In Taiwan, though, they don't celebrate Christmas, so my wife Christy doesn't quite "feel the Christmas magic" like everyone else in the house. She grew up the child of poor Taiwanese farmers, and according to her, the only thing she ever knew about Christmas was that "people sent cards to each other." Oh well, maybe after she's been living here for 10 years, she'll start to feel "the magic!"
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Just took the kids to see "The Muppets" recently and found it to be pretty disappointing. Rather than fill the movie with funny skits (like the first Muppet movie), this one seemed to dwell too much on the fact that the Muppets were old and outdated. Apparently even Frank Oz (the voice of many of the muppets) didn't even like this story, and refused to lend his voice to the project. I can see why.
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So...another GOP candidate bites the dust. Pizza man Herman Cain has dropped out. Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann's campaigns are all but dead. So who is left? Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, and possibly Ron Paul (a longshot). Newt Gingrich seems to be in the lead right now, which is a shock to just about everyone (Democrats in particular).
If scandalous affairs killed Herman Cain's chances at the nomination, one only needs to look at Gingrich's history and see that Cain's got nothing on ol' Newt. Newt is the guy who cheated on his wife while she was in the hospital with cancer. Yeah, John Edwards did the same thing, but that pretty much killed his chances at the presidency. Normally, this kind of behavior doesn't occur until after they become president, so I'd have to take a guess here and say that Newt won't make it through the primaries.
So that leaves us with Mitt Romney, who will likely be the candidate. I used to think he was the most "tolerable" of the Republican nominees, but now I have second thoughts. He's the typical politician who says what people want to hear, no matter if it contradicts previous statements or not. The guy flip-flops on everything. I now think that Jon Huntsman is the only guy who doesn't seem to pander to the right-wing extremists. What does it say when Huntsman is the only candidate that will actually admit that global warming is a real problem? But...that kind of thinking won't get him very far, since he seems to be dead last in this race.
Here's a video that pretty much sums up the problem with the current GOP:
Ken,
ReplyDeleteAs you know, my wife is Japanese. However, unlike the Chinese, the Japanese actually embrace Christmas. Not as a Christian holiday, but rather as a "feel good about life" holiday. My wife wants us to go to Universal Studios Japan tomorrow night just to see the Christmas parade at the end. She is looking forward to the day where she can enjoy a real American Christmas with a real tree, fire in the hearth, eggnog, etc...
Hmmm... Although Mr. Perry has blundered himself into the "dunce" category, he still has a lot of cash behind him. Don't count him out just yet. It ain't over until it's over.
Take a closer look at Huntsman Ken. Out of all the Republican candidates, he is the the most conservative, global warming admission or not. He is just far more politically refined then all the rest. He may be the surprise upset. Like you, I doubt it, but... strange twists do occur.
Teachers, firemen, police...all are enemies of America, according to Republicans. Their crimes? They belong to unions, they expect to be paid what they are worth. Senior citizens? They are enemies also. You know, they worked 30, 40 years and now they have the nerve to expect Social Security. The average American? Also an enemy, They expect health care. America's real enemy? Bin laden? He was America's enemy, according to Republicans and George Bush, but Obama got him, so now, not so much. If you are an average American and vote Republican, you are voting for your own worst enemy.
ReplyDeleteI wanted Bachmann to run. She couldn't win, and I wanted to hear all the jokes the comedians would come up with. She gives them such fodder to do their jobs well!
ReplyDeleteAs for Christmas. Larry and I never enjoyed it growing up. It was always a source of stress. We liked presents as children, but the rest was just stress. Then our kids didn't even get Christmas, which I regret. But today, they do it if they are in the mood. Larry and I rarely do Christmas now, sometimes.
I'm glad you are doing that for your kids and hope your wife learns of the magic the rest of you feel. I never have really felt it. But I know a lot of people do.
Just watched the Bill Maher clip. This guy is good at speaking punchlines well, but what he says are ill-founded distortions of what the majority of people in the Republican party truly believe and are really like. Just like the astonishingly ignorant and frankly, stupid statements made by FTL (JMF?), there is very little substantiation outside of the things said by a few individuals that the majority of the GOP are cold and heartless. Just because the media says its so doesn't mean it is. They and guys like Maher are like a school-yard trouble makers who go between two factions saying he said this about you, blah blah blah and then going to the other side and doing it again until there is a fist-fight, which the trouble maker then stands off from a distance and watches with glee. The conservative media isn't any better when it comes to this either.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who believes the rubbish fed to the public by these people is simply not a bright bulb to begin with.
To Cole:
ReplyDelete"If this is going to be a Christian nation that
doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend
that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or
we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to
love the poor and serve the needy without
condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it."
--------~Stephen Colbert
I'm sure FTL and JMF are not the same. FTL is not quite as sarcastic as JMF.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I welcome all comments, from the crazy right wing to the wacky left wing.
As for the GOP being cold and heartless, I don't believe that the average person in the Republican party is cold and heartless, but the politicians representing them sure come off that way sometimes. With Michelle Bachmann stating that people who don't work shouldn't be able to eat, how can you possibly spin that any other way?
Guys, I'm still on my first cup of coffee--but who are FTL and JMF?
ReplyDeleteThe idea of someone not being allowed to eat if he/she doesn't work comes from the Bible (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
Without getting into a religious debate this morning, let me quote JFK. "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what YOU can do for your country."
I'd like to hear Obama, Bill Mahr, and a few other Democrats utter these words at least once!
To Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteJesus had the convenient power to provide for the hungry out of thin air so he could afford to help the poor and hungry "without condition". Unfortunately, the rest of us have to produce a service or a product for our fellow man to provide our daily fare. Charity begins at home and few us have the luxury let alone the means to provide for the poor and hungry "without condition". And however much you self-righteously pontificate about it, I don't believe you do either. I'll just do what I can do for my fellow man on my own terms and you "unconditionally" put your money where your mouth is. Fair enough?
Ken is correct in that the politicians representing Republicans could be more tactful in how they speak their views. However, I don't think Michelle Bachmann meant what she said in the way most liberals inferred it. I believe she was talking about able-bodied, able minded people in a general semse. Certainly she should have clarified herself, yet what she said is inherently true about life - no work; no food on the table. Eating is not a right. Someone has to work to grow, produce or buy the food. This is plain reality and economics. It does not spontaneously appear in a warehouse somewhere for free distribution just because a guy like Bill Maher implies it does and thinks we should. This video does not sum up anything genuinely truthful about Republicans; it is nothing more than Maher's maliciously skewed opinion.
It is a bit of a stretch to believe that Bachmann could have actually meant the handicapped or extremely poor people with children. Mr. Maher is an expert at giving the 3 second sound bite and passing judgement. Good snare-drum roll and cymbal crash entertainment, but hardly the intelligent way to analyze the whole candidate.
Taylor,
FTL is Free Thinking Liberal, whose moniker is three word oxymoron in his case. He sounds like a 19 year old freshman who just finished the Sociology 101 course at UC Berkeley.
JSM is Jesuit Monkey Fan. Hilariously sarcastic and bizarrely insightful, but often amiss in his perceptions.
I have suspected, but apparently am mistaken that these two are one and the same poster.
So very many who are not working right now would work if there was work available. They've gone from jobs with health benefits to no jobs, or to part time, poorly paying jobs. I know some. I'm related to some. And they are, to a person, job hunting even when they find part time jobs. They work as hard looking for jobs as they did working.
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy out there. A lot of people just don't know how bad it really is. I've seen it. My own life changed because of the economic crash.
Why would Bachmann deny those people who are trying so hard?
I kinda wish she'd get the nomination. I don't think she could beat Obama, plus the whole election year would be a riot since she'd give the late night comedians so much fodder for jokes. I think it'd be a kick.
She says the funniest things.
Most of the Republican front runners do say funny things. I either cringe or get a kick out of them.
Here's one that just cracks me up:
ReplyDelete"Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too" -Rep. Michele Bachmann
It was John Wayne Gacy, the serial murderer, who was born in Waterloo. And she claims that kind of spirit in this quote! LOL
I can't understand how Bill Maher maintains atheistic views, while blaming the so-called "rich" for not helping the poor (as much as he thinks is necessary). In other words, shouldn't an atheist believe in a Darwinian "Survival of the Fittest" concept?
ReplyDeleteLet's look at it this way: If there are no spiritual elements to life on this planet, then what is the basis for helping "the poor" ???
By the way, anyone who maintains 'humanist' views really needs to study our universe...and understand how tiny (and seemingly insignificant) our little Earth is anyway.
I challenge anyone who thinks that humans are the highest, most intelligent power in this universe to formulate a paragraph proclaiming such--while also mentioning the 500+ billion GALAXIES (as estimated by scientists) in this universe.
I maintain that any attempts at such a writing will be the epitome of simple-minded, selfish, arrogant, childish and limited views of the world--and the universe.
I am decidedly not an atheist. But I've known a lot of them in my life, and many of them are very compassionate people. God isn't the Father of one religion. He is the Father of all people, even those who don't believe in Him. Since we were created in His image, an atheist can also develop traits like compassion and charity.
ReplyDeleteAs for helping the poor. Everyone should help the poor. Everyone, according to what they can do. You, me, the rich, even the poor should help each other. I'll go one further, we should all be helping each other somehow.
There's a saying about what we can give. "Time, Talent, Treasure." If we don't have money, then find a way to give time to helping someone. If we do have talent, give that, use your skills to help people. Give what we can. And that applies to rich people too. They should be giving and giving.
But, I've also seen the poor help each other, many times.
I don't think we need to give more money to the rich, they already have money. But like anyone, they need to feel good, needed, appreciated. I'd give a hug to a rich person who needed it.
Thank you for your kind, thoughtful response, Janet.
ReplyDeleteMy only concern is this: If "the poor" are helped year after year, how can they develop the initiative to ever help themselves?
Let's think of a child growing up in a poor family. If he is prevented from understanding reality, how can he develop a creative, entrepreneurial spirit to actually make his own life (and even the world) a better place?
I've heard stories about Jim Carey and Shania Twain who were very poor as children. (And they are both Canadians, by the way... I thought everything was perfect up there :-)
Too many 'safety nets' and government programs take away people's ability to take care of themselves.
We all know the old saying about Giving someone a fish vs. Teaching someone to fish.
I'm a teacher, so I'd much rather teach some poor children how to make money on their own VERSUS waiting for a handout.
I think we are seeing this entirely differently. I don't disagree that everyone needs to take care of themselves. I do not believe that we should abandon each other either.
ReplyDeletePeople need food to achieve. Feed them so they'll have the energy to learn and work. At least see to basic needs so it is possible to achieve.
One problem you brought up is giving vs teaching. First, the basics of life. Then teach them. Then they can achieve. But one problem here is that we are not teaching people beyond the mandated education. And even at that, how good can an education be if we aren't feeding them?
Oregon used to have a generous welfare system. Then it got limits put on it. I had a friend who wound up alone with small children. She wound up on welfare. But the limits meant she had to find some way to support herself within X amount of time.
But Oregon had a generous educational opportunity for people working toward getting off welfare. She found classes that helped her brush up on her skills. When those classes were done, welfare gave her money for a decent job hunting outfit and helped with childcare while she looked for work.
She really did need the job hunting outfit. Without one, she could not have looked for work! So, another way the system can help that I think is quite reasonable.
Instead of going to Penney's for an outfit, she went to thrift stores and found two job hunting outfits and shoes, ensuring she'd always be prepared for an interview if one was offered.
Then, she did find a job and got off welfare. Yes, it cost the state to help her with education and clothing and childcare. But it was a lot cheaper to do that than to have her trapped in the system for years. I thought it was a compassionate way to deal with things.
There are ways to help people without trapping them in the system. But there are people who are not ever going to produce, and it isn't their fault. I remember when Reagan basically shut down the mental health system for people without money. Where do they get the incentive to work? When that happened, the homeless populations in towns across the country increased. And there was no help for them. they were thrown to the dogs, in essence. It seems immoral to me to let human beings starve.
I'd like to point you towards the rich man and Lazarus at Luke 16. How many of us are guilty of that? It's a heart breaking story.
Thanks for listening to me and addressing me so respectfully. In today's climate out there it is refreshing to have an actual discussion rather than bickering!
The real tragedy is the disconnect in Bachmann's statement -- she assumes all those that are poor and hungry are lazy and don't want to work. There are tens of millions of Americans without a job (because Corporate America laid them off and won't rehire them) that are dying to work. There are tens of milions of Americans that are working two and three jobs, 80 hours a week, and can't make ends meet because it costs an arm and a leg to live a modest (not extravagant) life in this country. There are tens of millions of Americans that can't work because they're disabled, or were prevented from educational opportunities because they were poor growing up and had to earn money immediately to help their family survive. These are the people that are hungry and poor and need a hand out of poverty... people that, for the most part, want to work and contribute to society.
ReplyDeleteTom