Lone Star Rising

An upstart group with a deep southern base, who was once owned by George W. Bush, just beat the crap out of a bunch of Yankees. You see, nobody up north gave this group much of a chance. They dismissed them as too inexperienced and too reckless. But almost out of nowhere, they swooped into action, and starting picking up win after win.

The south is Mad, confident, and determined. And the performance of their rivals? Dismal. Disappointing. Underachieving. So, in a couple of weeks this Southern movement will be poised to take the ultimate prize... ...A majority in the U.S. house and senate.

Oh!, you thought I was talking about the ALCS? Well, ya that too, but the parallels to current politics are striking, and the incumbents are down to their last out.

Is Christine O'Donnell "You"?

Christine O'Donnell's new ad proclaims she is not a witch, she's "You".  Well in many ways she's not me (I believe in evolution for one thing ). That said, she IS like many Americans. Many good bible-belt, Christian-Americans. And guess what? There's nothing wrong with that...so long as she represents all of her constituents in Washington (should she be elected).

Her new ad is nothing short of Genius. A very Simple and affective message about her humanity and how she is closer to YOU, than to those already in Washington. But I think there's a subtext here. We really shouldn't judge our politicians by their religious beliefs, no matter how crazy they may seem to us. Nor by things they may have experimented with at a young age. We should judge them on their experience, they're integrity, and their ability to be affective leaders and representatives of their constituency. Those are the things we need to know about Christine O'Donnell, not whether she was interested in witchcraft or is against masturbation.

Her new ad highlights her humanity, and puts out the simplest message. Not just that she's not the monster she's been painted to be. But more importantly, that she'd do what "we'd do" if she won the election.  If that's true, then I hope she does.  We could use a "me" in Washington.

Blame the GOP - for good and bad

The majority of Americans blame the GOP for our economic problems, yet, an even larger majority trust the GOP to get us back on track. It seems confusing, until you look at our recent economic history.

Yes, the country enjoyed a decade of economic prosperity in the 90's. But why?  It's because of two things:

1) 1993-1999. The dot.com boom.  The stock market (artificially) inflated on the anticipation that the Internet was the next big thing. People got rich off of Yahoo and google and Microsoft and Intel, etc.

But, how were those "start ups" able to get started and stay in business?

2).1984-1992. TAX BREAKS and other incentives for SMALL BUSINESS ...brought to you by ...the GOP (under Reagan and H. W. Bush).

2000-2008 -  By the time Clinton was on his way out in 2000, the economy was already headed for a recession.  This was mainly because the dot.com bubble burst.  Enter, George W. Bush...who's tax cuts and fed policies kept the country from falling into a deeper recession. Eventually though, economic forces, greed and corruption, brought the entire system down. Just in time for the 2008 elections.

That's the history. What we need now is a congress that's ready to learn from it. Keep the policies that made us prosperous, but tighten the regulations so that they can't be exploited by the greedy and corrupt.

Republicans “Pledge” fiscal not social reform

The GOP's "Pledge to America" is getting a lot of press lately, and deservedly so. Both sides of the aisle are sounding off about it. You’ve probably heard what it contains. In case you haven’t, here’s a very high-level summary:
• Tax cuts for all Americans
• Reduce government spending
• Repeal the Obama-care law
• Tougher border, and homeland security, and
• A more fair and transparent congressional process.

I read the entire document, and what strikes me about this “Pledge” is what’s NOT in it. There’s no mention of privatizing Social Security, ending Medicare, or repealing regulations on Wall Street.  And as for the “religious – right”… no mention of outlawing abortion or freezing government stem cell research funding. No church-vs-state legislation whatsoever. In fact, the word “God” doesn’t even appear in the document. Not once.

What does all this tell me? It tells me the Tea Party is not as radical as many feared, or at the very least the radical factions within it are not controling the GOP agenda. Republicans are setting our expectations that if we vote them into power in November, this is what they will focus on. It gives me hope that we could be headed in the right direction.  A direction towards the middle, and away from the far left.

If the GOP can abide by this pledge, I think the economy will turn around, and our country can be more safe, and lead the world economically again.  And If they don’t, well, they’ll be another election in 2012.  The American people are running out of patience.

What do you think?  Sound off with your comments.

Back to School for Voters

My mother had an expression ..."There are three sides to every story;  his, hers, and the truth".

I think this applies to politics especially (which makes me wish we had a true third party option). But lately I've been thinking...what if they didn't put any party affiliation on the ballot at all?  (o.k. leave it in campaign and TV ads).

This would make everyone do their homework. Imagine it, voters couldn't just select R or D across the board. Sure, many republicans are pro-life, but not all. And many democrats want to raise taxes, but not all. And don't even get me started on Immigration reform.  If there was no R no D... no anything...you'd have to know where the candidate stood before making a selection.  Gee, imagine that.

O.k. so they're not likely to remove the political affiliation from the ballots any time soon, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't still be educated voters. We are all so busy with our daily lives. It's easier to pick a side, and pull a row of levers then to really know what's going on. Who we appoint as our "Representatives" matters tremendously...especially at this time in history.  It's well worth a little homework. If we want the political system to work, we have to work a little at it ourselves.

My father had an expression too... Long before computers, my blue-collar father with a 6th grade education used to say "Input equals output".  I wish my dad was around to vote today.

9-11 - no words to describe it

My 8 year old daughter told me they were talking about 9-11 on the school bus. She called it the catastrophe of the twin towers. It hit me that she wasn't even born yet when this terrible event occurred.

But then I got to thinking about our choice of words to describe 9-11: catastrophe; tragedy; disaster. We would use the same words to describe a hurricane, or an earth quake. Somehow, they just don't do this event justice.

9-11 was also the direct cause of the War in Afghanistan. An appropriate and effective response. I personally will never forget President Bush standing on the ruble shortly after, and telling the ground zero crowd that the people who knocked down these buildings would hear from all of us soon.  And they did.

Those who died on 9/11 and the war that followed, did not die in vain. The event opened our eyes as a nation, and caused us to sure-up our defenses. We will forever honor their memory.

In reality, 9-11 was a sneak-attack against innocent civilians, against a way of life (the American way) by people who really HATE us, resulting in great human and economic loss for our country. We don't have a word for that in the English language. Well...maybe we do now...9-11.

God bless the 9-11 victims and their families...and GOD  BLESS AMERICA.

Lyrics - We Are All New Yorkers

We Are All New Yorkers

{Monty}
For the first time, in many years, I got down on my knees to pray.
My sisters cousin Lawrence, went up to heaven that day.
Many heroes,vanishing, but in our hearts are found.

{All}
WE ARE ALL NEW YORKERS, YOU DON'T PUSH US AROUND

{Stacy}
Neighbors who never spoke to me, were now saying hello.
We watched as Rudy, calmed the city. I remember loving him so.
Hope, and solidarity, I felt it all through town.

{All}
WE ARE ALL NEW YORKERS, YOU DON'T PUSH US AROUND

{Mike}
Total Anger, total rage, yet still no time to weep.
I guess they never heard about waking a giant who's asleep.
Those cowards, the ones responsible, we'll hunt them like a hound.

{All}
WE ARE ALL NEW YORKERS, YOU DON'T PUSH US AROUND

{Amber}
Seven wakes, and funerals, I really cried a lot.
But I gained strength in knowing, that we took their best shot.
Patrick, Jim, and Kevin...Their laughter, how I miss the sound.

{All}
WE ARE ALL NEW YORKERS, YOU DON'T PUSH US AROUND

{Ahkeel} - (Pakistani cab driver)
Some People look at my face, as if I were to blame.
But the ones that you call enemies.. I hate them...I hate them just the same.
Bastards, thinking they'd escaped, now lay like dogs in a pound.

{All}
WE ARE ALL NEW YORKERS, YOU DON'T PUSH US AROUND

Fallen walls and shattered lives, in sand a line was drawn.
But our souls and faith came alive, our spirit no less torn
Our children will not live in fear. A promise, to which we are bound

WE ARE ALL NEW YORKERS, YOU DON'T PUSH US AROUND
WE ARE ALL NEW YORKERS, YOU DON'T PUSH US AROUND

 
 
From the musical FIVE BOROUGHS (by John McDermott)
(Copyright). John McDermott