Saturday, December 29, 2012

DO SOMETHING!!!!!

this fiscal cliff bullshit is ridiculous.  first the whole concept was created to do exactly opposite what's happening.  it was thought that if a series of extreme consequences stood at the end of a budgeting process, if the process failed, heaven and earth would be moved to make sure the appropriate steps were taken to avoid the endgame.  sounds good in theory, must have sounded good at the time -

- but what if congress could not agree on anything?  simply.could.not.agree.

i think if john boehner had the power to decide himself for his caucus, it would have happened, the cliff averted.  but there is a bloc of about 75 congress people who refuse to vote for anything except exactly what they want.  to these people, compromise is a sign of weakness.

to most of the world, the ability to compromise is a significant sign of maturity - not to these bubba's.

and therein lies the rub.  how do you govern if you can't compromise?

you can't.  you go off the fiscal cliff.  and everyone's taxes get raised on New Years's day.


Saturday, December 15, 2012

sandy hook

i feel so sad about the shootings in CT yesterday.  the awfulness gives rise to a host of philosophical questions, as well as practical questions.  what kind of country do we live in where guns are dealt with so casually?  i'm tired of the old saw about it being about the people, not the guns.  bullshit.  i saw the charts yesterday where countries were compared, and the US had far and away the most gun deaths.  and the most guns.  coincidence?  i think not.

people who have easy access to guns kill people.  and it's generally young, mentally ill white men.  This time, the shooter's mother had the guns - why would a suburban mom need 4 guns, including an assault rifle?  WHY??  what would adam lanza have done with his craziness had he not had such easy access to guns?  I don't know, but he wouldn't have been able to kill 27 people.  as it was, all he had to do was look around the house.

yes, of course, there should be more efficient ways to insure that those with a history of mental illness not have guns - and yesterday there was a facebook meme going around stating it was easier to get a gun in this country then to get treatment for mental illness.  very true.

obama has run his last race; there is no additional election to be concerned about - he staked his first term on healthcare, what better issue to stake his second term on than gun control.  go for it!!

Monday, December 10, 2012

the wind is howling.......

............love this time of year!  dramatic weather changes, a chance to wear winter clothes, even boots!

and while i'm wearing my first-ever red cowboy boots, what else is going on?  well, the supreme court is wading into the gay marriage 'controversy'.

the issues seem to be nicely chugging along, with major marriage wins last month at the ballot boxes - could the supremes screw it up?  for sure.  justice roberts is still recovering from the battering he took when he 'saved' obamacare - don't look for another liberal move by him.  no, this once comes down, again, to justice kennedy.  anybody's guess.

and there are two issues - the defense of marriage act (DOMA), and actual same-sex marriages.  i think we're looking at DOMA being overturned, but then a split decision.  the california case looks for a constitutional amendment making same-sex marriage OK.  i think the supremes will say goodbye to DOMA, then put the burden on the states.  or, as this lesbian sees it, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

we'll see.