Fun With Play-Dough

It is imperative that the economy gets a positive injection; now. Just watch Lou Dobbs and his incessant bitching about immigrants (yes, I take it personally) and remember how dissatisfaction with the economy led the Germans straight into the welcoming arms of Nazism. When the economy is on its ass, the foreigners get blamed; that’s how it’s always been, and that is what is happening now. It couldn’t be anybody else’s fault, could it?

Somebody needs to remind Bush that a $600 to $1200 check isn’t going to help those that are really in trouble, and tell him to come up with some better ideas. After all, it’s a few more months until that man is actually out of office; how much more damage can he do in the remaining months?

First of all, fire Cheney and give his job to somebody deserving. Then start pulling those troops out of Iraq, and use the money for something useful. I know, it’s a tired old argument, but seriously. War is expensive! Freaking expensive! Is anybody in Washington getting that? And don’t tell me this is an ideological War; we’re in it for the oil and nothing else. Imagine how much oil we could buy if we didn’t use all that money to beat the crap out of a country. And as far as Al Quayda following us home, well, if they didn’t have a good enough reason to do so before, they certainly do now.

Maybe if American tax money can be used for its intended recipients (i.e. Americans health care! Education! Social Security!) we can -as a society- stop being so scared of a few immigrant workers. It’s not as if anybody else is chomping at the bit to pick those oranges or process those cows. Don’t lie. 

Revenge of the Animals: a Florida woman was killed today when an Eagle Ray jumped on her boat and stabbed her. Attacks like this are incredibly rare, according to all the experts. Tell that to James Bertakis, 81 years old at the time, who had the same thing happen on October 18, 2006, and lived to tell. He is now known as ‘Stingray Jim’.

In other news, Bush found it necessary to defend the Iraq war. I wonder why that is newsworthy; it’s not exactly a surprise, is it? Of course he is going to defend it; what else is he going to do? Admit fault? Like hell.

What burns me is that, in spite of all this “War is Great” rhetoric, aftercare for veterans in this country sucks. PTSD, homelessness, sexual assault; we don’t want to address these problems; we just want to sit back and congratulate ourselves on how well the surge is going. A country can’t separate combat from its aftermath; what happens to the brave women and men after they get back home is part of this war. A large segment of the military has to continue fighting long after their deployment ends, and that is neither a Republican nor a Democratic issue; it is just plain wrong.

We keep hearing about the housing market, trouble on Wall Street, and the fact that the dollar is more or less on life support. All very bad things. Still, much more concerning is how the credit crunch is affecting the student loan market.

And yes, that’s not a typo: it’s a market.

Several large lenders have pulled out of the student loan business altogether. If my daughter were 16 instead of six, I’d be hyperventilating right now.

Having said that, this might be a good time to think about this whole issue surrounding student loans; nobody should graduate with a diploma in one hand, and tens of thousands of dollars’ worth in loans in the other.  The government should step up and set guidelines; better test scores and a higher grade point average should entitle anyone to have a first rate education. Washington can certainly find an earmark for that? 

Today we were treated to television images of both Cheney and McCain in Baghdad.

What a happy occasion! Two old white guys, oozing leadership and confidence. I’m sure they’ve got everything under control. Really; things are great. It should be, for 12 billion dollars a month.

The whole concept of “war going well” baffles me. Isn’t the fact that we’re at war at all evidence that things are not exactly “well”?

Now, tell me again; why is our economy doing so poorly?

Speaking of money; Heather Mills finally got hers. The total award didn’t include a popularity boost, from the looks of it. Here’s a novel idea: getting close to 25 million pounds in a divorce settlement does not automatically make you a bad person.  Besides, Sir Ex has plenty, and he was never my favorite Beatle anyway.  And somehow I have the feeling Mills isn’t exactly going to spend all that money on new shoes; much of it will end up in the coffers of various charities.  They must be licking their chops.

And why shouldn’t she get that much money? What, he’s going to spend it all on himself? He couldn’t if he tried; so stop whining and looking so cranky, Paul. You got off easy; be happy she’s not appealing.

Kudos to Heather for representing herself.  I know it’s not popular to like her, but I can’t help it. I think she kicks ass.

Nancy Pelosi keeps mentioning that the ‘Dream ticket’ isn’t going to happen. Maybe; maybe not.  I personally think it’s a little mean that she keeps dashing our hopes; she’s a Democratic Party-pooper, if you’ll forgive the pun.

What does she know that we don’t? Is she basing her comments on some secret that she’s not willing to share, or is she just guessing? Frankly, I find her a little condescending lately, and that’s a pity: the day that we welcomed the first female Speaker was an exciting one. Now I’m just irritated whenever I see her face. There’s something she’s keeping from us, and she needs to either share, or give it a rest.

Maybe she’s had a catfight with Hillary and doesn’t want her in the White House. Maybe she has some dirt on Obama, and is conniving behind his back; maybe she’s secretly hoping McCain will win the election. Now that would be a shock to the system. The Democratic Party is so used to bitching about the Republicans; the thought of the Dems actually having the Presidency might scare her.

I haven’t given up hope that we could have it all. Who says we can’t be like a rich debutante that can’t decide between this or that purse, and decides, what the hell, I’ll get them both. I can afford it!

Honors for the most laughable quote of the week go to traveling McCain: he says his trip “is not primarily political”.  He must be talking about a different kind of trip, because if he thinks that anybody is going to buy that for one second he’s seriously underestimating the American public.

McCain is going on vacation. During his one week trip he’s visiting Iraq, Jerusalem, London, and Paris.  Apparently he thinks: “It’s okay, let the Democrats self destruct while I make nice with my future colleagues”.  Great idea, visiting four countries in one week; you will really be informed by the end of this. Who is he kidding?

Also, he’s having a fundraiser while he’s in London.  The ranting against anything that’s not made on American soil, by American workers, does not extent to Euros. 

Except…they’ll be wasted Euros, since McCain is not going to win. The Europeans know that, which makes me think they’re allowing him to come over for tea for entirely different reasons. When faced with a Republican, Europeans can’t be trusted. I know, because I am one.

They could leave McCain somewhere in one of the less popular Paris neighborhoods. Or they could feed him an average English home cooked meal  (no offense, but, damn! Let me just say; not all English cooks are like Jaime Oliver) or they could dump him somewhere to try and figure out the train schedule for himself.  Even better, lock him in Pei’s pyramid, so he can become part of the permanent collection. I’d go see it.

Read the full article:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/15/mccain-to-host-london-fundraiser/