Worth fighting for ...

Some things are worth fighting for. Apparently, the title of commerce secretary in the Obama administration is not one of them. See, President Elect Barack Obama had appointed former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to head the commerce department. The president elect's peeps had checked Richardson out and determined he was good to go. Now they just needed approval from the US Senate. Well ... in creeps this grand jury investigation that had been focusing on when Richardson was governor. Apparently, the company of a donor got a great deal ... on car insurance or something. Improprieties are alleged. Although Richardson swears up and down that he's innocent, the media circus that could surround his confirmation hearing made him take his name out of consideration. In other words. Hi, I'm Bill Richardson. I didn't do anything wrong. But I'm going to hide over here now. Don't look at me. Contrast this with the confirmation hearings of one Clarence Thomas, supreme court justice. Most of you will recall the brou ha ha over his confirmation hearing in 1991. The simple version is that an attorney named Anita Hill accused the then-potential supreme court justice of sexual harassment. It involved a can of coke and a hair ... We'll leave it at that. Conventional wisdom would lead one to think that the whole ordeal would sink Thomas. Especially considering he was a Republican nominee in front of a Democrat Senate. But he stuck through it. And was confirmed in the end. Cause being a supreme court justice ... is worth fighting for. Commerce secretary? Not so much.

First the came for the banks ...

I read a news report this morning that says that the Airlines industry is getting in line for the next round of bail out cash. It made me wonder what industry would be next, how much money they would want - or demand, rather - and how the nation would crumble if we didn't smile while handing them billions of our hard-earned tax dollars. And it reminded me of the prose written by Martin Niemoeller. You might not know his name, but you've surely heard what he'd written. It goes like this: First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me. Now Im paraphrasing here, cause the original was in German ... but. It just made me think. We've bailed out the banks. And the auto industry. When we get done bailing out the airlines, who do we bail out next. And then after that? And when do we bail us out? Not to mention - specific to the airlines seeking a bailout ... didn't we give them $15 billion in 2001? And just seven years later they need another bailout? And if memory serves me correct, didn't most of the airlines lay off employees after getting that bailout? Of course, we'll probably give the airlines our money. Followed by the farmers. And then the textile industry. And then ... but it will never get to us. Cause there will be no one left to speak for the taxpayers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...

Word of the day: Corruption

By now, you've surely heard that the governor of Illinois was arrested and charged with corruption. According to the feds, Governor Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, called his sole authority to name President elect Barack Obama's successor "golden," and he sought to parlay it into a job as an ambassador or secretary of Health and Human Services, or a high-paying position at a nonprofit or an organization connected to labor unions, prosecutors said. In essence, they're saying, that he was attempting to negotiate a deal to give himself some sort of "golden" parachute in exchange for nominating a particular person to the US Senate. No particular person has been named in the news, but the thought that the governor of Illinois would attempt to sell his pick to the US Senate is ... disconcerting at best. Back here in New York, of course, we've got our own governor, David Paterson, trying to determine who to nominate to the senate to fill the soon-to-be vacated senate seat belonging to Hillary Clinton, who will be appointed as Secretary of State once Obama removes the "elect" part of his title. Paterson, you may recall became governor because our elected person to fill that slot checked his morals at the door and got into a bit of a trouble with a certain call girl service, resulting in his resignation. Of course, since then, Eliot Spitzer has taken on a new role ... that of columnist for the political website Slate. So, who knows ... maybe Blogojevich can make lemonade out of this whole fiasco. I for one, hope not.

Obama uses bully pulpit for something important ...

We all knew that electing a new president would bring about change. Both Barack Obama and John McCain campaigned with change as a theme. And in his first post-election interview, president elect Barack Obama used his new found power to campaign for change ... to the college football playoff system. More to the point, he said on 60 minutes Sunday night that he was planning on using his office to push to have a college football playoff system. "If you've got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season, and many of them have one loss or two losses, there's no clear decisive winner. We should be creating a playoff system. I don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do." If he was joking or being facetious, it was hard to tell. Well ... apparently, by Obama's standards, BCS coordinator John Swofford is not a serious fan of college football, cause Monday morning he pooh-poohed the plan. "For now, our constituencies -- and I know he understands constituencies -- have settled on the current BCS system, which the majority believe is the best system yet to determine a national champion while also maintaining the college football regular season as the best and most meaningful in sports," Swofford said. What he doesn't say is that the constituencies he's talking about are college presidents and athletic departments. Not the fans. And the fact that the fans opinions come last tells you everything you need to know about the BCS system. Or should I just call it the BS system?

Election creates new disease ...

Several years ago, scientists discovered a new disease called "Bush Derangement Syndrome." In essence, it turned normal every-day Americans into crazed conspiracy theorists. Actually, it wasn't scientists that discovered it, it was a journalist who coined the term ... but that's just splitting hairs. And it looks like a new election has given birth to a new syndrome. Of course, this one will be entitled "Obama Derangement Syndrome." Strangely, most people who suffered from the Bush version of the syndrome seem immune to this strand. Also strangely, most people who suffer from this version thought the Bush syndrome victims were a bit ... shall we say ... loony. And it's not just workaday types who suffer. Some very prominent people have the disease. For example, Georgia GOP Congressman Paul Broun. He recently said that he fears President-elect Obama may create a security force akin to the Gestapo to impose a Marxist dictatorship. "That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet Union did," Broun said. "When he's proposing to have a national security force that's answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he's showing me signs of being Marxist." Broun theorized that after Obama creates this national police force he'll ban gun ownership. "We can't be lulled into complacency," Broun said. "You have to remember that Adolf Hitler was elected in a democratic Germany. I'm not comparing him to Adolf Hitler. What I'm saying is there is the potential." Unfortunately, there is no cure for the disease. But it brings great joy to those who don't have it. So there is an upside.