Gone With the Wind

Thankfully I was able to make it home in time to hear President Obama's first address to Congress. Regretfully, it ran past my bedtime and I found myself falling asleep around the 10pm mark.

One of my preferred strategies for dealing with things is the so-called "Scarlett O'Hara defense." This is where you pledge to not worry about something unpleasant until tomorrow, "because after all tomorrow is another day." Believe it or not this can be quite effective. But early in Obama's speech he did a good job of kicking 'ole Scarlett to the curb—"And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day."

Ahem. Basically Obama took all of us, politicians and regular Americans to task last night. And what should have felt like a trip out to the old woodshed of yore, didn't turn out to be as painful as one might imagine due to Obama's masterful oratorical skills. Dude can blend a tongue lashing with optimism in a way I never quite imagined—"Well, I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders, and I know you don't, either. It is time for America to lead again."

When he started in on healthcare, to be perfectly frank, my jaw dropped. An American goes bankrupt every 30 seconds from healthcare costs? That boggles my mind and yet it all makes so much sense. When the majority of people with healthcare have it through their employers, and when you have employers who are offering what can only be described as catastrophic plans with ridiculously high deductibles then you have a recipe for disaster on an epic scale. Lose your job, lose your healthcare coverage. And god forbid you are someone with a healthcare problem and try to buy a plan on your own, you will probably spend more than your mortgage, if you can even find someone willing to cover you. I would LOVE to hear a realistic plan from the GOP to solve this little quagmire. And savings accounts aren't going to cut it.

"We are not quitters." Maybe it is time to let Scarlett rest in peace and just remember that phrase when things get you down. After all it came from a brave, southern girl too, someone real and the time has come for Americans to deal in reality. 

Dear God

I have been thinking about religion and church a lot lately. I have sort of had to because of events that have been occurring at my own little house of worship.

A person's spiritual beliefs are a funny, funny thing. While I deeply love talking politics, and frankly even religion (although I am so far from an expert I daily await God's intervention via lightening bolt), I do occasionally find myself longing for the days when it wasn't considered polite to discuss either. Of course, then I wouldn't be left with much to talk about. All things considered, some may welcome that silence as well.

But religion. I guess I should say that it is my belief that religion and spirituality are really two separate things. Having grown up Presbyterian, church was an assumption, something I put little thought or effort into. It also didn't exactly dictate much in my life short of where I might be on a Sunday morning. What little interest I had was easy to lose in my teens and during college. It helped that I went to a small, then-Southern Baptist affiliated school that liked to keep boys on one side of campus and girls on another. God forbid we mingle. THINGS might happen.

During these formative years, when my opinions began to blossom I came to more and more see religion as bad and spirituality as good. To this day, I can name more individuals that I consider to be in possession of a true sense of spirituality who probably haven't set foot in a church in years, then I can people who loudly and publicly promote their religion and worship every week.

Maybe this is the subconscious Presbyterian in me, but I strongly hold with the idea of good works. I want no part of a God that will overlook the lifetime 

I have spent, the good and bad I have done, for one last minute giving over of my soul, no matter how heartfelt it may be. I don't consider myself saved, nor do I aspire to be. Instead I hope that everyday I am doing something, no matter how small, that makes me a better person and does something good for someone else in some way.

I didn't mean for this to turn into Broad's personal path to God (but if you are interested, I can whip together some sort of kit for the nominal fee of $19.99). But what does puzzle me greatly is how so many people can tout their religion, their beliefs, their "what would Jesus do"-ness (by the way, that drives me over the brink, if even one tenth of the world REALLY did things the way Jesus would have, our planet would not be on the brink of disaster either physically or economically, women would not be beaten, children would not abandoned, etc. you get my drift) and yet act so callously toward one another.

Sometimes a church can feel like a bad day in high school all over again. One faction ganging up on another. One group with an agenda and many caught, unknowingly in the cross hairs. None of which are even remotely in the vein of "what Jesus would do."

I don't know what the answer is, but it makes me wonder if the people I know who are spiritual aren't on a better track than those who are religious.

Black and Blue

I have been remiss in my feminist duties by not commenting yet on the horrible events surrounding Rihanna and Chris Brown. Some of the comments from the media and from celebrities have been deeply disturbing and frankly a bit scary.

Domestic violence is a serious issue, one that many people are loathe to handle. It makes us uncomfortable and lord knows most of us have a tendency to shy away from that which isn't neat and pretty and tied up with a bow. It doesn't matter if "she" started it. Nor should a woman face any stigma for having been the victim of abuse. She didn't ask for it and Rihanna certainly didn't ask for the photos taken of her injuries by the police to be leaked. That was a vile invasion of privacy.

NOW highlights some information on violence against women:

Domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes every year. Less than 20 percent of battered women sought medical treatment following an injury.

What does this breaks down to? Twenty two percent of women surveyed for a 2000 Department of Justice reported being a victim of physical assault. That equals out to 1.3 million women a year in the United States who are victims of abuse. For more answers about domestic violence, visit here.

I have friends and family who have been victims of abuse. I have seen and heard how hard it is for them to distance themselves from a man that says he loves them, yet continues to physically harm them. It is so hard to see someone you love try to separate themselves from a situation that is tearing them down inside and out. 

Abusers need help. The abused must never be vilified or blamed. We can never truly say that women are equal in our society until this issue stops being seen as shameful or as something to be hidden. Instead abuse against women needs to be confronted and punished accordingly. No woman living in fear of physical harm to herself or her children is free. And for those of us who have been lucky enough to have never been abused (and I say lucky, because even strong, powerful, intelligent women are abused everyday, this is not merely a problem for the uneducated or weak), we can never truly consider ourselves free either so long as other women live in fear and pain.

The Tortoise and the Hare

While I am going through my stack o'magazines, here's a little ditty from this week's Newsweek about Canada of all things. We've heard about the financial crisis in Europe, Britain's better bailout plan, and Iceland's government meltdown, but what you ask is happening to the north of the US? Heh? Well it would appear that Canada has done showed us all up.

Yes, home prices are down in Canada too, but only half as much as they are in the US—they don't let people deduct mortgage interest on their taxes. Canadians are also still responsible for their mortgages if they go bankrupt, not the banks. But you say—it is is the American dream to own your home! Well, the Canucks got us beat on that too. Their rate of home ownership is 68.4 percent. Ours? Just 68 percent.

I could go on and Fareed Zakaria does (I am swiping his info for above). But I think you get where I am going. Sometimes I think we as Americans get too caught up in being the flashiest, having the latest and greatest, and we don't look at the big picture. From the sounds of things, these are not afflictions those in the Great White North suffer from to the same degree. Perhaps we should pay some more attention to Canada, and not just when it comes to hockey, actors or comedians . . .

Daydream Believer

Apologies all around gentle readers for my lengthier than normal absence. I have excuses of course (aren't there always excuses?), but I won't load you down with them today.

Sitting on my chair for several weeks now has been an older copy of Rolling Stone (RS 1070), which features an imaginary exit interview with Dubya by Matt Taibbi. For any of you who have encountered Taibbi through his writing or his somewhat toned down election reports via Real Time with Bill Maher (who btw returns to HBO tonight—party at Broad's house, well if I could stay up that late, god bless the dvr), you will know that Taibbi is, shall we say, less than sacrosanct when it comes to his attitude toward politicians and their ilk.

But near the conclusion of the mock interview Taibbi has Bush say that his wife and dad have both given him looks "Like there's something they want to say to me, but won't." Taibbi responds "I think there are a lot of people who feel that way." Imaginary Bush asks what do they want to say and this is Taibbi's response:

OK, here it is. You're the child of two emotionally absent aristocrats who denied you any kind of love and affection from an early age. You grew up resentful and lacking completely in natural gifts or curiosity and by early adulthood found yourself desperate to fulfill the expectations your parents by then mostly had only for your much more competent brother, Jeb. You failed every test you ever faced as a young man and were unable to hold any job at all until the age of 45 or so, at which time you decided to try to win some self-respect by going into the family business. You were aided in this quest by a bunch of narrow-minded lackeys and holdovers from your father's administration who every step of the way manipulated your obvious Oedipal resentments to their advantage, enriching themselves and their friends. All you wanted was a pat on the back and a few accomplishments of your own to hang your hat on, but instead you're about to spend the rest of eternity pondering your now-official legacy as the worst and most pigheaded leader in the history of Western democracy, a man who almost single-handedly sank the mightiest nation on Earth by turning the presidency into a $50 trillion therapy session that ended in two disastrous wars, a financial crisis that threatens the entire system of international capitalism, and a legacy of corruption on a scale not seen since the Borgias or maybe Nero.

That about sums it up. I really do intend to move on from the "Blame Bush" bandwagon, but this was too good to pass up. 

If your curiosity is sparked, you can read the whole thing here.

With Interest

If you want something cheerful, I hope you skipped President Obama's first press conference on Monday night. He was informed and deliberate and thoughtful, and depressing as hell. But as serious as things are, I guess I would rather hear the truth than the lies that we have become so accustomed to over the previous eight years.

Things just seem to be unraveling all over (like the time the spawn pulled the needle out of my knitting . . .), but I might be projecting some other things on the political arena as well.

Back on topic. Maxine Waters is my new hero. At least for the moment. She gave the bankers a talking to yesterday that in my opinion is long overdue. First she expressed her disapproval of the bankers in general. Next she lined up her first shot, asking them to raise their hands if they had raised interest rates on credit cards since receiving their portions of last fall's $700 billion bailout. Hands were raised all around. She followed up, asking if they reduced people's line of credit for shopping at certain stores. No hands were raised on that. I wished if she had just asked if they had lowered the lines of credit. Because I know they have done that.

Olbermann did a nice bit on this whole thing last night, highlighting Barney Frank's question as to why these yeah-who's need bonuses and what they would do differently if they didn't get them. Waters is interviewed about half way into the interview.

Waters may be a bit of a nut, but Olbermann is right, she raised the issues that REAL Americans care about. Yes I hate these jack asses have private jets and desks worth tens of thousands of dollars, but what I hate more is that they are fucking with our lives everyday through our credit cards, our mortgages, our lending. And I want it to stop. And I want them to be charged interest.

'Atta Boy!

Now this is what I am talking about:

[D]on't come to the table with the same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create this crisis.

President Obama, during a speech to House Democrats, where he admonished Republicans for their opposition to the stimulus bill.

Retreat and Retrench

I am weeping copious tears today for the poor, beleaguered executives at Wells Fargo who are going to have to forgo their retreat to Sin City this year because we pesky middle class Americans are all up in arms at their lack of frugality. And woe is me! It is going to cost them. Something tells me that it is going to cost them way more than cash. I particularly love what Barney Frank had to say to the banking industry in general:

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said banks were acting "stupid" and making it harder for lawmakers to defend them.

"People really hate you," he said, imploring banks to do everything possible to avoid offending people. "And they're starting to hate us just for hanging out with you."

Yeah I would say that pretty much pegs it. Meanwhile in other financial news, Obama's decision to cap CEO salaries at $500,000 for any company taking a future government bailout has been lauded by those on Wall Street as draconian. Are you freakin' kidding me? If that is draconian, maybe they should just give the CEO's a 10th of that, a salary that the average American would consider themselves damn blessed to have.

Meanwhile, the Senate Democrats can't seem to grow a pair and force the Republicans to actually filibuster Obama's proposed stimulus package. The Dems have 58 seats so it seems logical that they could come up with 50 votes to pass the thing. But no! They would rather lie down and roll over while the GOP forces them to meet the 60 vote threshold a filibuster demands without working for it. What is going on here? Is this some sort of bizarro version of battered spouse syndrome? The Democrats are so used to being whipped by the Republicans that they can't stand up and take charge, rather they continue to cower and submit? Today my party of choice is making me sick.

Adding to my general feeling of malaise is the fact that Cheney has decided to re-emerge. (Is this like the groundhog? A Cheney sighting means we will have eight more weeks of fear-mongering  or some other Bush Administration-related bullshit?) And what tender morsel of glee does the Dark Lord have to convey to us today?

"When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry," Cheney said in an interview with Politico. He added that protecting the country is "a tough, mean, dirty, nasty business... These are evil people. And we’re not going to win this fight by turning the other cheek."

Right Dick. It is so much better that we inter people without cause or reason indefinitely. Cheney talked about the recidivism rate of the Gitmo detainees at 11%. Alrighty. But, maybe you ask, what is the recidivism rate of a normal U.S. prison? That would be 65%. Just go away Cheney, sane people do not care to buy the crazy that you are peddling.

You know, I don't know what the answer is to our current economic nightmare (aside from wishing this was an episode of Dallas and we will wake up and find out it was all a dream), but I do know that no one—meaning the politicians—seem to be talking about the credit card debt that faces most Americans. Only my boyfriend Jon Stewart seems to be pushing for this to be acknowledged. Twice in the last two weeks, he has questioned guests (newscaster, Gwen Ifill, and economist, Lawrence Lindsey) as to why the government can't give the American people a bailout to pay off their debts, thus giving the banks liquidity and giving the consumers cash to spend and/or save—preferably both. (Isn't it ironic that just last year everyone bitched about how Americans weren't saving and now they are bitching that we aren't spending? Make up your minds already.)

Admittedly I am no economist, but sounds like a fine idea to me. Maybe we all need to start contacting our Representatives and Senators asking why this idea isn't on the table?

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