Saturday, December 24, 2016
A Christmas Wish on the Highway to Hell
So Alex Baldwin has offered to sing Highway to Hell at Trump's inauguration. Plea to The Donald - ACCEPT THIS OFFER!!! I cannot imagine a better way to make the Greatest Inauguration Ever even better. The table-turning aspects of the acceptance of the this entreaty would be mind-numbing. Two suggestions - (i) do it early in the celebration in case the idea goes awry and (ii) have careful control over the mike so that if/when Alec tries to proselytize he can be silenced. Blood in the sky, baby; blood in the streets - for those about to rock, we salute you!! Merry Christmas, all . . .
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Marco's Revenge and the Race to the Bottom
I guess it's a familiar refrain for me, but - are we kidding?!? So we're now poised to lose as a State Department nominee one of the most capable people in the entire world. President of the Boys Scouts. Leader of one of the most incredible companies ever. A man of incontrovertible class and ethics.
Over what? Over the fact that he has an excellent relationship with one of the three most significant world powers on the global stage? Yet again, we have these people, including Republicans like Marco Rubio, believing that, somehow, what's best for the leadership of this country, is a situation where the people running it have no real-world experiences, and no real-world successes. No, we don't want to have people running this apparatus who have massively succeeded in this world. We would rather have people that the world has never rewarded with anything other than a political job.
All of which is consistent with this Shaming of Success that we've seen ever since Mitt Romney ran for President. Somehow, being a world-beater has become bad. We're seeing it again now, with complaints about a Cabinet of Billionaires. Do you know how people become billionaires? They're really really really (really!) good at what they do. The thought of having this country run, for the very first time, by the Best and the Brightest should be something that we all embrace. Why is government run so poorly? Maybe it's because governmental jobs don't pay much and - no offense - maybe the world's most capable people don't actively gravitate to the least paying jobs. Maybe.
We've recently seen people who are enormously successful take on government roles. Mayor Bloomberg is an example. President Trump is another one. And now we have a collection of successes willing to serve in the Cabinet. Not only is this not a bad thing; it's an absolutely terrific thing. A thing to be treasured. Disdaining success is nothing short of surreal. A race to the bottom is one thing. Here we have a downright contest for incompetence.
It's time to stop looking a gift horse in the mouth. If it's being suggested that Tillerson will sell us down the river to his buddies, the Russians, well, then, I'll suggest that the suggestion is plainly moronic. If it's being suggested that he will conduct himself in a way that's intended to enhance his own personal finances, well, then, I'll suggest that the suggestion is downright insulting. Contentions like these show the naïveté and immaturity of politicians who see the world through only the prism of their own life experiences. After all, if they are running the country without even a hint of experiences that might actually amount to anything, then it must be the case that anyone with valuable experiences is to be cast aside, right? Amazing.
So just like we got Scalia after we rejected Bork, let's see what we get after we reject Tillerson. Bolton? Giuliani? Be careful for what you wish, oh Naysayers.
Maybe I haven't made clear how I really feel. But I tried.
Happy Holidays! (Indeed, Merry Christmas!)
Over what? Over the fact that he has an excellent relationship with one of the three most significant world powers on the global stage? Yet again, we have these people, including Republicans like Marco Rubio, believing that, somehow, what's best for the leadership of this country, is a situation where the people running it have no real-world experiences, and no real-world successes. No, we don't want to have people running this apparatus who have massively succeeded in this world. We would rather have people that the world has never rewarded with anything other than a political job.
All of which is consistent with this Shaming of Success that we've seen ever since Mitt Romney ran for President. Somehow, being a world-beater has become bad. We're seeing it again now, with complaints about a Cabinet of Billionaires. Do you know how people become billionaires? They're really really really (really!) good at what they do. The thought of having this country run, for the very first time, by the Best and the Brightest should be something that we all embrace. Why is government run so poorly? Maybe it's because governmental jobs don't pay much and - no offense - maybe the world's most capable people don't actively gravitate to the least paying jobs. Maybe.
We've recently seen people who are enormously successful take on government roles. Mayor Bloomberg is an example. President Trump is another one. And now we have a collection of successes willing to serve in the Cabinet. Not only is this not a bad thing; it's an absolutely terrific thing. A thing to be treasured. Disdaining success is nothing short of surreal. A race to the bottom is one thing. Here we have a downright contest for incompetence.
It's time to stop looking a gift horse in the mouth. If it's being suggested that Tillerson will sell us down the river to his buddies, the Russians, well, then, I'll suggest that the suggestion is plainly moronic. If it's being suggested that he will conduct himself in a way that's intended to enhance his own personal finances, well, then, I'll suggest that the suggestion is downright insulting. Contentions like these show the naïveté and immaturity of politicians who see the world through only the prism of their own life experiences. After all, if they are running the country without even a hint of experiences that might actually amount to anything, then it must be the case that anyone with valuable experiences is to be cast aside, right? Amazing.
So just like we got Scalia after we rejected Bork, let's see what we get after we reject Tillerson. Bolton? Giuliani? Be careful for what you wish, oh Naysayers.
Maybe I haven't made clear how I really feel. But I tried.
Happy Holidays! (Indeed, Merry Christmas!)
Friday, December 9, 2016
You Lost
OK, listen, here it is - you lost. Let's go through some of this -
- Pruitt for EPA. He feels that the EPA has overreached. Shocking. Someone who believes is lesser (more balanced?) environmental regulation has been proposed for appointment by a Republican president-elect. Not a member of the vaunted and undoubtedly to-be worshiped Green Party? Shocking. Hard to believe. Oh, that's right, I forgot . . . Hillary didn't win.
- Sessions for attorney general. He has a long and distinguished career, but does not believe that chasing down every racial, ethnic and behavioral identifying characteristic is necessarily a sacrosanct endeavor. A conservative early supporter of the Republican president-elect has been proposed for appointment. Not Eric Holder for a return tour? All of this is shocking. Hard to believe. Oh, that's right, I forgot . . . Hillary didn't win.
- Flynn for NSA. A man who believes that the Muslim approach is more political than religious. And believes that the credo is dangerous. (Can we get a cogent and staid debate on points of view along those lines, please?) Should the NSA have been someone who's afraid to utter the words, "radical Islamic terrorism"? All of this is shocking. Hard to believe. Oh, that's right, I forgot . . . Hillary didn't win.
- Pudzer for Labor. He's against an increase in the minimum wage, as are many people not registered as Democrats. He's against other employee protections that, while well-intentioned, may well wind up hurting businesses and therefore employees. And he likes advertisements with pretty girls. Not Michael Moore? All of this is shocking. Hard to believe. Oh, that's right, I forgot . . . Hillary didn't win.
- Etc., etc., etc.
And frankly it's not merely that Hillary didn't win. The down-ballot Democrats got wiped out. Republicans trounced in the governors' mansions and state legislatures. And Hillary won only a microscopic number of counties across this Great Land, if you look at the county-by-county electoral map.
I guess I'm starting to understand the so-fun-to-watch weeping and crying of ever so many Hillary supporters on The Day After. They were at the early stages of understanding that their Team maybe just might not make it into positions from which they could govern. Then I guess they forgot or refused to accept or whatever, and so react with shock and amazement as every appointment incomprehensively turns away from their failed agenda. As Capt. Louis Renault said as he entered the casino, "I am shocked - shocked - to find that gambling is going on here."
It's all getting really old. And it may well even start to cost them yet more votes and more seats. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to start getting just a little constructive. Get over it, folks; you lost.
- Pruitt for EPA. He feels that the EPA has overreached. Shocking. Someone who believes is lesser (more balanced?) environmental regulation has been proposed for appointment by a Republican president-elect. Not a member of the vaunted and undoubtedly to-be worshiped Green Party? Shocking. Hard to believe. Oh, that's right, I forgot . . . Hillary didn't win.
- Sessions for attorney general. He has a long and distinguished career, but does not believe that chasing down every racial, ethnic and behavioral identifying characteristic is necessarily a sacrosanct endeavor. A conservative early supporter of the Republican president-elect has been proposed for appointment. Not Eric Holder for a return tour? All of this is shocking. Hard to believe. Oh, that's right, I forgot . . . Hillary didn't win.
- Flynn for NSA. A man who believes that the Muslim approach is more political than religious. And believes that the credo is dangerous. (Can we get a cogent and staid debate on points of view along those lines, please?) Should the NSA have been someone who's afraid to utter the words, "radical Islamic terrorism"? All of this is shocking. Hard to believe. Oh, that's right, I forgot . . . Hillary didn't win.
- Pudzer for Labor. He's against an increase in the minimum wage, as are many people not registered as Democrats. He's against other employee protections that, while well-intentioned, may well wind up hurting businesses and therefore employees. And he likes advertisements with pretty girls. Not Michael Moore? All of this is shocking. Hard to believe. Oh, that's right, I forgot . . . Hillary didn't win.
- Etc., etc., etc.
And frankly it's not merely that Hillary didn't win. The down-ballot Democrats got wiped out. Republicans trounced in the governors' mansions and state legislatures. And Hillary won only a microscopic number of counties across this Great Land, if you look at the county-by-county electoral map.
I guess I'm starting to understand the so-fun-to-watch weeping and crying of ever so many Hillary supporters on The Day After. They were at the early stages of understanding that their Team maybe just might not make it into positions from which they could govern. Then I guess they forgot or refused to accept or whatever, and so react with shock and amazement as every appointment incomprehensively turns away from their failed agenda. As Capt. Louis Renault said as he entered the casino, "I am shocked - shocked - to find that gambling is going on here."
It's all getting really old. And it may well even start to cost them yet more votes and more seats. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to start getting just a little constructive. Get over it, folks; you lost.
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