it's a wonderful state.....

  So what did we learn from President Obama's State Of The Union Address last night?  Well, we learned that Obama is a lone wolf who still doesn't understand the concept of reaching across the aisle to end the morass of partisan gridlock that has become an all too familiar hallmark of his administration.  Watching the state of the union address last night, President Obama reminded me of just another slick politician spewing some gee golly Capraesque rhetoric that probably would've made George Bailey throw his hands up and yell cut at the top of his lungs.  Via his own rhetoric about doing things with or without congresses help and or support, Obama came across all Wyatt Earp like.   Hell is coming and Obama is bring the thunder apparently.  Not since Kurt Russell in the film Tombstone has the American public been treated to such bravado. 
  
  After five years, my impression of Barrack Obama is this.  He's a preacher in a nice suit who can charm your pants off if your bull shit detector has taken a holiday.  Like Bill Clinton, you have to admire Obama's skill at being charming even when you know that he's feeding you the same line that every other politician has fed you during every whistle stop stump or every state of the union address.  The more I see of Obama, the more of a true politician he becomes.  IE, the Wag The Dog like moment where our fair president put on his every man pants and spun a yarn about the soldier he became "pals" with."  The very same soldier that both Obama and the cameras quickly zeroed in on after Obama convienently told the world a tale about how said soldier nearly lost his life after a road side bomb left a piece of shrapnel lodged in his brain.  When the economy is stuck in neutral and millions of Americans are left without much needed unemployment benefits, why not use a wounded soldier as a path to selective amnesia?  It certain worked for Dubya, seeing as how he used the aftermath of 9-11 to make the worries about a slumping economy magically fade away.  Edwin Starr once asked about war and what it was good for?  Apparently, it's good for profit and it's good for the commander in chief when he wants to play politics in the name of diversion and or distraction.  God bless America.

  So what did we learn from President Obama's State Of The Union Address last night?  Well, we learned that Obama is a lone wolf who still doesn't understand the concept of reaching across the aisle to end the morass of partisan gridlock that has become an all too familiar hallmark of his administration.  Watching the state of the union address last night, President Obama reminded me of just another slick politician spewing some gee golly Capraesque rhetoric that probably would've made George Bailey throw his hands up and yell cut at the top of his lungs.  Via his own rhetoric about doing things with or without congresses help and or support, Obama came across all Wyatt Earp like.   Hell is coming and Obama is bring the thunder apparently.  Not since Kurt Russell in the film Tombstone has the American public been treated to such bravado. 
  
  After five years, my impression of Barrack Obama is this.  He's a preacher in a nice suit who can charm your pants off if your bull shit detector has taken a holiday.  Like Bill Clinton, you have to admire Obama's skill at being charming even when you know that he's feeding you the same line that every other politician has fed you during every whistle stop stump or every state of the union address.  The more I see of Obama, the more of a true politician he becomes.  IE, the Wag The Dog like moment where our fair president put on his every man pants and spun a yarn about the soldier he became "pals" with."  The very same soldier that both Obama and the cameras quickly zeroed in on after Obama convienently told the world a tale about how said soldier nearly lost his life after a road side bomb left a piece of shrapnel lodged in his brain.  When the economy is stuck in neutral and millions of Americans are left without much needed unemployment benefits, why not use a wounded soldier as a path to selective amnesia?  It certain worked for Dubya, seeing as how he used the aftermath of 9-11 to make the worries about a slumping economy magically fade away.  Edwin Starr once asked about war and what it was good for?  Apparently, it's good for profit and it's good for the commander in chief when he wants to play politics in the name of diversion and or distraction.  God bless America.

The city that never changes....

  The headlines in Chicago are ripe with stories about innocent people being shot and killed day after day.  Every week or so, there's another story about a mob attacking people on the Magnificent Mile.  Last week, a young man was shot in the head after he complied with a group of thugs who were attempting to rob him.  In all this, you'd think that Mayor Emmanuel's priority would be the safety and protection of ordinary citizens in the great city of Chicago.  But no.  Mayor Emmanuel's newest pet project doesn't involve finding the necessary funding to increase police manpower in crime ridden areas of the city.  Instead, Mayor Emmanuel is devoting his energy to the task of out biding New York City for the right to host the presidential library for his pal Barack Obama.   

  Chicagoans are once again being subjected to another self serving political initiative that serves neither the interest of the city or its constituents.  Let's be real here, this act of political hubris is all about Rahm Emmanuel's Washington based aspirations.  It's not about history or recognition or status or anything else.  What would the city of Chicago actually lose if Obama's presidential library went elsewhere?  Instead of diverting precious city resources to a presidential library, maybe Mister Emmanuel should devote his energy to the infrastructure of the city he currently reigns over.  I'd rather have a modernized train system free of antiquated technical gaffes than yet another piece of property built for the ego of a political demi gog.  This is all about Rahm Emmanuel currying favor with his political pals in Washington; the place where his true political heart and soul lies.   Apparently, there's no money available in the budget for new schools to be built and there's no money for teachers to be paid what they're worth.  Chicago schools are being consolidated in poor areas ands children are becoming targets because they have to trek through gang and crime ridden areas just to get to their designated school.  There's no money to keep our citizens and our children safe but there IS money in the coffers for Mayor Emmanuel to bid for a glass and steel monstrosity to celebrate the great former senator from Illinois.  The more things change in Chicago, the more they stay the same.

When Babylon fell.....

  Let me ask you a question.  What was the one period in time that makes you shake your head in wonder and or disgust?   For me, it was the uncertain time that centered around the early years of the AIDS epidemic.  One of the best films of the year, Dallas Buyers Club, perfectly defines this particular era.  This was a time when the ground opened up and people were suddenly swallowed whole.  And as Babylon fell away,  the most over rated of our presidents, Ronald Regan, did absolutely nothing.  When Regan finally DID awaken from his slumber and when he finally did acknowledge the epidemic before him, 25,000 lives had already been lost.  The nation needed a leader during that time, we needed a strong figure to calm the fears of a nation that was threatening to divide against itself.  Instead, Regan's apathy allowed panic and fear and almost chaos to fester into a state of narrow minded ignorance that would ultimately prove fatal as the years wore on and the disease known as AIDS preyed on not only homosexuals but heterosexual men and women and babies and intravenous drug users.  I can still hear the words of a fellow I once knew.  "I thought it was a fags disease" he said, shrugging indifferently as his life quickly ticked away.  My friend, god rest his soul, became the symbol of blind indifference; an indifference that would cost not only his life but the lives of millions more.  There were preachers spewing hate and there were profit seekers and bureaucrats and scientist fighting the Regan era red tape in a futile attempt to stop the old butchers bill from growing ever larger.

   There's a moment in Dallas Buyers Club where a judge stands before Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaghey) and declares sympathy for his plight; IE, the fact that he's dying from AIDS and is being denied the right to access the drugs needed to prolong his life.  This same judge then spits out a litany of terms such as "regulations" "studies" "protocols" and "side effects."  People like Ron Woodruff were fighting to survive and we basically told to fill out paperwork and express their feelings while a time bomb was set to go off inside their bodies.  In sickness there was profit and god bless the FDA for living up to this mantra as they partnered with doctors and various hospitals to give their patients sugar pills and a treatment known as AZT that proved ineffective in the treatment of AIDS.  According to the FDA, thinking outside the box to save one's life just wasn't attractive to the bottom line of the pharmaceutical companies who interests they ultimately protected.