Having said that, let me be clear!

President Barack Obama  is getting a bum rap for not being a miracle worker . This in the face of significant progress on health care reform, progress on implementing change in Washington,  progress on reigning in the excesses of Wall Street and progress on controlling the abuses of the credit card companies. Having said that, I must admit that there is room for criticism. President Obama has some annoying habits when he speaks. Frequently when making a point, he will follow up with,  "having said that". He then proceeds to qualify the point he made. So what's wrong with that? Well, it leaves me with the impression that he wants to take back what he said or that what he said is really not attainable. Is this a way of saying that change will take time. If so, just say so! I for one am satisfied with progress.

 Then there are the instances when after he eloquently explains a position , he  follows with "let me clear ...". Wasn't he clear in the first place? If not why not? Actually he was.

Criticizing Obama's speech making is  unfair. After all, he brought literacy back to the White House. It is refreshing to have someone who speaks English articulating from The Oval Office.

Having said that, what's really on my mind is , if Obama were white and had achieved what the black Obama achieved in eighteen months, would we be looking at  frantic cries for change come November 2?

Tricks But No Treats

As I walk briskly (  debatable as it might be) through the neighborhood this Thursday morning, I can’t help but notice the homes decked out with scarecrows, corn stalks and pumpkins. The decorations and the chill in the air are a reminder that Halloween is at hand. The garbage barrels at the end of the driveway of each home is a further reminder of Halloween - at least to me. Today is garbage day. Garbage day in October  meant only one thing in my youth, tricks! Tricks not treats.

As I stepped up my pace and got my heart beat up, the Halloween of yesterday came vividly into mind. During my youth we paid no attention to treats - there weren’t any. A knock at the door or ringing a house bell, was meant to annoy the resident, not to beg for treats. Garbage Day, celebrated about two weeks prior to Halloween, meant that during the evening , if the barrels were foolishly put out, we could run up and down the street tipping them over.

The most fun was saved for Ash Day and I don’t mean Ash Wednesday. In our neighborhood , homes were heated by coal fired furnaces. Furnaces were religiously cleaned of the ashes which were then put out for collection. Halloween's Ash Day was celebrated by tipping over as many barrels of ashes as were possible. The bigger the mess, the happier a pre-Halloween.

As for mess's, the first prize goes to knocking over outhouses. Being an urban creature , I know little about this prank other than what my spouse has told me. She knows what she's talking about, having had the misfortune of almost falling into a two holer.

Tricks were boundless and tended to be on the destructive side. Another of the more annoying tricks was to soap the windows of a disliked resident or business. Soaped windows  existed well after Halloween.

When Halloween Day came around, it was almost like a non-event. We were about out of tricks and there were no treats to look forward to. Ringing a few more door bells was all that was left besides avoiding the police patrol car which was on the prowl. Soaping the windows of a police car was the Holy Grail. To my knowledge no one ever tried for it.

It wasn’t until adulthood and children of my own that I discovered more saner Halloween celebrations. I never told the kids up my mischievous ways at Halloween. Glad I didn’t . In these days of gun toting good citizens, tipping over garbage barrels would be considered home invasion and a reason for self defense.

Almost at the end of my huffing and puffing walk. Dare I kick over that garbage barrel before I get home? How about that Johnny-on -the spot? I'll leave that to Marge.

Some thoughts on our latest hand wringing over violent actions

• The sports pages are filled with accounts of violent action on the gridiron. Players actually use their helmets to "take out" an opposing player. Wow, when did a nice quiet game become so violent? Where has everyone been all these years? Football equals violence. Its the nature of the game. The whole idea is to bring players down. That's what tackling is all about. Hurt the SOB! Look at the stands with the screaming fans. All that is missing is Caesar to give the thumb up or thumb down. If we are serious about protecting athletes who choose football as a profession, take away that option.
• The Wikileak web site has revealed something which The Pentagon would have us not know. War is not civilized! War is violent! Innocent people are victims during a War! War makes money for a lot of corporations! It has been that way since the first caveman clubbed his companion over the head because he dared to disagree with him. Just what the hell did we expect in Iraq and in Afghanistan? The next thing we know , we will be shown videos of helmeted soldiers head butting Taliban fighters. That will make the Taliban wise up and order helmets for its fighters. War is just plain Hell and the United States of America is not immune from uncivilized actions as it conducts its wars.
• Why do our representatives in Washington shy away from effective gun control legislation , yet are willing to give heart rendering speeches about violence in sports. Could it be that the NRA has deeper pockets than the NFL?

No need for bilingual ballots!

The demand for bilingual ballots in Cuyahoga County, Ohio brought to mind to mind how the issue of voting by non - English speaking voters was handled many years ago. No, they were not told to go back where they came from, at least not publicly. Rather I recall a hobby I had as a child. Around election time , children would aggressively collect election cards. They were about the size of a credit card and were passed out by office seekers and their supporters. Importantly, each card had a symbol in the upper left corner , for Democrats, and the right corner for Republicans. Just kidding, the symbol as I recall was randomly placed on the card. What was so special about this symbol is that it denoted the political party the candidate was affiliated with. A star was used to indicate the Democrat Party and an eagle was used to indicate the Republican Party. Other parties had their own symbols which I can’t recall, but I’m sure there were a few hammer and sickle cards.

The beauty of these cards and symbols was that the candidate could remind every recipient to vote for the star or vote for the eagle. Once in a voting booth, the voter found a ballot printed in English. Can’t read English, no problem. Joe the Alderman told him to pull a lever everywhere he saw a star. In a matter of seconds the straight Democratic ticket was voted. To be politically correct, it was also possible to vote the eagle across the ballot.

I doubt that proposing this solution in place of a bilingual ballot will get anywhere. Rather, it might be well to go to night school and learn English as my father did. Night school? That’s a subject for another post. In the meantime, vote for the Democrats - look for the Donkey before he turns into an Ass. Vote early, vote often!

Damn Yankees

For the first time since 1971, I rooted for the damn Yankees to win the pennant. In return the bums lost to the Texas Rangers. Give the Rangers their due - they played with intensity. The Yankees played with arrogance but little else. At this point I'll just enjoy the Series. May the best team win. Don't they always.

A Star Is Born

The final movement of the Beethoven Symphony No. 5, conducted as never before!

Senator McCain's Legacy

Fresh out of the lab

George W. Bush's legacy includes the Iraq War, Afghanistan War, and The Great Recession. That's bad enough, but John McCain may well outdo him. Senator McCain , Ala Dr. Frankenstein, created that Bride of Frankenstein now posing as Sarah Palin. How anyone can take this monster seriously is indeed a mystery. Still she must be taken seriously. In these days of deep political divisions the improbable can happen. It no longer takes a heavyweight to aspire to the Presidency. What appears to be a fringe candidate today can loom as a large one in the future.

 Actually I find it very difficult to listen to any of The Bride's political ramblings. Her voice is so shrill that it drives me up the wall! If she ever, by some breakdown of the political savvy of voters becomes President , two things will happen. One , it will seal the status of this country as a has been world power and secondly and more importantly, I'll have to throw out anything in the house capable of bringing in her shrieks.

 Thanks for nothing McCain! Let's hope the lady is in it just for book material and will slink away from any serious run for the presidency. She couldn't possibly be so dumb that she considers herself capable of filling the office of President of the United States.

( An unreliable source has informed this blog that Ms. Palin has a plan to put all the states except Alaska on e-Bay. Once sold she will establish the United State of Alaska thus fulfilling her campaign promise of lowering taxes, lowering the deficit and establishing a much smaller government.)

Tea Party Ready To Put USA In Pressure Cooker

Tea has never been one of my favorite beverages. I do sip it now and then but I’m a long way from being a tea connoisseur. I’ve heard of high tea and have wondered why it is legal. It must surely be injurious . Which brings me to a New York Times report today. It has to do with tea parties and forecasts that “Enough Tea Party-supported candidates are running strongly in competitive and Republican-leaning Congressional races that the movement stands a good chance of establishing a sizeable caucus to push its agenda in the House and the Senate”. What agenda? Pressure!  “Putting pressure on Republican leaders to carry out promises to significantly cut spending and taxes, to repeal health care legislation and financial regulations passed this year, and to phase out Social Security and Medicare in favor of personal savings accounts”.

Ouch! That kind of tea makes me want to vomit. I’ll probably never take a sip of tea again. Indeed these Tea Party people must be drinking high tea. How else can you explain their maniacal quest to throw this country into disarray. We’ll be spinning our wheels for at least the next two years while the world passes us by. I hope that the working stiffs in this country will ultimately stand up to this Tea Party nonsense. Perhaps a Beer Party is in order. A few beers and a shot and the Tea Party will be toast.

People have no idea what the Democrats stand for???

On Meet The Press, Sunday Oct.10, Joe Klein commented, "People think-they know what the Republicans stand for, lower taxes, less government, less regulation, they have no idea what the Democrats stand for, except for these big pieces of legislation that we've seen which inevitably contain ridiculous provisions". Can the mess that the Democrats are in concerning the midterm elections be explained away that easily? Not really. Actually I feel that people do know what the Democrat Party is all about. It's doing right by all people! Therein lies the rub. To do right for all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or wealth costs money which a growing number of voters are unwilling to part with. In these economic times greed takes over as well as denial. To do right by all people, calls for compromise, which leads to less than perfect legislation. The Democrats do try to do right by all people. The Republicans dismiss the effort with their big government bogey man rhetoric. The rude awakening will come when the Republican Party marches into 2013 with the presidency in its pocket, only to prove once more that it does not have a clue as to what ails this country.
- I'm Tony Rugare, and I approve this message.
- Paid for by - VEVO FUNDS

Damn Twins!

Damn Twins! Again the Twins cow tow to the Yankees in the playoffs. With Tampa Bay about to blow their series with the Rangers, it puts me in the uncomfortable position of having to root for the Yankees against the Rangers. I haven’t rooted for the Yankees since 1970. Why not root for the Rangers? Have you seen their fans with their phony cheers and ridiculous ten gallon hats decked out with antlers ( why antlers)? The Yankees are the lesser of two evils but not by much. Looks like I‘ll be rooting for a National League team in the World Series. Go Reds!

Holy Cow, it's holy shit!

As the Cincinnati Reds committed two errors and their pitcher plunked two Philly batsmen, on their way to blowing a 4-0 lead, I found myself shouting, “Holy shit, there goes the game!”. No sooner than I had gotten the words out of my mouth, the little grey cells got excited and drove me nuts about the origins of ‘holy shit’.

After extensive research , I concluded that it was an exercise in futility. Other than confirming that ’holy shit’ was a general exclamation used to express among other things disbelief and displeasure , I could not pin down an origin. I did however, find out that there is such a thing as holy shit. Very simply, in India cows are holy. Cows shit. The shit from a holy cow has got to be holy. It is rumored that a Hindu priest accidentally stepped into a cow flop and blurted out , "holy cow, it's holy shit!". So why don’t the Indians run around exclaiming ‘holy shit’ when a tsunami hits their shores?

 Holy shit is not limited to India. As toxic red sludge enveloped a Hungarian village , the village elders were heard shouting out “ holy shit”. The Hungarian ‘holy shit’ is making its way to the Danube so that most of Europe can enjoy it.

Of course Italy already has its share of holy shit. The Vatican sewers are full of crap which the Pope has decreed is holy. We all know he's infallible.  Don’t believe me? Why else would the Vatican use holy water in its toilets.

Back to America where we have our own version of holy shit in Kansas. There you will find the Westboro Baptist Church. Fred Phelps and his followers are full of shit, but they would have you believe that it is holy shit. I understand that Chief Justice Roberts and his Court plan to inspect the church’s outhouse before they render their decision in the ‘funeral protest’ case.

Holy cow, the Reds committed two more errors! I’m tired of this bull shit.

Vote Early Vote Often Stimulus

From all reports, the Democrats are faced with the real possibility that many of their 2008 supporters will not go to the polls ( I'm not going - The USPS is handling my vote) in this year's midterm elections. Unless it rains on November 2, Republicans will make the strenuous trek to the polls to vote against almost anyone who is dedicated to progress. Whats the rain got to do with it? Nothing, just musing about the days when the Republican party was dominated by farmers - farmers stay home when it rains, or so the high primal has informed me. Rain not withstanding, with less than four weeks to go it looks pretty bleak for the Democrats.

I propose that while the Democrats have a majority in Congress, they fight like hell to pass a new stimulus package - VEVO (vote early, vote often ) in preparation for the 2012 elections. The stimulus will stimulate voting simply by sending an Iphone   to all registered voters. The ingenious part of this is that the phone would come with a voting App. Just think, young voters would vote all day long and never get off their ass. A special App for Seniors would register a whine with every vote they cast in between their Viagra sessions. Election outcomes would be determined by those smart enough to use a smart phone. Wait, that might be a problem for the Democrats.

The challenge presented by using an Iphone to vote might prove disastrous for the Democrats. Anyone who is stupid enough to sit out elections is probably too stupid to use a smart phone. The Dems are stuck with sending out all kinds of e-mail, encouraging everyone to " vote early, vote often" any way they can, even if it means going to the can. Speaking of the can, its time to take a break.

Surprise, surprise - Iran Forms New Iraqi Government

Instead of “Maliki in Deal to Lead Iraq and Empower Anti-U.S. Bloc”, the New York Times headline could have easily been “Maliki in Deal With the Devil” or better yet “Iran Puts al-Maliki In Power”.

Nuri Kamal al-Maliki will partner with Moktada al-Sadr to form a government in Iraq. Moktada al-Sadr is closely allied with Iran. One could conclude that Nuri Kamal al-Maliki will partner with Iran to form an Iraqi government.

It appears to me that we have spent billions in nation building in Iraq only to hand the nation over to Iran. That being the case a review of our Iraqi strategy is in order. The only way we can get our money’s worth is to see to it that the Sadrists fuck up and get the other Shiite factions so pissed off that civil war breaks out anew. This will prompt military action on the part of Iran. We will then come to the defense of Iraq, pull our troops out of Afghanistan and launch a new Iraq War aimed at building a true democracy in Iraq and while we are it in Iran.

On the other hand, perhaps as Joe Biden has advised on other issues, we should just suck it up. That means getting the hell out of the Mideast and doing a little nation building in the good old U. S. of A. On second thought this latest thought sucks. We’re lousy at nation building. Next thing you know there will be a headline announcing “Obama in Deal to Lead The U.S.A. and Empower the Tea Party and al-Palin”. Since the Tea Party is closely allied with the Republicans , bipartisanship would at last rule.

Wow, Iran and its antics can really screw me up. There is no end to this! Of course there is - the end!

Brother Can You Spare A Dime

The double digit unemployment rate in this country does not bode well for our future. The repercussions of joblessness will affect all of us. That there is no relief in sight is a tragedy. Neither the government nor corporations have come up with a viable plan to put people to work.

I can't think of anything more frustrating than suddenly finding yourself with the prospect of no means to adequately support yourself or provide for your family. I consider myself fortunate that in my forty year working career I was never unemployed. I can however feel the pain of those unemployed as I look back at my childhood and remember the difficult days my father went through trying to put food on the table and a roof over our heads as we endured the fallout from the Great Depression.

One can attempt to put the blame for today's unemployment problems on one political party or another but that is conversation for political campaigns. What matters is, anyone out of work, with no prospects of getting work in the near future , is going to be very, very angry. Much as a wounded animal , he  will  lash out at someone and that someone is the government. He does not care which political party is the blame, as far as he is concerned the government is the blame and he wants something done about it.

I believe that the Obama team has not given the proper priority to programs designed to create jobs. They did not  cause the problem but the problem is theirs to deal with. They asked for the opportunity to deal with it in 2008 and we gave it to them. It is now their problem. The unemployed are not concerned with who caused the problem, they only want someone to solve it. The Democrats will pay the price in November as their unemployed supporters desert the party in desperation. Not that they will fare any better with the Republicans, but at least for a day, they will have taken a swing at a government that has not been responsive enough to their needs.

Democrats and Republicans must come together to resurrect the American Dream which gives everyone a fighting chance to earn a living. I'm cynical enough to feel that this will never happen. Bipartisanship has been relegated to the junk heap. As a result  we are stuck with the excesses of the Tea Party and hopefully not something more violent. Until those of us with a paycheck and a roof over our heads force government and yes, corporations, to come to the aid of our unemployed, we are faced with a volatile future which unfortunately may get violent.

Throw In The Towel

The New York Times reports that "evidence is mounting that fraud in last weekend’s parliamentary election was so widespread that it could affect the results in a third of provinces, calling into question the credibility of a vote that was an important test of the American and Afghan effort to build a stable and legitimate government". This blog reports that the term "The Afghan War" has now officially deteriorated into a cliche and its time to admit that we can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Discretion being the better part of valor, its also time to throw in the towel.

Will another rally restore our sanity?

I understand that on October 30th, our capitol will once again be invaded. Ever since the British took a whack at it in 1812, Washington , D.C. has been a target for anyone that is upset with the status quo. Some organizations will resort to violence. Having failed to get millions to gather on the Mall, Al-Qaeda resorted to a violent attack on September 11, 2001 , much as the British did in 1812. There have been peaceful invasions such as Martin Luther King's civil rights march on Washington. Even thousands of black men with a guilty conscience chose a rally in Washington to advertise their shortcomings. More recently, poor Washington was subjected to Glenn Beck and his followers with their pleas to "restore" America to its theocracy roots. It was inevitable, but all these rallies, prayer meetings and attacks could only result in a rally to end all rallies. Jon Stewart will host a "Rally To Restore Sanity" on October 30, 2010 in Washington, D.C. with the Washington Monument as a backdrop. This makes it official! Politics have now become so funny that it is driving us nuts. At the same time political commentaries are making tons of money for comedians. Our only hope is that Stewart and Colbert can indeed restore our sanity. We'll know they have succeeded if no one shows up for the rally. Of course that won't happen. Midterm elections will be only a few days away and thousands of misinformed citizens will gather on the Mall to become thousands of informed citizens. I'm not going to attend the rally but I will watch on TV. I'm sure that it will be an Emmy Award winning show. Besides there isn't much else to laugh about these days as far as politics is concerned.

It's Not Over Until The Fat Lady Sings

It appears that the G.O.P. has concluded that the Fat Lady has already sung. From the New York Times article, "G.O.P. Will Chip Away At Health Law", one may conclude that it's all over, the G.O.P. will control the House and it's time to roll back any social progress that the Dems have made. As far as health care reform is concerned, "For starters, Republicans say they will try to withhold money that federal officials need to administer and enforce the law. They know that even if they managed to pass a wholesale repeal, Mr. Obama would veto it. ". As for that intellectual genius who goes by the name of Boehner, "“They’ll get not one dime from us,” the House Republican leader, John A. Boehner of Ohio, told The Cincinnati Enquirer recently. “Not a dime. There is no fixing this.”.  Nancy Pelosi is hardly the Fat Lady, but John "The Orange Man" Boehner has already determined that she has sung her last song and her time as a headliner is over.

The Fat Lady has sung but hold the applause. The next act on the show bill is Stalemate! The party of "No" has been successful in it's "No" strategy and obviously will continue that strategy until Obama surrenders. Even with control of Congress, Obama and his team have struggled. It's nightmarish to think how that team will function with a Republican controlled House. As for the populace, Boehner is prepared to say ' "let them eat cake!" ( Make mine chocolate .)

Charles Leck  in his blog post "It's DE-ja vu all over again!" brings up this fallout from a Republican controlled Congress, "Obama will likely be a one-term president who may not even seek the endorsement to run". Which brings me to the scenario titled - What's Bill Clinton up to?

Bill Clinton has been crisscrossing the country harvesting IOU's from all sorts of office seekers. Hillary Clinton is making a determined bid to get some sort of Mid East peace accord. If the latter occurs, Bill will call in his IOU's , shove them in Obama's face, convincing Obama he should take a page out of Lyndon Johnson's playbook and go back to South Chicago. Hillary will accept her parties endorsement for a run at the presidency. It would make a good Hollywood script if nothing else.

Getting back to the Fat Lady , I hope she gets laryngitis!

Garages For Sale

On the way to the supermarket recently , I couldn't help but notice the number of garages which were for sale.  Garage Sale signs popped up at least ten times over the course of a two mile trip. Were people actually trying to sell their garages?  The news lately has been full of stories about foreclosures and the depressed housing market but there had been no mention of a rash of garage sales. Were the number of garages for sale the latest bad economic news?

A closer look at some of the properties advertising a garage sale showed that the owner had conveniently emptied out the garage so that a prospective buyer could survey the garage. Of course this meant that all the junk was spread out all over the lawn. What would the owner do with the junk if he was lucky enough to sell the garage? The high primal suggested that he could have a yard sale.

The problem with a yard sale is that if the yard is sold then the owner is really up shit creek without a paddle. He has sold the garage and now the yard but still has the junk. If I were the owner I'd put the junk up for sale on e-bay and put a sign up - House For Sale by Owner. The by Owner part of the sign is probably superfluous.

There is still a problem! The housing market is depressed. A house without a garage and a yard will never sell. The owner has no choice. Move the junk into the house, burn the house down and spend the next few years in a cell.

All this is not getting me anywhere. My time would be better spent planning my next garage sale - I've got an awful lot of junk to get rid of, not the garage! I'll get to it as soon as I'm back from my appointment with the shrink - first things first.

Restore America?

If I hear another Tea Party supported candidate or Palinista  try to lend credibility to their candidacy by stating  that they are on a mission to "restore America" I may be tempted to open the window and start screaming " restore to what - enough is enough!". Better yet I'll let David Mixner do the screaming for me with this link:

DavidMixner.com: The Right: Constantly On The Wrong Side Of History

Formula For Success In Today's Politics

Suddenly it's gotten rather easy to run for public office except for one thing which I'll get to later. The winning formula to get a nomination and possibly win the the erection, sorry, I meant the election ( if you do get elected there will be plenty of time for screwing), is so simple even an idiot can grasp it and plenty of idiots have done exactly that.

1. First and foremost, clear your lungs and at the risk of damaging your vocal chords shout that you are angry.Not just that you are angry but that you are raving mad. Who are you angry with? Be sure to articulate, as difficult as that task may be, that you are mad at everyone who has tried to bring some sense of order to our once great democracy. How well you express your lunacy will get you the support of your fellow travelers who have loosely organized themselves into something called The Tea Party.
2. Secondly, you must swear on the Bible ( be sure it's the Bible and not the Koran) that you have not read a book in the last decade other than Sarah Palin's. Accomplishing that will get you noted as a Palinista if you really can stomach the notoriety.
3. Thirdly, and this is very important, you must learn how to put words together which will convince everyone that you are a complete idiot. The idea is to come across as stupid since many believe that only the stupid are immune from corruption. The fact that this is not true should not bother you. If elected you can find a mentor to show you the ropes.
4. Fourthly and last be very, very careful that you do not take a position on issues other than to keep repeating in an angry voice that you are against big government, taxes and immigration. You must not fall into the trap of having to defend your position. Doing so will lose you the support of The Tea Party and the Palinistas.

   At the onset, I indicated that only one thing stands in the way of this winning formula. Money! If you're a billionaire you are in good shape, providing you did not steal the money. The latter is true only if you left a paper trail. If you didn't, your opponent will become a pauper trying to prove that you are no better than a thief. If you spent your last million, your only out is to come up with a sugar daddy and be prepared to get fucked - that's what sugar daddy's do. Don't look to The Tea Party or Palinistas for monetary support, they are merely cheerleaders.

Hopefully the electorate will see through this winning formula and send the bastards who adopt it packing, but I wouldn't bet on it.