Well….don’t you just love the repubs mastery of the non-fact in the political ads they are running here in Michigan? Every one of them repeats their mantra of the “failed stimulus program” and the “Socialist expansion of government” of the Obama administration but they don’t acknowledge the true facts; what Paul Krugman said in the NYT this morning. There was neither a stimulus program or any expansion of government…in fact, there are 350,000 less federal workers now than when Obama took office. If there was a huge increase in government stimulus spending, where are the new roads, bridges, airports, or tunnels? There are none…okay, there have been repairs of some existing roads, etc., but to say there has been a huge increase in the reach of government and it’s spending is just another lie..but the problem is, you people believe the crap the repubs have been spewing…and it is a page out of the playbook they have been running since Clinton…repeat a lie enough times, and in the minds of the public, it becomes the truth…talk about your 1984 comparison.
Most of the money had to be spent on safety net programs that the repubs just hate and never lead to increased spending on the part of the consumer that is out of work…so why haven’t the Dems hammered the repubs on these inconvenient facts…well…they don’t have their own tv network for one, but I think there still is a spark of the old style of politics in the Democratic party…where you expect people to want the facts; but in today’s political environment, facts are just something to be ignored if they don’t fit your narrative…and the lies continue…geez…
Well…a long day yesterday and the Lions won which put me into shock…but I feel okay if a little tired. I did go out to Vinnies and hung out with C for a while and then back here to chow down on the chicken I had in the slow cooker which came out pretty good…this one is going to be a little short for now since I still feel a little fuzzy…going to be some things to do this week but they are all things you’ve heard about for the last few months..I’ll bet you could tell ME my schedule by now…I don’t know if you’re that interested…there are times when I’m not that interested…more later…
Don’t know how many topics there will be for later…I feel like I owe you quite a few but you know that Sundays are days that I take some time off from the outrage….I promise I’ll get to at least one…
Well….what I thought was going to happen in the Michigan-State game did, Michigan’s defense just couldn’t stop State and the Denard show kind of came to a halt. But, we all knew that it couldn’t last…let’s just hope that they can improve enough to get in a bowl this year…and it was fun to watch up until this week. A good thing from yesterday is that the Wings spoiled the Hawks banner raising by beating them 3-2 last night….and all of our offense came from the second line so that was good to get them going. Hmmmm…should this have been in sports?
Kind of a bittersweet day today…it’s the last Sunday Funday with C since he is moving to MP later in the week…don’t really know what to say about it but it’s been a fun run for the last 10 years or so and I guess I’m smacking right up against that change thing again…going to try not to think about it or make it more important than it is…but it is the end of an era here in GR. Oh, well…one thing I’ve learned in the last couple of years is that things change; that the life that you create for yourself has to be flexible enough to absorb the blows and embrace them….but, don’t I get to wallow for a while at least? Just for today, anyway. Not much else to do today….yeah, you’ve heard that everyday for the last few months…I’m tired, but will still cook and watch the Lions lose again…I guess that’s some consistency…more later…maybe…
Well….that was about as good an opening game that we could expect from the Red Wings…they dominated every facet of the game hand we even got to see the second fight of Pavel Datsuyk’s career…I laughed so damn hard when that happened that I couldn’t catch my breath. It was good to see Mike Modano get his first goal as a Wing, and Hank and Pavel both got one along with Frantzen which made it a 4-0 shootout. Jimmy Howard looked good in goal but it was bad to lose Ericsson with back pain…I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see Maltby for the last game before he retires and I hope the Wings set aside a game night to honor his contributions since the early 90′s. Another game tonight but the damn dish folks haven’t settled the contract with Fox yet….so I won’t be able to see it without going out. Might be the time to try out the new bar over here….
Now, let’s get to the big game of the day..our own intrastate rivalry here in Michigan…Michigan versus Michigan State in college football…two teams, both 5-0, and more than a little hatred between them…I’m already in my gear and waiting…will probably take a nap before it since I almost overdid it last night and the energy level is s little low. Maybe make some coffee? I am rooting for Michigan as always…you know my rooting hierarchy…I will root for State whenever they are not playing Michigan…but, this year, I think it’s going to be State since they have a much more balanced team…Michigan’s defense has been suspect all year but we can hope they will improve today, can’t we? so, Go Blue!!!
Well…a fun night last night at G’s birthday party…it was great to see all of her friends that I haven’t seen in almost a year…my bean dip was a hit and the Red Wings crushed Anaheim so it was a two-fer…and I took it kind of easy so I feel okay this morning…weird dreams about kidnapping and beatings, though, that are fading as fast as I’m writing this…can’t remember who the female lead was but I do remember there were trains all around and some city like Newark. Yep, you know I’m kind of weird….and I don’t want to get better….not a lot to do today…just get the bike ride in this morning and then get ready for the Michigan game…looks like no group for the game so it might be here or maybe out to the new Peppino’s….was thinking about going out to M’s but the 40 mile drive is just not something I want to do…I do need to thaw the food for tomorrow…more later…
Well…I hope the latest profit numbers from Ford will blow up the repubs tired old arguments that everything that is wrong with American industry can be traced back to the supposed greed of the union represented workers that are the backbone of the auto industry. 3.1 billion dollars in profit…yep, that’s right…so far this year Ford has made 3.1 billion dollars on it’s North American car business…a completely unionized manufacturing company with fairly paid workers sharing in the success but also giving back when the company was in trouble. How did they do it? I know, the repubs will point to the pay and benefits of the unions as the reason that GM and Chrysler filed for bankruptcy…but let’s look at it closer..it was just bad management from the top down at those companies….and a failure to look farther into the future than the next quarterly statement. Plus, they just made cars and trucks that no one wanted and were of lower quality than their competitors.
Unlike their competitors, the Ford family recognized that things were changing in the industry a few years before the bottom fell out and and also recognized that a different kind of management was needed for the coming downturn. But, they also recognized that new, better products were needed as well and embarked on programs to make better cars that the public wanted. Personally, I think the right moves were made, to a large part, because the family’s name was still on the side of the building, and there was pride that all of the workers, salaried and union shared. It’s that dynamic that the repubs don’t care about…that there can be successful companies where both labor and ownership are successful; and the Ford family recognizes that without their skilled and dedicated union workers, their success would not be assured if the only labor plan was to bash the unions and take all they can with no regard for their workers. But, the repubs only know that labor is their mortal enemy, to be crushed at all costs….geez…
Well…a night of no booze or sleep aids and I can tell it was a good idea…even though I was up at 5, I still feel a hundred percent better than I did yesterday. Today looks kind of busy, at least for the morning…have to do the grocery shopping and then make my bean dip for G’s birthday bash later….and I am going to try some texas style ribs in the slow cooker. I am getting disappointed with what is going on in this country with the huge influx of foreign money as a result of the Citizen’s United decision by the Supreme Court. That is going to be a topic for later on today while the wings are cooking and I don’t have anything else to do. It is still nice to be able to go out on the bike in a t-shirt….more later…
Well…if your heart and the rest of America’s didn’t break a little when you heard of firefighters letting a couples house burn down because they didn’t pay a “firefighting fee”, then there is something seriously wrong with us and our society. But this is just the latest evidence of how the repubs vision for America will work for the little guy; how their “starve the beast”, tax cuts at all cost strategy impacts the real lives of citizens, from the homeowner in rural areas who has to pay extra for fire protection if they can get it at all, to the people of Detroit and other cities who see large areas abandoned by the police department because there is no way to raise the funds to hire officers to patrol. But, the rich still have the money to hire private police and, in some gated communities, their own fire departments who will, no doubt, sit and watch while houses outside their walls burn down because they have been successful in making sure there are no taxes available for these services for the rest of us.
What happened to the America where we felt and acted like we were all in this together? I think it’s a direct result of the repubs strategy to demonize our government and members of our society that are not like them. It’s easy to let someone’s house burn down or let them be robbed or murdered if they “haven’t taken care of themselves” or they don’t vote republican. As I said to T yesterday, “I’m glad I won’t be around much longer to see this wonderful country continue to decline” and I do believe the catch phrase that was first proposed in the comic strip Pogo from my youth: “I’ve see the enemy and he is us”…..geez….
Well..an interesting day yesterday but I didn’t have time to get the political post out and for that I’m sorry…the day just got away from me when G called and asked me to go over to wait for the cable guy to come…that stretched into HH with T, which was a lot of fun, sitting on the deck at Rose’s in EGR. By the time I got home, I really wasn’t in the mood to write anything and the time with T made me happy so there was no outrage to put down on paper…or on the screen. So, I’ll try to do better today but feeling as I do…kind of crappy….it will probably be a little later in the day. More later….
I guess this is later…not a lot to do today…I think I have the night off from everyone so I’m just going to take it easy all day…have to finish up a movie here in a couple of minutes so I can get it in the mail but I’m hitting the couch to do it…can’t wait to feel better…
Well…feel a little better after getting a ride in and just had to pass this along…was on the fastest downhill section of the trail this morning and a red-tailed hawk that was perched on the fence that runs along it took off and flew right down the trail in front of me for at least 50 yards with me just about 6 feet behind and to the right. I was so close I could count the feathers on his wingtips and tail…it was the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long while….
Oh, there is a dead mouse alert on for today…must have seen 20 of them on the trail….more later…I think about the corporate money that is being used to buy the repubs again…