Holding Pattern
I haven't really felt any better since the last time I wrote. It feels like there is an insurmountable weight upon my shoulders, keeping me from what I must do.
I've procrastinated for just about everything of note recently: work, housework, this blog, my other blog, all kinds of other routine things. Video games, even.
I'm not even following sports with the same fervor. Granted, the Eagles suck, the Cavs are still in a rebuilding phase, and the other sports are either in limbo or out-of-season.
Though, my Eagles fandom, and the endless disappointment it has brought me is sort of reminding me of another upcoming event I'm lightweight dreading... [...the end of election season.]
...the end of election season.
Since I've been here, I've had something to say about every one of note. In 2004, I was filled with rage as this country granted an absolute inept, corrupt, and embarrassing president in George W. Bush a second term. I wrote about it here. It was largely a disaster and a mess, particularly for the economy -- effects that are still being felt today.
In 2006, I was somewhat encouraged to see that people sent Bush a well-deserved middle finger in the midterms. It gave my state of residence (Ohio) a great Senator in Sherrod Brown, breaking up the rubber-stamping in Congress.
In 2008, I was elated to see that the disaster of Bush was followed with a welcomed breath of fresh air in the Obama/Biden ticket. I had a lot to say leading up to the day, but little to say afterward.
Here we are in 2012. The numbers, crunched by math nerds like Nate Silver, all but predict an Obama win, and wins for some of the Senate seats I want to see either defended or flipped. The conservative media already has their plea-cops ready. Rumblings on one side of the Romney/Ryan ticket show their first signs of doom and gloom. Rupert "Prime Evil" Murdoch is throttling New Jersey governor Chris Christie for being too "cooperative" toward the President during a time of disaster. Early vote numbers in battleground states are very encouraging.
So why I can't I relax? This whole thing smells of 2004. Even though Obama's numbers are more or less the same as Bush's at the same point in the game, which should bode well... there's a whole lot of fuckery to go around. In battleground states needed for an Obama win, including my own of Ohio, the people in charge of elections, are all doing their damndest to keep people from voting. If I ever see Secretary of State Jon Husted, who has been smacked down at the U.S. Supreme Court even for his efforts in suppressing the vote, I just might punch him right in the face. The same goes for Florida Governor Rick Scott (who apparently is not popular at all in Florida, even).
I haven't written much about him, because really, all there is to say, is out there on the Internet -- but Mitt Romney sucks. There are times where I think that he sucks even more than Sarah Palin. This guy has been a chameleon from day 1 of the campaign, changing the script to whatever fits the moment. He hasn't just stretched and soundbitten the facts as is par for the course in American politics, he has outright lied repeatedly. Most heinous of them all was the claim that Jeep products destined for the United States would be built in China, a lie that actually prompted the CEO of Chrysler to speak up publicly. Similar lies were spoken about GM, to which their CEO responded. These lies were the basis of ads in Ohio, a state that stood to benefit from the auto rescue, and these companies in particular.
This is before you even get to comments Romney made regarding the 47% of the country that pay no income tax, and therefore are supposedly predisposed to vote for Pres. Obama. In any other country on Earth, speaking those words would mean that you'd throw in the towel long before it was over. But in America, where half of the country has been driven in one direction, and the other pulled in another... it's perfectly acceptable. This is before you get to Romney holding campaign events masquerading as "storm relief rallies", in which his campaign purchases $5000 worth of supplies from a local Wal-Mart, to use as props for the attendees to take place in a photo op meant to show Romney's charitable side. Never mind this was also the same guy who used a now-illegal charity trust loophole through his church to dodge taxes for 15 years.
There are numerous things I could write about Romney and why he sucks here, but I'll abstain. I'd like to focus on his opponent, Pres. Obama -- who has certainly not been ideal or perfect in his position. I feel he should have been tougher on the banks and investment firms sent our economy into the toilet, that he should have been more punitive toward those who had abused the trust of the people who had elected them in the administration prior, that he should NOT have continued the things that sucked from the administration prior (particularly keeping GTMO open, expanding executive power, and punishing whistleblowers that should be immune).
However, he has commandeered his post with a maturity I had almost forgotten was possible, given those who have sat in that chair in my lifetime. His prompt response to Hurricane Sandy's devastation to New Jersey and New York, was the antithesis of Bush's handling of such affairs. His steely resolve in the face of a brand of disrespect that goes beyond the typical given a partisan politician defies description -- and as for the things he's done in office, ending the Iraq War, setting the table for the end of the war in Afghanistan, and injecting a little bit of sanity into the joke that is the American healthcare system (to the absolute hysteria of his political foes). That alone, plus the gradual positive signs that the economy may be rebounding from the Bush Tax Cut Bomb, is reason enough to give him more time to push the ball along.
Yet, when it comes to politics, rational thought just doesn't always enter the equation. People have gotten absolutely insane since Obama was elected, not that it was anything I didn't expect. 2010 brought a wave of big money, conservative upstart entities into the system that seemed more petulant than anything else. The Republicans in Congress turned into an equally petulant roadblock to not only progress, but business as usual in Washington. Yet, even those who endorse Pres. Obama backhandedly for re-election (including my local paper, the Plain Dealer) tend to smooth over this fact, accusing him of not being "bi-partisan" enough -- when people like me have been complaining that he's being too accomodating to a group that is hostile to him.
I've seen numerous cases of businesses threatening their employees' jobs should they not vote against Pres. Obama on Tuesday. I've seen too much bullshit from other businesses whining about healthcare reform, passing the costs of their products onto the users. All this hostility that should have arisen after 2004, but was pigeonholed in the cage of despised "liberalism", much like the valid calls from many for the President to end his continuation of Bush-era foreign policy and civil liberties abuses.
Many Republicans (of the Tea Party strain) have made their disdain for women very clear -- there's been more cringeworthy talk about rape from candidates than you would get in a WeeklyTubeShow "Rapeman" parody, yet the latter seems much more palatable (and actually funny). Romney and others have made it clear that they wish to continue tax cuts and loopholes for the most wealthy among us, yet pretend to "reduce" the national deficit, without finding a way to increase revenue otherwise -- but somehow making sure all of those New Deal and Great Society programs that their neocon Gods and billionaire masters despise get the axe.
Even if you're of a conservative mind, all of these things that mainstream members of the [G]ang [O]f [P]rivilege are pushing nowadays has to read and sound like insanity. There should be no way that these people even win a seat as county dogcatcher, much less Representative, Senator, or President. The moderate (i.e. sane and cognizant of the world we live in) element of the party is being pushed out at an alarming rate.
The states are already starting to be infested with this extremism to the buyer's remorse of many who had voted for them. If Washington returns to a 100% GOP stronghold, with the power to replace the retiring members of the Supreme Court with more of the same as found under Bush? We might end up looking like Greece in a decade or so.
It's clean up time. The choice is obvious, yet I know there are enough to break this whole thing up, to deliver that familiar gutpunch that hits me every football season as an Eagle fan.
I really hate that "we" have to work 2x as hard just to get a baby step forward through the muck that is the political system -- even though the facts and everything else seem to be on our side. That we are the despised minority, and not the perennial incumbent. It's been nice for the last 4 years, not to have to deal with a circus surrounding the White House -- whether it be swooping down to a hospital to keep a woman on life support, throwing up at dinner with an ambassador, or our Commander In Chief playing "hide the cigar" with a female intern.
It really would be nice to have THIS be the default, from which we at the bottom could spur and suggest change the way that it's supposed to be. We know we're not gonna get it from the buttmunches in the red coats anytime soon.
And with that, I go into a week of work, dreading it, hoping that Tuesday ends as I wish it to. I'll even sacrifice an Eagle win (not that I'm expecting one) tomorrow, for the wins we need the day after.
Signing off,
Dr. Claw
I've procrastinated for just about everything of note recently: work, housework, this blog, my other blog, all kinds of other routine things. Video games, even.
I'm not even following sports with the same fervor. Granted, the Eagles suck, the Cavs are still in a rebuilding phase, and the other sports are either in limbo or out-of-season.
Though, my Eagles fandom, and the endless disappointment it has brought me is sort of reminding me of another upcoming event I'm lightweight dreading... [...the end of election season.]
...the end of election season.
Since I've been here, I've had something to say about every one of note. In 2004, I was filled with rage as this country granted an absolute inept, corrupt, and embarrassing president in George W. Bush a second term. I wrote about it here. It was largely a disaster and a mess, particularly for the economy -- effects that are still being felt today.
In 2006, I was somewhat encouraged to see that people sent Bush a well-deserved middle finger in the midterms. It gave my state of residence (Ohio) a great Senator in Sherrod Brown, breaking up the rubber-stamping in Congress.
In 2008, I was elated to see that the disaster of Bush was followed with a welcomed breath of fresh air in the Obama/Biden ticket. I had a lot to say leading up to the day, but little to say afterward.
Here we are in 2012. The numbers, crunched by math nerds like Nate Silver, all but predict an Obama win, and wins for some of the Senate seats I want to see either defended or flipped. The conservative media already has their plea-cops ready. Rumblings on one side of the Romney/Ryan ticket show their first signs of doom and gloom. Rupert "Prime Evil" Murdoch is throttling New Jersey governor Chris Christie for being too "cooperative" toward the President during a time of disaster. Early vote numbers in battleground states are very encouraging.
So why I can't I relax? This whole thing smells of 2004. Even though Obama's numbers are more or less the same as Bush's at the same point in the game, which should bode well... there's a whole lot of fuckery to go around. In battleground states needed for an Obama win, including my own of Ohio, the people in charge of elections, are all doing their damndest to keep people from voting. If I ever see Secretary of State Jon Husted, who has been smacked down at the U.S. Supreme Court even for his efforts in suppressing the vote, I just might punch him right in the face. The same goes for Florida Governor Rick Scott (who apparently is not popular at all in Florida, even).
I haven't written much about him, because really, all there is to say, is out there on the Internet -- but Mitt Romney sucks. There are times where I think that he sucks even more than Sarah Palin. This guy has been a chameleon from day 1 of the campaign, changing the script to whatever fits the moment. He hasn't just stretched and soundbitten the facts as is par for the course in American politics, he has outright lied repeatedly. Most heinous of them all was the claim that Jeep products destined for the United States would be built in China, a lie that actually prompted the CEO of Chrysler to speak up publicly. Similar lies were spoken about GM, to which their CEO responded. These lies were the basis of ads in Ohio, a state that stood to benefit from the auto rescue, and these companies in particular.
This is before you even get to comments Romney made regarding the 47% of the country that pay no income tax, and therefore are supposedly predisposed to vote for Pres. Obama. In any other country on Earth, speaking those words would mean that you'd throw in the towel long before it was over. But in America, where half of the country has been driven in one direction, and the other pulled in another... it's perfectly acceptable. This is before you get to Romney holding campaign events masquerading as "storm relief rallies", in which his campaign purchases $5000 worth of supplies from a local Wal-Mart, to use as props for the attendees to take place in a photo op meant to show Romney's charitable side. Never mind this was also the same guy who used a now-illegal charity trust loophole through his church to dodge taxes for 15 years.
There are numerous things I could write about Romney and why he sucks here, but I'll abstain. I'd like to focus on his opponent, Pres. Obama -- who has certainly not been ideal or perfect in his position. I feel he should have been tougher on the banks and investment firms sent our economy into the toilet, that he should have been more punitive toward those who had abused the trust of the people who had elected them in the administration prior, that he should NOT have continued the things that sucked from the administration prior (particularly keeping GTMO open, expanding executive power, and punishing whistleblowers that should be immune).
However, he has commandeered his post with a maturity I had almost forgotten was possible, given those who have sat in that chair in my lifetime. His prompt response to Hurricane Sandy's devastation to New Jersey and New York, was the antithesis of Bush's handling of such affairs. His steely resolve in the face of a brand of disrespect that goes beyond the typical given a partisan politician defies description -- and as for the things he's done in office, ending the Iraq War, setting the table for the end of the war in Afghanistan, and injecting a little bit of sanity into the joke that is the American healthcare system (to the absolute hysteria of his political foes). That alone, plus the gradual positive signs that the economy may be rebounding from the Bush Tax Cut Bomb, is reason enough to give him more time to push the ball along.
Yet, when it comes to politics, rational thought just doesn't always enter the equation. People have gotten absolutely insane since Obama was elected, not that it was anything I didn't expect. 2010 brought a wave of big money, conservative upstart entities into the system that seemed more petulant than anything else. The Republicans in Congress turned into an equally petulant roadblock to not only progress, but business as usual in Washington. Yet, even those who endorse Pres. Obama backhandedly for re-election (including my local paper, the Plain Dealer) tend to smooth over this fact, accusing him of not being "bi-partisan" enough -- when people like me have been complaining that he's being too accomodating to a group that is hostile to him.
I've seen numerous cases of businesses threatening their employees' jobs should they not vote against Pres. Obama on Tuesday. I've seen too much bullshit from other businesses whining about healthcare reform, passing the costs of their products onto the users. All this hostility that should have arisen after 2004, but was pigeonholed in the cage of despised "liberalism", much like the valid calls from many for the President to end his continuation of Bush-era foreign policy and civil liberties abuses.
Many Republicans (of the Tea Party strain) have made their disdain for women very clear -- there's been more cringeworthy talk about rape from candidates than you would get in a WeeklyTubeShow "Rapeman" parody, yet the latter seems much more palatable (and actually funny). Romney and others have made it clear that they wish to continue tax cuts and loopholes for the most wealthy among us, yet pretend to "reduce" the national deficit, without finding a way to increase revenue otherwise -- but somehow making sure all of those New Deal and Great Society programs that their neocon Gods and billionaire masters despise get the axe.
Even if you're of a conservative mind, all of these things that mainstream members of the [G]ang [O]f [P]rivilege are pushing nowadays has to read and sound like insanity. There should be no way that these people even win a seat as county dogcatcher, much less Representative, Senator, or President. The moderate (i.e. sane and cognizant of the world we live in) element of the party is being pushed out at an alarming rate.
The states are already starting to be infested with this extremism to the buyer's remorse of many who had voted for them. If Washington returns to a 100% GOP stronghold, with the power to replace the retiring members of the Supreme Court with more of the same as found under Bush? We might end up looking like Greece in a decade or so.
It's clean up time. The choice is obvious, yet I know there are enough to break this whole thing up, to deliver that familiar gutpunch that hits me every football season as an Eagle fan.
I really hate that "we" have to work 2x as hard just to get a baby step forward through the muck that is the political system -- even though the facts and everything else seem to be on our side. That we are the despised minority, and not the perennial incumbent. It's been nice for the last 4 years, not to have to deal with a circus surrounding the White House -- whether it be swooping down to a hospital to keep a woman on life support, throwing up at dinner with an ambassador, or our Commander In Chief playing "hide the cigar" with a female intern.
It really would be nice to have THIS be the default, from which we at the bottom could spur and suggest change the way that it's supposed to be. We know we're not gonna get it from the buttmunches in the red coats anytime soon.
And with that, I go into a week of work, dreading it, hoping that Tuesday ends as I wish it to. I'll even sacrifice an Eagle win (not that I'm expecting one) tomorrow, for the wins we need the day after.
Signing off,
Dr. Claw