Category Archives: Politics

The Things We Choose to Care About

The Bethlehem Steel Building? Is that really a hill worth dying on? I mean the property is a close to dormant that I wonder what there is to preserve. This seems kind of loony to me as the building has been setting there forever. It begs the question what is the cut off point from preservation to clinging to a lost cause. I prefer interesting architecture too, but that site has been in such a coma for so long. There are folks upset and I respect their passion, but it seems a little late in the game. Much like the folks who got upset that the Aud was going to come down, after it had been mothballed for more than a decade.

We got to let a few go.

Much like the sudden cautiousness over waterfront land that has sat for generations, it might be better to get ticked over the viable stuff, like Greatbatch leaving the hostile climes of Clarence for Texas or even more locally when Children’s Hospital bolts the Elmwood neighborhood for the High Street Medical Collassus.

I’m not saying, don’t worry, but perhaps we could worry sooner.

Bing! Bing! Bing! Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!

I don’t care…..

With apologies to Kevin Meany, ignorance can indeed be bliss.

Recent news “coverage” suggests that Milt Romney was a bit of a prep school jerk. Are the networks so desperate for news that assignment desks are setting their way back machines 50 years? I mean, I don’t care and neither should you. Vote or don’t vote for the jerk you see before, not for some second hand account of jerkiness.

That fact that those things resonate with voters is scary. The story of President Obama eating dog as a child isn’t something newsworthy. At 9 or 10, you ate what was in front of you.

And the fact that either guy has changed his mind is a bad thing. Both the GOP and the Democrats like to point fingers and scream “Flip-Flopper” at the other. While it’s a fun turn of a phrase, it is a silly thing to get lathered up about.

It’s tough enough to get voters to make informed decisions when so much press coverage sounds like they are covering a beauty pageant. And that isn’t just a swipe at Fox News, it’s all of em and the effect the bloviating seems to have on us masses.

While I applaud the President for stating his position on gay marriage (as I agree with it) and taking a stand on something because that’s what he believes, what nobody notices yet is that the stance doesn’t change anything. Commentators are stumbling all over themselves as to the potential ramifications of the President’s speaking out. To see Mr. Limbaugh and his many divorces up in arms over the President’s “war on marriage” was pretty hilarious. As you go to City Hall to get your license and no one church has a monopoly on marriage, this is all a little odd to me. Don’t like gay marriage, don’t get gay married. Just like your faith or lack thereof is the rule in your house, but mine calls the shots in mine. But I digress…

Okay, one last point, we seem to be for religious freedom, until somebody actually uses it.

Okay, one final last point, shame on you, North Carolina.

Now, where was I…

Oh, yeah, let’s ask each guy about what matters, wouldn’t it be cool if that actually happened? You might get informed voters. If they toss out some bromide like “We’re gonna do what’s needed to get this country moving again,” ask what the hell that is suppose to mean?

It’s not a job that anybody can do and nobody should “settle” because that is what Beck, Olbermann, Limbaugh, Maddow, Blitzer, etc decide to cover. There are important questions to be asked, serious decisions that lie ahead with enough gravitas to sink an cruise ship. We’re never going find somebody we complete agree with, but we shouldn’t be satisfied with the McNuggets and neither should the folks with the microphones.

The Politics of Dancing

A couple of years ago, my lovely son and I were walking down Elmwood Ave, headed to a late breakfast and good spots for watching a parade. In front of the church that happened to be, well, ours, three knuckleheads were walking with placards and condemning one and all to hell, since we were the only ones on the sidewalk, one with the megaphone decided I needed reminding with a little extra ire. We kept stepping ignoring the fact that this guy was so blind to his devotion and that I think I could of gotten away with flattening him, but that probably would have been a bad lesson for my son. Our crime in his eyes, wasn’t our brunch selection but eating it in front of the gay pride parade. Setting aside the fact that the parade is one of nicer, everybody is welcome events on the Elmwood Village calendar, the religious intolerance of the megaphone toting goof is probably contradictory to whoever he actually worships.

This came to mind as the 397th Republican Debate was last night and it managed to give me a headache and I didn’t see the whole thing, as once more nothing that had anything to do with effective governing got discussed. While I admire Rick Santorum for admitting that he screwed up on No Child Left Behind, there wasn’t much there there. Mitt Romney’s mormonism has been fair game. Senator Santorum‘s faith has been in some news pieces and all four republican candidates have taken to evaluating the President’s faith, especially with the recent dustup over what Catholic health providers can and can’t do.

A friend pointed out that if Santorum was spouting that stuff that has been in soundbites of late from the front of the train, you’d change cars. The trouble with never ending news cycles is that often there isn’t anything of value to say. You don’t get to be president of the people who agree with you, got to take us all, and not everybody reads from the same book. When the hullabaloo over the government mandating that everybody pass out birth control info wrankled the catholic health system, I sympathize as people should be free to worship unabashedly for themselves, but when you are looking for secular dollars for funding, shutting it is probably a prudent course. To lable this all as “A War On Religion” is a pile of hooey.

With Senator Santorum’s quest for a bible based government, it made me wonder if he has read the whole thing. I have and if it gives you comfort, I applaud that, respect that and will stand with you to protect those benefits for you, but given how it perhaps shouldn’t be taken as gospel, perhaps one particular faith shouldn’t dominate the primary season. Got to be President for all the people in all the churches, not just the ones like yours, doncha know.

Food for thought

Blind Faith

Couldn’t watch latest G.O.P. debate, couldn’t do it. This never ending reality show is a frustrating commentary to voters, an indictment of attention spans, and just plain sad. We’re in a heap of trouble to be sure. If you are not a fan of the President, I respect that to be sure. We’re in a heap of trouble to be sure. Congress couldn’t be any more dysfunctional as it appears we’ve elected meandering democrats, obstructionist tea-partiers and republicans who probably wouldn’t elect Reagan.

It is frustrating that when Speaker Boehner gets asked if he thinks the payroll tax cut would help the economy and he replies that he isn’t an economist. Tool!! You don’t have to be. Give people who are paycheck to paycheck folks a little more to spend and chances are that it will help the economy as we are the only ones putting anything into the economy. Boehner, McConnell, Kantor, et. al are so busy protecting the big money that they are seeing the whole picture, making it look like they are still resenting the President for having the nerve to get elected.

I don’t entirely believe the dude in video entirely, but beneath the histrionics, he has some points.

Certainly not an all inclusive discussion, but there must be something other than bringing down the President on GOP/TEA agenda. It seems like that this has been going on forever and the only thing that has changed is that attention spans are dwindling. People are resentful of other opinions and are seemingly grabbing at the McNuggets. I listen to folks who resent the occupyers, labeling them as jobless or just wanting a hand out, because that is so obviously not the case. As Warren Buffett says, his secretary is taxed harder than he is. One guy who is honest. Can we get a second?

Rick Perry thinks President Obama has a war on religion in a deservingly ridiculed and parodied video. People are struggling and it seems more and more that our representatives are getting further away from representing. What is troubling is that people will decisions of videos and other propaganda rather blindly.

I think it summarizes my trouble with these slates. The Repubs are hating on the President. Fine, tell me what you would do. The President has disappointed me at times as somebody who voted for him. In fairness, he has gotten much done, but when you are hurling a few bricks into a mountain of trouble it can be difficult for the good stuff to get its due. From positions of strength, he’s got it, but too often he is spending time trying to broker with people who resent him and the folks who voted them there.

I think the current contestants on the GOP version of Survivor should quit making bets, scaring kids about parents “needing fixin,” imaging wars on topics not even touched upon and think about the job itself. And any voter who says they are casting their vote purely on the basis of a candidate who uses phrases like “putting America back to work” might want to consider a second news source, because the first one is failing you.

Blind faith isn’t getting us anywhere.

Got to see the whole board and there seems to be shortage of people willing to do that.

“You Never Give Me Your Money”

It’s an epidemic, I tell you. All these buildings are throwing themselves in front of senior citizen drivers. Apparently it is a call for more drive through lanes. Just to be safe, I’m going to park behind the folks car when I go visit next.

As I write this, the Sabres are 2-0, the Bills 3-1 and it is 75 degrees on an October day in Buffalo. I can’t help but wonder if some other Rust Belt city lost a bet.

I’m beginning to think that people watching the people occupying Wall Street might have a complete grasp as to why the original occupiers (occupiees?) showed up in the first place.

Awful lot of folks acting like a relative passed away with the passing of Steve Jobs. While that is indeed sad, I don’t think of him in the Edison and Shakespeare types of metaphors that were getting bandied about so freely in the time after the announcement. While I enjoy Apple products and Pixar movies, I think while he definitely was a visionary, part of his genius is letting some truly gifted hands-on folk run amuck, all that results in the toys we call covet.

And speaking of capitalism faux paws (intentional), I can’t fathom the logic in some “entity” chasing the Whole Hog Food truck away from the Bidwell Farmers Market last saturday. If it was a market-eer, maybe they would be some of your Kale for their awesome breakfast sandwich if you weren’t sticking the cops on them. If it was another restaurant, then shame on you. Make good food and people will come to your place. There are plenty of stationary competitors too. Do good work and people will come. People are buying from these rolling merchants because the stuff is good quality. That might be a key, doncha know?

Back to the Wall street stuff for a moment, Peter King is quoted about not wanted to give the movement legitimacy. Well, Congressman, people are upset and making their voices known. Ain’t that a good thing? Isn’t that what a democracy is supposed to be about?  People need heard. When the main republican leadership is and has been nothing more than to take down the President, the democrats mealymouth their way around so it isn’t clear what they stand for and the executive branch spends a lot of time just trying to be liked, and none of them are representin’, yo, people are going to get ticked.

On more mundane matters, I’m curious to see the new films on Paul McCartney and George Harrison, despite both having mixed reviews. Always liked the music of both guys and the possibility of learning a little more is intriguing, but not enough to sign up, even temporarily, for either pay channel they were getting shown on.

I’ve always been a more “trust the art, not the artist” guy, so I’ve never really had a handle on those who fling themselves on the cars or things like that, but seeing what might have gone into building a portion of my life’s soundtrack is a curious thing.

Pancakes & Milkshakes

Apparently, there is a force field  at work around at the exit to Delaware Park that causes minivans that retrieve soccer playing moppets to stop randomly,make left turns from far right lane and halt immediatelyanywhere except in parking spaces. It is a plague I tell ya. One of my dad’s favorite cold war one liners was about the Russians developing a s”Stupid Beam” and “they aimed that sucker at the Kensington.” Methinks the technology has been perfected and it has certain people believing they can repel the advances of other cars with the wave of a hand. Please, folks, quit yelling at your aspiring football star to “come here,” from the comfort of your rolling lazy boy when cars, walkers, bikes, motorcycles and the like are all coming down the road. Park yer land yacht IN A FLIPPING SPACE and go get the lil scamp.

My son had to the full 10,000 mile check up at the orthodonist yesterday so while waiting on him, I had some time to get caught up on the news periodicals. Reading the print editions made me feel such the throwback.

So, Rep. Kantor wants to help FEMA refill their coffers, provided more comes out of the Federal budget first? Going to blockade assistance to people who desperately need it to score budgetary points with ill-informed constituents. Didn’t the debt ceiling debate teach anybody anything? Chances are anybody who thinks he has a point didn’t have their town flooded over the weekend.

One of the districts that got a good supply of federal funding as pointed out by Time magazine was his. Interesting.

Also on the “who are you really representing part?” is both the President and Speaker Boehner. The speaker didn’t want the President addressing congress during the republican presidential debate next week Wednesday. Both will speak of political gameship and bitch about it, yet both are hooked on it. The President seemingly just wants to be liked and the Speaker seems to just want to foil him, so again, nothing is getting accomplished. I half expect the President’s sound bytes to start out with “Aw, c’mon guys” and keep hoping the rest of the oompah loompahs to smack some sense into the speaker.

And for somebody to quit giving Kantor a  microphone.

Back locally for a moment, while I try to say First Niagara Center without it become a bad brooklyn accent infected pun, but I can’t wait to get my new effn jacket for the second job.

Debt Be Not Proud

“Is there a debt limit deal or not? I need to plan my Sunday- a nice brunch or looting???”

I got to confess to being full with all the posturing about the debt ceiling fight. Yes, the President and Sen. Ried could have worked a little harder. Reps. Boehner and Kantor could have had a plan long before this week’s bill. Point is, kids, you all screwed up. Represenative Boehner says the President is in reelection mode. What he doesn’t say is the rest are in keep me elected mode. It’s makes you nostalgic for when the Republicans hated the Clintons, not the majority of the people who voted for them.

You wish everybody would quit jockeying for soundbytes and get it done without making it tougher for middle class to do extravagant things like attempt college. Yes, the President spent too much, so did the one before him. Congress has spent too much, as did the one before, as did the one before it and so on.

The one thing government does well, is collect money and sent it back out. To read that the squabbling wasn’t on entitlements, senate pensions, but things like pell grants makes me throw up a little. The fact that representatives on both sides are worried what it will do to the “party” ahead of what it will do to the people (remember us?)

Ain’t no higher ground when you are all at fault.

Live from Bobo bot

Only thing more astounding than Osama Bin Laden‘s compound going undetected for so long was the scary amount of people who resented “the Celebrity Apprentice” to hear the news. Our priorities are warped when the rush is on to hear what Sarah Palin had to say on the matter. As he has been gone for more than five years, why is Donald Rumsfield worthy of camera time on this and did we really need to interrupt Vice President Cheney’s scaring of his neighbors to claim it was all them? And on top of that, why doesn’t Plankton just buy a damn crabby patty already?

It was all everybody from what I can see. Covering a horrific event like with a sportscenter mentality isn’t sitting well with me. This isn’t t-ball where everybody gets to play. Not everybody merits a microphone either.

“Asking Cheney, Rumsfeld & Rice about search for Bin Laden is like asking Pete Best how the Beatles achieved their sound.” — TV’s Frank

The President did his bit, the former president did is and that should be it. Yeah, I said it, President Bush was one of the more dignified folks during the week. Everybody likes to be in know, have the skinny, witness the “Who’s on First” routine from the White House trying to get the good word out in the first place.

Slow down, folks, let’s take our time to get it right. Correct will trump (hehe, I said trump) everytime.

Costellobad

“Bin Laden…out with an upper Body injury, not to return”

“Hey England, we’ll see your Wedding and raise you one funeral”

“President Bush: “I loosened it for ya, hehe”"

The quips do come easy as gallows humor is never too hard to cultivate.

It is one of those “where were you” moments when you heard the news about Osama Bin Laden, but Mashable and all three local tv stations used social media not to see the news, but “how did you find out about it” polls. I can’t help but think that doesn’t matter.

While this accomplishment is quite significant, I guess I’m not ready to go dancing in the streets like some folks were. It wasn’t long ago, that news of the towers collapsing had some people celebrating in other portions of the world. It does sort of figure that Bin Laden was found in a custom built McMansion instead of the caves of story and song. It’s interesting too that this was all in Pakistan. Pakistan has received considerable aid from the United States in recent years. The Pakistani government, such as it is, has also been one of the underwriters of the Taliban and Al Queda. So, if you think about it, on the war on terrorism, we need to narrow our focus to stopping……us.

Don’t get me wrong, getting him is a great thing to be sure, ( I think of Mark Twain’s quote about not wishing for anyone’s death, but taking the occasional pleasure in an Obituary) but I got this feeling that it doesn’t necessarily mean any one book is closed. Bin Laden’s death and the scenes of revelry could be rallying points, for evil that we know is still out there.