Cliffhanger Fatigue

As we get set to shelve 2012 blame the lazy Mayan elves and their gullible jolly boss for your new Chia Pet or Clapper. But blame the pending coal in your shrinking bank balance on Boehner and the tone deaf GOP Congressional brigade.

If the Fiscal Follies extend into 2013, the shrill show will get real old, real fast. It's time for the people stand up. Obama won re-election, guys. Get your job done already. Or maybe let's talk about freezing Congressional salaries and overhauling your bennies before you even think about touching so-called "lock box" entitlements.

If that doesn't bring it home for the House nothing--short of being tossed out of office--will.

Here's to a most merry and lucky 2013!

Drive safe. Play nice Think peace.

aba

Barack The Vote

Have you heard the one where Obama squeaks into a second term with an
Electoral College victory, but Romney wins the popular vote? That poli sci-fi scenario has been bandied about by the chattering class for a while. But I've always dismissed it. I mean how could that be? How could the worst presidential candidate in modern history, and one so clearly unpopular even among his own party, this political hologram, the love child of Thurston Howell III and Monty Hall, walk off with more votes than the man who consistently leads him by double digits in affability and values?

Ah, but now I see how a cynical nexus of voter suppression (you bet they're still trying to steal Ohio!) and apathy could trigger such a depressing event,. Okay, sure, I'd rather wind up on the winning end of such a deal  than  repeat 2000, where Al Gore won the popular vote and W. was handed keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in a neat little box filled with hanging chads by the Supremes.

So, yeah, we'll take an Obama victory any way we can get it. But to loosen the Beltway's legislative gridlock and avoid the patina of illegitimacy the fright wing has been dying to bestow upon his presidency, Obama needs something akin to a mandate. And here's where we all come in. It will all come down to turn-out.So no matter where you live, you have to vote. Even those of us residing in the deepest of deep blue states: New York, California, Illinois, Oregon, Vermont, we have to get off our duffs and out the door. Every single vote counts.

I know we feel slighted, because the antiquated Electoral College hands sway to a few chosen states. This year it looks like Ohio, and probably Virginia and Florida and maybe Colorado will play heavily into the finale. But if every vote counted equally more people would vote and Obama would win. Maybe even by a landslide.

Alright, maybe not a landslide. Sure, I know a lot of progressives are disappointed in Obama. That hope and change seems like a lot of hype now. Okay, so the  guy isn't exactly Superman. But let's be fair: he 's started to dig us out from under that flaming pile of reckless rubbish he found on the doorstep of the White House back in January 2009. We may have a long way to go, but we're moving in a positive direction.And why anyone would  want to revert to the tried and tired policies that nearly brought this country to her knees boggles my mind.

If you can't imagine voting for Romney, a man who flips and flops with such alacrity he must suffer from chronic vertigo, than you can't just stay home. Or cast a protest vote for Roseanne Barr. Or Gary Johnson. Remember how that Ralph Nadar for reform business went in 2000? Only the truly cynical or naive can sit this one out. There is a huge difference between Obama and Romney. We simply can't trust a man who consistently airbrushes history, runs from his own record and then embraces it, often within the same day. There's a reason--beyond the commonwealth's electoral blue hue--Romney is losing in Massachusetts by 20 plus points. He wasn't nearly as good a governor as his propaganda suggests. His landmark health care legislation--the model for the national reform he so desperately promises to repeal--was largely crafted by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. And his mythic "reaching across the aisle' has been debunked by those who lived and worked in Massachusetts during his tenure. It essentially came down to vetoes and running Republicans against Democrats. He never considering running for a second term because he knew he'd never win one.

So pretend your vote really means something. Especially if you care about a future with a thriving middle class, health care reform, education,equal pay for equal work, reproductive rights, gay rights,  medicare, social security, the environment, energy,world peace. Oh, and the trajectory of the Supreme Court for the next generation or two, which, by the way, will most certainly inform all the aforementioned.

I know you don't want what Mitt's hiding behind Door Number 3.If it was anything other than an ill-tempered chicken and a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni  he wouldn't so evasive. It's, as Obama calls it, a "sketchy deal," one that will surely continue big time bennies for the wealthiest, while the 47% Mitt so clearly disdains and the rest of us in the middle continue to bear the burden. Wait until he repeals Obamacare and your pre-existing condition once again bars you from insurance and your college grad kid gets tossed off your plan and your parents have to shell out more for prescriptions.

Wait until Ruth Bader Ginsburg retires and Robert Bork handpicks the next Supreme Court Justice.

So, yeah,  your vote for Obama matters. It really matters. No matter where you live.

Promisies, Promises

So we survived President Obama's first State of the Union speech. My take? The man can talk. And talk and talk. Honestly, I had to bail at 10 pm to catch the second half of the Spectacle finale with Elvis & Springsteen. And that was a rockin' show! Flashed back during commercials, and Obama was still going. The Energizer Bunny with a teleprompter. The President is as eloquent as he is loquacious, but I think he loses a lot of people. The speech--as most of his--would have been far more effective at half the length. Less is more. When it comes to deficits and speeches. He needs to appoint a White House Speech EDITOR.

Look, if you read RG regularly or follow me around cyberspace at News Junkie Post, who will win the 2012 election & other sites or have heard me on the radio, you know I'm a liberal, not a crazy shrill no compromise every Republican is a meanie liberal, but a liberal nonetheless. Still, I'm disappointed in Obama's first year performance. If I had to, I'd give him a far lower grade than the inflated gentleman's B plus he gave himself last December during that Oprah interview. But I went to Sarah Lawrence( Rahm Emanuel's alma mater) where they give you grades, but hide them with white-out and evaluations until it's time to apply to grad school. So I'll hide Obama's grade--hoping to see tremendous improvements-- for another two and a half years.

Let's hope he can deliver on all those jobs, jobs, jobs. And by deliver I mean get a real comprehensive plan through Congress that actually creates good, secure jobs. Not some watered down tree killer deal that does nothing but further line the fat cat bankers' pockets. You know, the reverse of the big go nowhere health care reform. To be fair, the Prez isn't giving up on that either. But so far, we've got nothing, And if they pass it tomorrow, it will just give the insurance companies a reason to dance like nobody's watching.

He also served up some pretty lofty talk about finally repealing that dopey "Don't Ask,Don't Tell." If Gay Americans are willing to serve and put their lives on the line they deserve the same rights as anyone brave enough to serve our country. With two wars going and an all-volunteer armed forces stressed to the max, we need all the help we can get. And we need to be grateful to all of them.

As an aside--and it's a big one-- I did notice Justice Alito shaking his head and mouthing "not true" when Obama criticized the Supremes for selling America to the corporations. A big no no, Justice Alito, bigger than Joe Wilson hurling " You Lie" during the health insurance speech.Whether Obama made the right legal citation is being debated in the blogosphere. But what can't be debated is this: the Supreme Court justices and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are always supposed to sit stoically through speeches. Showing emotion or signs of agreement or disagreement politicize the very members of the government who MUST display neutrality at all times. So Alito was not merely being impolite, he was in fact, violating his office. Was the infraction grave enough for Alito to forfeit his robe? Doubtful. But, I think a three month suspension is fair. And as a temp-to-perm replacement I nominate Judge Judy.

Still, I was buoyed by Springsteen's passionate performance of "The Rising." And if Obama and the Congress can harness some of that spirited American energy, real change could happen. If not, we'll have to do it ourselves. We're Americans. We'll find a way.

Drive Safe. Play nice. Think peace.

aba