Big, Strong, Capable Hands

As I follow the current political yammerings about the economic free fall and corresponding water downed stimulus my memory harkens back to September 14, 2001. Americans were wandering around wet eyed; fearful on so many levels. The desire of citizens from every walk of life to do something....anything, was palpable. Our leader at the time took to the streets with bull horn in hand. Never a man of (sensible) words, he mustered up every ounce of swagger in his being and spoke to an exhausted yet inspired crowd of rescue workers. He had some trouble with the horn and someone yelled out, "We can't hear you!". Bush immediately responded, "I can hear YOU!".

The crowd cheered.
It hardly mattered. He had us at hello.

Bush spoke of earned capital after he anchored in his second term in office. I'd argue that he had that capital in the palm of his hands on the days in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and he squandered it.

While "Yes We Can!" had yet to become the lightning bolt phrase it turned into on this year's campaign trail it was certainly a feeling that permeated through a nation hellbent on doing rather than sitting idly by letting a catastrophe get the better of us. We were ready and willing to lend a hand, to donate services, to hunker down...just waiting for our leader to advise us on how we could help.
When our economy faltered in fear in the months following 9/11 we were told to spend. We were frequently told to spend and then spend some more. Some of us thought it was awfully ironic that a so-called conservative administration was acting like a six year old given free reign at a Toys r Us. But we did what we were told. Like sheep. Sheep who came upon deals too good to be true but got caught up in the American Dream of home ownership. Mortgage companies didn't put a gun to our heads but isn't the view from this bay window leading out to 3/4 of an acre purty? Think you can't afford it? Well, maybe if we finagle this number here and make it so that you can afford it now and MAYBE you can afford it in 5 years if nothing God forbid strikes your family in the meantime. But wait...we were told to spend! My job is secure and my kids are healthy, if not vibrantly so. So I'm stealing from Peter to pay Paul with credit cards jacked up with interest rates of 25%. It'll work itself out. I hope it'll work itself out.

But sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes having no regulation when you're dealing with money is a very, very bad thing. We didn't self-regulate and neither did our government and now we're both screwed.

It's a new dawn, a new day. We have a young man in charge with a new brand of swagger reminiscent of the best men of long ago generations. This man, unlike his successor, is a wordsmith at heart. His intelligence is magnificent and his ability to generate excitement is unprecedented. At this crossroads in history an American President, once again, has us in the palm of his hands.
This is why it's so deeply regrettable that the stimulus package, as it stands now, is bereft of real change. One of its main goals is to increase confidence in the market. Right now Wall Street is wringing its hands in worry and Main Street is focused on making ends meet. Not a lot of confidence anywhere. It seems that those at the helm are intent on using bipartisanship as a way to signal an end to politics as usual. It's a beaut of a theory but in reality it appears that extreme ideologies have no interest in budging, even if it means shitty days are about to get even shittier.
What I wonder is why there aren't more clever ideas on the table for this package. Here we're supposed to have the brightest men and women trading ideas, banging heads, spending their newfound liberally-bent capital and their big idea is to build new schools?
Bravo to that, for sure, but COME ON! What about rail lines and big tax breaks for only those who invest in green technology? How about something like another World's Fair? It would employ hundreds of thousands and stimulate the economy the way only a vast outside shopping mall might.
I don't see it as either or. Why can't one be a centrist AND forward-thinking? With all that's at stake the stimulus should be unlike anything we've ever seen - broad and awe-inspiring, not weak and underwhelming.

I want to believe we are now in big, strong, capable hands but there's an image gnawing at me.
It's the Rockbiter from the 1980s fantasy flick The Neverending Story. This giant yet gentle creature was sure he'd be able to hold onto his miniature friends when The Nothing made its way through Fantasia. What happened instead was one of the saddest parts of the entire movie.

They look like big, good, strong hands. Don't they?

I always thought that's what they were. My little friends. The little man with his racing snail, the Nighthob, even the stupid bat. I couldn't hold on to them. The nothing pulled them right out of my hands. I failed.

Redistribute, Baby, Redistribute!

Here's how the Yahoo News Feeder appears right now:

• Economy shrinks 3.8 percent; biggest drop in almost 27 years
• Exxon Mobil breaks its own record with $45.2 billion profit
• Obama slams $18 billion in Wall Street bonuses as 'shameful'


Where's the headline saying,
"The rich are STILL getting richer. Those poor assholes who are now unemployed or underemployed? Hold on! We'll just throw money around until something sticks. Remain calm and please don't kill yourself and your entire family."

So many folks seem to worship Reagan. Isn't he the guy who made trickle down economics famous by cutting taxes for the wealthiest few? See how that's been working for our society? Not so much.

The argument that these rich folks work hard for their vast amounts of wealth is bullshit. Somehow I don't think that if you matched up these fat cat Exxon Mobil executives with a blue collar worker you'd say the former is busting his ass so hard he needs to be compensated millions. Sure, these execs have stress. Stress is relative though. They might be stressed because that Eames armchair doesn't come in powder blue to color coordinate with their house in the Hamptons. The blue collar worker is afraid his sick wife won't be able to go to the doctor because he can't afford the copay AND groceries for the week. Different kinds of stress, don't you think?

Saying this greed is shameful is like saying filling a cavity without Novocaine hurts for a second. Woefully inadequate for the severity of the situation. How about some real reform? How about doing away with tax cuts and tax loopholes for the billionaires - not just admonishing them. Take back these fat cat bonuses and use that money to stimulate the economy. Distribute it to those who have nothing but work their asses off. No one should have more than they can use in a lifetime while so many struggle to survive.

Say What?!

People still have rabbit ears for their TVs?





Really?

Tagging Ad Nauseam

The other day a dear friend commented on how Facebook is both wonderful and evil. I can see her point - there's something extremely gratifying about locating old friends (or even simple acquaintances), seeking out a friend request, waiting for its arrival and then holding your breath to see if they'll comment on how you haven't aged a bit in the fifteen years it's been since you last saw each other.

There is a flip side, however, to this giant virtual reunion. It can get a little dicey when former loves are found, especially for people who currently reside in a state of existential crisis. So much more can be said in an email than on the phone or in person. Mouths and telephones don't have nifty delete buttons like keyboards do. There's something inherent with email that allows people to be incredibly daring, to seem infinitely more cool than they ever would face to face. And this can spell trouble.

But what really interests me is that my generation will undoubtedly be the last to have this unique experience of googling old flames, former best friends or incommunicado relatives. We're all so tune in now, so open to sharing every aspect of our dull lives online that it will be nearly impossible to remain anonymous in the years to come. Six degrees of separation has been chunked in half by the advent and popularity of social networking sites and it will make the old adage "keep in touch" obsolete.

Summing Up Eight Years

Have you seen Laura and Condie's recent media pouncing trying to convince America that eventually we will all recognize just how fabulous W really was? 

Well, this end of the year Vanity Fair article will surely put to rest any question or misgivings you might have about calling this administration the worst group of reckless asshats in the history of the United States government.

An Oral History of the Bush White House

Here's an excerpt

March 19, 2003 The Iraq war begins. Two weeks of “shock and awe” bombardment herald the invasion by ground forces. U.S. and British troops make up 90 percent of the “international coalition,” which includes modest support from other countries. The defeat of Iraqi forces is a foregone conclusion, but within days of the occupation Baghdad is beset by looting that coalition forces do nothing to stop. Rumsfeld dismisses the breakdown of civil order with the explanation “Stuff happens.” Kenneth Adelman, a Rumsfeld- appointed member of a Pentagon advisory board, and initially a supporter of the war, later confronts the defense secretary.


Kenneth Adelman, a member of Donald Rumsfeld’s advisory Defense Policy Board:
So he says, It might be best if you got off the Defense Policy Board. You’re very negative. I said, I am negative, Don. You’re absolutely right. I’m not negative about our friendship. But I think your decisions have been abysmal when it really counted.
Start out with, you know, when you stood up there and said things—“Stuff happens.” I said, That’s your entry in Bartlett’s. The only thing people will remember about you is “Stuff happens.” I mean, how could you say that? “This is what free people do.” This is not what free people do. This is what barbarians do. And I said, Do you realize what the looting did to us? It legitimized the idea that liberation comes with chaos rather than with freedom and a better life. And it demystified the potency of American forces. Plus, destroying, what, 30 percent of the infrastructure.
I said, You have 140,000 troops there, and they didn’t do jack shit. I said, There was no order to stop the looting. And he says, There was an order. I said, Well, did you give the order? He says, I didn’t give the order, but someone around here gave the order. I said, Who gave the order?
So he takes out his yellow pad of paper and he writes down—he says, I’m going to tell you. I’ll get back to you and tell you. And I said, I’d like to know who gave the order, and write down the second question on your yellow pad there. Tell me why 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq disobeyed the order. Write that down, too.
And so that was not a successful conversation.

Angry Mob at Change.gov

Obama supporters are angry about Rick Warren delivering the invocation at the presidential inauguration next month and are making their voices heard at Change.gov
Here's a sample comment:

Mr Obama,

I am writing to ask that you return the campaign donations made by myself, Jacinto Hernandez, and my husband, Charles Callahan, to your campaign. Chet and I were passionate supporters-- Chet volunteered for weeks at a local phone bank. We attended numerous rallies and fundraisers-- including one with your wife, Michelle (see attached picture) That fund raiser was ostensibly held to court support with the gay community. At that fundraiser, Michelle held my my baby and promised to "not forget us." Yet you have. We worked tirelessly for your campaign-- replacing our yard sign when it was vandalized. So why would you betray the gay community- that stood by you-- and ask Rick Warren to lead your inauguration, when his anti gay rhetoric is dangerous to our family. He also was a huge proponent of proposition 8, that has endangered our family and has eliminated the civil rights of thousands of Californians.

We gave thousands of dollars-- despite the tough economy- in hopes that are community would no longer be marginalized. Despite the passage of prop 8, we celebrated on election day. Today we feel betrayed. There are so many christian leaders who are advocates for the gay community-- why choose one who is not?

Please return our donations immediately. We made donations over a number of occaisions, frequently in response to "urgent" pleas from your campaign. Consider this an "urgent" plea as well.

Please remove us from your mailing lists and never ask us for your support again, unless you stand with us and reject homophobia once and for all.

Your move, Mr President-Elect.

Obama in Response to Anger Over Warren

Let me start by talking about my own views. I think that it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans. It is something that I have been consistent on and something that I intend to be consistent on during my presidency. What I've also said is that it is important for Americans to come together even though we have disagreements on certain social issues. I would note that a couple of years ago, I was invited by Rick Warren's church to speak despite his wariness that I held contrary views.... that's what this campaign was about....We're not going to agree on every single issue...but what we have to do is be able to create an atmosphere that we can disagree and not be disagreeable....

This is as good of a response as I can think of.