Chicago 2016

The more Obama does the prouder I get. He keeps proving that I was right and the democratic party was wrong. They picked the wrong horse. Has this clown nothing better to do than to leave the country and make a personal appeal at the International Olympic Committee for his "hometown" of Chicago? What did Michelle say? It's no holds barred? It was something inane like that. He likes to think he is making all these historic "firsts". No other sitting president has done this. Now we know why. Because when you don't come through it looks very pathetic. Is he trying to divert attention from his failing health care, war in Iraq-Afghanistan-Iran, and government-run automotive strategies? Yes. He cannot seem to run the country so he goes out and does what he is good at: campaigning.

How sad. Millions flocked to the polls to vote for their hopes and dreams. He has squandered them.

I said before and will reiterate here that the "First African-American President" thing was nothing but a gimmick. What are the history books going to say? "Barack Obama may have been the first African-American elected to the presidency, but he clearly wasn't ready for Prime-Time."

What a legacy. That's how I want to be remembered.

"YOU LIE!"

You know what the worst thing about Joe Wilson's outburst was? The disrespect he showed for the office of the president? No. The contempt he showed for his colleagues? No. The result is simply this: the Do-Nothing Congress will continue to do nothing and now they have a mandate for it. Now they are debating whether there should be a resolution to reprimand Joe Wilson. Next will come the drafting of said resolution, the voting on said resolution and finally the passing of the same. What does this accomplish? Joe Wilson did a BAD thing. Don't you try to do a Bad thing like Joe Wilson in the future. We, the democrats, are in power, we put up with 8 years of Bush stomping on our rights and so now we are going to pass this resolution because we can.

That is all very true and I don't begrudge them that. But is this all they've got? A target that is this obvious? What happened to pursuing war-crimes charges of the previous administration? What happened to passing health-care reform so all Americans can afford a plan?

I've got a better idea. Let's waste more time reprimanding a guy who has already apologized for his rude conduct. This is why I now think of myself as an Independent. I was raised with the understanding that the Republicans look out for the rich. They are the bad guys. So, by default the Democrats must be the good guys looking out for the rest of us. Lately the party has fallen short of the mark. I don't have any new-found faith in the conservative movement but, for Chrissakes can't these Democrats get anything right?!

Nutrient / Waste

As many of you know, since the election I have little to say on here. I heard something today, however, that was screaming at me to post so here it is:

Driving home from work I had on NPR's Talk of the Nation. While I have given up on All Things Considered I still like that Neil Conen and it usually makes for an interesting drive home, but that's not what the post is about. There was a promo for this weekend's "Living On Earth" which airs sometime Saturday afternoon here. The announcer led into the piece using the term, "Cow Patty." Sure enough it did its job and got my attention. Next thing you know some hippie chick is saying, "...we don't like to call it waste. We call it 'nutrient' because it is used to fuel our lamps and generate electricity."

Listen, honey. What you are doing is not noble. If you want to literally burn shit to fuel your eco-friendly "Green" lifestyle go ahead. It will help offset the gasoline I burn and the coal I waste when I don't turn off a light. And thank you for doing that for me, by the way. But you are still burning SHIT. You can give it any mother earth lovin' term you want but the fact remains that it is waste. If it is so full of nutrients and life why does the cow need to shit it out? Shouldn't they use those nutrients in their bodies? Maybe you should stop shitting as well.

Maybe you already have.

"everybody's gonna want a dose..."

I am 35 and pretend to know a thing or two about music. Since I was a kid I have loved Quinn the Eskimo, not in a homo-erotic way, mind you. I'm referring to The Mighty Quinn, that Bob Dylan song about an eskimo or a drug dealer or whatever the hell he was supposed to be. I remember finding the track on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 2 in my uncle's record collection when I was probably 10 or 12. As I played that much anticipated band I was very disappointed to hear what sounded like a group of drunk individuals wailing to that beloved tune. Where were the whistles? Where was the emphasis on the "t" on "Come on withouttttttttttt"?

I have since added a number of Bob Dylan records to my own collection. Haven't found Quinn. I admitted defeat and put it out of my mind.

Well, I must have heard the song recently because it has been on my mind again. I went to iTunes looking for it. No luck. Then I did a Wikipedia search...

Manfred Mann! After Dylan wrote the song but before he released his own version of it Manfred Mann recorded the single in 1968. This is the one I have been looking for all these years. I know, I could have done a search sooner but it was just one of those things. I got distracted, forgot about it. At any rate I bought the song from iTunes and it is now on the iPod. I am looking forward to getting into Manfred Mann and finding other treasures. I thought they were just "Doo-Wah-Diddy" and "Blinded by the Light," both of which are good songs but they are no Quinn!

Ponzie Scheme

Now I understand that Bernie Madoff was a bad guy and that he cheated a lot of people out of billions of dollars taking their investments and spending them. What I don't understand is what this has to do with "Ponzie."

Wasn't he that "square" on Happy Days that used to wear the cardigan and ride around on the motorcycle saying "Eyyyyy"? What was the name of the guy that played him? Anson Winkler I think it was. Yeah, he had that slicked back 50s style hair and was always kissing Marion Ross's ass, "It's very nice to see you Mrs. Cunningham" he would say and then he would hit the juke box with his elbow and get a free song out of it. Come to think of it, he was kind of a Jekyl and Hyde because it seems to me he would be wearing that brown leather jacket when he would hit the jukebox in Arnold's. Damn it! I saw that leather jacket at the Smithsonian! I never knew what Ron Howard saw in that loser but, Christ he idolized him! Well, at least he wasn't Ralph Malph, that red-headed rat-bastard.

But I digress, what the hell does Madoff have to do with this guy?