Friends, Romans, Countrymen...

Friends, Romans, Countrymen!  I have come to praise Willard, not to bury him.

Well, not really.  I wish him no ill.  I hope he goes off into his gilded retirement and we never, EVER, have to hear his name again.  I will confess that I still wake up and remind myself that he lost and smile and thank the good Lord above.  He would have been an atrocious president and we had the good, collective, sense to see that and to reject him and his little friend Paulie Ryan.  Well done America!  Well done.

But that's not why I'm here today.  I'm here, at long last, and for the absence I do apologize, to talk about two things.

Number One:  I spent 8 days in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, recently and I came away with one overriding feeling.  We will never escape tragedies such as that which happened at the elementary school there until we fix the way in which we resolve our conflicts.

It's less about the guns then it is about the national tone.  We resolve our disagreements with various degrees of violence.  When a football or baseball team meets before a game they say, about their opponents, "Let's kill 'em!"

When one stock broker makes a great deal he "wasted" the competition. When a movie is a success it is a "smash hit."

Our language is full of words that we use to invoke victory.  And so when one guy swipes a parking spot from another guy an argument can turn violent and, if a gun is present, fatal.

We yell and scream and we don't listen to each other in an attempt to find common ground. We resort to violence to solve our familial, local, regional, national and international problems.

This dovetails into Number Two.

What the EFF is going on in Washington?  We have two parties who are at odds about what to do with the country and neither is really listening to the other.  The members of congress claim to have the best interests of the country in mind but they act in an opposite manner.

We all understand that we live in a representative democracy.  Stipulated.  What is good for Rhode Island may not be good for Oregon.  Got it. 

But the ultimate truth is that what is good for the country, as a whole, is good for Rhode Island and Oregon...and Wyoming and California and New Jersey and so on.

Our congressional representatives, both in The House and in the Senate, are so busy trying to get reelected and/or satisfying the needs of either their benefactors or their constituents, or both, that they have completely lost sight of the welfare of country at large.

Not every bill nor piece of legislation will positively effect the citizenry.  Some will win and some will lose.  But if our "leaders" were to think of the good of the entire United States instead of their narrow, selfish desires, then maybe we would enjoy the growth and prosperity that they, and we, so desperately need.

But Number One and Number Two are pies in the sky.

I was a member of the oft-maligned media that was in Sandy Hook.  I said then, and it is true now, that once we turned our cameras off the story would be over.  We have returned to business as usual.  We are now fixated on the "Fiscal Cliff" and the playoffs and are just waiting for the next great tragedy.

For the people of Sandy Hook the story will never be over but for the rest of the country, we have all moved on.

Nothing will ever change.  And once Congress has gone over the cliff and then passed legislation to fix the problems that they have created, they will be on to the next great debate and the next edition of brinksmanship that they know so well.

We have to change the tone.  We have to learn to compromise.  We have to learn to think of what's good for all of us in the long run in the big picture.

Otherwise we are doomed.  Otherwise we are Rome.  And we know what happened to them.

Happy New Year...

Hello?

"Hello?"
"Governor?"
"Yes"
"My name is Ichabod Scmaltz and I am the president of Citizens Responsible for Appropriate Punditry.
May I ask you a few questions about your loss in the presidential race?"
"Certainly"
"Sir, why do you think you were so unpopular with most everybody who is walking upright in this country depsite the faux displays of excitement and adoration manufactured by the Republican Party and, in some cases, your very own family?"
"I think it is because I appeared to stand for nothing in particular with any real conviction,
seemed to say anything to anyone in order to get their support and didn't convey any sense of empathy for any of the voters with the exception of the members of my country clubs, worldwide."
"Fair enough.  And why do you think the voters were unimpressed with your background given your success as an alleged bully in private school, having been born into a wealthy family, giving the impression that you dodged the War in Vietnam by taking a missionary position in France, creating a great fortune by buying companies, laying off thousands and shipping their jobs overseas and having several houses around the country including one with a car elevator?"
"It is probably because most folks don't understand the efficiency of having several houses.  Whenever Ann and I travel we save hundreds of dollars on hotels by being able to stay at home.  And the elevator saves wear and tear on my cars as well as creates fuel economy given that I don't have to drive as far.  I just pull into the elevator and Presto!  I'm home!"
" I see.  And sir, you have been an advocate of a strong military.  Several years ago you said, in response to a question about your five son's military service at the height of the Iraq War, that they were serving the country by helping to try to get you elected president.  Was that a mistake?"
"No, not at all.  I was fortunate to have a rich, connected father during the Vietnam era.  That gave me options.  My sons have the same advantage as do their children.  I feel that it is the reponsibility of all parents to provide their kids with every advantage.  If a parent is on welfare, for example, then they are on a first name basis with their case worker and can introduce their child to that worker so that the child gets every advantage that the welfare program can offer.  That is all I was saying about my wonderful boys.  They were simply using the options I was able to give them as a loving father."
"Hmmm, I think I understand.  One last thing Governor.  Now that you have been resoundingly rejected by a  majority of the American people and by many in the hierarchy of your own party, will you retiure from politics or will you follow the example of another revered Republican, Richard Nixon, and come around again in four years and mount another campaign?"
"I believe in 'never say never.' I will take some time off now after this exciting, yet grueling, campaign, spend time with my family either in New Hampshire, California or Massachusetts, take the dog for a car ride and then evaluate my choices going forward.  I may decide to get back into the business buying business because their are so many opportunities, right here in the good ol' US of A, especially in Detroit, which, at one time I called home.  I hear that they are selling everything there.  I might even bid on the city itself and then I could send it to China.  Imagine.  The Shanghai Pistons or the Beijing Red Wings or the Hong Kong Tigers.  The Tigers might go all the way again next year and that would finally create a true World Series which then, in turn, I could run if I were to be appointed baseball commissioner which I would love.  I love baseball.  I love the uniforms and the Cracker Jacks and the seventh inning stretch.Going to games makes me feel like a real American. Just like George W. Bush.  He loves baseball too, you know.  He wanted to be the commissioner as well, back in the day."
"Thank you Governor.  Good luck and give my best to Mrs. Romney."
"I will and thank you Mr. Scmaltz for a wonderful interview and fair questions.  But may I ask you one question?"
"Certainly"
"Did you vote for me?"
"Never..."

Blogger's Block

It's been a quiet summer and I have been experiencing Blogger's Block.

I'll be back when I have something interesting to say.

Until then...

VOTE!!

Business as Usual

And now come revelations that Willard may have lied.

NO!  Say it ain't so!  NOT WILLARD!

Not the squeaky clean, Ken Doll, Mr. Perfect.

What part of "He's not a good choice for the presidency" don't you understand?

Willard Romney is the son of a rich man who lives, and has lived, a life of luxury and irresponsiblity (for his actions...) for his entire experience.

He went to private schools, avoided the draft and has made his money the old fashioned way...on the backs of the average Working Joe.  And I don't mean that abomination, "Joe The Plumber", trotted out by Grandpa and Ditzy in the last campaign.

I mean the real McCoy, the genuine article.  Men and women who get up each morning, kiss their spouse and kids goodbye and march off to build roads and houses and teach our children and fight our fires and police our communities.

Willard made his money by buying and selling companies and throwing people out of work.  Never mind the idea that the companies he pillaged were failing and that he, allegedly, created jobs in the process. 

Those companies were just pieces on a game board to be moved around in order to make a buck.  They didn't represent real people with real hopes and dreams.

His decisions ruined real lives and created havoc in the families of the real people who lost their ability to earn a living, provide for their loved ones, find purpose and contribute, meaningfully, to society.

And it is those real people Willard seems so hopelessly out of sync with. He wants to lead a country of real people while he, possibly, avoids taxes by taking advantage of loopholes and off shore accounts and lives a life incomprehensible to 98% of the American people.

Most people don't have millions of dollars.  Most people don't have several homes.  Most people don't quit a good job to work for "no compensation." Most people don't bully weaker kids at prep school. Most people's children serve this country by joing the military and PUTTING THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE, not by joining a political campaign designed to get their father elected president! Most people are not as privileged as Willard.

Most people work hard and understand the consequences of their choices.

Willard doesn't seem to.  He seems to be used to getting what he wants, when he wants it and in the manner in which he has always been accustomed.

"A tarnished sliver spoon leaves a very bad taste in the mouth."  Wise words from a wise man from a time of honor and integrity long ago forgotten.

Willard is unfit for the presidency.  He would be better off working for the Olympic Committee again.

Maybe this time he could help with wardrobe.  Working for the Chinese...

Question Mark and the Mitterians

What in God's name is wrong with Willard? 

Can anyone explain to me how a man who is running for the presidency can act the way he does?

We can stipulate that Mittie is a rich man having been born into wealth but having earned his own by being a successful businessman.

But why flaunt it? 

We are experiencing a horrible recession with some economists suggesting that we may be about to go into a second phase, a so-called, "Double-Dip."

Millions are out of work and the unemployment rate has stagnated at 8.2 percent.  People are losing their homes and state and local governements are struggling to provide services.  Congress is flirting with legislation that will further cut the programs that many Americans depend upon for their daily well being.

And The Mittigator seems to be, as they say, "tone deaf", to the plight of the ordinary citizens he wants to lead.

Now, to be "fair and balanced", Romney may have some good ideas lurking in the recesses of his mind but how can we trust he will implement sound policies that will help ALL of us if we can't feel that he understands, and can relate to, us.

I am not a rich man, by any measure, so I can't relate to thoroughbred horses or summer homes or million dollar paydays.  I am grateful to have a job and to be able to make my expenses (barely...) and spend time with my wonderful family.

If I can't relate to Willard, then how can he relate to me?  He has NEVER suffered.  He doesn't suffer now.

He hob nobs with his peers all of whom are as rich, if not richer than he is.  You don't see him standing in line at Walmart to buy toilet paper at a discount.  Not in a million years.

If he would only demonstrate an understanding of the situation we ordinary Americans find ourselves in, then maybe I would be able to listen to his words.

But all I hear is the jibberish of the master condescending to the servants in his employ.

Off shore accounts and outsourcing of jobs.  Takeover artist throwing thousands out of work on behalf of profits for the already wealthy.

And the Republicans accuse Obama of fostering class warfare?  They sure have balls, I'll give 'em that.

You bet it's class warfare.  But it's not Obama who is waging it.  Irony of ironies, it's perpetuated by the ruling 1% in order to preserve the status quo.

And Mitt Romney is their poster boy. 

If you can't see that then you deserve what you will get in November if he's elected.

"Let them eat cake..."

Sound familiar...?

SEX!

Sex is a word. This post, which is not about sex, is an experiment.  This post has nothing to do with sex.  It is only an effort for me to see how many pageviews I'll get by having the word "sex" in the title.

Sex is fun.  I like sex.  A lot of my friends like sex.  Sex is a gender and I have one.  I am of the male sex.  That is my sex.  The male sex.

That's all I want to say about sex at this moment.

Except to reiterate the title of this post, which is "SEX!"

Once Again, With Feeling!

Ok, friends, I know we've been here before but I just have to give another stab at the topic...

...of Mitt Romney's lack of qualifications to be president.

This time I'd like to harp on the current thinking...that he's a bully.

I don't think we needed the latest revelation, that he assaulted a classmate in prep school, to convince us of his selfishness.

Willard is the son of a rich man who was given everything, educated in private schools, avoided the draft by assuming a missionary position in France, married a blond "trophy", had five sons who avoided the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by helping their father "get elected" (don't get me started here...!), and made millions by buying companies and throwing thousands of people out in the street.

I went to prep school at the same time that Willard did.  I was even in France at the same time he was and I didn't go to Viet Nam because I was lucky enough to have a deferment, not because my father was rich, which he decidedly wasn't, but because I was legitimately in school.

I knew kids like Mitt Romney.  Spoiled, wealthy and, above all, arrogant.  They had everything so what did they care.  It didn't matter to them if they got caught doing something wrong.  One call to Daddy and the incident went away.  Money always talks and privileged children always walk.  Always.

They were the kids with the latest of everything and the fanciest clothes.  They had the summer homes and the ski chalets and the sports cars for graduation.

They went to Yale or Harvard as legacies, never because they had the slightest amount of intelligence or ability to equal that of their fathers or grandfathers.  It was only because of their ancestors that they gained admittance.  They partied their way through prep school and then perfected the art of fooling around when they got to college.

And then they went into Daddy's business and, when they got tired of doing nothing for big money at a big desk in a big office with a big salary and a secretary with big breasts, they decided to get into politics...often the other "family business."

Still no qualifications.  Just a bigger job with bigger power.

Mitt Romney is just another in a long line of little boys who "want to be president."

He bullied his way through school and business and now is bullying his way through politics possibly all the way to The White House...ironically referred to as "The Bully Pulpit."

Romney is hateful man.  Not so much because he is a spolied brat but because he stands with nothing and for nothing.  He is an empty vessel sailing along on the hopes of the Republicans who have nominated many just like him for years and years. 

They just hope we will forget the facts of the recent past and overlook the disastrous potential of the future that they propose.  They just want to preserve their status as the 1% at The Club.

Obama may be a disappointment but he is one thing that Romney will never be.

He is a man of substance and consequence.  But you can't accuse Willard of being a phony.

He's the genuine article.  He's a 100%, dyed-in-the-wool, thoroughly complete, total, aristocratic blue-blood.

And to think that Willard spent time in France.  We all know what happened to their aristocrats throughout history. 

Cake anyone...?