You know how it happens, you get busy and distracted and the next thing you know weeks have gone by and you meant to call that friend, clean that closet or finish that project. But it doesn't happen, it slips through the cracks and then you start to get to the point where so much time has passed it almost seems harder to do that thing than to just continue on and pretend that it no longer exists.
Unfortunately that is just what happened to me and the blog. It isn't that I haven't had ideas, I have steadily accumulated a stack of magazines with pages dog-eared with topics I wanted to expound on. And yet.
I am consistently amazed at how easy it is for the day to slip away when you are unemployed. Mind you, I have been somewhat busy with some freelance work, possibly something that will even turn into more of an ongoing, long-term gig (fingers crossed), and I am extremely grateful, but that is no excuse. I have been out of the work force for almost six months now and in that time my book shelves have not been alphabetized like I have dreamed of (I blame the spouse who helped me move in low these many years ago—10 to be exact— and who put the books on the shelf with little rhyme or reason), the spawn's toys have only been organized once, months ago, and now the blocks are living with the toy people and the trucks with the puzzles and in my head it is a mighty clash of civilizations that keep me up at night (okay not really, but it does bug me to my anal retentive core), and that dream of scrubbing the baseboards is still just that. And yet.
I do dream of suit shopping with Bill Maher (paging Freud for the meaning of that one), I did a marathon nine hour day of proofing and I attempted to run a 5K. So I have not been idle. And yet.
Earlier this month, one idea I dog-eared corresponded with my boyfriend Jon Stewart mentioning on his show Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday of atonement. Newsweek editor Jon Meacham wrote his weekly editor's letter back in the September 28 issue (told you I was thinking of you gentle reader, all along . . .) about the consequences of words. I know the power of words to wound and heal and yet I am endless careless with them, waving them about like a cocked and loaded gun. It is shameless really, so that is why Meacham's essay struck me so I think.
Meacham talks of how we delude ourselves when we think that there was once a golden age of bipartisanship. Like the unicorn and yeti, bipartisanship is a myth, a fantasy that we delude ourselves with when times are particularly hard like they are now (despite those bankers on Wall Street raking in their millions). But where I felt truly called to the carpet was when Meacham talks of Obama supporters saying the hostility towards our President is unprecedented. And he is right, my hostility to Dubya was legendary (at least in my own mind) and was, dare I say it, wrong and misguided. The people who demonize President Obama are just as wrong as I was to demonize Dubya, doesn't mean I like him or that my opinion of him has changed or will ever change, but I should have been able to keep my level of discourse on a more civilized plane. And yet.
The level of hostility and hatred that is leveled at President Obama does strike me as different in tone than that aimed at Dubya. Our current president is being judged, by many, for the color of his skin. In my opinion, George W. Bush was being judged by his lack of intelligence and his gung-ho, cowboy attitude toward diplomacy. Many may think I am splitting hairs, but that strikes me as apples and oranges.
So while I am a tad behind, today I will celebrate my own day of atonement and I will try to do better in the future—not only in keeping a civil tongue when it comes to my disagreements with the conservatives in politics, but I will not let things slide in my life. Like this blog.
Showing posts with label jon stewart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jon stewart. Show all posts
Friday, October 23, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
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?
Friday, July 25, 2008
Robert Novak Is An Ass
No sense sugar coating it dear readers. I don't know how many of you heard about it this week with all the hoopla around Obama's World Tour, but syndicated conservative columnist Robert Novak, of exposing Valerie Plame fame, hit a pedestrian this week in his black convertible Corvette. The Prince of Darkness mowed down an 86-year-old homeless man.
Jon Stewart said it best I believe:
Monday, March 3, 2008
Stewart 08
Well since that isn't going to happen, just an FYI that Hillary Clinton will be Jon Stewart's guest on tonight's episode of The Daily Show.
Enjoy.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Notch-urally
So Dixville Notch has given it to Obama and McCain. There are 17 votes. Will the rest of New Hampshire say the same?
On a somewhat lighter note, last night marked the return of my beloved Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Those of you who know me, know that my bedtime hovers around 9pm, so I thank God daily for the bounty of my DVR.
That being said, I managed to watch the opening section of A Daily Show (no that is not a typo, you will understand if you watch the episode) while spooning in the oatmeal. Jon Stewart is a funny man who has amused me for years and has gotten a somewhat bad rep as an actor (check out Playing By Heart, not only does he do well in the small part, you get a glimpse of early Angelina Jolie—but moving on). As funny as the man may be, he needs some writers. So for the love of GOD resolve this damn writers strike.
And then napalm the set of American Gladiators.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Freezing Over
Hell may not be freezing over, but Iowa is. According to the Des Moines Register, "At 5 .a.m, today it was partly cloudy and 11 degrees in Sioux City, clear and 6 degrees in Des Moines, clear and 10 at Fort Dodge, clear and 3 at Ottumwa and clear and minus 2 in Dubuque."
It's a good day to caucus. More to come later I suppose.
One shout out of good news: We are but four nights away from the return of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. And frankly it isn't a moment too soon. Damn writer's strike! (although I can't fault them for wanting their due and sticking it to the man.) It will be interesting to see how Stewart and Colbert handle the show writer-less, but watching them without a net is better than listening to W. anyday, both feet on the ground:
"We need to apply twenty-first century information technology to the healthcare field. We need to have our medical records put on the I.T."
Yep—go ahead and put them on the I.T. Mr. Bush. I'll wait. Only 383 days left . . .
P.S. Thanks to all those who have initially read and shown their support to this opinionated little endeavor. Hope you stick around.
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