The latest criticism of President Obama is that he has been too moderate, or not liberal enough, which is in stark contrast to the continuing criticism that he is too liberal, or wishy-washy.
He is, indeed, all of the above, depending on how big a fruitcake the critic.
We have lots of absolutist fruitcakes; I know, because I have had the distinct displeasure of dealing with them on a professional basis.
When he was candidate Obama, I didn't know anything about him, except that with a name like that, skin like that, and intellect like that, he didn't have a chance in American politics; he should live in a more enlightened country, like Kurdistan. I'm kidding, a little.
The more he talked, the more I liked what I heard, but I had liked the message before, only to be disappointed with the delivery of the goods, or lack thereof.
In the past, what got in the way of Doing The Right Thing was political expedience, known in some circles as compromise, and in others as selling out.
To be a truly great leader, you will have success if you can do three things simultaneously: Stick to your principles; sell out; and make it look like you did both and neither at the same time.
I said before he took office that President Obama would not be as liberal as his liberal supporters expect, nor would he be as conservative as he needed to be to satisfy the cave persons over there in the dark. I was right, of course, which really, really ticks off my wife and friend Dave, because I keep reminding them that I am always right, and they sputter in their attempts at refuting the obvious.
My point was based on my perception that here was a very bright and articulate man, essentially a decent and well-educated human being, who wanted to go down in history as the Great Peacemaker. He wanted to bring Americans together for common goals. Problem is, there are no common goals; it's mostly Us versus Them.
He wanted to restore respect for America on the world stage. Problem is, the jingoism (often mistaken for patriotism) in this nation leaves us blind to how we are seen even by our allies. I said allies, not friends. We have no friends.
Eavesdropping on an intelligent conversation about the state of politics today (I had to tune in a public radio station), one participant summed it up: Mitt Romney has tottered to the Right because he needs those votes in the Republican primary elections; Rick (Marlboro Man) Perry is already over there, but is finding out not all Republicans think like Texans; and Obama has become the strident, more assertive soldier for social issues because, as the lady on the radio said, There is no place in American politics right now for moderates.
Okay, I've been saying that for a couple of years, but still, combined with still another rainy day, that makes me want to check out the sunshine in a truly enlightened country, like, say, Canada.
I'm kidding, but only a little.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Fear and loathing as a healthy lifestyle
You can't go on line without being exposed to an epidemic -- of health risk hysteria.
No wonder we are scared to death of germs. And viruses. And contaminated food, and medical mistakes and deadly reactions to mixes of medications.
Just this week, we learn that cantaloupe has made some people sick and killed two. Two. If it's a loved one, that's really hard to take, but the truth is, you're probably getting sicker every day with stress over stories like these.
You can never know too much, but you can be exposed to too much bad news. The key is balance.
Keep it in perspective; don't worry about dying from cantaloupe; you're more likely to get wiped out by another driver on your way to work. As you sit there and read what's on the internet, your arteries are building up clogs that will, after 50 years, give you a heart attack or a stroke.
Doctors have been telling me for 50 years that smoking my pipe is bad for me.
Lawyers advertise to get me to come see them because I was exposed to asbestos while serving in the Navy. Let alone the asbestos shingles we used to throw on rocks when we were kids to see them turn to powder. That was when we ran out of thermometers to break open so we could shine nickels and dimes with the mercury.
I know at least as many people who died trying to lose weight as I do fat people who died because they didn't try.
Booze will kill you, too, if you drink too much, but then other stories say that alcohol in moderation is good for your arteries. Here's to healthy arteries.
For years, I took aspirin every day to keep those blood vessels clog-free, which meant that I could eat my bacon and cheese omelets with a clear conscience. Now they say something in aspirin works against the key ingredient in some blood pressure medications, canceling each other out.
Blood pressure meds have been suspected as a contributing cause of Type 2 diabetes, which requires diet modification and medications which can cause other side effects, like, say, a coma.
If you're lucky, the meds will only cause kidney damage, leading to dialysis or a transplant, which requires taking anti-rejection meds which cause cancer. If you're unlucky, you get a muscle disease first, grow sore all over, weaker and more crippled, and then you get the kidney failure and the dialysis, especially if you have been easing your arthritis with nsaids painkillers for 20 years.
The diet for people with high blood sugar is low fat, low glycemic carbohydrates, or, cardboard. Whole wheats and brown rice, beans, nothing white like potatoes or corn or French bread. No fats, like butter. Use those whipped spreads on your brown bread, which soak into it like you've run it under a faucet, and then drink some milk; soy milk, that is.
When they come out with a soy substitute for bourbon, I may stop drinking. On the other hand, there is that healthy artery thing that one should not give up on too easily....
No wonder we are scared to death of germs. And viruses. And contaminated food, and medical mistakes and deadly reactions to mixes of medications.
Just this week, we learn that cantaloupe has made some people sick and killed two. Two. If it's a loved one, that's really hard to take, but the truth is, you're probably getting sicker every day with stress over stories like these.
You can never know too much, but you can be exposed to too much bad news. The key is balance.
Keep it in perspective; don't worry about dying from cantaloupe; you're more likely to get wiped out by another driver on your way to work. As you sit there and read what's on the internet, your arteries are building up clogs that will, after 50 years, give you a heart attack or a stroke.
Doctors have been telling me for 50 years that smoking my pipe is bad for me.
Lawyers advertise to get me to come see them because I was exposed to asbestos while serving in the Navy. Let alone the asbestos shingles we used to throw on rocks when we were kids to see them turn to powder. That was when we ran out of thermometers to break open so we could shine nickels and dimes with the mercury.
I know at least as many people who died trying to lose weight as I do fat people who died because they didn't try.
Booze will kill you, too, if you drink too much, but then other stories say that alcohol in moderation is good for your arteries. Here's to healthy arteries.
For years, I took aspirin every day to keep those blood vessels clog-free, which meant that I could eat my bacon and cheese omelets with a clear conscience. Now they say something in aspirin works against the key ingredient in some blood pressure medications, canceling each other out.
Blood pressure meds have been suspected as a contributing cause of Type 2 diabetes, which requires diet modification and medications which can cause other side effects, like, say, a coma.
If you're lucky, the meds will only cause kidney damage, leading to dialysis or a transplant, which requires taking anti-rejection meds which cause cancer. If you're unlucky, you get a muscle disease first, grow sore all over, weaker and more crippled, and then you get the kidney failure and the dialysis, especially if you have been easing your arthritis with nsaids painkillers for 20 years.
The diet for people with high blood sugar is low fat, low glycemic carbohydrates, or, cardboard. Whole wheats and brown rice, beans, nothing white like potatoes or corn or French bread. No fats, like butter. Use those whipped spreads on your brown bread, which soak into it like you've run it under a faucet, and then drink some milk; soy milk, that is.
When they come out with a soy substitute for bourbon, I may stop drinking. On the other hand, there is that healthy artery thing that one should not give up on too easily....
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Jobs, the budget, and the TSA
Since even rookie Republican politicians have put forth ideas for fixing the economy, I figure, it can't be that complicated, so I'll give it a shot, too.
You want to fix America's economy? Instead of funding the TSA, put the money into airline subsidies and require that the airlines provide security, both on the planes and at the airports.
Air travel was better 40 years ago, when airlines were subsidized; I know, I worked for the industry in the early and mid-sixties. United was the best airline in the world, but there were lots of other carriers who served the public well, even to little towns like Fargo, ND, and flights were affordable because it was universally recognized that a well-run transportation system served even those who were not flying at the moment.
While the occasional drunk or nut was escorted off -- or more likely denied boarding -- a plane, unruly, rude, upset passengers were unusual.
Customers were treated politely, cordially, as if the airline and the person wearing the airline's uniform were glad to have you aboard.
You could call a number and a real human would pick up the phone and help you book a reservation, including suggestions for making the trip more efficient and enjoyable.
When you arrived at the airport, you could park your car within walking distance of the ticket counter, even the gate, and check in quickly and with a sense of security.
Booze and firearms were not allowed in your carry-on. What you carried in your luggage was your business; overweight charges were generally not collected.
That was then.
Now, the TSA treats everyone who comes into the airport like a terrorist.
I have a great deal of respect for mall security cops, guards at self-storage sites, and school crossing guards.
But I suspect that the average TSA airport employee would not want those jobs, even if the pay was better, because they offer less opportunity to abuse such a broad spectrum of the population.
You never see mall security cops high-five each other when one requires a six-year-old to submit to a pat-down. You don't see them hoping the parent that watches such a miscarriage of trust will explode and give them a reason to take them to the little glass room to cool off until the plane leaves.
They get to take out their kinks on kids, old men with colostomy bags, people in wheelchairs, mothers with three tots to corral, and anyone who "looks funny."
So little skill, so little ability, and so much power. It's almost like being a congressman, but without the health care and retirement plan.
Reassign some TSA workers to walking the desert where drug lords smuggle human beings and all kinds of contraband into the country. But use most of the money we pay them to ensure that the airlines screen bags, run passengers through scanners, and leave the profiling of suspects to FBI or other federal agents who are intelligent enough to take the sophisticated training and apply skills without humiliating the traveling public.
Less stress in the airport means less stress at the check-in, at the boarding gate, and one the plane. Cash subsidies mean a cushion on profitability, which would allow them to stop charging middle class families $75 for a bag that's two pounds over.
They could abandon the overbooking of seats on flights, make sure everyone who has a ticket actually gets on the plane. Maybe allow a few empty seats or more carry-on storage.
Life would be better for half a million Americans or so every day, so tell me, who has offered a better idea so far?
You want to fix America's economy? Instead of funding the TSA, put the money into airline subsidies and require that the airlines provide security, both on the planes and at the airports.
Air travel was better 40 years ago, when airlines were subsidized; I know, I worked for the industry in the early and mid-sixties. United was the best airline in the world, but there were lots of other carriers who served the public well, even to little towns like Fargo, ND, and flights were affordable because it was universally recognized that a well-run transportation system served even those who were not flying at the moment.
While the occasional drunk or nut was escorted off -- or more likely denied boarding -- a plane, unruly, rude, upset passengers were unusual.
Customers were treated politely, cordially, as if the airline and the person wearing the airline's uniform were glad to have you aboard.
You could call a number and a real human would pick up the phone and help you book a reservation, including suggestions for making the trip more efficient and enjoyable.
When you arrived at the airport, you could park your car within walking distance of the ticket counter, even the gate, and check in quickly and with a sense of security.
Booze and firearms were not allowed in your carry-on. What you carried in your luggage was your business; overweight charges were generally not collected.
That was then.
Now, the TSA treats everyone who comes into the airport like a terrorist.
I have a great deal of respect for mall security cops, guards at self-storage sites, and school crossing guards.
But I suspect that the average TSA airport employee would not want those jobs, even if the pay was better, because they offer less opportunity to abuse such a broad spectrum of the population.
You never see mall security cops high-five each other when one requires a six-year-old to submit to a pat-down. You don't see them hoping the parent that watches such a miscarriage of trust will explode and give them a reason to take them to the little glass room to cool off until the plane leaves.
They get to take out their kinks on kids, old men with colostomy bags, people in wheelchairs, mothers with three tots to corral, and anyone who "looks funny."
So little skill, so little ability, and so much power. It's almost like being a congressman, but without the health care and retirement plan.
Reassign some TSA workers to walking the desert where drug lords smuggle human beings and all kinds of contraband into the country. But use most of the money we pay them to ensure that the airlines screen bags, run passengers through scanners, and leave the profiling of suspects to FBI or other federal agents who are intelligent enough to take the sophisticated training and apply skills without humiliating the traveling public.
Less stress in the airport means less stress at the check-in, at the boarding gate, and one the plane. Cash subsidies mean a cushion on profitability, which would allow them to stop charging middle class families $75 for a bag that's two pounds over.
They could abandon the overbooking of seats on flights, make sure everyone who has a ticket actually gets on the plane. Maybe allow a few empty seats or more carry-on storage.
Life would be better for half a million Americans or so every day, so tell me, who has offered a better idea so far?
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Didn't want to watch, had to, better for it
I don't trust American media to deal with something like the 10th anniversary of the terrorists' attack on America, and had planned to pass the day with my nose in a book.
But I had to watch. I was snagged by a random channel while looking for something mindless -- plenty to choose from -- and found myself compelled to stay with the visuals, and the memories, and the thoughts they brought about what might have been.
I sat there and wept.
So many might-have-beens; at least one such story for each victim, and another for each survivor of a victim.
I occurred to me that the people who died when the planes were flown into masses of humanity as an otherwise ordinary workday was just beginning were only the first names on a long list, one that grows daily.
Those who never got to finish a second cup of coffee that morning were caught unaware; many of the subsequent victims volunteered, signing up for military service to do something to take the fight back to the extremists with a rage from the Dark Ages.
Every American -- and every Iraqi or Afghan, or whatever nationality -- drawn to this infamous flame has danced with death in a thousand moments of violence. Soldiers, civilians, volunteers, career military and the random passers by have paid with their lives in the sequential events that follow what we call, "9 - 11".
Parents and wives and husbands sit at home and watch the news that is allowed to be broadcast, and wait for news that no one wants to hear. Pride, fear, frustration, depression, hope -- how many moments of anguish have followed the unspeakable and cowardly act on an incredibly beautiful September day ten years ago?
Another casualty was what we used to think was almost uniquely American virtue -- tolerance for people with different opinions and points of view.
Oh, we came together for a time after 9-11, and some would like to believe that we are solid in our resolve to ensure security now and justice over time.
But the truth has been held hostage by one faction or another, then dressed up in different versions and sent out through the land to represent differing definitions of what America is all about, what is the definition of a patriot, and whose opinions reflect the nation's constitution.
Four suicidal foreign zealots knocked down some buildings with airplanes; didn't live to see the results. Perhaps they were intelligent, educated men, but they were misinformed, or hopeless, and angry, and terminally misguided.
The rest of the damage has been done by the living, and not all of them live in some mud hut in the Middle East.
I am glad they have built a memorial and are replacing a building at Ground Zero. I know we will never forget, and that we all love our soldiers and support their families and the families of victims of 9-11.
But who among us will keep zealotry from destroying us from within?
But I had to watch. I was snagged by a random channel while looking for something mindless -- plenty to choose from -- and found myself compelled to stay with the visuals, and the memories, and the thoughts they brought about what might have been.
I sat there and wept.
So many might-have-beens; at least one such story for each victim, and another for each survivor of a victim.
I occurred to me that the people who died when the planes were flown into masses of humanity as an otherwise ordinary workday was just beginning were only the first names on a long list, one that grows daily.
Those who never got to finish a second cup of coffee that morning were caught unaware; many of the subsequent victims volunteered, signing up for military service to do something to take the fight back to the extremists with a rage from the Dark Ages.
Every American -- and every Iraqi or Afghan, or whatever nationality -- drawn to this infamous flame has danced with death in a thousand moments of violence. Soldiers, civilians, volunteers, career military and the random passers by have paid with their lives in the sequential events that follow what we call, "9 - 11".
Parents and wives and husbands sit at home and watch the news that is allowed to be broadcast, and wait for news that no one wants to hear. Pride, fear, frustration, depression, hope -- how many moments of anguish have followed the unspeakable and cowardly act on an incredibly beautiful September day ten years ago?
Another casualty was what we used to think was almost uniquely American virtue -- tolerance for people with different opinions and points of view.
Oh, we came together for a time after 9-11, and some would like to believe that we are solid in our resolve to ensure security now and justice over time.
But the truth has been held hostage by one faction or another, then dressed up in different versions and sent out through the land to represent differing definitions of what America is all about, what is the definition of a patriot, and whose opinions reflect the nation's constitution.
Four suicidal foreign zealots knocked down some buildings with airplanes; didn't live to see the results. Perhaps they were intelligent, educated men, but they were misinformed, or hopeless, and angry, and terminally misguided.
The rest of the damage has been done by the living, and not all of them live in some mud hut in the Middle East.
I am glad they have built a memorial and are replacing a building at Ground Zero. I know we will never forget, and that we all love our soldiers and support their families and the families of victims of 9-11.
But who among us will keep zealotry from destroying us from within?
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