A Few Thoughts and Opinions

I have been a lazy blogger as of late but that does not mean I haven’t been thinking about things. I have just been too lazy to sit down and put pen to paper (so to speak). Here are few things I would have commented on had not been such a slug.

Election 2010

*I am proud of the fact that I never voted for Arlen Specter but now that Pat Toomey is going to represent me in the U.S. Senate, Arlen is looking better. I know PA is a pretty conservative state but didn’t we just toss one reactionary out of the Senate 4 years ago? Pat Toomey is just a smarter less charming version of Little Ricky Santorum.

Charlie Dent is a harmless amiable nothing but Pat Toomey has an agenda and the intelligence to try to achieve it.

*Speaking of Charlie Dent; it turns out I was more bothered by John Callahan’s defeat than I originally thought I was. I went out to lunch on Election Day with my friend Silagh and she expressed concern over my well being if Callahan lost. I just brushed her off by saying that since my first campaign was McGovern in 1972 I was not only used to losing but immune to the negative after effects of it. I was wrong.

I really like Mayor Callahan and think he would have been an excellent Congressman. I agreed with his positions, I think his personal story is admirable and I find the joy he takes in campaigning, politics and governing quite engaging. I still believe his future is limitless and he will go on to great things and higher office if he so chooses. I look forward to assisting him in future campaigns.

*Which Charlie Dent will we see during this next term? The John Boehner lap dog. The arch Conservative suck up. The do no harm nice guy who has no serious legislative accomplishments. The social and fiscal moderate. Let me know what you think and the person closest to the reality will win a super terrific prize.

*I wonder if the tea bagger crowd will be as impatient with the GOP controlled house as they were with the Democrats. I will always believe that much of the impetus for the tea party movement is race based. If this President looked more like me I don’t think the anger would be as fierce.

*Now the GOP leadership must lead instead of just saying no. I look forward to see how the GOP in the Senate deals with the bills coming out of the GOP House of Representatives.

*In Pennsylvania the Republicans own it all. I wonder if the right wing fringe will hold them accountable or will they give them a lot room to maneuver.

The United States Senate

*This formerly august body is the home of 100 of the most egomaniacal, ponderous, lazy, self involved nit wits ever to have graced the planet. These people to a person believe that they are entitled to privileges far greater than they are worthy of or have earned. They accomplish very little, they don’t work hard and they think every word that comes out of their mouths is a pearl of wisdom. They don’t care about the greater good they only care about their very narrow view of the world. Granted the Senate has always had some of these types but now they are the overwhelming majority. Even those with whom I share political views are intellectual light weights.

When the founding fathers created the Senate they planned for its members to be more deliberative and thoughtful and to take a more national view of issues. The founders expected the states to send to Washington their most honorable and distinguished citizens to sit in the Senate. That didn’t really work out to well did it? I find myself humming “Where have all the Statesmen gone?” to the tune of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” You know they have to be an awful bunch if the Chief Justice has taken the unusual step of criticizing them in public.

John McCain

*Speaking of the Senate, the biggest disappointment has been the unforgivable behavior of John McCain. He has become such a bitter and cranky old man I am having a hard time remembering the McCain we were all fond of in 2000 and how he stayed above the race baiting fray during the 2008 campaign. He was the nominee of his party, he will be in the history books and yet he acts like a hack politician. I understand the pain of defeat and not having your dream achieved but his behavior will leave him as little more than a foot note in history.

When Teddy Kennedy lost to Jimmy Carter and he realized that he would never become President he set about to become the best Senator in the business and he died with his reputation restored and as a beloved figure in the country. When Jimmy Carter was defeated he created the Carter Center and has set out to bring peace and democracy around the world. When Richard Nixon was tossed out of office he wrote a series of serious and thoughtful books and at the end of his life was treated as and elder statesmen. When Hubert Humphrey lost in 1968 he returned to the Senate and continued the fight for social justice and was beloved by all of his colleagues. When Al Gore was denied the White House he set out to clean the world and in course won a Nobel Prize and an Oscar. But, John McCain has become a snarky and petty critic of this President, he has changed his mind on many key issues of the day and has lurched so far to the extreme right, I doubt even his 2008 campaign manager would recognize him. I would feel sad for what John McCain has become but he has made the choice to take the low road at the end of his career. Charles G. Dawes will be held in better regard by history then John McCain will be.

Wiki leaks

*What did we learn?

The President of France is thin skinned, self absorbed and has a huge ego. Shocking

The Arab leaders want us to do all the dirty work and shut down Iran. Shocking

Col. Gaddafi hangs out with sexy European women. Shocking

Prime Minister Putin is the real power in Russia and is a control freak. Shocking

Chancellor Merkel is efficient, proficient and fairly humorless. Shocking

There were many more shocking revelations but on the whole it all seemed to be much ado about nothing. Many of the things probably should not have been marked top secret in the first place.

Just as the New York Times needed to be protected when they published the Pentagon Papers the Wiki leak people need to be protected now. The First Amendment to the US Constitution trumps all other issues. If US troops were put in danger then I would be concerned but they were not. Perhaps our diplomats should be more diplomatic in their communications.

Elizabeth Edwards

*I was saddened to learn of her death she was an eloquent spokes person for health care reform and she appeared to be a class act. But during the media coverage of her death and as many placed her on a pedestal I went back and read the John Edwards campaign section of Game Change. It was not very flattering, she comes off as manipulative, controlling and the real brains behind the campaign. The book also contends that she knew of the affair before the campaign really took off and chose to hide this damaging information from the campaign staff and volunteers. She was the chief enabler to a very superficial John Edwards. Having said that I think if she had lived she would have become a leader for Liberal causes in her own right and possibly a cabinet member in a future Democratic administration.

DADT

*The Presidents approach was right. Congress wrote the law and for the change to be embraced more fully by the citizens Congress had to change the law. Had it been left up to the courts the reaction would not have been as positive. The courts moved the civil rights movement along faster than congress did but once congress acted with President Johnson’s support the majority of the American people came along. In order for our system of 3 equal branches to work fully laws must come from the people’s representative not from the courts or executive order.

Sarah Palin

*I am not going to waste your time by commenting on this fame whore. Charlie Dent has more substance.