Upon hearing that Obama had picked up his phone and had contacted a number of leading Republican congressional leaders regarding the immigration bill being worked on in the Congress, I said to my better half, "Why that stupid, son-of-a-bitch."
"There you go again," she replied, "You're a hater. You just hate Obama."
Was I a hater? Perhaps my words were ill chosen. Perhaps, I should have said, "Why that devious Machiavellian politician." But, "stupid, son-of-a-bitch" slides more easily over the lips.
"But, dear, you're always saying Obama never reaches out to the Republicans. Isn't this what you're always saying he should be doing?" asked my better half.
"Look, if he had phoned the leading congressional Republicans to discuss the budget, I would be applauding him. It's what he should have done a long time ago. But better late than never.
"But, that's not what he did. Calling about the immigration bill is something very different. Immigration is world's apart from a budget bill, " I tried to explain. "In the case of immigration, we have a congressional panel of Democrats and Republicans hard at work crafting a bill which will address the problem of illegal immigrants. For Obama to stick his two cents into that issue can only muddy up the waters. Indeed, at worst, it might derail the entire process.
"But, he doesn't care. He's all about himself. Screw the illegals. Screw the Republicans. Will this move polish the image of Obama? That's what it's all about," I explained.
"You just don't like the man. You're a hater," replied my better half.
"Let me try to explain, dear. Just yesterday, driving south on Jog, I came to the corner where it crosses Atlantic. There are five lanes. Two left-lanes had been created for cars wanting to turn left. However, the cars in those lanes had to wait for a green arrow. The three lanes, to the right, were for cars going straight.
"The light turns green for the cars going straight. The cars turning left had to wait until their red arrows turned green. But what happens! Of the three lanes that should be moving forward, only the two furthest on the right move. Our lane, the one closest to the turning lanes, does not.
"It seems that a car in our lane has decided that he too wants to make a left turn. He cares not at all that the lane he's in should be moving forward. He's decided he's going to wait until the green arrow intended for the turn lanes turn green. And, so there we sit, unable to proceed until this car gets to make his illegal turn at such time as the left-turn arrows change to green.
"What this car should have done, of course, is to accept his being in the wrong lane, continue straight ahead, and then make a U-turn further down the road so as to get back to Atlantic and turn his car east," I explained.
"Did I hate this other driver, who, at the time, I referred to as a stupid, idiot? No, I have no idea who he was. What I found disagreeable was his behavior. It's the same with Obama. I don't hate him. I don't know him. But, his behavior is reprehensible."
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Meet The Press, or What I Learned Today
Meet The Press is a show I enjoy. David Gregory does a better than fair job. And, perhaps even more important are his guests and panelists. They tend to be balanced between people on the left and on the right.
The issues this morning were the economy, immigration policy, and the use of drones. David Gregory did a good job keeping the focus on the economy. What I found especially interesting was the difference between the politicians and the analysts. The politicians were Eric Cantor, Dick Durban, and one board member, the mayor of Atlanta. The analysts were two Republicans and a lady with a British accent who leaned liberal.
On the economy, Eric Cantor expressed the Republican position; namely, we need to cut spending and that Republicans have put bills on the table to do this. Democrats have done nothing. Dick Durban took the position that we can't do the spending cuts in one "lift." We have to bring in more revenue and then whittle away at spending bit by bit. Republicans call this kicking-the-can-down-the-road.
The fearsome word, "sequester", was raised. Obama created this concept to further intimidate the parties if they couldn't come to an agreement on the budget. The Dems describe sequestration as a nightmare -- cutting all budget items proportionately across the board -- something only Republicans would consider. Cantor agreed that sequestration would not be a good thing, but if it's the only way to cut spending and the Dems choose not to work with the Rep on something better, then so be it.
I've come to sympathize with Dick Durban. I have learned that he, as much as anyone else, is keenly aware that that spending must be cut. Nevertheless he has little choice but to hold aloft Obama's banner.
On immigration: The rightist analyst on Meet The Press said that the Congress was working on a bill to deal with this problem. Maybe they wouldn't deal with 100% of the problem, but they would begin with a major chunk of it. In light of the many Americans who are concerned that illegal immigrants are taking their jobs away, it's not an easy piece of legislation to get passed. However, the time is right and it looks quite favorable to getting a bill passed. The analyst had one major caveat; namely, if Obama remains on his soap box and continues waggling his finger at the Republicans, he makes it that much more difficult for Republicans, like Marco Rubio, to get the support needed for such legislation. It could kill any progress in the Congress. That might actually suit Obama, but it would very much hurt the interests of millions of illegal immigrants now in the U.S.
Drones: This is an issue which must be addressed by Congress in terms of safeguarding the American principal of checking the power of any one branch of our government. Setting up a suitable board to approve the decision to take out one of America's enemies would not seem a difficult thing to do. But, as far as using the drones to take out America's enemies -- the American people, as I see it, have no problem. And, if the enemy happens to be an American citizen, who has joined with our enemy, that's no problem either.
The issues this morning were the economy, immigration policy, and the use of drones. David Gregory did a good job keeping the focus on the economy. What I found especially interesting was the difference between the politicians and the analysts. The politicians were Eric Cantor, Dick Durban, and one board member, the mayor of Atlanta. The analysts were two Republicans and a lady with a British accent who leaned liberal.
On the economy, Eric Cantor expressed the Republican position; namely, we need to cut spending and that Republicans have put bills on the table to do this. Democrats have done nothing. Dick Durban took the position that we can't do the spending cuts in one "lift." We have to bring in more revenue and then whittle away at spending bit by bit. Republicans call this kicking-the-can-down-the-road.
The fearsome word, "sequester", was raised. Obama created this concept to further intimidate the parties if they couldn't come to an agreement on the budget. The Dems describe sequestration as a nightmare -- cutting all budget items proportionately across the board -- something only Republicans would consider. Cantor agreed that sequestration would not be a good thing, but if it's the only way to cut spending and the Dems choose not to work with the Rep on something better, then so be it.
I've come to sympathize with Dick Durban. I have learned that he, as much as anyone else, is keenly aware that that spending must be cut. Nevertheless he has little choice but to hold aloft Obama's banner.
On immigration: The rightist analyst on Meet The Press said that the Congress was working on a bill to deal with this problem. Maybe they wouldn't deal with 100% of the problem, but they would begin with a major chunk of it. In light of the many Americans who are concerned that illegal immigrants are taking their jobs away, it's not an easy piece of legislation to get passed. However, the time is right and it looks quite favorable to getting a bill passed. The analyst had one major caveat; namely, if Obama remains on his soap box and continues waggling his finger at the Republicans, he makes it that much more difficult for Republicans, like Marco Rubio, to get the support needed for such legislation. It could kill any progress in the Congress. That might actually suit Obama, but it would very much hurt the interests of millions of illegal immigrants now in the U.S.
Drones: This is an issue which must be addressed by Congress in terms of safeguarding the American principal of checking the power of any one branch of our government. Setting up a suitable board to approve the decision to take out one of America's enemies would not seem a difficult thing to do. But, as far as using the drones to take out America's enemies -- the American people, as I see it, have no problem. And, if the enemy happens to be an American citizen, who has joined with our enemy, that's no problem either.
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