Obama and Bush: Peering Into The Reflecting Glass

It’s been quite a while since I shared. My obligations to work and school took up most of my time and my brain. That’s all changed but I’ll get into that in another post.

I continue to feel that when the Democrats and Republicans in Washington look at each other these days, they should see a reflection of themselves in the previous administration. In many ways, it’s as if they ignored recent history and are therefore doomed to repeat it. There are probably numerous examples but here are some of the most obvious ones.

GW Bush took office shortly before the tragedy of September 11th, an emotional and financial disaster that will take decades to recover from.

Obama took office and shortly afterward expanded upon Bush’s bailouts of the mortgage, banking and auto sectors, an emotional and financial disaster that will take decades to recover from.

The questions surrounding the 2000 Florida vote recount was an ongoing controversy during the Bush Administration. To this day, there are some that say he should not have been elected while others say he simply played by the rules.

The questions surrounding the legitimacy of a Hawaii birth certificate is an ongoing controversy in the Obama Administration. To this day, there are some that say he should not have been elected while others say he (or rather, his family) simply played by the rules.

Bush’s signature goal was to privatize a portion of Social Security, an effort that was met with stiff opposition from Democrats, other progressives, many independents and even a few Republicans.

Obama’s signature goal is to socialize a portion of health care, an effort that, while passed, was met with stiff opposition from Republicans, other conservatives, many independents and even a few Democrats.

Those who opposed Bush’s war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan were painted as “unpatriotic” by his most strident supporters.

Those who opposed Obama’s universal health care plan were painted as “uncaring” by his most strident supporters.

Bush attempted to fill a Supreme Court vacancy by nominating Harriet Miers, a woman who had no judiciary experience.

Obama is attempting to fill a Supreme Court vacancy by nominating Elena Kagan, a woman who has no judiciary experience.

In response to an expletive that Bush declared about a reporter, Vice-President Dick Cheney agreed “big time”.

In response to the signing of the healthcare bill, Vice-President Joe Biden blurted out that it was a “big f****n’ deal”.

The reality of a Republican-controlled Administration and Congress (not to mention Court) spurred the mobilization of such political organizations as Move On as well as news sources such as the Huffington Post.

The reality of a Democratic-controlled Administration and Congress (and aging Court Justices) spurred the mobilization of such political organizations as the Tea Party movement and Freedom Works and news sources such as World Net Daily.

Despite losing the Presidential nomination, the loyal support that Howard Dean received was recognized as he was rewarded by being named the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Despite losing the Vice-Presidential election, the loyal support that Sarah Palin received was recognized as she has been rewarded by becoming the de facto “face” of the Tea Party movement.

Of course, we’ve previously covered the audacious declarations of both Kanye West and Glenn Beck, respectively.

And finally:

Bush was criticized, particularly by Democrats, for his slow response to Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in the Gulf Coast. His response was that he trusted the states to do the right thing.

Obama was criticized, particularly by Republicans, for his slow response to the oil rig devastation in the Gulf Coast. His response was that he was trusting British Petroleum to do the right thing.

Now if we can just keep any potentially dangerous objects out of Joe Biden’s hands, it might tip the scales in Obama’s favor!

Imagine...

Now the vast audience that reads this blog knows that I love people of all shades and creeds. They also know that I respect if not always agree with those who hold primarily conservative views including those in the Tea Party Movement. And not only do I know that there is a small but significant number of black conservatives out there but I also believe many black Democrats are DINOs (Democrats In Name Only) because of their perception of Republican policies. With that long disclaimer, I'd like to present the following blog that I stumbled upon courtesy of Facebook. Going beyond the "mirror image" experience I predicted when Democrats and Republicans switched positions of power, this piece explains why there is more than a little concern about potential backlash from fringe conservatives about Obama's ascendancy to the White House.

http://ephphatha-poetry.blogspot.com/2010/04/imagine-if-tea-party-was-black-tim-wise.html

(Note at the end of the post that the author is a white gentleman.)

Step Your Game Up

Fair enough. I mean, "we" did get the Presidency... LOL

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/03/06/lemon.step.controversy.cnn?hpt=T2

If The Onion Says It, Then It *Must* Be True!

LOL Too Funny...!

http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/my_constituents_care_way_more

And in related news...

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/senator_dikembe_mutombo_blocks

Winter... And The Meaning of Life

My most loyal readers know how much I dislike winter and the colder weather it brings. Of course, I am writing this in the midst of the “storm of the century” where two feet is a realistic scenario. This is on top of the pre-Christmas blizzard where were received the early “gift” of a foot and a half of snow. So to say my Seasonal Affect Disorder has been exacerbated this season would be an understatement. Not to mention my recurring sinusitis and what appears to be the onset of mild arthritis in my knee. But what Mother Nature has brought us is only the literally icing on the cake of what has become a bittersweet time of year.

On the one hand, there are a few causes for celebration: the birthdays of my lady Cathy, my Mom (even though our relationship has deteriorated), and Martin Luther King. Ironically Rev. King and my mother share the same day. But immediately after those dates come some difficult reminders of loss, some of them very fresh. Cathy’s birthday is followed just two days later by that of her deceased son Tommy. By the time I finish writing this, it will be the first anniversary of the passing of Cathy’s aunt Beth whose birthday is a day later. It was a difficult time managing both our jobs with the canine legacies we temporarily inherited just as we had adopted two feline sisters. And those cats arrived in part because of the passing of my own feline buddy Homes two years ago this month.

Thinking about all this loss got me to thinking about death in general. People die every day, of course, in ways that are sudden and agonizingly slow, painful and peaceful. Besides the streak of celebrities that left in 2009, I’m also starting to experience the loss of people that were close to me. I’m starting to acknowledge the reality that both of my parents may not be here in the next ten years. And finally I came to the startling reality that I too am going to die...and that by some measures I may already be halfway there. And that makes me sad... and scared.

As you all know, I’m not particularly religious. So I have no idea what’s going to happen to me after I pass away. Truthfully, no one else really does either, although people’s faith tells them what they might expect. I guess that’s what faith really means: to believe that by following one’s spiritual beliefs that the next existence you’ve been promised will happen. Without that anchor, I’m left to ponder the meaning of life. How did I become fortunate (?) enough to born human? Was I a drop of water before? Will I be a frog next?

I now understand why some people start to have a “mid-life crisis”. But don’t worry; I don’t see myself hopping into a convertible with a Barbie riding shotgun. However, I have been in a slow if economy-hampered process of reinventing my career. Based on my intellectual potential, I’m probably “supposed” to be in middle-management now if not Vice-President of whatever company. Then again, I’ve been surprised by the paths taken by many of the high school alumni I’ve rediscovered on Facebook. So I don’t necessarily feel that “underachieving” is a bad thing. In fact, I’m probably happier now than if followed the so-called traditional path.

Still…I HATE winter.

Regular readers will probably rub their eyes a few times out of disbelief when they read the following statement:

Scott Brown deserved to win the special election for the Massachusetts Senate seat.

Not that I particularly supported his platform - although I appreciate that he's relatively moderate on some social issues - but because his opponent Martha Coakley basically treated the election as a coronation after winning the primary. (I mean, come on, going on vacation in the middle of a campaign??? Seriously???) And her making fun of Brown pounding the turf around Fenway Park? So yeah, Brown deserved to win. But I'm obviously not thrilled about it.

If anything, his imminent arrival may open Obama up to what I thought were some reasonable ideas from the Republicans in Congress. One being tort reform on doctor malpractice suits. As I may have said before - I'm too lazy to look back on here LOL - I think a cap on "pain and suffering" is reasonable since that is something that is not quantifiable. I don't think there should be a cap on paying for actual medical care as many medical misfortunes can last a lifetime.

I have mixed feelings on the idea of allowing insurance companies free reign on all fifty states. Granted, there are some states where the choices are few and the premiums are correspondingly high. However, I also foresee larger companies using their economies of scale to undercut smaller companies a la Wal-Mart, resulting in an oligarchy of companies.

So has Obama managed to do in only one year what took W a total of six? Well, I'll concede that regaining that 60th Senate seat is not realistic at this point. But I do think some honest attempt at common ground and compromise is good. Like I've said all along, one can draw many parallels between the behavior of certain principals during the previous administration and the complete flip-flop once the current administration began. It would be nice to know that both Democrats and Republicans have learned from being in each other's shoes. One can only hope.

Winter Sucks...

... but if you know me, you already knew this.

Still, there is a silver lining somewhere between the biting wind, the browning snow and the black ice.

For starters, I'm still employed. ***applause*** I'm certainly grateful for the opportunity to continue to get paid. However, I've discovered pretty quickly how truthful the recruiter and my then-future supervisors were when they told me the learning curve would be rather steep at the beginning. Well, I'm still very much in the "beginning" stage. It's stressful, to say the least. It's definitely motivated me to take more steps towards starting my small business.

Speaking of which, I've taken a few small but important steps towards starting said business. I applied for my federal EIN (Employee Identification Number) earlier in the week. Today I printed off some forms that I will have to turn in to the city. No need to register at the state level at this point, per their information.

The holidays were a time for Cathy and me to appreciate what we had; in other words, we were broke! LOL We were also dealing with nagging sinus issues that affected us in different ways. After I finally went to urgent care last Sunday, I'm taking some medication to address my "acute sinusitis". It's working pretty well so far. I'm looking forward to getting back in the gym and getting my "beach body" ready. (HA!)

As a belated holiday present to my regular readers, I will offer no political commentary in this thread. Happy New Year!