Joe Scarborugh needs more mouths

You’ve heard the expression “talking out of both sides of your mouth”.  Well, Joe Scarborough on MSNBC needs at least one more mouth to hold all of the different “cover my ass” opinions he has.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  To me Scarborough should have his mouth sewn up, but if MSNBS is going to allow him to speak, give him enough mouths to cover the bases.

This morning, December 30, Scarborough defended Dick Cheney regarding the Iraq war saying “he was happy to have someone like Cheney on the bench” and further he was glad that Bush and Cheney had tunnel vision when it came to their ideology.  He then said the Bush Administration made a lot of mistakes in the days leading up to the Iraq war, some with dire consequences.  So which is it Joe, did they make mistakes or are you glad they were there?

Mika Brzezinski in a rare opinion of her own said that to her, Cheney only told Bush what Bush wanted to hear.

None of this ridiculous discussion has any value whatsoever.  They are trying to fill air time since they can’t talk about Israel vs. Hamas since nobody wants to listen to it for that long.

Mike Barnacle, a co-host on “Morning Joe”, was talking to Joe and Mika from Boston and had the only reasonable voice in an unreasonable conversation.  His opinion was that it’s great to have a single minded war monger on your bench as long as you have a strong President to control him.  And therein lies the problem.

I hate sports analogies but Cheney was like the 350 pound line-backer with blood in his eyes and Bush was the quarterback who didn’t know how to hold him back at the right times.

Bush led us into the Iraq War through lies that were criminal in nature.  Cheney helped him,or maybe organized it himself, and nobody was there to stop either one of them.

Why are some people’s memories so short.  On September 12, 2001, this country was scared.  But we weren’t afraid of Iraq.  We were afraid of the unknown.  We went to Afghanistan first, and that’s where we should have stayed.  But Bush and Cheney were going to blame Iraq one way or another and somehow convinced someone, not me, that invading Iraq was the only answer.  We now know that the Iraq war didn’t have to happen.  Had we put our efforts into Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden would have been taken care of by now.  Instead we sent 150,000 troops to Iraq for 5 years where we have accomplished nothing, a net loss.  All we have is a long list of dead soldiers, dead Iraqi civilians, and a country that has been torn apart and still doesn’t have electricity in some parts.  So the idea that Bush was the perfect leader after September 11, bringing the country together in a time of fear, is a joke.  He played on those fears and along with Cheney constructed a false pretense for war.  To Bush and Cheney it was as if they were just playing the game of “Risk”.  No real consequences, it’s just a game.

Joe Scarborough and Mike Brzezinski have become a joke.  Their supporting players, including Barnacle, Willy Geist, and host of other drive-by guests are way smarter than Scarborough and Brzezinski pretend to be.  I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again.  It is sickening to watch Brzezinski pretend to be a journalist while she swoons and flirts with the males on the panel, even the gay ones, and all the while throwing her hair back and batting her eyes when the conversation gets too real.  Her most used expression is “We’re not even going to go there”.  She’s pretending she has an actual unbiased opinion when in reality she has no opinions and no independent thoughts.  She just defers to Scarborough’s double speak.

It’s time to get back to politics

Today is December 29, 2008, only 29 days until Barack Obama will take the oath of office and become the 44th President of the United States.  I just finished watching “60 Minutes” from last night.  I had it on my DVR which is set up to tape new episodes of “60 Minutes”.  I just forgot about it until I went through my list of things taped, but unwatched.

“60 Minutes” did a retrospective of Barack Obama’s rise to political power from the day before he announced his candidacy back in February of 2007.  I forgot how long ago that was.  “60 Minutes” told the whole story.  About his start in politics, issues of race, Reverend Wright, the Muslim smear attacks, the DNC, the night of his historic win, and everything in between.

I forgot about those agonizing days and months when I was keeping up with all things Obama.  I forgot my frustration over the lies and right-wing smear campaigns.  I forgot about election day and waiting hour by hour, watching the return come in.  I was watching MSNBC and this part I did not forget  There is some question as to who made the announcement on MSNBC.  But it was Keith Olbermann, another hero of mine, who said those fateful words “Barack Obama is projected to be the next President of the United States.”  I could hear the shaking in his voice.  I begin to sob.  I could not believe it was finally over.  If you want to see and hear it again, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1HSnnDfCks. It is so difficult for me to watch this piece of video and not have tears come to my eyes.  Have we forgotten already?

There were so many emotions going on that night.  I know how hard Keith worked on behalf of Obama.  He was the one clear, strong voice in the Media who never faltered from his mission.  Now, I know that journalists are supposed to remain neutral.  But much like Edward R. Murrow, one of the most famous and respected Journalists ever to grace the television screen, Olbermann stuck up for his own personal beliefs; sometimes crossing the line between Journalism and Opinion, just as Murrow did against Senator Joseph McCarthy and McCarthy’s witch hunt against communists.  Sometimes, wrong is wrong, and a journalist who knows the truth must simply speak it.

I believe that both Olbermann and Rachel Maddow had a profound influence in the 2008 Presidential Election.  And good for them.  It is a pleasure to see the year-end lists that every media outlet does for bests and worsts of 2008.  The pleasure stems from how long we have waited to chastise these people publicly.  People like Bush, Cheney, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sarah Palin, and all of the other right-wing crazies whose time has come after 8 long years, to bury themselves back under the rock from which they came.  They fooled enough Americans for long enough to get eight years out of of George W. Bush, but no more.  We simply aren’t going to take it any more.

As I sit tonight looking forward and back, I find myself only wanting to look forward.  I don’t want to forget the past, I just want to put it where it belongs, in the past.  Barack Obama has worked hard at choosing an eclectic and amazingly smart group of people to join him in his cabinet.  I look forward to whatever Obama has (maybe up his sleeve) to offer us.  I believe it will happen quickly.  A lot of changes will take place early on so that Obama can set himself up to move forward and get this country back on its feet.

I hope for transparency but also understand that some things simply can not be transparent.  I believe that if Obama exposed all of the morally wrong and simply evil deeds of the Bush Administration, America might not believe we can get ourselves out of it and may loose hope.  Right now he needs America to be strong, to stand behind him, and be ready to offer their assistance and sacrifice anywhere the President asks for it.  The next few years will be amazing and I am glad I am here to witness all of it.

I’m happy that the President Elect is taking some time off with his family in Hawaii.  He was probably suffering from almost complete exhaustion.  When is the last time you think he might have gotten a good 8 hours of sleep to recharge over night.  I want my President rested, strong, and confident; with a clear head to make the right decisions.

What makes makes a good President?  Many things, but here’s how I see it.  There are things that Barack Obama has said and done that I don’t agree with.  But I trust him enough to lead us down the right path.  I don’t have to agree with everything he says or does, I just need to believe in him and trust him.

We will get there.  Wherever “there” is to you.  We’re not used to trusting our elected officials. It’s a new concept, or at least a lost,concept.  Barack Obama’s priorities are to bring back trust to America and bring back the respect America has around the world.  What will American Politics look like in four years?  Let’s hope we’ll be in the midst of a new era; an era where we can’t believe how far we’ve come because it seemed so out of reach back in 2008.

How to survive the holidays

I haven’t written anything on this blog in ten days.  I haven’t really been focused on politics, current events, or pop culture.  While I no longer participate in exchanging gifts, I have been concentrating on the holidays.  They are an especially difficult time for me and each year I try to survive them the best I can.  Christmas is a very emotional time for many.  I believe it stems from looking at your Christmas tree late at night with just the tree lights on in a quiet room.  How can you not think about Christmas past.  Yes, there were good times, but bad memories are easier to conjure up in your mind.  There will always be the gift you didn’t get when you were a kid.  The one gift you wanted so desperately.  There will always be memories of what was going on in your life during a particular holiday season.  There will always be people missing from your life that were there during one Christmas, but are no longer. 

I would like to dedicate this posting to my friend Sarah.  In addition to her insight, she has been a kind ear to listen to my pinings.  She is a soft place to land as I feel the harshness of disappointment and lost love.  I must say that this Christmas is better than I remember Christmas being for a long time.  This year I have so much to be thankful for and luckily, didn’t forget it this year.

It wasn’t perfect, and it wasn’t tear free.  But I enjoyed the holidays this year because I felt more like myself, more inner peace, than I have in years.  I have talked with a few people who know me well and I talked to Sarah who doesn’t know me all that well.  Her interest in other people’s stories opened the door for me to tell my story  to her.

To me the Christmas season should be about giving thanks, just as much as Thanksgiving is.  I am hopeful that since sales were down this year, some people have learned that you can celebrate and be happy at Christmas time with less “stuff”.  They may have sweated and toiled over what to buy and how to buy with less money, but in the end maybe they realized that Chirstmas spirit has nothing to do with “stuff”.  It has to do with the people you love, being there for them, and them for you.

So next year, maybe the world will spend even less, regardless of the economic conditions.  You can’t put a price on kindness.  I’d also like to thank my family for welcoming me back into the fold this year.  The last 2 years have been very diffucult times and I wasn’t the same person during that time.  Many didin’t recognize me at all.  But luckily family always foregives, if it works out right, and this year it did.

Thanks again, Sarah, my jewish friend who helped this gentile make it through a difficult time.  My Christmas wish to everyone is that they have someone to share their successes and failures, their pain and joy; a soft place to land, all without judgement from anybody. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Where is the real news?

I just get so angry sometimes at what is being portrayed as news.

Let me know when Casey Anthony gets fried in the electric chair, I don’t need the details and media circus until then.

Let me know when George W. Bush has left the building.  He’s certainly even less of a President now than he ever was, so when people are chucking things at his head, it’s not a surprise, and I don’t care.  I don’t NEED to know it.  Just let me know when the door has hit his ass on the way out.

Day after day, the incessant, inane chatter about what Barack Obama knew or didn’t know about the Illinois Governor.  Who cares!  It’s not news.  The republicans are still behaving like they are in campaign mode, like they can still somehow stop Barack Obama from becoming President.  Too late folks.  If the Republicans put aside partisan bickering, finger pointing, and false claims and then decided to stand behind the new President, THAT would be news.

Local news is the worst but national news and cable news is a close second.  Do we actually need newscasts?  I like to watch Rachel Maddow.  She at least has a unique take on news items of the day.  She even flushes out real news that went unreported.  But even she, at times, plays the party line and does segments on the exact same topics that Chris Matthews, David Gregory, and Keith Olbermann did in the hours leading up to her show at 9:00 pm.  They sometimes even have the exact same guests.  So even the real news is just regurgitated at a later hour.

Since TV news organizations are not money making operations, they would be better of broadcasting re-runs of sitcoms and just having a news crawler at the bottom of the page.  It still won’t really be news but I can ignore it if I want.

I’m not that old but even I can remember the days when I was very, very young, when sitting down to the Evening News with Walter Cronkite was a big deal.  Well, maybe not a big deal but it was appointment television and we trusted what he had to say.  At least that’s how I remember it anyway.

It seems that so little of the “news” I read is actually news.  What is newsworthy?

The American Heritage Dictionary says that newsworthy is “Of sufficient interest or importance to the public to warrant reporting in the media”.

And I guess that is the key.  “Sufficient to warrant reporting”.  A plan crash, a gas leak,  a natural disaster, the public needing to be warned or informed of certain events for their own safety.  That is news.  Brittany Spears album being number one is not NEWS.   Some reporter throwing a shoe at Bush is not news.  It’s funny, but does the public NEED to know this for their own safety and security?  No.

I don’t know where to turn anymore to get news.  Everything has a slant, an agenda, so to speak, and at the end of it all, I usually walk away just sort of gazing off into the distance.  I didn’t learn anything that I NEEDED to learn.  If fact I usually hear things that make me want to throw my shoe at the TV.  Is that news?

All Christmas Shoppers have Blood on their hands

You’ve heard the stories.  Three people were actually trampled to death, killed, murdered in the doorway of a mall or big box store on Black Friday.  One pregnant woman made it out alive but when all was said and done, she could not say the same for her yet unborn child. 

I know you saw this on this news.  I am sure you watched in horror as it was read to you while the video of throngs of manic Christmas shoppers played in the background.

As far as I’m concerned – each and every one of you “Christmas Shoppers” is responsible for these deaths.  Do you think that because it didn’t happen where you were shopping, or in the crowd in which you stood, that you are innocent.  You are not. 

You have all fed the fires of Christmas shopping hell by demanding and participating in Black Friday “deals”.  These so called deals, in many cases, have been marked up, only to be marked back down to something reasonable, all in the name of Christmas; all in the name of squealing, stampeding shoppers who did everything from punch each other out, to actually shoot each other with handguns, inside a store, to get a DVD player. 

Store clerks were mowed down while trying to help customers escape the melee. 

It is my opinion that you should all be ashamed of yourselves for allowing these things to happen.  None of you deserve a happy Christmas.  You have turned this sacred holiday into a pagan ritual fueled by greed, and guilt, and gluttony and I find it disgusting, immoral, and unforgivable.

Christmas is a holiday (once pronounced “holy day”) to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, a Christian being who is believed to have come to save the world from its own sins.  If you are not celebrating that specific idea, then why the hell are you at Best Buy, elbowing strangers to get a flat screen TV.

You were born and raised in the most greedy, self-centered period in American history.  And because you didn’t get what you wanted for Christmas when you were six years old, you are now trying to make up for it by piling on the presents to your own children.  You are perpetuating the myth that Santa Claus exists and that more presents equals more love.

It’s time to GET A GRIP.  When is it enough?  When people are dying because of this ridiculousness?  Well, now they are dying.  But are you ready yet to give up this nonsense and give to each other what really matters:  human kindness, affection, your time, and gestures of real love that don’t involve price tags.

What really gets to me is the Pro life crowd who wants to protect the lives of the unborn, all in the name of God.  But when a woman loses her child as she is trampled by Christmas shoppers, these same people are too busy to notice or care, and are fighting over the newest and coolest cell phone to give their twelve year old for Christmas.

How about this year for Christmas, instead of watching the news with feigned horror that someone died being trampled at a shopping mall, you go somewhere to simply help someone else pick themselves up instead of pushing them out of the way.  That, my friends, is a real Christmas gift.