A Man Made Disaster

 This weekend I went on a little vacation to the beach -- Destin, FL to be exact  -- and when I was not relaxing with friends or seeing the sites I talked about oil.  In fact we all talked about oil.  Coming into the weekend the weather was supposed be sunny through Sunday, but as I arrived on Friday in my rental car I was only greeted by a blanket of rain.  On Saturday the beach welcomed me with a brown murky film in the water, and cautionary red flags on the beach that warned of the perils of swimming in the ocean, or flat out forbade the activity. 

The rest of the weekend remained overcast and foggy, and I distinctly remember hearing a jet fly overhead, but due to the fog I could only make out its shadow as it flew by.  The peculiarities with the weather caused many people to ask questions and wonder if all of this was a result of the oil spill, but no one had any answers.  All we knew was that we needed to know more, and that we may need to prepare for a catastrophic environmental disaster.

The more you know about this disaster the less sense the entire situation makes, but the video below gives an explanation to the situation we face.

Essentially, BP was drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico in waters roughly 5,000 feet deep and on April 20th its offshore drilling platform caught fire for unknown reasons killing 11 BP employees.  BP was unable to stop the fire and eventually the drilling platform sank into the Gulf of Mexico.  When the platform sank it pulled the pipe that carried the oil from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico with it, and this caused the three breaks that have leaked over 3 million gallons of oil into the Gulf.

Initially, one could argue that accidents happen and that that is the price one must pay for nearly any activity.  Accidents happen and we have to live with this fact, but bizarrely we cannot use this logic with this situation.  If we are to assume that accidents happen then we must also anticipate that all parties are prepared to deal with this accident, and that obviously has not been the case in this disaster.  The above video shows that BP has three possible solutions for solving this disaster, but that they are not sure if any of them will work.  5,000 feet is a depth that BP is not accustomed to drilling in, and therefore they are not sure if their equipment can sustain the pressures at that depth.  However, they will try their best, but obviously their best is not good enough.  Their best is not good enough because a company cannot advocate the safety of offshore drilling and then be unprepared to deal with an accident; especially when you consider the harm that an accident would cause.  Being unprepared is not an accident -- it is incompetence.

It is incompetent and greedy to drill for oil at depths that would make it impossible to adequately deal with a leak, and no one should condone these actions.  Ideally, BP should never have been given the approval to drill in this area, yet that is another issue for another day.  However, we do need to consider that in February of 2009 BP said to the government that it could handle a leak of 6.8 million gallons a day, and that it is currently struggling to handle a leak 210,000 gallons a day.  Firstly, BP grossly over estimated its readiness, and secondly the government and people in general need to understand the dangers of a 6.8 million gallons a day leak.  The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 only leaked 10.8 million gallons of oil and that was the greatest oil related environmental disaster of all time, yet now we find it appropriate to entertain the prospect of an offshore oil drill that could leak out 6.8 million gallons in one day.  Under this scenario, a leak that lasted for a little over a day and a half would result in the greatest oil related environmental disaster in history, and I doubt that BP's ability to handle the issue would result in closing the leak in less than two days.  Proceeding to drill offshore with this possible scenario does not make any sense and is only asking for another disaster, and people need to understand this before they consider offshore drilling.

As this issue in the Gulf of Mexico continues over the coming months people will become more and more inclined to allocate blame to numerous parties.  Conservatives will find a way to say that Obama was unprepared for this disaster, and some people such as former FEMA head Michael Brown may even state that Obama and other liberals wanted this disaster because it will allow them to push for their environmental agenda.  Liberals will blame Obama because roughly a month ago he advocated the use of offshore oil drilling as a part of the nation's comprehensive environmental agenda.  Others will blame BP because this disaster is frankly their fault, and I find no fault in blaming BP.  BP needs to pay for as much of the clean up as humanly possible, and I could care less about how this could harm BP.  However, at a certain point we need to get past allocating blame, and instead we should decide what to do next.  Now that the true costs of domestic offshore oil drilling should be evident to all we need to reassess how America should address its energy needs.

Last week the Obama administration approved the creation of Cape Wind the first offshore wind farm in America.  Cape Wind will be located off the coast of Cape Cod, MA and will consist of 130 wind turbines.  The turbines will be located between 4 - 11 miles off the cost and will generate 170 megawatts of electricity or roughly 75% of the energy needs for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket.  This may be progress in the right direction, but this is America so people have to find something to complain about.  The complaints range from the idea that the turbines will be too ugly or that they will interfere with Native American religious traditions, and these complaints may have merit when you ignore the alternatives, but now ignoring the dangers of an oil dependent energy infrastructure cannot be ignored.  Wind energy may not be perfect and it will not solve all of our problems, but it must be considered a welcomed alternative to the prospect of the dangers of an oil leak.

We all need to know that BP will do its best to stop this leak because it is in their best interests to do so, but we all must not forget that their best is no longer good enough.  Their best has resulted in 11 deaths and over 3 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico.  As a society we need to understand that we should be able to find a better way to obtain energy.  This is not an issue that involves good guys and bad guys, but instead one that has established standards.  11 deaths and over 3 million gallons in the Gulf of Mexico should be below all of our standards.  Our standards should implore us to entertain other forms of energy, and while we debate our next move more oil will continue to flow into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Truth about ACORN

On September 9^th, 2009 conservative activists James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles released a videotape that appeared to show ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, employees advising both O’Keefe and Giles who were in disguise as a pimp and a prostitute respectively about how they could fund their illegal prostitution business.  This new controversy surrounding ACORN’s apparent support for prostitution in addition to their role in registering large amounts of citizens from underprivileged backgrounds made ACORN one of the major issues on all conservative talk shows around the country.  For many Democrats ACORN never became much of an issue, yet for Republicans it quickly became one of the major issues of 2009.  Conservatives quickly merged this prostitution controversy with the fact that ACORN registers large amounts of low-income voters who primarily vote Democratic, and therefore concluded that ACORN should not be allowed to register Americans to vote since they cannot be trusted and by default favor Democratic candidates.  In November of 2009 the Public Policy Polling organization found that 52% of Republicans believed that ACORN was part of a conspiracy that “stole” the election for Barack Obama, yet Barack Obama only hired an ACORN affiliate to aid in voter registration during the primary elections, but did not retain their services for the general presidential election.  The fact that ACORN had no involvement in President Obama's victory over Senator John McCain made little to no difference to many voters.  In December of 2009 ACORN lost its federal funding, and recently ACORN has filed for bankruptcy and disbanded.  However, the most shocking aspect of this story was that ACORN’s supposed support of prostitution never existed, and was merely a fabrication of selective editing and dishonest journalism.

This week California’s Attorney General Jerry Brown released the unedited video footage of James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles visiting the San Diego and Los Angeles ACORN offices, and this footage shows a completely different story.  The footage has been released because the state of California had finished its investigation of ACORN concerning its alleged illegal practices and had found that ACORN had been practicing in accordance with the law.  Basically, the state of California concluded that a 40 year-old organization founded to provide housing for low-income Americans and additionally for voter registration efforts for the same low-income Americans was destroyed because two selfish and irresponsible journalists manipulated video footage to tell the story they wanted to tell instead of what actually occurred.  These two irresponsible journalists with the help of the irresponsible journalists at Fox News improved the lives of no one, and only widened the divisions in America’s cultural landscape.  This is journalism and reporting that functions to the detriment of society and everyone needs the recognize this.  If people do not set high standards and ask tough questions of the news we receive they we will only be fostering our ignorance, and the destruction of organizations that can benefit others. 

In total contrast to the dishonesty of James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, and the blind ignorance of Fox News, Rachel Maddow of MSNBC displayed a shining example of great journalism by providing an objective perspective to the ACORN controversy.  Watch the video below.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A Lack of Respect for Discussions and Health

Earlier this week Florida Urologist Dr. Jack Cassell placed this sign on the front door of his medical practice,

IF YOU VOTED FOR OBAMA...

SEEK UROLOGIC CARE

ELSEWHERE

CHANGES TO YOUR HEALTHCARE

BEGIN RIGHT NOW,

NOT IN FOUR YEARS

This sign has obviously resulted in Dr. Cassell losing some patients, but Dr. Cassell expected this result.  The thought of losing patients is not a major concern, and that is very interesting.  Dr. Cassell would prefer to feel correct concerning the present health care debate, and most likely see fewer patients compared to having the same opinions, seeing his current amount of patients, and not posting an unwelcoming sign on his front door.  Dr. Cassell values his right to disrespectfully flaunt his opinion over his ability to improve the lives of others.  By living in a free society we all have the right to be a jerk, but at some point we should see that the right to be a jerk is only one of the many freedoms that a free society allows.  Eventually, people should see the benefit of exercising the freedoms that actually benefit others instead of offend.

However, the problem with this sign should not be simplified by saying that Dr. Cassell is a bad or inconsiderate person.  Instead I think this sign represents a growing lack of respect amongst people in our society.  More and more we hear discussions where neither side is willing to budge on any issue.  The thought of entertaining the idea that your opposition may have aspects of their opinion that brings value to the discussion is quickly disappearing.  Learning from others is quickly being replaced with forming your own opinion and then informing the people that have differing opinions that they are not wanted.  A respect for others and their opinions has quickly been replaced with a respect for your own opinion and the opinions of those who have the same opinion as yourself.  In this society discussions have become pointless because the opinions of others have now become meaningless.  Only your opinion matters, and frankly that is a horrible way to live. 

I would hate to live in an environment where only my opinion mattered, and it became impossible for me to learn from others.  I would digress as a person, and there would be countless aspects of life that I would miss.  I would loath the day when everyone I associated with shared the same opinions.  There would be nothing to gain, but the reassurance of my previously established opinion.  I would quickly become the Emperor in "The Emperor's New Clothes" who needs the guidance of a child to learn that I am parading around in public in the nude.  The simple idea of being respectful to others would have been replaced with being respectful to only those who I approve.  Eventually, the amount of people I would approve would decrease, and now I would inadvertently behave rudely to countless numbers of unsuspecting people while at the same time making a fool of myself.  This is what American society is becoming.

Dr. Cassell, members of the Tea Party, protesters who bring guns to rallies, pundits on Fox News, and people who ram their cars into other cars with Obama bumper stickers show an amazing amount of disrespect for the common good of the people.  They sour discussions by not answering questions, yelling insulting remarks at Congressmen, and giving derogatory names to significant pieces of legislation.  Dr. Cassell in interviews refers to this recent health care bill as Obamacare, and he does not do this as a joke.  He calls it Obamacare because all the people who share his opinion call it this.  I do not think he is trying to be disrespectful, but instead has lost sight of what constitutes respectful.  He feels that it is ok to recommend that people with differing opinions see another physician.  Their care will now be separate, but equal.  He is not denying care, but at some point another individual may.  That person may not be a doctor, but instead a banker, a restaurant owner, or even a school.  I have no idea where actions like Dr. Cassell's might lead, but I do know that if you do not try to respect the views of others your actions are less likely to be positive.

In present day America the value of sharing and discussion viewpoints disappears more and more with each passing day.  As this occurs we inevitably develop drastically different values.  One viewpoint has one set of values and these values cannot interact with other values.  We get caught up in a game of formulating viewpoints and values instead of living a good life.  Eventually, at one point people will start to value viewpoints over the quality of life.  Dr. Cassell's sign represented this sad reality to me.

Below is a clip from the local news coverage of Dr. Cassell's sign.  Interestingly, you will see at the end of the clip a majority of Floridians feel as though Dr. Cassell did the right thing by posting this sign on his door.

For more clips from Dr. Cassell's interview visit My Fox Orlando

The Health of Our Nation

Yesterday, the United States House of Representatives passed the largest health care reforms that this nation has ever witnessed.  Yesterday was a good day.  It was not only good because 30 million Americans will be able to receive affordable health care, or because pre-existing conditions will become a relic of the past, and not even because this bill will save the government billions of dollars.  Yesterday, was great because it showed that the American government has decided to head in the right direction.  The emphasis has quickly shifted from lobbyists, money, and acting on behalf of your re-election campaign to the American people.  The American people should always be the main focus of the government, and it is great to see that this President and this Congress appear to agree.

The path to reform will be a long and hard road, but at least now we have a greater understanding of the direction we are heading.

 Here is what the President had to say.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Iranian New Year can mark a fresh start in politics, says Obama

 Saturday, March 20, was the beginning of the Persian/Iranian New Year and is celebrated by Iranians and many other people around the world. The American president sent a message on his regard and renewed the offer of an extended hand from United States of America.

This message is very similar to the one sent by Obama exactly a year ago. The effectiveness of such messages coming from the White House might have not been well known. It is now evident that the more the White House extends her hand towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, the more pressure the hardliners in Tehran will face, making it extremely difficult for them to use the so called "great satan" for monopolizing power inside the regime.

Another fortunate event was Obama's hint at the fact that US sanctions should not stop the technology for communication from getting to Iran. This is something the young people really need to bring about any change. For Iranians, this is regarded as Obama's New Year's present for this year. 

The President's State of Our Health Address

President Obama today addressed the House of Representatives on the eve of the historic health care vote, and gave a very emotional and inspirational speech.  Watch it below.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

President Obama on Fox News

Yesterday President Obama was on Special Report with Bret Baier to discuss the upcoming vote on health care reform, and despite the importance of the discussion the interview was blighted by constant interruptions by Bret Baier.  Frankly, the interruptions did not bother me as much as Bret Baier's reason for the interruptions which he gave at the end of the interview.  Mr. Baier said, "I apologize for interrupting you, sir. I tried to get the most for our buck here."  I appreciated his honesty, but is getting "the most for our buck" synonymous with asking as many questions as possible even if that requires for the questions to interrupt the answers?  I would have preferred longer, more informative answers with fewer questions so that people can get a greater understanding of this bill, but either way the interview is still worth watching despite its flaws.

You can watch the video here.  (I would have posted the video on the site, but Fox News' media player for whatever reason would not work properly.)

The President's Health Care Summit

President Obama's health care summit with both Democrats and Republicans is occurring today between 10AM and 4PM on C-SPAN 3.  I doubt that most will be able to watch the full six hours, but at some point during the day each person at least needs to watch some portion of the summit.  Everyone understands the importance of health care reform in this country and this will be one of the best times to get educated on the issue.  Please take or find the time to watch at least 20 minutes of this health care summit.

If you do not have a TV around you can watch the summit from C-SPAN's website.

The Sunday Knight - Terrorism in Reverse

Joseph Stack flew his airplane into this building and became a domestic suicide bomber

This has been a fascinating week concerning terror and the United States in that everything has been reversed yet no one knows how to feel about this reversal of fortune.  This past Thursday Texan Joe Stack flew his airplane into an Austin, TX building that housed a branch of the Internal Revenue Service.  Joe Stack was an American who disapproved of our tax codes and now he is an American suicide bomber.  At the same time that an American was bombing Americans, the U.S. military along with many allied forces was having their most successful raid on the Taliban.  The raids that the military has engaged in over the last week have reportedly captured three top ranking Taliban officials.  To finish off the week we have just gotten the news that the Secretary of the Defense Robert Gates wants to change the name of the war in Iraq from operation Iraqi Freedom to operation New Dawn.  All three of these events play a very large part in how Americans view their security and safety, and these new developments need to be examined further.

Click to read more ...

The Role of the President for the African-American Community

The New York Times recently had an article that discussed how many African-Americans feel that the President is not doing enough to benefit the African-American community, and I find this frustrating.  The disappointment from many African-Americans exists in that the President has not created enough programs that directly address African-American issues.  The Kirwan Institute warns that the President’s “continued failure to engage race would be devastating”.  Professor Michael Eric Dyson bemoans “All these teachable moments, but the professor refuses to come to class”.  These are the frustrations and these are the warnings, but all I see is a failure to see the broader picture.

The Kirwan Institute may be right that a “failure to engage race would be devastating” but do they seriously feel that one must engage race by focusing predominately on the people who have been historically oppressed?  Race and racism obviously at the very least incorporate two dissimilar groups, and therefore to solve the issue one would need to focus on both sides.  Has anyone even considered that the best thing for Barack Obama to do to address race in America may be to engage with those who have historically been the oppressors?  White America did not enslave Africans because the Africans did anything wrong.  They did so because they felt it was in their best interest, and their ensuing prejudices originated out of this notion that it was all in their best interest.  By being the President of the United States, Barack Obama is already making it more difficult for people to hold African-Americans in low esteem because that belief would no longer be in their best interest.  As you can see from across the United States many people are having a hard time coming to terms with this, but Barack Obama has brought this hidden reality to the forefront. 

Additionally, the professor may be refusing to come to class because he currently teaches many different classes.  Barack Obama is not merely a professor, but he is the principal for the entire school.  The new leader for African-Americans is no longer that great teacher that everyone loves and remembers.  He cannot be that one person who is able to stay after class and give you that extra encouragement.  You will be less inclined to stand on your desk and say “Oh Captain, my Captain” while the teacher is being reprimanded.  The harsh reality is that President Obama is the principal of a school that has many absent teachers.  He has to substitute for absent economics, accounting, and health teachers.  Additionally, he has a board of directors that constantly tries to undermine everything he aims to accomplish.  The principal sadly does not have the time to teach African-American studies with the desired vigor that both pupil and professor have come to expect.  African-Americans may not be pleased that they do not have a full-time professor, yet this should be the happiest moment of their entire life.  Before Barack Obama becoming principal, or president, was viewed as impossible, yet that is no longer the case.  However, African-Americans have had many great professors in the past, so we should probably focus on finding a new professor instead of expecting the principal to run the entire school and teach our class full-time.

Over the past year many Americans have grown frustrated with President Obama.  Most say that he is not doing enough, yet when you find out what enough equates to it is nearly everything.  The Congress is frustrated that the President did not force through health care reform, yet forcing through legislation is the only role of the legislature.  The Republican Party complains that he is not listening enough to their requests, yet he still has to explain to them the difference between listening and agreeing with everything they say.  Frankly, for a political party that has so little power and no formal plan I feel he has spent a lot of time listening to Republicans.  Despite all of this there are still African-Americans who complain that the President is not passing enough legislation that specifically benefits African-Americans.  We need not be reminded that Republicans are still holding up Presidential appointments and threaten to filibuster every piece of legislation they see.  We have African-American educators complaining about how the President is not teaching enough, when the reality is that there is now a vacancy that needs to be filled in the African-American studies department because the former professor was promoted to principal, yet no one seems inclined to apply.

The President has a very full schedule, and the incompetence of others occupies most of it.  Instead of adding to the incompetence wouldn’t it be nice if the African-American community decided to give the President a hand by firstly understanding his job, and secondly trying to hire a new professor.  I think this would be more productive than growing frustrated.



Septuagenarians May Ruin America

John Oliver was not referring to these septuagenarians

The Daily Show’s John Oliver gave a very compelling argument concerning the absurdity of certain elderly Senator’s disapproval of overturning “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” in our military.  Despite the desire of the President, high ranking military officials, and the majority of the American public these elderly Senators refuse to reconsider their stance.  If these Senators can stand in the way of the will of the American public on this issue, equal rights for all Americans, based on archaic notions of right and wrong, then they will be more inclined to impede Americans on a wide array of other issues ranging from health care, economic policy, civil liberties, and more.  America may have a new threat that is equally absurd as it is dangerous.

Watch the video below.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
A Few Gay Men & Women
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Professor Obama teaches the Democrats

This Q & A with the Democrats may not be as revolutionary or surprising as the one the President had last Friday, but for the case of fairness and the stability of our democracy it is absolutely necessary.  The public needs to see the President express his opinions to all parties, so that the public can know where the President stands on all issues and towards all people.  The public needs to know the President's agenda, and meetings like this allow for all of us to have a greater understanding of our government and its intentions.

Below is a quote from the President that I particularly enjoyed (However I would recommend for you to continue reading this blog.  He was referring to congressmen and not the general public.).

You know what I think would actually make a difference, Michael -- I think if everybody here -- excuse all the members of the press who are here -- if everybody here turned off your CNN, your Fox, your -- just turn off the TV -- MSNBC, blogs -- and just go talk to folks out there, instead of being in this echo chamber where the topic is constantly politics -- the topic is politics. It is much more difficult to get a conversation focused on how are we going to help people than a conversation about how is this going to help or hurt somebody politically. And that's part of what the American people are just sick of -- because they don't care, frankly, about majority and minorities and process and this and that. They just want to know, are you delivering for me? And we've got to, I think, get out of the echo chamber. That was a mistake that I think I made last year, was just not getting out of here enough. And it's helpful when you do.

Around the 37:00 mark he also gives Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas a strong response to her question that implies that the Administration does not understand the plight of the every day working American.  Additionally, the President also answers questions concerning foreign trade, clean energy, and government efficiency throughout the entire Q & A.  Enjoy.

To get the transcripts of the Q & A visit the Huffington Post.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Professor Obama teaches the GOP

Teaching is fun.

Yesterday President Obama attended a House Republican retreat and agreed to have Q & A.  The White House negotiated with the GOP and agreed to have the entire Q & A and the speech that preceded it film live on national television.  The President walked into the Republican's lion den and emerged victorious as Sam Stein of The Huffington Post put it.  The Republican leaders questioned the President's policies ranging from the stimulus package, health care, defense, the budget, and a wide range of other concerns.  The President answered all of their questions in a manner that not only educated the viewers at home, but also the Republican Party.  This truly was an event that I have never seen in modern day American politics, and everyone who is concerned or interested in the workings of their government should watch the video of this event.

Watch the video below.

The State of our Humor

This State of the Union Address focused on the seriousness of our times and the needed fight for improvement, but did so in a manner that facilitated cooperation

Yesterday President Obama gave one of the best State of the Union speeches I have heard in quite a while.  Was his speech great because of his known oratory brilliance?  Did he use the same cadences that bred success during the campaign trail?  The answer to both of these questions has to be no, yet the speech was still brilliant.  The greatness of this speech was due to the fact that the campaigning has stopped.  The act of attempting to sell the supposed greatness of the man is over, and the reality of having to deal with reality has truly begun.  The euphoria surrounding his victory has gone away, and we should all be happy with that.  Now something has to take the place of that euphoria, and over the past year we have had many candidates.  Fear has always faced a constant battle with anger and indifference for the minds of Americans when we become faced with the seriousness of our plight, and during previous State of the Unions these negative emotions have been evoked to further selfish motives, yet this one was different.  President Obama instead decided to address the serious issues of our time, but instead decided to enlist humor to accompany the American public while we embark on this arduous journey.

During yesterdays address the President decided to make light of the fact that Republicans opted to not applaud with the Democrats when he mentioned the tax breaks that his administration has enacted.  President Obama poked fun at his wife by claiming that “she gets embarrassed” when receiving applause.  The President made light of the fact that the Republican Party may not enjoy the monthly meetings that he plans to hold with both Democrats and Republicans.  However, his speech was not just fun and games.  He reviewed the Stimulus Package, outlined a new jobs bill and even said he would pass the jobs bill through executive order if it did not pass the Senate.  He mentioned the error in the Supreme Court’s decision to make money more valuable that people.  He discussed the fees that those companies who were saved by the bailout must now pay to repay the American people.  He spoke about the revitalization of the American economy through clean energy and the large strides he has made with Russia to reduce both countries nuclear stock piles and fight nuclear proliferation.  He chastised Iran and promised that all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by the end of the year.  He stated his stance that gay Americans should be able to openly serve in the military.  The President also spoke about the divisions that sully our political system that allow lobbyists to have an unwanted or unneeded influence and impair basic discussions between parties.  Additionally, he also admitted that he could not complete these changes alone.   The President made light of his own presidential campaign by explaining that “Change you can believe in” was never supposed to be easy.  It was never supposed to be something that did not require the support of millions of people.  The democracy of a country of 300 million people is supposed to be hard and messy, and we need to see this or change will never be able to occur.  It is funny that people may have seen these realities from a different angle, but it is only funny because laughing is far more productive than crying.

Yesterday, around 6pm a full three hours before the State of the Union I had a great discussion with a friend of mine about the importance of humor.  He is of the opinion that I should be a comedian, and I find that laughable.  He does not see the humor in my opinion, so a discussion started.  He felt that politics could be served at a later date, and that I could focus on comedy now because I am so funny.  Eventually, my success could help my additional aspirations.  That was his argument, and it makes sense, but that does not make it correct.  Humor is something that you can apply to all aspects of life, yet is needed most during the most serious of times.  When I look back at eight years of State of the Union Addresses being delivered by George W. Bush I should cry.  I should feel the pain of those who grew up in the lost decade to only see their President welcome them with fear and absurdity, yet what would that do.  Fear is crippling and crying is debilitating, and what good will those do for anyone.  We all should be able to look at the predicament that we are in and the absurdity that surrounds us and be able to laugh while we work hard to fix it.  St. Augustine once said, “Hope has two sons:  Anger and Courage.  Anger at the way things are and Courage to make them better.”  As Americans we have been overcome with anger and fear for far too long and the President yesterday marked the need for that to change through the necessity for us all to have the courage to confront our issues while being able to laugh along the way.  Humor is always a great companion for good judgment.  This President looks to be one that you can laugh with, and that should be much more beneficial than a President that you can have a beer with.

Below is the full video of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address, and you will be surprised how quickly the 70 minutes flows by due to the ability to laugh along the way.



"Too Dumb to Thrive"

Joe Klein had this nice article concerning the Stimulus Package, and how American's are so angry about it because they know absolutely nothing about it.  American's are spending too much time being angry that they cannot even see when someone is helping them.

To quote Joe Klein,

It is very difficult to have a democracy without citizens. It is impossible to be a citizen if you don't make an effort to understand the most basic activities of your government. It is very difficult to thrive in an increasingly competitive world if you're a nation of dodos.

In a nation that has so much, it remains amazing how people can still know so little.  This ignorance does a disservice to everyone.

You can read his article HERE.