Sometimes I have way too much time on my hands, ok well, all of the time. You may ask, HallDad, if you have so much time on your hands, why don't you update MitCoBL more? Well, because I'm usually looking at sites like this. Occaisionally, however, it pays off. Like today, I stuble across this gem:

How true. How deliciously true. [Cheshire cat grin]

So by now none of you wants to hear more about the economy, but I heard this interesting tidbit on NPR today.

The state of Kansas is not issuing any income tax refund checks this year, due to budget issues. Not great news, but it makes sense, considering. More alarming, however, is the fact that state employees have been notified that there is a good chance that their paychecks will not be delivered this Friday, because the state can't afford to pay them. That's right, Kansas is so insolvent that they can't afford to pay their employees for work they have already done.

But remember, tax cuts that deprive governments of funding are the only way to get out of this economic mess. HA!

So, after watching his performance today in Indiana and then his presser later tonight, I'm thinking that President Obama should take his show on the road. Hear me out on this one:

- He is clearly at his best when in campaign mode. The daily travelling, the public speaking, really getting his message to the people allows him to spread his message in a meaningful and real way, especially to those who probably don't spend their days flipping back and forth between MSNBC and CNN (like I do).

- Air Force One has a spacious and high-tech office, one which has been used in emergency situations, i.e. 9/11, to run the country. Why not take full advantage? And while we're on the subject, our President has managed to secure himself a Blackberry, let him use it.

- It even might be good for the country to see him out there, sleeves rolled up, doing his work. It would be good for everyone, so why not?

Thoughts?

Sorry I haven't posted lately, things have been heating up on the job search front. Without revealing too much (because a. I don't want to jinx myself and b. I'm not sure how much I should say) it looks like I will soon be sliding into position on a Senate campaign out in the Midwest, with the help of a big-time Philly political consultant/fund-raiser. From there, once my guy gets elected (because if he gets through his primary, there's no way he'd lose), I'll hopefully end up on a Senate staff in DC.

Fingers firmly crossed, wish me luck.

We’re live from my living room on this Tuesday January 20, 2009 for the Inauguration of our 44th President Barack Hussein Obama! Let’s get right to it:

9:45 am: Vice Presidential wives make their way to the limos, followed soon after by the Vice Presidents. Cheney in a wheelchair? I know he supposedly hurt himself, but you just can’t make pure evil look any more sympathetic. Good try though, Dick.

9:47 am: Presidential wives make their way to their limo… Michelle looking her best as usual. And here are our President and President-Elect! And we’re only 5 minutes behind schedule. Excellent. How awkward will this limo ride be? As much as I would like to be in DC for this, I wouldn’t want to be in that particular spot for the next few minutes.

11:00 am: The President and President-Elect arrive at the Capitol. The Supreme Court, other dignitaries and former Presidents arriving… and George H.W. Bush looks OLD. And a cane? This man still jumps out of airplanes for God’s sake! Though the purple scarves he and Barbara are sporting are a very nice, if subtle, political gesture.

11:25 am: Still waiting for the guests of honor…

11:30 am: Wow, people are actually booing shots of W showing on the jumbotrons, which drowns out the introduction of Michelle Obama. Surprisingly bad form.

11:34 am: Current President, VP and Republican leadership get a lukewarm greeting (I’m being generous)… Bush looks lost up there, like he really just does not want to be there.

11:36 am: VP-Elect Biden arrives with the Democratic leadership to a roaring ovation. As expected. No Nancy Pelosi though… Weird.

11:37 am: And there’s Nancy! Walking ahead of the President-Elect, along with the Senate and House Sergeant at Arms and the Senate Majority Leader, and House Minority Leader. Interesting combo.

11:41 am: Obama arrives to enormous cheers, with the whole crowd waving these small American flags that were given out. What an incredible site. Thankfully our MSNBC commentators deemed his arrival an appropriate time to stay silent.

11:44 am: Diane Feinstein pontificates for a little while here, talking about America’s struggle against racism… Now, it might just be me, but the media has been all over this since Election Day, I think we get how historical it is.

11:46 am: Rick Warren delivers our invocation… Very emotional and not really as bad as many people thought. Not that his prejudices or bigotry should be overlooked, but he was good today.

11:51 am: ARETHA! (Singing My Country Tis of Thee)

11:55 am: Associate Justice John Paul Stevens is brought to the podium to swear-in VP-Elect Joe Biden.

11:56 am: Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is now our Vice President.

11:58 am: YO-YO MA! (and others) for another musical interlude, arranged by the same man who brought you the Imperial March and all other Star Wars music, John Williams.

12:02 pm: Senator Feinstein introduces Chief Justice Roberts to swear in Barack Obama as our 44th President.

12:03 pm: “I Barack Hussein Obama do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God."

12:04 pm: After a bit of a rocky oath, we have a new President… And I couldn’t be more pleased. 21 gun salute in the background… crazy. On to the speech.

12:26 pm: President Obama finishes up a tight, 21 minute speech, and it was a homerun. A call to service and responsibility that addressed a lot of our current issues, with a smattering of Washington and Lincoln to go right along. Some highlights:

“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”- So much for your big-government big-spending Democrat, right? While I’m sure there will be massive amounts of money spent, he is making a pledge of responsibility that has been absent for so long.

Perhaps my favorite section of the speech: “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.”- Want to talk about a direct repudiation of the behavior of the last eight years? Especially amazing considering the fact that Bush was sitting just a few feet away. It was fulfilling to hear President Obama say that, that which, sadly, needed to be said.

To conclude, with the President’s words: “What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.”

Been thinking about starting a new blog for some fiction I'm working on. If anyone who happens to read this has an opinion, let me know. I need a little encouragement to make this happen.

Funny thing, this recession, it even makes socialists compromise their values. Case in point, Hugo Chavez is now allowing Western oil companies, such as Chevron and Shell to bid on oil contracts. Apparently the nationalized oil company in Venezuela is no longer enough to pay the bills, in the face of declining oil prices, but Chavez looks at this as "losing a battle to win the war." Now, I find his new found dependence on the West highly comical, as even though America remains firmly reliant on oil, especially foreign oil, the Obama administration seems quite committed to breaking said reliance.

At his confirmation hearings Tuesday, Secretary of Energy-designate Dr. Steven Chu stated his commitment to nuclear energy, clean coal and alternative fuels. The debate about the safety of nuclear energy, or the very existence of clean coal is highly relevant, but the fact that a high-level appointee seems committed to actual change in energy policy is very promising. Chu even goes as far as to suggest recycling of spent nuclear material as a possible renewable fuel source. He said “We will work very hard to bring up technologies as quickly as possible, but I do think the best thing we can do is work on energy efficiency…that remains lowest-hanging fruit at this time.” Quite creative to say the least, not to mention how potentially damaging this is to a very antagonistic, anti-American regime, such as Venezuela.


On an unrelated political note, there are a handful of recent articles relating to the future of the Republican Party, or lack thereof, that I found particularly interesting. In a WSJ article, former GOP chairman Haley Barbour suggests that the Republican Party must rebuild from the bottom up. He suggests that the GOP build itself up from strong local- and state-level organizations, and get back to its roots as a small-government, tax cutting, cost-reducing party; the GOP of Reagan, while simultaneously catching up to the Democrats in the areas of Internet fundraising and grassroots infrastructure support. While this is clearly a strong idea, there is little to suggest that this is probable, or even possible in the next eight years.

In order to get more mainstream, the GOP must stop fracturing itself at every turn. As the article points out, moderate conservatives in the Northeast are particularly important to this process, but are precisely the type of conservatives that the GOP rejects on a regular basis. They are "too liberal" for the Republicans to tolerate, and highlight the main flaw in the party, the fact that it is actually two different parties, a fiscally conservative party, and a socially conservative party. It would be advantageous to reconcile these two factions, but it will be increasingly difficult, especially when faced with a bevy of young, likable Democratic candidates waiting in the wings.

It would also be advantageous for the GOP if they could get their house in order, and fast. Now, while the plan is sound, no one has apparently informed the state level Republicans. In Tennessee, the GOP regained a majority in House and Senate simultaneously for the first time since Reconstruction. While this is good news, the newly elected Speaker of the House gained his position only by making a deal with Democrats to get elected (the full body elects the Speaker, not just the controlling party). This deal went against a pledge every Republican representative made to vote for another rep for Speaker. Now, the control of the House is unchanged, but how powerful can the Tennessee GOP be if they can't even control a lowly state representative?

In the above WSJ article, it is pointed out that politicians like Sarah Palin are essential to the rebirth of the GOP. This must be music to Democratic ears, well, mine anyway. For whatever reason, Palin continues her crusade against the media and their supposed unfair practices. While she certainly got more than her fair share of attention during the campaign, she was a novelty, and did little to either improve her standing, or help herself look better at any point. The only action she could take was to blame others and name call in the aftermath of a drubbing at the polls. She is precisely the kind of Republican that the GOP does not need; divisive, anti-media and loosely associated with the truth. To be frank, she's my favorite Republican. She can't help but to put her foot in her mouth at every turn, all for the sake of staying in the news and attempting to maintain political legitimacy. I don't believe that the GOP can move on with her in the picture and I also believe that many in the Republican Party know that, but can't stop her from damaging the party's standing further. Good luck to the GOP in figuring out their own mess, but it seems to me that their hole gets deeper by the day.

P.S.- I'll not be discussing Bush's speech tonight, that aired as I was typing this post. It was too far detached from reality to merit a post. Sorry to anyone who was interested. I'll liveblog the Inauguration to make up for it.