behave honorably. They represent me and my country and if found guilty the should be punished accordingly.

Than there is evidence that there was an attempt to gloss over or cover up this incident. This has to be considered equally dishonorable. (And let me state here, that these charges have not been proven either.) After all, if true, does this not lead to suspicions that other incidents of this type have been committed and that other cover-ups have taken place and by doing this, the military has more or less condoned this kind of action and it could lead to more of it being done.

What you'll hear, unofficially, is that soldiers will be soldiers and non-combatants will never understand the pressures of War. This is the good ole boy general absolution for putting men in harms way and expecting them to act rational. However, put the same hardened veteran on the stand and I am sure that he will not defend this kind of action as honorable. I believe the Jack Nicholson line from A Few Good Men is, "You don't really want to know the truth."

Take yourself from the battlefields of Iraq and envision the streets of Milwaukee. At your feet is the lifeless body of a four year old girl. Moments before this young and hopeful life was managing a skip rope. Her destiny was strangely tied to her proximity to a young man whom someone has decided must die. His executioner hiding behind the movement of a speeding car fires a gun at his victim. His aim, just like his values, falls short of his victim and kills the little girl. The coward speeds away from the scene leaving a wounded pry, a dead girl and his honor.

But what about the honor of this community? To date, no one has been charged with the crime,yet it is widly reported that people in the community know who the killer is. Yet, no one has stepped up and done the right thing. No one has broken the community practice of not working with the police. Until they do there is no honor in that community, nor is there hope for justice or peace. It is a community corrupted and I do not believe that as part of the whole community that we can stand with honor without the truth.

There is no excuse for gunning down anyone, much less innocent children, in the streets of our city. It doesn't just happen and it is not a fact of life we should live with or accept on any level. It is a vile abomination of the social order and can not be tolerated.

The Likelyhood of Success

2007-05-29T07:45:00.000-05:00

I'm often amazed at the way some people make money. It can be the kind of job they have or the business they have started, but the commonality which surprises me is the lack of planning or inspiration they had before they were committed to their vocation.

Start doing your own research by asking someone what kind of degree or certification they have. Often times the successful real estate broker, handyman, or retail person will reply they have a degree in Liberal Arts. This might imply that they went to college to enjoy their education and sharpen their mind or that they just hadn't or couldn't make up their mind on what they wanted to do with their life.

After you graduate with a degree in Art History teaching, selling or achieving art is pretty much the limits. I could go on with other degree choices, but needless to say you don't want to graduate with one hundred thousand dollars in student loans and hope to make it back writing poetry. The goal may be laudable, but the pay is not.

I find that another commonly unused degree is in education. There may be no profession that offers more disillusionment and early burnout that teaching. My career in industrial sales introduced me to many of my colleagues that had given up teaching. I heard a number of reasons, but right at the top was the generic, "It wasn't what I thought it was going to be." Read that, I wasn't going to be Mr. or Mrs. Chips. Teaching is hard work and even though people seem to think teachers make a lot of money for nine months work, those that have tired have given up in amazing numbers.

You'd think that if someone paid the money and put forth the effort and commitment to get a professional degree such as medicine or law they wouldn't let their education slid by. I can tell that isn't true. A lawyer that end up selling cars is not a common occurrence, although I do know one that does, However, lawyers that go into business quite often and changing specialities in medicine is often a symptom of disappointment with original choices.

If you read the self help books on business and how to be a success, compare their road maps with information gained from interviewing people who are successful in an area you are investigating, you'll often find great disparity in fact. Much of what drives people to the area they are successful is serendipitous. Many times it's taking over the family business, and not always because they choose to do so. Dad falls ill and mom can't handle it, so Sue or Jack leaves their career track in ,you fill in the blank, and becomes head of the family empire, even if it happens to be a small restaurant.

Often it's a job that people take when they are quite young and just never get out of it even after they get their degree that should be leading them in another area. I know a music major who is now a divorce attorney. I know a Fine Art graduate who went back to get a mechanical engineering degree. Under the category of, "Employers don't care what your degree is in. They want to see evidence of scholarship", my son has his Electrical Engineering Degree and he works in Information Technology, which if it's anything is Electronics. My Daughter use her degree in Design and my son-in-law uses his degree in Agriculture, but Mary Jo hasn't cashed in on her degree in Japanese language the way she could have and Dan is dreaming about being a Veterinarian.

The only book I ever recommend for people that are contemplating career changes is What Color is You Parachute by Richard Bolles. This book can be used in many ways. It isn't just about a job search or a career change. I maintain that if everyone used his analytical approach to many of life's decisions they would be better off. (I've advised sales people to use his techniques to prospect customers.). Bolles suggest rigorous research and investigation of a subject before acting on it. What his book offers is a template for mounting you own investigation.Doesn't it just make sense that knowing something about the company you are interviewing for would be helpful in deciding if you even wanted to work for them or not. The same is true if your deciding which customers to call on. Some prospects are better than others. Knowing which ones are is a critical key to success.

The one thing you will find out if you do the research is that there is no path to success. It's when you wander and wonder that you find your niche

What is it about some people?

2007-05-25T07:19:00.001-05:00

I have a good friend John B, who is, if you were to look at our makeup and personalities you would never think we could be close friends. Than there is my cousin John. As we all know kin don't necessarily make good friends, but John is a friend and a confidant. I have many women friends. As I have written before, I am far more comfortable with women as friends. I do not seek anyone as a close friend. Friendships are born in moments of need and mature with use over time. It's the initial attraction that mystifies me

The first thing I can remember feeling about John B is that out of a group of guys that we bowled with, he and I always seemed to end up hanging out and talking about ourselves rather than the usual cover topics men usually blab about, such as ball games, women and tools. We found our differences quickly enough, but we also sensed in each other that we could respect those differences and still be friends.