Town Hall Meeting; Obama Returns to New Hampshire

Sunday, August 9, 2009
President Obama will be holding his own "Town Hall Meeting" on Wednesday in Portsmouth, NH. I welcome the event, and believe it to be a bold move designed to put his Health Care Reform program on the offensive in a debate mired in controversy and confusion. This strategy may also put the President in a position to deliver the final death blow to a struggling Republican Party that seems to be resorting to dirty tricks just to remain relevant.

There have been several such events recently ( Obama was not present ) that resulted in mayhem, arrests and controversy. When White House director of new media Macon Phillips posted note on the White House web site asking folks to send anything 'fishy' about these events or their participants to flag@whitehouse.org, Republican Sen. John Cornyn wrote a letter to the President stating, "I urge you to cease this program immediately." Both the note and the letter have distracted the public from the major issue, and caused many to wonder about the state of politics in general.

Will ( astranavigo08.multiply.com, aka The Celestial Navigator ) posted a note several days ago that addresses the political aspects of these events, and it would seem that thread is still active. Will makes his political position quite clear;
If a president is keeping an enemies list, and asking people to tattle on each other, he's behaving like Richard Fucking Nixon. Period. I don't care what color the man is; I don't care what politics he professes, or to which 'party' he belongs -- asking people to tell on each other is an old, old, tactic, and it's been used by some of the nicest people in the past -- and Nixon's enemies'-list was legendary.
This is a legitimate concern, and I'm hoping the President will address this issue while he's in New Hampshire. I don't see how he can avoid it if he actually allows his opposition into the High School Auditorium where the meeting will be held. I'm not so worried about the 'flag' note, and believe that it was posted to prepare the President for this meeting in New Hampshire, and to give him an opportunity to respond to his opponents on their own web-sites. I do however appreciate Will and folks like him that keep a close eye on our Civil Liberties as their is a growing mood of discontent in America that cuts across party lines.

That threat is Fascism.

If you've been watching these events in the media, you may be as curious as I am to know who exactly is behind the confusion and mayhem. Here's an MSNBC clip that sheds a little light on that;


I'm not a fan of MSNBC, or television news in general. In fact, the only time I watch it is when I find links to it on the web. I do like this clip, as there actually was some investigation into who was actually involved in the controversy, what their background is and who their sponsors are.

<> About the Republican Party; YOU SUCK! I learned my lesson in 1972 when I enlisted in support of a President that appeared to embody all of the good qualities of America, and seemed to have our best interests at heart. I couldn't have been more wrong, as I and many like me payed in spades for our mistake ( our mistake wasn't enlisting, it was believing anything a Republican says ). Since then I've watched several Republican Administrations rape our wallets, and steal our economic future with their Voodoo Economics. As far as Compassionate Conservatism goes, don't believe a hypocrite.

Here's the hypocrisy of Neo-conservatism in America; On Sunday you stand in a pulpit and denounce Darwin and Evolution as it goes against your religious beliefs, but on Monday you stand on Wall Street and preach Natural Selection in the Market-place. Let the anyone who buys their crap beware...< /rant>

I have two hopes for Wednesday meeting; I hope Obama's strategy of bringing the issue to the people works well for him, and I hope some fool throws a shoe. Both would put the Neo-conservatism in a tight little box that can be shelved with so many failed agendas.

And thank you Will, for you attention to issues and your talent as a writer/analyst.

Untitled Rant

Monday, August 3, 2009
Take a look at the photo to the left, I'm the old guy with the white hat. The other guy is a kid I work with at a very large noodle factory. I'm posting this pic to establish a context for anything else I might post on this blog.

Neither of us in an expert at anything. Both of us work very hard for very little. Either of us could go on the inter-net and establish ourselves as leading authorities on just about anything. Really.

Patrick ( the kid ) isn't even interested in the inter-net. It's not in the least bit relevent to his life. I'm curious and active on-line, but go there to 'get' more than I 'give'. Does the kid seem close-minded, or stupid? He's neither. Do I sound selfish? I don't think so.

What Pat and I have in common is the sure knowledge that neither one of us have the answers to the world's problems. Nor do we have the time or energy to solve those problems! It takes all kinds of people to make such a large world; leaders, doctors, planners and builders, cops and lawyers and all those other folks that believe they have at least a small part of the solution to the world's ills. But it takes a lot more of us ( the little people ), than it does of them ( the experts ).

So I will break from my policy of not meddling with other folks affairs today. I have some advice for all of those experts that seem to be having so much problems with the world's economic crisis, global warming, wars and conflicts, etc.;

Get a job! If you can't seem to find one that requires a suit and tie, do like Pat and I. Find some hand tools ( perhaps a shovel or a hammer ), and start walking down the street or highway. People will notice you ( trust me ), and some of them will actually pay you for work.

I never thought I'd say that! But, I've never heard ( or read ) so much griping about how the world has gone to hell. I do my share of griping, and so does Pat. But we do it in the break-room of a factory where we put little noodles in little boxes. We work for two hours, then we bitch about the world for fifteen minutes. We work for an hour and fortyfive minutes, and then we bitch for half an hour. Work for an hour and a half, and then we bitch for fifteen more minutes. We work for an hour or so, clean up our work area and then go home.

We tell our wives that we weren't able to solve the world's problems but all things considered, the bills are getting paid. And then once a week we hand her our paychecks, and she bitches for the rest the day at the high price of living.

And then she comes home, and rests. At peace with the world, because she knows there are more people like Pat and I than there are experts.