Ever since 9/11, we have had to redefine the way we travel by air. The travails of the traveler going through security have become more than a hot topic. The ultimate result? The terrorists win another victory.
I am convinced that the wonderful guys that shocked us into panic those years ago continue to succeed in winning the little battles in the war on terror by virtue of the fact that we cannot enjoy the simple little freedom of getting on a plane and going where we want to go. The initial shock of the Trade Center going down has been replaced by the fact that because of it we are no longer able to take security for granted like we used to. Now we have to be nearly groped and strip searched to hop on a plane.
I also believe that the continued attempts and dopes that get caught like the shoe bomber and the underwear guy are plants to keep the fear factor up. They're step-ups to make us keep twitching. It works.
I'm not saying that we should back off by any means, but I firmly believe that we have hardened our collective target to the point that even our own law abiding citizens are scrutinized as terrorists.
Check this link for a wonderful airline over reacts story: http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2010/11/adam_c_pearson_pulled_off_delt.php
Now I might not care his ink display, but Adam Pearson certainly need to be pulled off of a plane because of having "Atom Bomb" emblazoned on his knuckles. I realize this isn't TSA, but it speaks to the whole freaked out flier mentality. If we banned everybody with a questionable tattoo from an airplane, we'd be flying the empty skies.
TSA has a tough job to do. They have limited resources to ensure every American can travel safely and no other groups of terrorists can crash planes into critical or significant infrastructure. Instead of complaining though, we need to go into the security zone prepared to be checked with a knowledge of the rules and regulations. Unless we stay vigilant, we'll have an even stricter set of hoops to jump through just to get on an airplane.
They're not going away. Neither are the terrorists.
Chip Grefski
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
I'm Glad the Turkey Isn't Me
Here we are on Turkey Day. A great day for reflection and gratitude. Couple of good football games on the tube. Nice way to get the family together.
But its more than that.
We as Americans need to really remember why this day came about. We relied on the benevolence of the natives for survival, and shared the bounty of what we learned with then once we became stablized. Neighbors helped neighbors without thinking twice. That's where we need to be today.
There are few differences between you and your neighbors and even the folks who live across town on the other side of the tracks. We all have the same basic needs and goals. The problem is our small clans create narrow views of how those goals are best accomplished. Some have the notion that it takes work and dedication. Others feel you get what you can take, and may the best scam win.
It's human nature to want something for nothing. Even the hardest working families with the strongest sets of ethics and values loves to take a bigger bite of the apple. But when you make it your purpose in life to find the short route, you end up taking more risks and wasting more time and energy if you actually made it the right way.
Lotteries are the best example. I hear so many of my coworkers talking about their "numbers" and whose hit and when. It's like a very expensive hobby that becomes a part of their lives. Frieghtening. They honestly believe the lie that their day could be tomorrow, when instead if they saved their ticket money they would actually have something. Yes there are those who win them, but the statistics show that lotto winners often commit suicide or go bankrupt within 3 to 5 years of a win.
My solution is simple. Let's get together and be thankful for the ability to work, earn, and share. We can't rely on the government. We can't rely on the numbers lining up. What we can rely on is making a difference first within, then to those close by, then reaching outside your neighborhood. We are the ones ultimately responsible for our success and our failures. We can rise above and reinvent our nation if we focus on what's real and openly encourage others to pick up the rope.
That's what I'm thankful for most. I'm thankful that I've grown enough courage and guts to sieze the day and shape it with my will and wit. My wish is for everyone I touch to do the same.
I for one will not be the turkey, but I will be doing the carving.
Chip Grefski
But its more than that.
We as Americans need to really remember why this day came about. We relied on the benevolence of the natives for survival, and shared the bounty of what we learned with then once we became stablized. Neighbors helped neighbors without thinking twice. That's where we need to be today.
There are few differences between you and your neighbors and even the folks who live across town on the other side of the tracks. We all have the same basic needs and goals. The problem is our small clans create narrow views of how those goals are best accomplished. Some have the notion that it takes work and dedication. Others feel you get what you can take, and may the best scam win.
It's human nature to want something for nothing. Even the hardest working families with the strongest sets of ethics and values loves to take a bigger bite of the apple. But when you make it your purpose in life to find the short route, you end up taking more risks and wasting more time and energy if you actually made it the right way.
Lotteries are the best example. I hear so many of my coworkers talking about their "numbers" and whose hit and when. It's like a very expensive hobby that becomes a part of their lives. Frieghtening. They honestly believe the lie that their day could be tomorrow, when instead if they saved their ticket money they would actually have something. Yes there are those who win them, but the statistics show that lotto winners often commit suicide or go bankrupt within 3 to 5 years of a win.
My solution is simple. Let's get together and be thankful for the ability to work, earn, and share. We can't rely on the government. We can't rely on the numbers lining up. What we can rely on is making a difference first within, then to those close by, then reaching outside your neighborhood. We are the ones ultimately responsible for our success and our failures. We can rise above and reinvent our nation if we focus on what's real and openly encourage others to pick up the rope.
That's what I'm thankful for most. I'm thankful that I've grown enough courage and guts to sieze the day and shape it with my will and wit. My wish is for everyone I touch to do the same.
I for one will not be the turkey, but I will be doing the carving.
Chip Grefski
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Common Sense And The Free Market: The Tale of Four Loko
I am a pro-free market libertarian. I feel that a mostly unregulated and government supported business model is the right way for capitalism to grow and succeed. But in the current profit at all costs view of the right, and the generally anti-business model of the left, we have an interesting example of product creation run amuck. I could have easily titled this post "Just Because You CAN Create A Product, Doesn't Mean You SHOULD."
For those of you unfamilliar with the product called Four Loko, it is a drink manufactured primarily by a company called Phusion Projects, and is a fruit flavored, malt liquor based product with plenty of caffiene shoveled into it. The effect of drinking one 23.5 ounce can is roughly the same as consuming 3-5 beers, with a major kick from the caffeiene acting as a stimulant on top of it. And the results? Ahoy, Wikipedia!
The drink has come under major fire as colleges and universities across the nation have begun to see injuries and blackouts due to the drink's use. The University of Rhode Island banned this product from their campus on November 5, 2010. The state of Washington banned Four Loko after nine university students aged 17 to 19 from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington became ill at a house party in Roslyn, Washington. The university students were hospitalized and one university student, with a blood alcohol level of .30, almost died.
Obivously, the problem here is the combination of alcohol and caffeine, which tends to delay the affects of the alcohol, leading to overconsumption of both substances, and a sort of doubly dangerous high occuring. In the wake of the incidents reported above, many states have banned the product outright, and the company has now agreed to reformulate the product by removing the caffeine altogether. And it wasn't long before the nanny state decriers, those who have the odd idea that when the department of health and safety regulates products, they are actually destroying our freedoms, came out to bawl:
Once again, fear, overreaction, and the Nanny State have crushed liberty and common sense. Four Loko, a caffeinated, alcoholic beverage, will no longer be distributed in New York State. This follows previous Four Loko bannings in Washington, Michigan, Utah, and Oklahoma. (from blogger Elie Mystal at http://www.abovethelaw.com/)
Her argument is that by banning or altering the drink, you make it popular, telling college kids it's the pandora's box of fun that you can grab and go with at any 7-11. And she may be right about that. But when a product can have the effects described below, we have to wonder: did this need to be on the market in the first place:
And here's the event horizon where common sense and the free market clash. It's an odd position that those on the right seem to take, one that argues that any restrcition or regulation on consumables, sensible or otherwise, is the sign of an omnipresent "nanny state," and is inevitably a slippery slope into deeper government control in our lives. Odd that most of the things they seem to want the least regulation on, tend to be the most dangerous products available health-wise, i.e. very high fat foods, tobacco and alcohol. In other words, while often opposing the legalization of marijuana, a drug poven to have relatively low danger to it's use, they decry attempts to regulate the consumption of more dangerous drugs/foods.
Now, I believe a person should be able to eat, drink or smoke whatever they like within the structure of the law. But Four Loko is a tricky test for my free market attitude, for this reason only: it has been proven to be a dangerous item that seems to be marketed directly to the people who would be most likely to abuse it: college students. So we free market fans must ask ourselves: where does the jubilous celebration of runaway capitalism end, and the responsibility of companies and goevernment begin? The question we might be asking should be directed not at the state, but at the company that produces it and the people who have chosen to abuse it, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Should Phusion have created a product that contains two potentially dangerous drugs, two made more deadly by the presence of the other, and why did those who overindulged in it do so? As deaths and injuries began to pile up, they should have voluntarily altered or recalled the product before states started banning it outright. But they didn't. In fact, they struck back in this manner:
Phusion Projects, the manufacturer of Four Loko has struck back against the negative press, arguing that their drink is no more dangerous than a drink like Red Bull and vodka. "While we don't agree with the notion that mixing caffeine and alcohol is inherently unsafe, we do agree with the goal of keeping adults of legal age who choose to drink responsibly as safe and as informed as possible," the company wrote in an open letter to regulators on it's website. (N.Y. Times)
Just for a little persepctive on this, Anheuser Busch and MillerCoors, who manufactured similar drinks agreed to reformulate their products in 2008, without any government pressure. They seemed to reconsider the effects of marketing and selling a potentially dangerous product, and did the right thing.
As for the individuals who have sickened themselves, damaged property and even died as a result of abusing this product, I can say nothing. I don't know them, or their motivations. But to look at their fate, and defend the product, or the manufacturer, or attack a government that felt there was a serious problem here, has the ring of blaming the victim. But hey, the facts are the facts. We have the freedom to decide this one for ourselves, so maybe we ought to align our moral compasses for a moment, and do just that.
And by the way, friends who have tried Four Loko tell me it tastes like crap.
-Mike Grefski
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
If There Was Ever A Time For Bi-Partisan-ship, It's Now.
Okay, the wake up call has been delivered, the American people are severley disenchanted with the direction of our nation. President Obama will not likely have a very good second half to his presidency if our course is not seriously changed. The Tea Party woke up the sleeping elephant, and the torch has, at least in part, been passed. Now the Republicans have to decide what to do with the torch before it burns them.
For years I have heard AM radio conservatives yelp about how bi-partisanship is akin to treason to your own party, and only allows your voice to be stifled or diluted. This approach is akin to slapping one's hand's over one's ears and pretending your enemies simply don't exist. And the liberals have hardly shown that the extended hand of compromise would be anything less than torn off and eaten. Or perhaps the problem is right there in that statement...why do the two political parties view each other as enemies?
Sure, there are some radical differences in theory and approach, but in these days of worry and want, the idelogical arguments we all have need to be put in perspective. When the nation is floundering, which is more important: saving people or saving principles?
Now here's where the problem comes in, it being that we have too many ideologs and too few leaders. Look, it's very easy to shout dogma, belief and political theory all day long, and maybe it makes the speaker feel empowered by the thrill of their bombast. But who does it help? What worries me is that, while basking in the warm glow of secure jobs, the newly elected (and re-elected) Republicans will do nothing but continue to watch the president's policies flounder. And, being the academic elitist that he is, I highly doubt Mr. Obama would admit to the flaws in his actions to date. So he'll continue on course, unemployment may get worse, the foreclosure situation will continue to fester, and in 2012 the Repubs will have to answer for their failure to correct the nation's direction.
Wouldn't it be better for a bold coalition of moderate Democrats and Republicans to form a plan, bring it to the people, and actually include us in planning a new direction for our nation, especially in the economic sense. Yes, they would be decried, and yes, they would be laughed at. But consider this; the Tea Party has already confirmed the fact that a third party option is much more than viable. I said in a previous posting that from this situation in our history, heroes could emerge. I really believe that the American people are looking for a new group of politicians outside of the Washington echo chamber of corruption and bickering, But the real new vocie of reason and progess will not come from extremes, it will come from the mainstream. And the far ends of our glorious parties have been steering this American craft far too long. In truth, they are the people we need to take the nation back from.
Mike Grefski (now, with added fiber!)
Sorry for the delay, folks... we're back!
It stinks when life and work interfere with your blogging schedule. We'll try not to let it happen again!
In the Why?!? Corner...
The ACLU is helping a group of concerned citizens lift the local school district's ban on parents with felony records to volunteer in classrooms.
What?
Yes... They want people who have committed bad enough crimes to fall into the "Big F" category to help out around the kids. Check it:
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/11/aclu_urges_grand_rapids_school.html
Let's be fair: I'm all about forgiveness. I am after all a Christian. Everyone deserves a second chance.
But do it somewhere else.
We have enough problems with sex offenders - the one's we've caught and not- approaching schools. We've got a full time job in the vigilance arena trying to stop potential criminals from entering the school zones. If anything happens even remotely near a school the media goes gaga over it. No, not Lady Gaga either. That's just silly.
They're asking for "individualized screening". In other words, having a felony shouldn't outright discredit you from volunteering. You should have an opportunity to explain your criminal activity. Heck, you might be a cute and cuddly felon, not an icky-sticky one.
If you are a felon, you have demonstrated that you can't abide by the rules. I don't know too many felonies that are in the "oops" category. the woman in the article wrote bad checks years ago. Okay, did Old Scratch move your hand on the signature line? You made a bad decision. You may have very well improved your life and won't ever do it again. Sorry. You're in the felon bin.
Don't want restrictions on your freedom? Don't be a felon. Sounds like common sense.
Why is it we have these advocacy groups pop up and support these "feel good" stories on the pretext that America is somehow to blame for people being arrested for felonies. Click that link and read the third paragraph from the bottom. Why do we jail people? Because they are criminals. Do we make mistakes? Sure, but we can't be THAT wrong THAT often...
In the eyes of some of our citizens, the police are viewed as the mindless jackbooted arm of oppression sent forth to incarcerate the poor for no reason. I have never attended a forum for the "Oppression Target of the Month" club, though my status as a cop lumps me in there. It's even worse that I'm white. That makes everything I do tantamount to depriving someone of their civil rights. No matter how much I try to SERVE (the word after PROTECT), I get lumped into the pot with the real racist cops. Trust me, I've met some in my 14 years. They need to be put out of the business too.
But back to the issue, these folks made big mistakes in their lives. Bad enough to have big punishments hung on them for particularly damaging crimes. Using the story as an example, have you ever fought with a bank over a disputed check that was cleverly forged? Now we should give them a hug, say we're sorry, and give them access to other people's kids?
Nope. Not on my watch.
Chip Grefski
What?
Yes... They want people who have committed bad enough crimes to fall into the "Big F" category to help out around the kids. Check it:
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/11/aclu_urges_grand_rapids_school.html
Let's be fair: I'm all about forgiveness. I am after all a Christian. Everyone deserves a second chance.
But do it somewhere else.
We have enough problems with sex offenders - the one's we've caught and not- approaching schools. We've got a full time job in the vigilance arena trying to stop potential criminals from entering the school zones. If anything happens even remotely near a school the media goes gaga over it. No, not Lady Gaga either. That's just silly.
They're asking for "individualized screening". In other words, having a felony shouldn't outright discredit you from volunteering. You should have an opportunity to explain your criminal activity. Heck, you might be a cute and cuddly felon, not an icky-sticky one.
If you are a felon, you have demonstrated that you can't abide by the rules. I don't know too many felonies that are in the "oops" category. the woman in the article wrote bad checks years ago. Okay, did Old Scratch move your hand on the signature line? You made a bad decision. You may have very well improved your life and won't ever do it again. Sorry. You're in the felon bin.
Don't want restrictions on your freedom? Don't be a felon. Sounds like common sense.
Why is it we have these advocacy groups pop up and support these "feel good" stories on the pretext that America is somehow to blame for people being arrested for felonies. Click that link and read the third paragraph from the bottom. Why do we jail people? Because they are criminals. Do we make mistakes? Sure, but we can't be THAT wrong THAT often...
In the eyes of some of our citizens, the police are viewed as the mindless jackbooted arm of oppression sent forth to incarcerate the poor for no reason. I have never attended a forum for the "Oppression Target of the Month" club, though my status as a cop lumps me in there. It's even worse that I'm white. That makes everything I do tantamount to depriving someone of their civil rights. No matter how much I try to SERVE (the word after PROTECT), I get lumped into the pot with the real racist cops. Trust me, I've met some in my 14 years. They need to be put out of the business too.
But back to the issue, these folks made big mistakes in their lives. Bad enough to have big punishments hung on them for particularly damaging crimes. Using the story as an example, have you ever fought with a bank over a disputed check that was cleverly forged? Now we should give them a hug, say we're sorry, and give them access to other people's kids?
Nope. Not on my watch.
Chip Grefski
The Huh? File: Olbermann vs. Williams
Kieth wasn't gone long, was he... He closed his return show with a nice, humble quote.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Okay, Now the Waiting Game Begins
We can all take a big yawn and stretch moment. The tumult and shouting from Tuesday is dying down. The ads are gone (mercifully) and now thoughts turn to Thanksgiving and Christmas. How many shopping days left? Who cares...
The Obama phenomenon was remarkable. They didn't come out and campaign on it, but the allusion was fairly clear: electing Obama means instant change fort he better. It didn't happen, not that it would have. Besides, he began alienating himself from the people who fought for his election almost immediately. Saying that he liked the Patriot Act after all was kind of kooky, don't you think? Maybe the difference is between having the power and only looking at it.
But now, our amazing world of instant gratification swings its piercing gaze to the folks who just won. Nancy P. will take a back seat for a new speaker. I hope she holds on to the gavel like a teenager throwing a fit when you take her cell phone away...
But will we have patience with the newly arrived winners? Probably not. We want results and we want them yesterday. Why? Because we are used to the way the government handles us, not the other way around.
If you owe taxes, the IRS hits you right away. If you're due a refund, you'll have to wait.
If you violated a federal offense, you'll receive a visit from a nice man or lady dressed in business attire very soon. If the government caused you an injury, please have patience and enjoy the red tape.
This of course is perceptional: bureaucracies all run slow unless they're on fire, and even then they need a committee to approve the water discharge. The problem is the average American doesn't understand the workings of our government and the basic rules of civics. Nothing happens quickly, and if it does, you get sour results. Case in point: Obama care. We have to vote for it to see what's in it. Thanks, Nancy.
So my call is for patience, but vigilant patience. We know what we want done, so we need to keep the battleship turning. It is time for the citizen to demonstrate who has the power in this equation.
Be patient, but don't sleep on it. There's an advantage to cooking with a slow simmer...
Chip Grefski
The Obama phenomenon was remarkable. They didn't come out and campaign on it, but the allusion was fairly clear: electing Obama means instant change fort he better. It didn't happen, not that it would have. Besides, he began alienating himself from the people who fought for his election almost immediately. Saying that he liked the Patriot Act after all was kind of kooky, don't you think? Maybe the difference is between having the power and only looking at it.
But now, our amazing world of instant gratification swings its piercing gaze to the folks who just won. Nancy P. will take a back seat for a new speaker. I hope she holds on to the gavel like a teenager throwing a fit when you take her cell phone away...
But will we have patience with the newly arrived winners? Probably not. We want results and we want them yesterday. Why? Because we are used to the way the government handles us, not the other way around.
If you owe taxes, the IRS hits you right away. If you're due a refund, you'll have to wait.
If you violated a federal offense, you'll receive a visit from a nice man or lady dressed in business attire very soon. If the government caused you an injury, please have patience and enjoy the red tape.
This of course is perceptional: bureaucracies all run slow unless they're on fire, and even then they need a committee to approve the water discharge. The problem is the average American doesn't understand the workings of our government and the basic rules of civics. Nothing happens quickly, and if it does, you get sour results. Case in point: Obama care. We have to vote for it to see what's in it. Thanks, Nancy.
So my call is for patience, but vigilant patience. We know what we want done, so we need to keep the battleship turning. It is time for the citizen to demonstrate who has the power in this equation.
Be patient, but don't sleep on it. There's an advantage to cooking with a slow simmer...
Chip Grefski
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
We Didn't Evict Harry, But At Least We Didn't Get Sharron
Now that we're on the other side of Tuesday's Democrat bloodbath, I'm happy to say that two key Republican candidates did not win their battles: Christine O'Donnell and Sharron Angle. Am I glad that Harry Reid retained his post in the face of Angle’s challenge? No, I am not. But I firmly believe that many of the Tea Party favored candidates are absolutely the wrong choice for the offices they sought, and the wrong direction for the Republican Party to be going in.
Angle is simply too extreme, and while she probably would never have accrued the power to carry out some of her more “out-there” ideas like eliminating the Department of Education, she’s the kind of candidate that would reveal herself to be woefully out of touch with her own constituency. Her campaign seemed to say little about correcting Nevada’s crippling unemployment rate, but seemed to spend most of its energy on attacking Reid. And when not doing that, she positioned herself among the paranoid fringes of her supporters. But don’t take my word for it; check out this reporting on Angle from the Christian Science Monitor:
Hey, everyone’s entitled to their opinions, but at a time when the economy is at a real crisis point in the state you hope to represent, I don’t think the first thing on your mind ought to be black helicopters. And frankly, for a candidate running for office to come very close to advocating violence, that should have been a huge warning sign for voters. Apparently it was.
And then we have Christine O’Donnell, another Tea Party favored candidate who lost her bid in Delaware. My first issue with her was her insistence on taking interviews only from “friendly outlets,” and sometimes ducking the press completely (Angle also did this, to the point of using decoys). Her campaign was full of broad platitudes and idealistic notions, but little strategy. She was a walking collection of talking points, continually hitting all the keywords which those in the Tea Party seem to respond to like Pavlov’s Dog.
But apart from that, she has some pretty wild quotes to enjoy. Now I’m not going to stoop to going all the way back to the 1998 anti-masturbation, anti-evolution statements, some of which she has retracted. Why? Because I don’t have to. Check this doozy out:
"American scientific companies are cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully functioning human brains." - Fox News's The O'Reilly Factor, 2007
Do I really need to explain what an overflowing basket of crazy that is? I’ve watched many a 1950’s science fiction movie, and never encountered a mad scientist plotline that wacky.
This is not the kind of gibberish the Republicans ought to be engaging in. What the party needs now is to locate the real core of what made the Reagan-Bush era so successful, and convince, not browbeat, the nation that they have a direction and a solid plan. It’s going to take stepping away from the “cut taxes, smaller government” mantra that they have continually failed to deliver on, and making some radical choices geared toward getting the country back to work, and encourage the growth of business at the street level. In this political environment, heroes could emerge out of the party. Neither O’Donnell nor Angle was up to that challenge.
Mike Grefski
Angle is simply too extreme, and while she probably would never have accrued the power to carry out some of her more “out-there” ideas like eliminating the Department of Education, she’s the kind of candidate that would reveal herself to be woefully out of touch with her own constituency. Her campaign seemed to say little about correcting Nevada’s crippling unemployment rate, but seemed to spend most of its energy on attacking Reid. And when not doing that, she positioned herself among the paranoid fringes of her supporters. But don’t take my word for it; check out this reporting on Angle from the Christian Science Monitor:
Citing Thomas Jefferson’s notion about the periodic need for revolution, Angle told conservative talk radio host Lars Larson: “If this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies.” She’s said essentially the same thing in other venues.
Whether or not Angle is actually suggesting armed opposition to political opponents, she’s also associated herself with some of the tenets of the “Oath Keepers,” a controversial group that claims a membership of law enforcement officers and active duty military personnel ready to disobey any “orders to disarm the American people.”
Hey, everyone’s entitled to their opinions, but at a time when the economy is at a real crisis point in the state you hope to represent, I don’t think the first thing on your mind ought to be black helicopters. And frankly, for a candidate running for office to come very close to advocating violence, that should have been a huge warning sign for voters. Apparently it was.
And then we have Christine O’Donnell, another Tea Party favored candidate who lost her bid in Delaware. My first issue with her was her insistence on taking interviews only from “friendly outlets,” and sometimes ducking the press completely (Angle also did this, to the point of using decoys). Her campaign was full of broad platitudes and idealistic notions, but little strategy. She was a walking collection of talking points, continually hitting all the keywords which those in the Tea Party seem to respond to like Pavlov’s Dog.
But apart from that, she has some pretty wild quotes to enjoy. Now I’m not going to stoop to going all the way back to the 1998 anti-masturbation, anti-evolution statements, some of which she has retracted. Why? Because I don’t have to. Check this doozy out:
"American scientific companies are cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully functioning human brains." - Fox News's The O'Reilly Factor, 2007
Do I really need to explain what an overflowing basket of crazy that is? I’ve watched many a 1950’s science fiction movie, and never encountered a mad scientist plotline that wacky.
This is not the kind of gibberish the Republicans ought to be engaging in. What the party needs now is to locate the real core of what made the Reagan-Bush era so successful, and convince, not browbeat, the nation that they have a direction and a solid plan. It’s going to take stepping away from the “cut taxes, smaller government” mantra that they have continually failed to deliver on, and making some radical choices geared toward getting the country back to work, and encourage the growth of business at the street level. In this political environment, heroes could emerge out of the party. Neither O’Donnell nor Angle was up to that challenge.
Mike Grefski
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Well? Did you?
Did you take time out to be a part of the process?
Did you cast your ballot to support those who best match your social and political beliefs?
Did you do it right- showed ID, refrained from campaigning, and stayed off the phone while you were at the poll?
Did you exercise your fundamental right to choose your leaders?
Did you decide to do the simple act of voting?
Did you?
If you did, good for you. You are part of the solution.
Now, for those who didn't...
I don't want to hear how frustrated you are with the opposition. As far as I'm concerned, if you can't motivate yourself to find the time to get to a poll (early, absentee, or on the day), then you have not legitimate right to complain about what the government does or does not do. If you're too busy to at least try to make your voice heard, then shut up entirely.
Shame on you. Unless you are legally prohibited from voting for whatever reason, shame on you. Get up, educate yourself, and take part in a system that so relatively few in this world get the opportunity to do. This is really reality TV. It matters. To everyone.
Don't make excuses for yourself. Everyone who does not have a legal bar against participating has so many opportunities to cast a ballot. You weren't too busy. You can get an absentee ballot and fill it out while you drool over Jersey Snore and Dancing With the Stooges and mail it in.
Get a grip, America. Politicians and special interests have taken over the store because we've steadily become an apathetic majority. We have become Rome, and there's lots of bread and circuses going around. I for one am not resigned to be a clown.
Chip Grefski
Did you cast your ballot to support those who best match your social and political beliefs?
Did you do it right- showed ID, refrained from campaigning, and stayed off the phone while you were at the poll?
Did you exercise your fundamental right to choose your leaders?
Did you decide to do the simple act of voting?
Did you?
If you did, good for you. You are part of the solution.
Now, for those who didn't...
I don't want to hear how frustrated you are with the opposition. As far as I'm concerned, if you can't motivate yourself to find the time to get to a poll (early, absentee, or on the day), then you have not legitimate right to complain about what the government does or does not do. If you're too busy to at least try to make your voice heard, then shut up entirely.
Shame on you. Unless you are legally prohibited from voting for whatever reason, shame on you. Get up, educate yourself, and take part in a system that so relatively few in this world get the opportunity to do. This is really reality TV. It matters. To everyone.
Don't make excuses for yourself. Everyone who does not have a legal bar against participating has so many opportunities to cast a ballot. You weren't too busy. You can get an absentee ballot and fill it out while you drool over Jersey Snore and Dancing With the Stooges and mail it in.
Get a grip, America. Politicians and special interests have taken over the store because we've steadily become an apathetic majority. We have become Rome, and there's lots of bread and circuses going around. I for one am not resigned to be a clown.
Chip Grefski
Monday, November 1, 2010
The Coming Tuesday Thunderdome
Here are some random musings on matters surrounding the Tuesday elections, which is now set to be a very bad day for Democrats, especially entrenched, older Democrats.
As I watched President Obama's appearance on The Daily Show last week, which by mine and most critic's estimations did not go well, I noticed how he still tenaciously clung to the notion that the health care bill was a popular and crucial piece of legislation. I wholeheartedly disagree, and now with unemployment still hovering around ten percent, and the mortgage crisis only just now starting to slow, one thing is clear. It was a huge political and logistical mistake to put health care before the economy as a priority, and it will cost many Democrats their jobs tomorrow. Yes, I know the man pushed through bailouts for banks and auto makers, but that has yet to trickle down to the American people in any serious way and I doubt it ever will. It has failed to stimulate serious job growth. When Franklin Roosevelt started the Works Progress Administration during the great depression, it was because he understood that the economy would be stimulated by adding workers to the job pool. I doubt throwing a lot of money at failing companies would have had the same effect back then. There was a lot of criticism thrown towards the Bush administration over infrastructure issues we have in the U.S.(dams, bridges, etc.). It now seems to me that Obama should have initiated a modern WPA program to put people back to work immediately on these necessary projects. Note: During Roosevelt’s first term in office, unemployment dropped from 25% to 14.3 by 1937, while the overall economy grew 58% between 1932 and 1940.
And now the president’s priorities are going to cost the Dems dearly. The Tea Party and other Republicans have been able to successfully paint "elite" democrats like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi as out of touch with the nation. The rejoinder from the left has largely been one of scorn and derision directed at voters, which is not the kind of rhetoric that's going to sway anyone towards their message. And they don't seem to understand that at all.
Now mid-terms are usually a referendum on the sitting party in power, and many critics have pointed out that presidents like Reagan and Clinton were able to recover from terrible situations in similar circumstances. But this mid-term feels different, and I think it’s because of the nature of the president’s campaign, and his failure to deliver on what were some amazingly audacious goals. The man inherited a mess, and the public were looking for precisely the message he delivered: hope and change. But the change we needed so desperately was with the economy and the mortgage crisis, not universal health care. And at a time when many people were wondering if they were going to lose their homes, the government spent the nation even deeper into debt with a health program that it now seems few Americans wanted and that even less understood.
But the Republicans need to be mindful of one thing, and Scott Rasmussen in the Wall Street Journal put it very well: this is not a vote for the GOP; this is a vote against democrats. There is such a stigma around them right now that almost any alternative would seem like the lesser evil. So this creates an opportunity for the Republicans to do two things. One, deliver an actual program, not a plan, to get the nation out of the mess it’s in financially, and cutting taxes in the manner which we’re accustomed won’t be enough to kick start the economy. Second, they must either find a way to assimilate the Tea Party, or jettison it. I have a very strong feeling, based on what I’ve seen and read that most Tea Party folks, nice though they may be, are simply not qualified to serve, not based on their lack of experience, but on their own comments. I have a clear vision of many of them seeming like deer caught in headlights when their ideals are trumped by the real monster that Washington can be.
This is an extraordinary opportunity from the right to be the better, smarter party. People are tired of the Democrats aloofness towards voters, but they’re also sick of the conservative media noise machine. Republicans need to reclaim their party from its extremes, and present reasonable, intelligent solutions. And I hope they do that. Boy, do I hope they do that.
Mike Grefski
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