Well…I don’t know if you are getting as tired of me talking about politics as I am but, in case you are, I think I’ll change it up some and talk about sports for a while…I’ll probably come back later with some political ramblings but I don’t know if I can muster up any outrage today. I’ll try, but no promises…
On to sports….I am excited about the Wings and Canadiens game tonight as I am whenever we play an original six team…and they are on a tear with a record comparable to ours so it should be fun….in interviews in the Detroit papers today, the guys even seem pretty geeked up about it….this is one that I’ll have the gear on for…might even go out for while to share a little of it. Then, we have the “Big Chill” at the big house tomorrow where Michigan and Michigan Sate play an outdoor hockey game that will set the record for attendance by almost 30K…I WILL be watching that one on TV…V even got tickets for it but I’m not sure I’d want to sit in the cold for 2 1/2 hours…I like the couch better and having my own private bathroom….and beer. I’ll be rooting for Michigan….
Hmmmm…what else? I could talk about soccer but I drive enough people away with my normal stuff that I can’t take the chance of losing more of you….Baseball? Not that interested right now….Racing? Nope….nothing happening there but the BTCC….and if I have to explain what that is, you’re not interested enough in racing to keep reading…so I’ll stop here…more later…
Well…another day of waiting for the dish folks to get the thing fixed….but it’s really no big deal…or is it? I keep talking about it after all…but that might be because I just don’t have anything else to talk about. I did go out for HH last night with K and V…haven’t seen them since t-day and it was fun to get out for a while. I’m still not ready for the onset of winter….have to start looking for my gloves and other gear and get into survival mode…and that is happening really early this year…I normally don’t get into hunkering down and enduring until after the first of January so it’s going to make it a really long winter. Not much to do today…have to do the grocery shopping so I can veg this weekend….might have a couple of afternoon drinks with K since she is going to tear it up today and I really do need to keep moving on the bag of books from T….I promise there will be topics today…but not until later this morning…I do have to have coffee after all…more later…
Well..this one just came to me a few minutes ago and I thought I’d try to see if I can make sense of it….looking at the political maneuverings going on over the tax bill I’m struck by one consistent theme, that Obama won’t take on a fight unless he is sure that he can win…even when he constantly disappoints his supporters with what looks like compromise for it’s own sake. What kind of a win is it when you just fold up? Does that make sense? I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are times when taking on a fight because it is the right thing to do is a much nobler thing than compromising your principles and allowing something you know is wrong to continue. I think this is one of the reasons the left is so frustrated with Obama right now; he doesn’t seem to think anything, any principle or goal is immune to compromise when it is clear that saving the middle class is worth a fight, that repealing DADT is worth a fight, that keeping the repubs from stacking the deck against us is worth a fight. This is the time when we need a fight, even one for a losing cause so we can hold our heads up and say “we tried”.
I’ll end this with one question for Obama, “what IS worth fighting for?”..geez…
Well…if you have been reading this stuff for a while, you have seen that I have taken the conservative writer Nolan Finley from the Detroit News to task for his parroting of the repubs talking points in his daily columns. But today, I was amused when he related his efforts to purchase enough incandescent light bulbs to last the rest of his life before they stop making them next year; when government regulations take effect that will essentially ban the sale of the bulbs that all of us grew up with, replacing them with the more energy efficient compact fluorescents. His contention was that this is just another incidence of government intrusion into the free market and an example of the “nanny state” that is trying to regulate all of our daily lives in the guise of trying to make the country more energy efficient. When I wear my Libertarian hat, I have to agree with him….nope, no lightning strike yet, I, too, believe that we have survived a long time in this country making decisions like this for ourselves and are perfectly capable of continuing to do so, I get the frustration that the right has with government when they do things like this; like any bill or regulation that impinges on the decision making that should be an individuals choice….helmet laws and seat belt laws are two great examples of what I see as government overreach….and I would still wear my seat belt even if it wasn’t against the law….because I know they are effective in protecting me from others mistakes. I agree with Nolan that this type of thing is just a waste of rescouces that we can’t afford…and all of the new bulbs are made in China…not in the midwest of America….let’s not help them kill more jobs…
Well…a nice day yesterday…lunch with T was fun as always but didn’t do much else….this quick change from fall to full blown winter has me a little behind the curve in adjusting…we usually have at least some transition time…but with the forecast of sub zero temps for Sunday and Monday it’s getting nasty fast. I just hope this doesn’t keep up all winter…I will promise to just bitch a little if it does. Not much to do today…the dish folks were supposed to come yesterday but I didn’t see them….this is getting to be pain keeping this place cleaned up while I wait for them…but, that is really the only thing I have to complain about so I think I’ll survive. I really do want the holiday season to be over….my favorite day of the year used to be December 26th; after all the shopping and visiting was over and you could actually go out for groceries without standing in line for a hour. Yep…I am a scrooge…..more later…there will be topics…
Well…there are stirrings of revolt in the middle and on the left about the bastardized compromise that Obama has fashioned on the tax cuts…he gave away the store to the thugs and extortionists without getting one thing that will help get the budget back under control without doing it on the backs of the middle class. The most sickening thing that I have heard out of the repubs is that we “all” have to sacrifice to make this happen…I have to ask, “what have the rich sacrificed?” Not a damn thing..but they right wants us to take cuts in UI, social security, and every other program that helps the little guy while making sure that their buddies won’t have to sacrifice a thing..in fact they can just keep saying more, more, more…and steal what little is left of the American dream.
That brings me to Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont who has promised to filibuster any bill that gives the store away to the rich…at least someone understands that this is not a county of, by, and for the rich and connected. Thanks Bernie, keep up the good fight…geez…
Well…running a little late this morning and there’s no reason other than I had too much fun yesterday…won at pool and at Keno…106 bucks which paid our tab and is going to buy lunch for T and I later…so there was a little sunshine that broke through the drabness…I think I pulled something jumping up and down when I saw that….yeah, I’m a little weird…but you know that. Not much to do today…the dish is still screwed up and they have to come with another receiver today but I don’t know if I’ll be here for that…who knows? More later….
I’m back for a few minutes….maybe for a moment of silence? 30 years ago today, John Lennon was killed….
Well..I cannot overstate my disappointment with Obama right now…and his misguided march toward bipartisanship at any cost..especially when his compromise with the repubs is going to give them more ammunition to attack the progressives in the next election. Doesn’t he understand that when you give in to blackmailers, all they do is come back with larger and larger demands? What about us? The people that voted for him…when do we get anything that he promised to us? I guess the only hope now is that the congressional and senate democrats grow a spine and destroy this bill….but, I’m afraid it’s finally over….the rich have bought this country lock, stock, and barrel and the rest of us are left to our own devices as we slide down the ladder….
Well…had a little fun last night..it was nice to get out for a while and see C and D…and I was a good boy so I don’t feel that bad today…just kind of sluggish but I know that will go away by noon. I did get the dish fixed yesterday but I think my new Roku is starting to give me problems..it made all kind of weird noises when I was listening to Pandora but I don’t know if that is the internet or the box…I’ll find out later today…not much to do today…out to Ada, of course, where I’m going to win at pool this week…maybe…I may even get some groceries since I made some cash yesterday…I will have a topic for later on the failure of Obama to uphold his principles with his deal with the repubs….
Well…okay, I’ve vented a lot today so far….and you may even get more later…and so I thought I’d dial it back a bit while I wait for lunch to cook. I have a question to ask…have you ever been taken care of? I mean when life has beaten you down or you’ve been really sick or when the time came that you just needed to fold up for a while? I ask that because I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t the caregiver, I can’t remember anyone asking how I was doing and really meaning it. I don’t mean this to whine about my lot in life but to try to figure out what has made things as they are…I feel like Michael Clarke Duncan in the Green Mile…the man who could take on the illnesses of others and then release them into the air, but I can’t.