Progressives and Progressivism

It's always a good thing to remember that "progress", in an egg, is what we call "rotting".

The Definition of 'Meaningless'

The NAACP's recently-passed resolution decrying 'tea party' racism is meaningless because, first and foremost, there IS NO 'tea party'.
"Tea Party" (capital letters) is a philosophy -- like, you know, Liberal, Conservative, Socialist, Communist -- not a political entity. Liberal, Conservative, Socialist and Communist movements also contain racists. Ask the DOJ's chief racist, Eric Holder (no, wait, don't ask him -- he doesn't recognize racism against anyone not black).
The 'tea party' movement is sick and tired of ever-more government, pure and simple! How hard is that to understand? Governments want ever more money. Bigger governments want even more than that! Governments who kill incentive to earn income and STILL demand more tax proceeds are tightening the noose around their own necks, as Greece, Spain, Portugal, et al, are discovering. The good 'ol U.S.A. is late to that table, but seemingly unabashed by its tardiness.
If a larger percentage of blacks than whites seem willing to accept government intrusion into heretofore private spheres, then I guess the 'racist' label applies -- accept it doesn't, if it's true!
Racism is the imputation of UNJUST stereotypes on groups based on racial or ethnic makeup. If the attitudes are borne out it's, well, description! For example, it's NOT unjust to call most of today's terrorism "Islamic Terror" if virtually all of its practitioners ARE radical Islamists!
Personally, I leave it to others to define the descriptions. But, the NAACP is NOT an impartial adjudicator.

The End of Histor(ical Memory)

Bill Clinton Back In White House...
...ostensibly to advise President Obama on economic policy.
I always chuckle at Bill Clinton's good luck, or maybe good politicking: he, at least, knew when to declare victory while losing, and take the credit!
The much-praised (-belabored?) Clinton budget surpluses resulted most directly from the GOP's 1994 electoral success and subsequent welfare reform -- which Clinton vetoed twice before succumbing to overwhelming numbers. The less-popular, and effective, leg of the '90s budget boom was significant (some would say "disastrous") cuts in defense spending.
So far, the only thing Obama has pretended to match is the defense reductions, at great cost to future preparedness (note the likely suspension in the near future of the C-17 heavy-lift aircraft production as an example). Unlike Clinton, he's spent like a drunken sailor (if only he were one, God bless 'em!, he'd know what they're good for) instead of accepting reduced spending (or, at least, reduced spending increases), which Clinton did.
If Obama REALLY wants to attend to Clinton's advice, here's what'll happen next month: the president will allow unused stimulus funds to pay for the extended unemployment (and other) benefits stalled in Congress; he'll suggest the means testing of future Social Security benefits via a regime than limits high-income individuals to the CPI, and 'castes' to increases equal to wage enhancements;...and a host of other budget cost-savings.
He won't, of course, because -- unlike Clinton -- Obama is more certain of his rectitude and less concerned about his reelection (that happens when you didn't expect to get elected in the first place, I guess). Most Americans think the president is wrong about what he's right about, and don't plan to reelect him, currently -- so we're talking (again) about assuaging Narcissism. Bill Clinton might have been/be a Hedonist, but he understood his Narcissistic limitations, and its non-attraction to others.
No need to expect smartest-man-in-the-world Obama to listen to a damn thing this (reputedly successful) impeached former president says, I'd think.

Maker's Mark 46

I got a taste of the new Maker's Mark 46 today, making its debut in Middle Tennessee. I liked it.
At 94 proof, it is only slightly more spirity than the standard, healthy 90-proof Maker's Mark. But, the somewhat longer aging and the inserted new-charred staves into the pre-dump barrels add a suggestion of oakiness to the finish -- which is the first time I've EVER mentioned "finish" in a positive light regarding MM.
I like standard Maker's, except for its too-dear pricing -- a la, Jack Daniel's (Jim Beam ownership seems to have detached the linked pricing to JD Maker's management used to insist upon), as far as it goes. But, it goes -- or ends, anyway -- without any sort of finish. It's just good-tasting, then over.
Is this the best thing since sliced bread, or Very Old Fitzgerald BIB 8yo? Nope. But, it IS the better thing in Maker's Mark's so-far, two-label stable.
At $34.99 retail locally, it's at the top of its reasonable price range, but not so exorbitant not to splurge on a bottle once in a while.

Was "The Greatest Generation's" Greatest Fault Its Progeny?

(NOTE: I AM a baby-boomer, mid-cycle. I was born in 1957 to a WWII North Africa and Europe veteran who won a unit bronze star driving in blackout conditions against the Nazis, a 'better day's work than I have ever done'. The latter quote is from one Christopher Hitchens, heretofore famed as a liberal-turned-(well!)-non-liberal on security matters, whose own father sank German convoy raiders.)

For some time, I have suffered the burden of believing that my generation -- now regnant, but retiring, from university chairs and Congressional chairmanships, or being voted into retirement! -- has been the 'worst generation' of Americans, regarding its exceptionalism and existential goodness.
The military draft ended the spring of my high-school senior year, but I've always respected those who served in Vietnam. I rooted against Nixon, but regretted my only presidential vote for a Democrat, Jimmy Carter. I voted 'present' (actually, Libertarian, via Ed Clark) in 1980 before acknowledging Ronald Reagan in 1984. My big-L Liberalism lasted much less time than that of many.
Thus, it is notable to me that a pair of former Leftists who have left 'the cause' are in the news these days: David Horowitz and Hitchens, recently diagnosed with serious cancer.
Horowitz has penned a thoughtful and reasoned description of his long-term interactions with Hitchens, which may not serve to ingratiate either with today's Democrat/Liberal complex, but instructs us about it origins and progressions, nonetheless:
Second Thoughts, Part 1
Second Thoughts, Part 2
They do not make us Baby-Boomers proud, but rather the self-proclaimed, privileged progeny of generations better than ourselves.
Two of the last three U.S. presidents -- Clinton and Obama -- have been of this caustic tradition, and have done much to destroy the moral fabric of the Founders' well-grounded national prescriptions.
While there remains hope that subsequent generations have not succumbed to the national suicide that Sixties' Leftists began adopting, Horowitz and Hitchens lay plain what motivates and results from adherence to their philosophies: destruction of the only truly liberal and generous government that has achieved international prominence during man's history.
The time is short to renew an American path to future world harmony. There is, at present, no other path that espouses and allows personal freedom.

Conservative Technorati

There are, to date, two indisputable geniuses -- and I use the term literally, as they have transformed forever thinking and use of the online media -- on the Conservative/Libertarian side of the political spectrum -- godfather Glenn Harlan Reynolds, the InstaPundit, and consigliere Andrew Brietbart (Brietbart.com, BigJournalism.com, BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com and now, contravertibly, BigPeace.com).
Also noted is how much humor is contained in the Right side of the ether, as opposed to the stultifying Left.

War As Economic Stimulus

American history knowledge is in such short supply that most modern Americans don't realize that after 7+ years of FDR's 'New Deal', the Great Depression economy was as bad or worse than it was when he took office in 1933. So, what brought the U.S. economy out of that depression?
War.
As it happens, we're fighting one right now, arguably with one hand tied behind our back. While it might only take 6-12 months of serious, full production to subdue the Taliban and al-Qaida if we were to assay the task with serious dedication, imagine what the 'economic stimulus' of building aircraft, artillery, ammunition and support vehicles would do for the spirit of the American manufacturing worker! It might also do wonders for the understanding of today's political establishment: pretty much, the only reliable job-creating function the federal government has is defense manufacturing, which actually requires things be built by real workers. Virtually every other exchange of funds orchestrated by the federal government amounts to sleight-of-hand graft and/or vote-buying.
Of course, all the better, such a strident military effort and victory would change the attitudes of a majority of the world's governments and leaders toward the U.S., too -- in altogether positive (to us, anyway) ways.
We need a solid win in Afghanistan -- both for the Afghans and ourselves -- and we need jobs created ASAP. Building the machinery and equipment to secure the former will provide the latter. In the inimitable words of Michael Ledeen, "Faster please!".

The Conservative 'Street'

Rupert Murdoch. Conrad Black.

Any other nominations for media barons first to realize that the "Mainstream Main Street" of America is a helluva lot more centrist-to-conservative than the "Mainstream Media", which is almost universally leftist/liberal?
Newsweek, long a standard of American current events, is on its death bed, barely a year after outing itself as a liberal rag. U.S. News & World Report already is gone. The Washington Post can't, apparently, find a non-liberal blogger to comment and report on the Conservative movement paramount in most towns and cities around "Flyover Country" (no one there, you know, can write a proper sentence or entertain a 'correct' thought). Harvard freshmen are re-matriculating to Hope College (if they're really as smart as they think they are!).
I'm awaiting the tidal wave of retirements/deaths of the '60 generation from college faculties, and the concurrent realization by East Coast publishers that generations from -- oh, say -- 1980 onward aren't nearly as likely to swallow whole the principle that government enterprise is, well, enterprise. I believe Barack Obama -- raised in the cacophony of Ivy League/faculty lounge elitism and racial entitlement -- is the high-water mark of the American social-democratic movement. What remains to be seen is how much damage its acolytes can do before more confident Americans retake political authority.

President Obama's Finest Hour?

Note the time on the last post -- it is BEFORE, though only slightly -- the official announcement of Petraeus as McChrystal's successor. In reality, I'd been pondering Petraeus as the only possible upgrade since the Rolling Stone imbroglio hit a couple of days ago. Instinctively --and historically -- it was obvious to me that any serious president couldn't let McChrystal stand. Believe that or not.
Still, the danger to Obama is much greater than the danger for Petraeus, who has already had success -- in Iraq! Obama is appointing a commander who has the standing to question and essentially command suspension of the president's goal of July 2011 withdrawal of forces. The American public will believe Petraeus if he says prolonging our role will lead to victory. After all, he has known -- and delivered -- victory.
Down the far-distant road, Petraeus reminds me of another senior American commander: the man who would NOT be king, George Washington! Petraeus is taking a demotion to accept command in Afghanistan. Should he succeed again, reminiscent of a Washington, he may well settle for being president. Are we not due, after more than 200 years, an "Uncle of His Country"?
By the way, it struck me that Obama, in his remarks, signaled true regret that he'd been forced to relieve his chosen commander. His graceful comments may go far in ameliorating ignominy for McChrystal, who has served his country long and well, and deserves our credit.
Oddly, and instructively, it seemed the most unrehearsed and genuine I have seen this president. Will he take a lesson?
A historical footnote: B. Obama thus becomes the first American commander-in-chief to involuntarily remove two theater commanders -- first, McKiernan, and now McChrystal, both in Afghanistan -- from active war zones since one A. Lincoln. History 'Grants" little doubt who was at fault during the Civil War command difficulties. Will Obama fare as well?

Gen. Petraeus: A Star for Afghanistan?

I hope, should Gen. David Petraeus -- American's finest soldier! -- accept the demotion that comes with his acceptance of theater command in Afghanistan (which he's going to be offered -- count on it!), will successfully demand two things from President Obama: a fifth star at the end of his duty, and non-interference by the Obama boobs.

'Gangsta' U.S.

(Note: there is no question mark at the end of the post title. It IS a fait accompli, not just a possibility!)

Political pundit Michael Barone -- recently labeled of the 'Conservative' faith (because, you know, that's what's convenient to those in power) -- has long referred to the 'Gangsta' style of the Obama Administration. Today, he doubles down with an outright label of "thuggery".
And, as almost always, he's right! We Americans have elected an administration who's foremost goal is to implement its policy viewpoints, NOT adhere to the rules of law. And, yet, the President is the chief law enforcement officer of the U.S., not empowered with ANY legislative authority.
Texas GOP Rep. Joe Barton has been virtually forced to gag on his well-stated belief that the Obama Administration has 'shaken down' (think Rev. Jesse Jackson and corporate America) BP for $20 million in 'slush' monies to be distributed by a political appointee -- undoubtedly to politically correct recipients. Much less noted is that there are legal and judicial methods for holding BP accountable for actual financial damages -- which BP has already promised by which to abide. Of course, this makes BP subject to so-called 'double jeopardy', and our chief executive guilty of 'extra-legal' (which is polite terms for "illegal and unconstitutional") extortion.
There is a pattern here. Note that the GM 'bankruptcy' -- which resulted in the U.S. government taking a large stake in the management of a theretofore private enterprise -- essentially contravened and usurped established bankruptcy law. Hugo Chavez should be proud!
There you have it!: We have a federal government with contempt for existing laws, and concerned only with its own power. During ANY OTHER TIME, no one would doubt the suitability of charges alleging "high crimes and misdemeanors" -- aka, 'impeachable offenses'. Not today, though, not today -- wouldn't want to be branded a racist, don't ya know!
You'd think 'people of color' would be embarrassed, but how (speaking PC now) would I know? I mean, I'd only be embarrassed, offended, and outraged if some white guy -- like George W. Bush -- attempted such stuff.
This is Obama, so this is different.

The Problem With American Liberals...

...is their arrogance and misplaced confidence.
The American public treasures nothing more than a redeemed heretic. Should President Obama come to admit he's wrong about Iran, Israel, Russia, North Korea, and cheaper health care, he'd assure himself re-electon. But, as an American liberal, he can't -- because he truly believes he's right, even if being (mistakenly) right means the end of the Republic!
Barring an unlikely Obama epiphany, we have one -- and, probably, JUST one! -- chance of redeeming the American Experiment: the 2012 presidential election, in which "anyone but Obama" is the correct choice!
The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs!

Israel: the Downside of Success

Don Surber points out that so-called Progressives once supported Israel:
There's more to the Helen Thomas case
Of course, 'progress' in an egg -- if allowed to go on too long -- is called 'going bad', and it stinks to high Heaven!

Free Speech: Use It or Lose It?

Free speech: use it or lose it!

One of many 'kicker' passages:
"...According to the Institute for Justice, 36 states have laws requiring citizen groups to register with the government before they can talk to their neighbors about politics. Duke University professor Mike Munger has described how such laws have a chilling effect on the political process.

"Similarly, it is the independent bloggers and journalists who will be stifled by the proposed DISCLOSE Act, not the entrenched mainstream media. But note how it was the blogging community, not the mainstream media, which took the lead in reporting stories such as the RatherGate scandal, the ClimateGate memos, and the rise of the tea parties.

"The numerous independent bloggers covering the ClimateGate disclosures provide a perfect example of how truth emerges when ordinary people are left free to debate and discuss contentious issues. If the bloggers who dissented from the government-backed climate science orthodoxy had instead been punished for spreading 'misinformation', would Americans have ever learned the truth?

"If bloggers, independent journalists, and ordinary thinking Americans value our free speech, then we must do the following:
"We must articulate and defend a proper definition of free speech and of censorship.
"We must defend free speech on the proper grounds of individual rights, rather than on utilitarian grounds that it promotes some 'social good'. This includes defending free speech in principle, even when some people express views we consider odious. For liberals, this includes defending speech they may find bigoted or offensive. For social conservatives, this includes defending speech promoting alternative lifestyles they may find morally repugnant.
"We must defend the principle of free speech not just in politics but throughout the full range of our culture — including science, art, and philosophy. We must defend the freedom of individuals to criticize another’s scientific or religious views as vigorously as their right to debate banking regulations.

"As President Ronald Reagan once warned:
"'Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free'...".

Al and Tipper...

(Because nothing else of note -- insert appropriate skeptical 'smilie' here -- is happening in the world right now)

So, Al and Tip are calling it quits. And they're just -- really! -- peachy-keen about it. Ya know, amicable and everything sophist(ry?)icated like that.
Me, I'm kinda of the same mind as this http://althouse.blogspot.com/2010/06/gores-have-handled-their-decision-to.html commenter:
"...Look, this is how I have come to see divorce. On one hand, Jesus comes out pretty strongly against divorce in general, but on the other hand, there is the story of my sister. She was beaten by her first husband. She is now married to an absolutely wonderful man. I literally only wish she had met him sooner. I look at the picture of the newly-formed family (now 7 years ago) and I think to myself there is no way God was not happy when my sister left her ex, and when she found her new husband. There is no way God isn’t glad my niece finally has the father she deserves.

"And the way I reconcile it comes down to this. A divorce should be seen almost like an intentional killing of a person. Almost every time an intentional killing happens, a crime has been committed. But its not always the person doing the killing who is responsible. When a person comes at you with a knife, and you pull a gun and kill your attacker, you have intentionally killed him, but you aren’t the criminal; the criminal is the attacker.

"I feel the same way about marriage. If a man or a woman is forced into divorce by the behavior of another, then who 'murdered' the marriage? Not the person who files for divorce, but the person who made marriage intolerable. And I don’t limit that to extreme situations like abuse. My brother, for instance, had a nutjob for a wife. He isn’t perfect, but perfect wouldn’t have made a difference. No matter what he did, their marriage was doomed, because of her own psychological damage that she couldn’t get past. And hey he is remarried, even has a family, now, with an absolutely wonderful woman.

"But if it is 'no one’s' fault, then guess what? Its EVERYONE’S fault.

"So I am watching Al and Tipper throw away this marriage, murder it. And people think its wonderful because it isn’t ugly. They are exactly wrong. Its horrible precisely because it isn’t ugly. Not that I have to see the ugliness, but hearing positively that it is an amicable break up, is horrible. If they can get along enough to divorce without acrimony, they should f---ing stay married. My only solace is that in truth they really do hate each other, really do have pain and they are just keeping it from us. Because otherwise this is an arbitrary destruction and that is horrible in my mind.

"I know that puts me greatly out of step with a lot of people. And I am not even sure that this should be how the law should see it, although I do question how much we really benefitted from moving to 'no fault' divorce. But morally, that is how I see it."

Well said -- and me, too.

Say 'NO' To Nincompoopery!..

http://volokh.com/2010/05/29/the-solicitor-general-lays-an-egg/

Our executive branch -- and, in this case, its current nominee for SCOTUS associate justice -- is run by nincompoops who assume we all are worse nincompoops than the nincompoops they continually prove themselves to be!

If nothing else, the so-called Tea Party Movement is a throwing off of the strictures of adherence to 'mainstream media' conventional wisdom-creation (out of wholecloth, often). I'm ashamed that I recognized its necessity well over a decade ago (maybe someday I'll post THOSE published remarks here, too), but did nothing to bring it about except grouse about it locally and privately. I assuage myself that maybe it took current, mis-American (not a typo) leadership to make it obvious -- after all, they ARE the ones we've been waiting for, they say!

In any case, our best case is that American is going to the John over this Obamanation, whether it be Galt or Marshall!

Defining the Presidency Down

I've been a proponent, for many years, of returning to the days when the annual 'State of the Union' address amounted to a hand-written letter from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to the Congress. The founders intended the legislature to be the first/prominent  branch of government, NOT the presidency.

If we have anything to be thankful for from the Obama era, it's the re-emergence of this philosophy. Let's face it: he doesn't know what the Hell he's doing! And, yet, we've (barely?) survived, thus far.

I've also been a regular proponent of the "we get what we deserve" attitude toward governance. If we don't reject/eject the Democratic leadership in 2010, we need to understand we don't deserve a second chance at a republican (small-r) form of governance. The liberal fascists will have taken over.

In a best-case scenario, it will have been instructive and positive that we endured an Obama Administration. But, only if we reject it as unnecessarily and unnaturally authoritarian by American standards and desires.

Obama doesn't much like the United States of America up to 2008. We don't much care for his disdain. Let's make that point in 2010, okay?

I Remember When Obama Was 'Black'...

...but now he's just anti-American:

http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/posted/archive/2010/04/13/caption-this-obama-wags-finger-at-harper-during-nuclear-summit.aspx

(Yes, Canadians ARE Americans, too -- especially since they've tossed the Liberals/Frenchies/anti-Coulter government out.)

It's Time for Robert Gates to Resign

Why doesn't Secretary of Defense Robert Gates resign?

He suffered a personal and public humiliation last week when the Obama Administration trashed the long-servicing U.S. nuclear policy for idealistic (read that, "naive"), non-pro-American (see, I didn't say 'anti'-American!) political pabulum. It's increasingly plain that Gates' retention from the Bush Administration was both an admission by the Obamans that they don't have a clue about defense issues, and an attempt to triangulate criticism of their left/liberal leanings by retaining a hired gun of the hated 'Right'. Unexplained, is why Gates continues to play along. While his views were entertained by the administration, he served as a great patriot. But, with his attitudes and acumen cast aside, what more does he offer but political protection?

Nothing serves as a slap in the face to an administration more than the public divorce of a featured advisor. While I have little hope that the Obamanauts have enough introspection to feel chastened by a Gates resignation, it seems the only honorable 'out' left for  a hertofore honorable public servant.

Yep, a One-Term Volunteer!..

The likely practical application of President Obama's nuclear disarmament agreement with Russia, IF fully implemented, may reduce the former Soviet stockpile of thermonuclear weapons by 190, the U.S.'s by 100. A great trade, no? Well, no.

Because, along with it, Saint Obama is also issuing what may as well be called "The U.S. Nuclear Disarmament Promise" -- we won't drop a Bomb on you even it you devastate us! C'mon, let's face it: the only thing worse than a world with thermonuclear weapons is a world without them -- because there is nothing else so horrifying to keep at bay those non-liberal, non-democratic (not a single capital letter, so I'm not talking about Rush Limbaugh!) hegemons who might otherwise like nothing better than to see the world's greatest liberal/democratic republic disappear (if you include those who simply don't want to pay to defend themselves, that includes just about the rest of the world, okay?!). Give Mark Steyn a little credit -- America IS alone!

President Obama wants us just to be another of the supplicants to -- well, whom, exactly? (See the problem?)

Is it 2012 yet?

HRC 'Over/Under' Day

November 1 is the over/under day for whether or not Hillary Clinton has given up all hope of ever becoming president. She's well into her 60s -- if she waits till 2016, she will be approaching 70 years old.

Thus, if she still is Secretary of State in a failing administration the day before the 2010 mid-term election -- Nov. 1 --she's decided there is no hope for her presidential ambitions. If she plans to advance an intra-party challenge to President Obama in 2012, she MUST have resigned over 'philosophical differences' -- which she can then claim were consonant with Tea Party-ers' -- by then.

I am overwhelmed...

...by both current events and personal pursuits.

Re: the latter -- I have compiled more than 1,000 miles on my new/old motorcycle in the past 6 + weeks, including some 2-up riding (which is much harder, in the 'handling' stages of starting and stopping) with my lady friend/partner.

Externally, the national debate has become so rich in fodder that I've been unable to focus on any particular issue.

Today, however, I note a situation in which both sides are correct (a relative oddity in today's political dichotomy): President Obama's recess appointments of 15 executive-branch place-holders. I don't like most of them. Yet, I agree that the president has a right to make the appointments.

My only issue with the whole thing is the media's failure to point out the hypocrisy of Democrats who decried President Bush's use of recess appointments sidelined over philosophical matters, and the Democrats criticism of the GOP's disdain today of the appointees' philosophical standards.

Not only do the Democrats have no sense of irony, but they continue to demonstrate a philosophy that the electorate is stupid. The electorate gets the final say -- in November! As a Tennessean, I'm reminded of the legendary, if perhaps fabulous, comment from David Crockett: "Be sure you're right, then go ahead." Seems to me the Democrats have gone ahead before they were sure they were right.

Wal-Mart and Sen. Lindsey Graham...

It is said that any person or institution that is not completely conservative will eventually trend toward liberalism. Wal-Mart and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham seem to confirm that thesis.
With Sam Walton dead, non-family Wal-Mart executives today concern themselves with warding off government action by becoming "green" and offering a broader range of benefits to its workers. Never mind that they were the leading private employer in two countries -- the United States and Mexico -- BEFORE they decided to kow-tow to political correctness.
Now, we see erstwhile conservative Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) trying hard to accommodate the wrong-headed notions of the Obama Administration regarding the secure prison for combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (why doesn't anyone ever notice that we are ever-present in Cuba without destroying its antagonistic government these past 50 years, while lambasting us as universal imperialists? Don't you think we could posit enough firepower at Guantanamo to snuff the Castros at a moment's notice if we decided to?).
Regarding Wal-Mart, see here:
http://blog.american.com/?p=11074

I Was Against It Before I Was For It (And I Was Right!)...

I often preached, during the term-limit movement of 15 years ago, that we've always had term limits -- called 'the vote' -- and we were better off not codifying it, as that would have the stench of more government.

I'll admit, I've wavered in my steadfastness to that position during the past 8-10 years, when even Republican lifers have acted not like platform-adhering GOP'ers, but rather "incumbent majoritarians". During the last couple of years I'd have willingly accepted term limits -- which, of course, neither party's national leaders would have entertained.

I've also remarked in various forums, both public and private, that it might be good for us to suffer the administration of the radical Left, if only to get our fill of it. So, you can imagine my guarded gratification today, with even Evan Bayh validating the inevitability of the political earthquake being wrought by the so-called 'tea party' movement among American citizenry.

Turns out, there IS a limit to our being fed up. And, finally, we are fed up with it! Ordinary Americans will no longer automatically vote for the most recognizable name if they recognize it isn't aligned with Main Street values and realities! Despite my inconstancy, I was right! The implied term limits of a public vote ARE a viable response to unresponsive representation.

It is no time to relax, though. I doubt the 'wag the dog' capacity of this administration's decision-making cadre even less than that of the Clintons. I fully expect some sort of political manipulation of current events by the Left -- tacitly orchestrated by the 'Chicago gang' -- between now and November. But, finally, a full year of administrative cynicism on top of a year-long campaign of cynically hiding a Leftist agenda behind 'empty-suit' rhetoric has, I trust, earned the Chicagoans a disregard they so deliciously deserve. If November is anything less than a stinging chastisement to them, I will reluctantly fall back into the term-limit camp. Because, in that case, American voters obviously can't be counted on to learn even lessons with which they are swatted in the face.

Bye-Bye, Bayh!

Indiana Senator Evan Bayh's announced retirement further erodes Democrats hopes to either ram through unwanted legislation this spring and/or summer, or maintain their large majority after the fall elections.

Bayh stated, "If Washington could be more like Indiana, it would be a better place." Well, yes -- and the same could be said for about 35 other states not dominated by the liberal bastions of bi-coastal academia and artsy-fartsy neverlands. If you want to understand AMERICA, not American elitism, you visit Indy, or Nashville, or Omaha, or Laramie, or the thousands of other towns and cities where celebrity and $1.50 can buy you a cup of coffee. That is where folks live who actually work for a living, and live for themselves, their families, and their communities. Who would you rather listen to for economic advice: the multi-millionaire, high-school dropout who looks good on a movie screen, or the political science major who got a CPA, married his/her high-school sweetheart, and whose net worth is tied up in the house and the kids' education?

Bayh should be commended for his four years of service as Indiana's secretary of state, eight years as governor, and 12 years as senator. Should he fancy himself a candidate for higher office at some later date, he should be questioned hard for his role and vote in advancing the radically liberal agenda abroad (and, seemingly, adrift) in Washington today. If he envisions himself as a viable alternative to Obama to Democrats in 2012, let's hope he realizes that his remaining votes in Washington should serve to augment that differentiation soonest!

First Ride

I don't know if knowing you're biting off more than you can chew helps you masticate it any better, but I decided to at least attempt to ride my new motorcycle home from the dealership yesterday -- while also taking along a backup/experienced rider, a local motorcycle cop who's also the resource officer at the school where I teach.

Anyway, after a quarter-mile test ride to assure myself I could even hold the 600+-pound machine up, I took off in c. 40-degree weather to traverse the 24 miles home. The journey was not without some early frustration. After careening out of the dealership lot (right turns still are not my best friend), across the street and through an adjoining lawn before getting my bearings, I missed the first light because I stalled the bike twice. It happened again at the second light, and I got off and motioned for Officer Brad to take over. He pushed it to an adjoining parking lot, and took it around the lot a couple of times.

Now, this particular motorcycle is essentially a 10-speed -- 1-5 in both a low and high range. Somehow, I'd managed to nudge it into high range, making 'takeoff' a much more delicate operation. Brad coaxed me around the lot a couple of times, proffered a couple of pointers, and cajoled me into trying again. This time, I got through the light and out of town without further stoppages. Thus, I had c. 20 miles of lightly-traveled highway before getting near home.

Finally, I got a chance to just relax and ride, without much panic about the newness of the experience. I'd dressed with plenty of layers to keep out the chill, mostly -- only the wind over the windshield, but under the shield of my 3/4-helmet caused any discomfort, which was manageable. So, I just practiced taking the appropriate line into and out of curves, looking to where I wanted the bike to go, and gently getting up to highway speed, trusting Brad to act as my rear guard in my car.

Coming back into town as I approached home, I suffered the bad luck of having a slow-starting car at an intersection in front of me, and I stalled the bike again when I didn't get down-shifted fast enough while stopping more quickly than I would have preferred. I wound up with a right-turn lane to cross to get back into a high-traffic, through lane, so just turned right instead and headed toward my school, adding a couple of 90-degree turns and a pair of 4-way stops to my itinerary. Still, getting onto quieter side streets reduced some stress. I DID have to negotiate one more major intersection prior to my neighborhood, but the little experience I'd accumulated just on this journey finally got me through without further mishap. I was reasonably calm as I dismounted in the carport with Brad pulling in behind me. I'd survived, anyhow.

Doesn't look like the weather is going to allow me to get back on the street for a few days, but I think the county park just a half-mile down the street will be getting plenty of motorcycle traffic during the next few weeks. It has light traffic, low speeds, plenty of curves and hills, and several parking lots -- near perfect for low-stress learning. In any case, the bike is home, so now it's up to me to keep it from becoming a white elephant.

I'm a MINO (Motorcyclist In Name Only)!

Well, today I passed the Bacis Riders Course driving test sponsored by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, and can claim my driver's license endorsement to operate a motorcycle on public roadways.

I got a 100% on the written portion (pretty easy, really, if you just pay attention and read!), but the driving part was a whole 'nuther matter! After yesterday's range introduction, I wouldn't have gone beyond 50-50 on my odds today of passing. Yet, as far as I know, I didn't lose any points on any of the driving tests (though I DID get a second chance on a cornering ride-through).

Anyway, when I pay off my 'classic' motorcycle purchase next weekend -- and weather permitting -- I will be legal, and may be brave enough, to drive it home myself (though I will have experience support on hand in case I suffer some nerves).

Notations:

• I'm pretty good at straight-line braking/stopping, left-hand-turns, and shifting.
  
• I need extra practice on smooth starts and right-hand turns.

I'll probably split my riding time during the next month or so between leisurely, off-peak traffic drives on a rural highway, and parking lot maneuvers at the local community college. If I can actually plan to 'go somewhere' by bike before next fall/winter, I'll consider my education successful, though likely (never) complete.

'That's So Not Toast' (Like, Yeah!..)

 Sarah Palin was a blithering idiot until she became a devious genius.

Or, maybe, she was always a devious genius to blithering idiots?!.

The Lyndon Johnson Moment?..

"...I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president..."

President Lyndon Johnson, March 31, 1968

Take a look at the White House's "Economic Assumptions" (Page 13) from its Economic and Budget Analyses accompanying the new budget presentation to Capitol Hill earlier today. The forecast civilian unemployment rate falls only to 8.2% in 2012. Lest you miss my point, 2012 is a presidential election year!

When we un-elected Jimmy Carter in 1980, his highest unemployment rate had been 7.6%, with a 6.7% average for his entire term. Even Ronald Reagan's was higher, though we also saw the greatest decrease ever during his term of office. Even George W. Bush -- the so-called 'failed' president, according to the current administration -- oversaw an average unemployment rate under 6%.

I can't, for the life of me, figure out how or even why the Obamans can try to lay the blame for 4 years of the highest Post-WWII unemployment ever on a previous administration which suffered a rate barely half of their their own.

So, will Barack Obama see the handwriting on the wall predicted by his own White House staff (frankly, he doesn't seem like much of a wall-reader, to me) and not seek re-election, or will he go down disclaiming the historically lousy economy he oversaw? Because, really, I very much doubt Americans will volunteer for a second round.

Like a Death In the Family...

...when I read today that mystery novelist Robert B. Parker had died almost 10 days ago. I discovered Parker in the late-1980s -- after his books were adapted into the Spenser For Hire television series with Robert Urich and Avery Brooks, but before even half of what eventually became an almost 40-book series was realized. In the process, fictional Paradise police chief Jesse Stone -- of Tom Selleck, TV-movie fame -- and Helen Hunt-inspired, cop's-daughter Sunny Randall also became near-annual regulars. And, have you seen the movie Appaloosa?!

Using paragraphs often less than a line long, Parker wove intricate descriptions around morally-wound (and -wounded) leading men (and a woman or two), retailing quick, precise, allusive, and amusing dialog within a fast-paced plot which often seemed to move faster than its characters, who caught up with it at the end and set things right. There was never any doubt about the outcome of a Parker novel (the good guys win!), but the story was about the journey and the participants, so who cared?

The maddening thing about Parker was that his crisp dialog could make a 325-page book into a 3-hour read -- thoroughly delightful, but unsatisfying in the realization that it would be another year until the next title in the series. So, the advent of the Stone and Randall characters, and the throw-in Westerns, added the subliminal promise that the wait between publications would be lessened, as it was. I read Sandford, Connelly, maybe Patterson, and sometimes Baldacci or others, to pass the time till the next Parker issue.

He reputedly wrote five pages a day, five days a week, 50 weeks of the year. You do the math -- that's 3-4 books annually. In fact, reports are that two more Spenser novels reside with the publisher for future release, as does another western, and a Jesse Stone novel slated for next month. Needless to say, they will become first-edition reads here, but the unrealized handful of rarer texts may blaze beyond my pecuniary circumstances with his death -- an early magazine serialization which became a self-published, limited booklet featuring an early Spenser character, and a hard-to-find early novel with which he shared a byline with his beloved, 50+-year bride, Joan. Otherwise, I own every Parker title, and have a scattershot, correlative collection of signed copies and Advance Read proofs. While I have all of Connelly's Harry Bosch titles, and Sandford's complete Prey series, for no other author than Parker have I made a concerted effort to document the entire compendium. But, even with failure to net the missing pieces, I can't imagine parting with any of the books themselves.

Much more likely, I will start back at the beginning, and read them all again (not for the first time!). Which makes me believe that, while yesterday and today Robert B. Parker was a work-a-day, popular fictionalist, tomorrow he will become a piece of the American literary culture: the novelist who bridged Marlowe's film noir stories with today's modern culture and society -- without losing the beneficial assets of either one.

Robert Parker died at his writing desk, suddenly and without anticipation; which means that Spenser, Stone, Virgil and Everett, Hawk, and others will live forever. If you've not met them yet, be thankful that the meeting will be so long and entertaining.

Aw, Shiittt!!! (Pardon My French!)...

...but, according to President Obama, we are so, damned mad about George W. Bush's presidency, that we're electing Republicans in Massachusetts!..

...you see: "...The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office.

People are angry, and they're frustrated. Not just because of what's happened in the last year or two years, but what's happened over the last eight years..."

As ever, Mark Steyn has the takedown: "...Presumably, the president isn’t stupid enough actually to believe what he said. But it’s dispiriting to discover he’s stupid enough to think we’re stupid enough to believe it..."

The horrifiying thought in all this is that, a la Bill Clinton, it is happening early enough in the Obama presidency that he might still have a chance at re-election -- IF he recognizes his own weakness and responds appropriately to it.

Granted, a BIG IF...

The Devil or the Witch?

Are You Surprised John Edwards Dropped His Denial and Admitted to Fathering a Child with Rielle Hunter?

Well, I DID figure he'd wait until his wife, Elizabeth, died from her cancer. I'm assuming, thus, she must be doing better than expected, health-wise (and good for her, on that count!)

That said, Elizabeth -- from whom it's reported the former VP and presidential candidate has separated -- doesn't seem to be that much of a prize, either:

Book reveals secrets about Edwards campaign

This, folks, is what's wrong with the American political process: the sensible folks make their millions in business, and we're left with the hucksters playing us for suckers! It almost makes you want to support President Obama's effort to limit executive pay! Without the 'Golden Parachute', they may as well run for office and make their millions on graft, like Dodd and Murtha!

Yeah, right! Like THAT'S why he proposed it!

Mid-Life Something (Boredom, Perhaps?..)

Well, the whiskey has petered out. Now, mind you, I still enjoy it (there is some mixed in cola sitting next to me as I type), but there really isn't anything hard-to-find around here anymore because, well, I already bought it during my last obsessionary period. While I continue to cherish the friends I've made while enthusing over the bibulous lubricant, the hunt has ended because the herd is depleted.

Plus, I'm almost a year already in-house! There is no longer the goosebump-raising thrill when I turn into MY driveway.

Soooooo, I'm bored. What's the next 'thing'? Well, I bought a motorcycle last weekend. Like me, it's an 'oldie-but-goodie': a 1982 Honda 900C Custom. 'Thing' is, I haven't been on one for almost (okay, maybe "more than") 40 years. My last motorized, 2-wheel jaunt, best as I remember, was on my brother's 50cc Benelli down the farm path while growing up -- c. 1968! This one is capable of, well, more than 145mph! (Being from the immediate, post-Carter era, however, the speedometer only goes up to 85, thankfully! lol)

Frankly, it's a great bike, and I paid cash! No monthly payment, no high-cost insurance indemnifying a lienholder. And, I'm registered for a Motorcyle Safety Foundation course (which will substitute for state written and driving-course exam) next month. Despite the fact that the machine scares me right now, I WILL master it! And, then, I will have a ball! 

If only I can ever get it home from the dealer...?

He's No Lincoln

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

Abraham Lincoln, (attributed), 16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

It strikes me that the Obama Administration is pretty much invested in "all of the people all of the time". It's a losing investment.

Just Thinking...

(Sorry about the off-the-ether time, folks! I've been scratching for cash and paying it to buy a motorcycle. It's a mid-life crisis, you know.)

In 2004, a little-known state senator, who had accomplished little as a legislator, running for a U.S. Senate seat he was expected (and did) win handily, electrified a national convention with a keynote speech -- and was elected president four years later.

Newly-minted Sen. Scott Brown HAS accomplished something -- defeated a state-wide, generations-long political juggernaut (almost reminds one of Sarah Palin, huh?) and made Massachusetts a two-party state again -- and won a place in the U.S. Senate. Ironic, isn't it, that he may spell out the term limit of his other-party precursor.

Meanwhile, President Obama and the Obaminations promise not to let Brown's election deter them from their appointed destiny of lurching the American economy and society leftward -- even against most Americans' will! Kinda gives you an idea of how dangerous Jimmy Carter might have been had he KNOWN he was only getting a single term, doesn't it?

Lost NFL Weekend

I was an NFL 'beat writer' for four years. What does that mean? Well, it means from 1997 (in Memphis) to 2001 preseason, I covered for my local, daily newspaper every Tennessee Titans home game except one (Christmas season in '97 vs. Steelers -- I went to Vegas), and from playoffs 1999 (Music City Miracle thru Super Bowl) through preseason 2001, I reported every game, home AND away (except a Monday night in D.C.). For whatever it's worth, there are fewer full-time NFL writers than NFL players. Not paid as well, though. I left the business when asked to accept lower status and less pay for my then-significant, but part-time work.

Additionally, I've been a Titans season ticket holder before, during, and after all that. My name, literally, is emblazoned on an LP Field wall as an original PSL holder.

All of which is to say, beyond spending 25 years being paid to write about sports, I have a vested interest in the NFL. Which is why this weekend was so odd: in three playoff games so far, I wanted 5 of the 6 teams to lose. With only tonight's Arizona-Green Bay yet to start, I've spent less than an hour watching pro football during its supposed elite post-season.

Although I'm no particular fan of the Cincinnati Bengals -- beyond being an admirer of their all-time, all-NFL founder, Paul Brown (for whom, interesting, another division team is named) -- I really wanted to see them beat the Jets, whom I loathe. Not sure why, really, except that I though Eric Mangini got too much credit there, despite getting fired, just like I think Bill Belichek gets too much credit in Foxboro (and nationally -- read that, 'from Peter King', when he's not canonizing Brett Favre!) for being astute enough to hire hyper-competent coordinating assistants. And, I don't like Rex Ryan, as often is the case with the offspring of colorful characters. Father Buddy Ryan was eccentric and irascible. Son Rex, rubbing off the same routine, is tiresome. Additionally, he used to be with the Ravens.

I don't like Baltimore because they were whiny and chippy during the Brian Billick years spent in the same division I covered with the Titans. Those two teams really didn't like each other, but often had to -- and did, usually originating in Baltimore -- invent reasons for it. Ray Lewis is going to the Hall of Fame instead of jail, where he belongs. Billick will forever be recognized as a Super Bowl-winning coach despite the Ravens never being as good as the team's talent beyond that single year.

Re New England, see above re Belichek, the cheater (I mean, really -- does ANYONE believe he didn't know his operative was filming the other team, and that it was against the rules?). Once you're proven to be a liar and a cheat, the rest of your accomplishments come into question. I didn't make that rule, by the way -- it's called the 'Judeo-Christian ethic'.

As for Dallas and Philly -- do I really have to explain why either of these teams rub me the wrong way? For Dallas, let's just remind them that the owner doesn't REALLY matter to anyone except himself, okay? And the Eagles? Well, aside of Rush being largely correct about McNabb -- and being drummed out of league ownership for it even though a racial epithet-spewing celebrity pop singer (http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/280525) is part-owner of the Dolphins -- how do we gloss over the fact that being a successful NFL coach apparently is more important (and we're OKAY with that!) to Andy Reid than being a dad, whose sons (plural!) are imprisoned for being violent drug users and dealers? I'd even grant that Reid seems like a really nice guy. Lousy fathers often are -- it frequently goes hand-in-hand. Doesn't make his priorities stand out in the pantheon of right-thinking, though.

Looking ahead to the Arizona-Green Bay matchup later, I have a definite preference, but no animosity toward either team. I'm a huge fan of Kurt Warner, despite his having ruined my sport-writing apogee by beating my Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. He's every bit as good -- as both a player and a person -- as his reputation says. His opponents can vouch for the former; his teammates frequently vouch for the latter. Warner is a Hall-of-Famer whether or not he is ever enshrined in Canton!

"Speaking Stupid All the Time"

That's how Power Line's Scott Johnson puts Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's inept articulation.

And, is anyone else tired of the non-apology apology (who would question the sincerity: he only waited to get he got called out a year-and-half later?) which basically regrets that we listeners are too stupid to understand the superior thinking so eloquently misstated? I mean, really -- isn't a more apt description of Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi thinking stupid all the time?!

I've hinted before that I'm embarrassed that the two chambers of our national legislature are headed by individuals who'd fit right in with mid-level county commissioners back home.

What Do People Expect?

I suppose this NY Times treatise about men who regret becoming homeowners is supposed to garner sympathy and some sort of androgynous bonding, but it simply struck me that these men bought a house with unrealistic expectations or just to check off a life-experience box:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/garden/07men.html?ref=garden

Anyway, I bought my first house after 35 years of adulthood last year, too. It's a 'rambler' -- it has waaayy more room, both inside and outside, than I need living by myself. And, it's tying up much of the money which was either savings or discretionary, spendable cash just a year ago. I'm having a hard time affording a motorcycle-buying,  mid-life crisis, for Heaven's sake!

All that said, I don't regret being here for a minute. I've missed having space, trees, wildlife, and my own dirt since leaving the farm on which I grew up two months out of college. I've adopted seemingly ALL of the erstwhile neighborhood stray cats -- there are five of 'em (only one moved in with me) asleep around the house as I write this -- and we're not the least bit crowded. I spent an hour this morning in the crawl space under the house insulating water pipes against the cold -- and feel good about it!

In short, I think the premise of this story is all wrong, although it's certainly PC: the problem with these homeowners wasn't that they are young, professional men, it's that they are too unfocused, too unrooted, or too self-centered to value anything that doesn't put money in their pockets, or social viability into their schedules. And, it's true they probably don't need to be homeowners. But it isn't because the American Dream has lost its luster or value, but rather because some Americans can't see beyond the scope of their own horizons, and find stewardship of anything that will last longer than they do stultifying.

The First Duty of a President

It remains to be seen if President Obama has yet internalized this fact, but it is increasingly obvious to the rest of us that the primary thing Americans demand from their chief executive is that he protect the country. And, if he fails to do it, no combination of other 'achievements' will make up for it.

The fact that Obama, despite his previous campaign rhetoric, has left in place many of the Bush-era intelligence and security protocols hints that he gets it. The treatment of the Christmas-Day, would-be undie bomber as a character in "Grand Theft Airliner" doesn't.

It's Global Warming, Of Course...

...but, otherwise, it would be ironic that today's prediction of the worst U.S. winter in 25 years harkens back to a time when we were just snapping out of climatists' expectation of a new Ice Age (personally, I remember January 1985 pretty well, since there was some question whether or not sextons could open a grave in which to bury my recently-deceased father).

And, if we still held in high esteem Judeo-Christian values, how ironic and sinful it would seem that folks are dying from the cold http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-cold-deaths,0,5066667.story in places whose former senator and vice president is getting filthy rich promoting the idea that what's happening to them just isn't possible!

Meanwhile, I'm trying to corral the former stray cat turned household pet inside tonight where it's warm, worrying only that my heating bill will top $200 this month -- while folks in parts of the world worry that they'll run out of the fuel of which I'm in ample supply, and where some in parts of my state die from the cold perturbing my cats!

Sometimes, irony sucks!..

Apropos of Nothing and Everything...

...but it has now been more than 37 years since U.S. astronauts 'Gene' Cernan and Harrison Schmitt left the moon during Apollo 17 in December 1972, the last time humans have visited an extra-terrestrial place.
Thirty-seven years.
It is beyond comprehensible to me that -- in obvious contradiction to the advances of technology and science in the interim -- that we are in sight of the end of a manned U.S. presence in space. Soon we will be unable to send an American into earth orbit, let alone back to the moon. Which, in utter humility, I posit shows EXACTLY the value -- when ill-used -- of knowledge and technology. Nothing! A big, fat NOTHING!!!

An NFL Reflex

I don't think I've alluded to it since my initial 'blog post, but I spent 25 years, full-time and part-time, as a newspaper journalist/sportswriter/photographer. Concurrently (in part), I also have been a charter, season-ticket holder of the Tennessee Titans since their advent in this state as the Oilers in 1997, and was one of their 'beat writers' for four years. Thus, I have some experience that, while not integral, does make me conversant with the league and team, and their players.
That said, here's what I expect from the 2009 final weekend (albeit, played in 2010), and beyond:

• Titans running back Chris Johnson, who likely will be the NFL Offensive Player of the Year, WILL break the record for yards from scrimmage (rushing and receiving), but is 50:50 to gain the 128 running yards needed to achieve the 1,000-yard plateau (he would be just the sixth back to do it) in Seattle Sunday (the Seahawks' rush defense is pretty good!); his odds are no better than 1:5 of gaining the 234 he'll need to eclipse Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing mark.
• The New York Jets will benefit from two 'bye' weeks -- competing against 'resting' Indianapolis and Cincinnati -- to gain an AFC wild-card berth, and will become the tangible evidence that charging full NFL ticket prices for both pre-season and post-clinching football games is a leading factor in lengthening the NFL schedule. If the fans are going to pay 'meaningful' (to them) prices, the games better damn well be meaningful, too!
• The Detroit Lions will become the most-improved team in the history of the league, winning two games after a winless season in 2008. That's a .125 winning percentage, against one of .000 last year. Thus, the Lions are infinitely better than they were. But, wait till next year!

'Happy' New Year! (sigh)...

...Yeah, that's the definition of a day late and a dollar short, isn't it? Really, I wish I could do better.
There are a bunch of factors in my personal dread of the coming year:

• personally, one year ago, I was debt-free and putting aside a full one-third of my income monthly as savings and/or discretionary spending! Today, after buying a house last March -- and taking on the accompanying mortgage -- trading in my car for a newer model in August, and acceding to a couple of low-limit credit cards amidst all that, I have more debt than ever (though more assets, too!). Don't get me wrong, I love my house and feel lucky to be here. It's the best place I've ever lived besides the farm I grew up on. But, my financial options are tied in knots...
• I'm as un-enamored with our current federal administration as I expected to be when Barack Obama was elected president. He is everything I thought him to be: inexperienced, and arrogant about it (meaning he doesn't realize how out-of-his-league he is)!; left-wing to the border of Socialism; personally aloof, which along with his arrogance, almost makes you want him to fail until you realize it's MY COUNTRY, too, he'd be failing!; his failings are coming into view early, giving him plenty of time to recover before seeking re-election (Americans have such short, optimistic memories!) -- and 8 years of this sort of government may be fatally irreversible.
• I truly don't know what to do about money, which I fear will soon be almost worthless with the inevitable hyper-inflation that so many protest today won't really happen. Well, yes, it will! We've been pumping up the money supply since at least 1994, at a rate far out-stripping employment and productivity. I don't blame it on Obama, specifically -- it began with George H.W. Bush's 'no new taxes' dishonesty, and has continued through three presidencies since! -- but the current lack of realism about budgets and deficits is beyond scary. So, I don't know whether to hold cash in the safe, buy canned goods and non-perishables, lay in more ammo, or just spend it all and man the barricades! I DO have a long-tenured, public-employment job (teaching), so I may be able to ride out the high unemployment -- which will allow me to pay back my mortgage with worthless dollars! Alas, you might also find my starving, dessicated body on the living room floor.
• We've spent eight years and thousands of American lives opposing an implacable, Islamist foe to Western democracy, and are now led by political entities who think if you play nice and fair with it, it will respond in kind. If we wind up suffering terrorist victims in large numbers at home or in allied lands, how will we stand the guilt and regret that it would have been better to spend those lives gaining ground on some foreign battlefield toward irradicating the threat for future generations?
  

All in all, I expect 2010 to be a regrettable year. If I am wrong -- and I hope almost beyond hope that I am! -- I pray that I am around at its end to make amends. That is, I'm afraid, my best wish for you and yours, too.