Notes on a napkin... quick takes on the world this week...

Last week Javon Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs shot his girl friend and then himself... Sportscaster Bob Costas stated a fact on air, when he said that without a gun, Belcher could not have done this... he was immediately pilloried by people that did not hear what he said... here's a great article on the controversy... Vin Scully, longtime, in fact almost eternal, voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers, turned 85 last week.  Guess what, he loves the television show Homeland, as evidenced by his new Twitter obsession... President Obama called for 1.6 trillion in new tax revenue and Speaker Boehnor called for 800 billion in new tax revenue in their negotiations to avoid the "fiscal cliff."  As a Vegas guy, I think they will settle somewhere around 1.2 trillion, the number predicted before all the posturing began... I find it odd that Democrats love states rights when they agree with them... think gay marriage, but less so when they disagree, think abortion.  And yes, this can easily go the other way too.  The GOP hates a strong federal government when they agree with it... think DOMA, but less so when they disagree, think Obamacare... interesting isn't it? Jon Stewart nailed it when he took on the annual "War on Christmas."  As Christmas sales seemingly have extended into summer and Black Friday now begins on Thursday, aren't we really in a war on Thanksgiving and Halloween? Finally, here's a great stat I came across preparing for a class I was teaching... as we cram down thousands of extra, useless, obesity inducing calories, consider this... there is enough food produced in the world today for every man woman and child to receive a daily portion of 2500 calories...

Liars, Lies and Stinking Lies... tearing at the fabric of America...

The Supreme Court colluded to steal the election from Al Gore. Barack Obama is a Muslim loving commie who was not born in the US, and thus has no right to be President. George Bush lied to take us into war in Iraq.   Barack Obama hates American and wants to destroy her. The attacks on 9/11 were an inside job, planned by Israel or the Bush Administration. This will be the last free election we will ever have if Barack Obama wins because he is going to impose martial law so he can be dictator. George Bush is happy every day an American soldier dies in the war in Iraq. The recent unemployment numbers are the result of a conspiracy on the part of the Obama Administration to win the argument. And now, if Obama does well in the next debate, it will be because the networks gave him the questions ahead of time. Really? We could laugh this type of stuff off if political leaders on the side of the people making these charges would step up to the plate and refute these crazy charges, but they won’t. For some reason, as a society, we’ve decided to let the inmates run the asylum.  We are letting the idiots get the last word. We have no evidence that any of the above statements are true. SCOTUS awarding the presidency to Bush?  Al Gore lost his home state!  The people that know him best did not want him. The birth certificate issue? You’ve seen everything you asked for and you are still not satisfied. 9/11? Bush happy with dead Americans? Obama hates America? Are the people that believe this stuff idiots? I don’t think so because I personally know some folks that passionately believe these stories. But something has seriously gone wrong with the ethos of our country if we can cavalierly choose to demonize a president or government when things do not go as we wish.  And let’s make no mistake about it.  The people that promote these views are demonizing our government and our presidents with their words and their actions. These are not simple protests against a point of view.  These are not peaceful protests aimed at changing a point of view with an intellectual argument. These are attempts to change a point of view by demonizing the other side.   These are attempts to change a point of view by assigning the most heinous interpretation, reason, or understanding to the other side.  This is school yard bullying taken to nth degree. It is ruining America, and worse, our politicians refuse to step in and take a stand, for fear of alienating their supporters who are making these charges.  Rather than do what’s right and good for America, too often our political “leaders” have instead chosen to not just remain silent, but fan the flames of discord. When the President’s place of birth was questioned, where was one leader of the Republican Party to say he believed President Obama and those that thought otherwise were not just misguided, but wrong?   When Harry Reid called President Bush a liar, why did the Democratic Party allow him to remain as head of the party?  How is that being respectful to a President? Why is the night when Senator John McCain took the microphone away from a woman who was being disrespectful towards candidate Obama about the only profile in courage we can cite from our elected leaders these days? Does our government make mistakes?  Yes they do.  And like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, sometimes our government lies to cover it up.  Like they did in the Vietnam War.  Like they did at Watergate.  Like they did in Iran-Contra. But this is no reason, or excuse to treat every bit of information that does not support your personal world or political point of view as a vast right, or left wing conspiracy. Get some meds, get a life, take a vacation and get some perspective. And then call your Congressman or Senator and tell him or her you are sick of this stuff and want them to stand up and do what’s right this election season, not for themselves, but for America. Once you've done that, resolve yourself to be part of the solution.  If people are saying President Bush was happy to see black people dead after Hurricane Katrina, tell them they are wrong, just as you should when people say President Obama is guilty of treason. Because these views are not only wrong, they tear at the very fabric of the cloth that holds America together. What say you?

notes on a ballot... quick takes on the news...

Allan Malamud used to write a sports column in the old Los Angeles Herald Examiner.  He called it "notes on a scorecard" and it was series of thoughts you might write on your scorecard as you were watching a game. I think I'll call mine notes on a ballot... I saw recently that Democrats favor jeeps as their car of choice and the GOP, BMW's... since I drive a Hyundai, i asked my wife what that makes us... she said poor... If I am backed into a corner, I'd say the odds of President Obama winning a second term are less that 50%... There is something wrong when a presidential election comes down to just the few states that are not totally politically decided already... Las Vegas got some good news recently... we are now only the third worst state in the foreclosure debacle... News of even more dalliances coming to light makes it clear that there is a reason it is called secret service... Please tell me how it is that i can usually read about a US covert program on the front page of a newspaper... Why is it Dems support states rights when they like the issue, but oppose them when the disagree... and for that matter, the GOP too... This mess in Syria is horrible... but is it our responsibility to fix it? When will we be seeing a time when US forces are not active in combat? Finally, I know everyone thinks they have the solution to what ails us a country... but until we can agree on the problem, we'll never get to the best solution... I'm just sayin...

A Call to Personal Responsibility... From A Democrat

It is taken as an article of faith among Democrats, Independents, and some Republicans that Ronald Reagan could not win the GOP nomination these days. People point to his willingness to raise taxes, grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, and dare I say it, compromise with the Dems on a host of issues to get things done. I would agree. I see no way any serious Republican candidate could reasonably expect to win the necessary primaries with a record such as the one Reagan held both as Governor of California and as President. But lest the Democrats get smug, let's turn the tables a little. Last night I watched an excellent special from ABC News. It was about the here to fore unheard tapes of Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of President John Kennedy. Diane Sawyer did an excellent job of taking us back to that time and giving real insight into the couple and their family. Full disclosure time... while I was a young kid back then, I have always held the Kennedy's in high regard. While flawed, few American families have a record of public service that can match that of the Kennedy's. That being said, here is what got my attention. During a segment on the inauguration, we once again heard the line for which perhaps JFK is most famous... "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." That one line, at the end of this great speech is a clarion call to personal responsibility. Certainly President Kennedy did not believe, as the current crop of GOP contenders does, that government has no place in the lives of Americans. But this President, even though he was a strong advocate of Keynesian economics, and a fighter for universal health care, also believed government should not be your first option. I do not believe a Democrat would be elected, or supported by a majority of voters in his or her party with a view of personal responsibility like that of John Kennedy. Our system has changed and if the Dems demand that the GOP recognize how far they have shifted from the ideals of Ronald Reagan, it is only fair that the Dems also realize how far they have shifted from the ideals of JFK. Are we better for it? Time will tell.

Was President Bush Right?

I believe in giving credit where credit is due, and this is one of those moments. Most of you know I am a pretty strong partisan when it comes to politics. But I try to be fair. I can't stand it when the two sides of our political divide are guilty of some horrible behavior when the other party is in office, but get chagrined when it happens to their guy. To me that is part of the problem in politics today. We need an atmosphere that will allow each side to celebrate the accomplishments of the other side, simply because it is, or even may be good for our country. Let's face it, Republicans are about as likely to be Worshipers of Satan as Democrats are to be part of the Sons of Hitler Facebook group. So let me say this. While I am not sure it will all work out as we might wish, President Bush was an early voice calling for democracy in the Middle East, something perhaps we are seeing in the earliest stages today in places like Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. Additionally, let's give Bush and his administration credit for the work they did in curtailing the nuclear ambitions of Libya and their leader, Mr. Qaddafi. [ Read more about it here ] You might remember it was in 2003 that then President Bush and his administration announced the removal of the remnants of the Libyan nuclear program. Can you imagine what we might be looking at today in that country had that not come to pass? George Bush, it looks like ya done good!