Way behind on posting

Wow, t,he election is over, the economy is tubing and I have not posted in almost 2 weeks. I have had so many thoughts recently, and I can't remember any of them.

So, let's talk about GM. The current debate is whether to bail out this POS company. As strong as my distaste for GM and their crappy business practices over the last 30 years, I am actually torn on this. I read today that half the bailout money will go to simply covering underfunded pension and health care benefits. What a crock. My gut tells me to let them die on the vine.

GM is a product of its own demise. Its products are bad, it union contracts bloated, and it has no real plan to change the equation.

That said, the prospect of throwing the entire state of Michigan into a full out depression scare the hell out of me.

The world is inside out, upside down.

Liddy Dole should be ashamed

Elizabeth Dole has been President of the American Red Cross and Secretary of Labor. She has spent her life embodying the ideal of a great American. Personally, I think her term as a NC Senator has been a complete waste, as she really has accomplished nothing other leading the NRSC to its embarrassing losses in 2006, but I have always respected her. Until now.

Have you seen the G-odless ads she is running against Kay Hagan?

#1



and #2


Forget about the fact that Hagan is a devout Christian and an Elder in her church. This tactic represents everything that is wrong in American politics. It is quite simply a throwback to the tactics of Jesse Helms. Whereever the late Sen. Helm is now, he must be laughing hysterically.

It really is a shame to see the lows to which "great Americans" will sink just to win.

One line, running through my head

The other day, my wife and I were watching The West Wing. For what it is worth, this is my favorite television show and if you have never seen it, get the DVDs. The writing is excellent, the acting superb, and the subject is interesting. In fact, I have the DVDs, so I am not sure why we were watching on TV.

Anyway, they were showing the episode series that tells the story of the President's reelection. In the episode following election night, the returns are coming in, and of course everyone is celebrating. During this time, we are also following a story about the administration's handling of reports of a coup in Venezuala.

In one of the scenes, Leo (the Chief of Staff on the show) makes a remark that "its the process, not the result", contrasting the orderly transition in the US with the reported coup in South America. For some reason, this line has stuck with me for a few days now.

As I said in an earlier post, I have real concerns about this new wave of Democrats becoming "them". This is just food for thought, but think about this election in many other countries of the world, and then tell me with a straight face that the transition would be bloodless.

The most beautiful aspect of the American experiment is that regardless of who wins next Tuesday, everyone will still go to work the next day. No massive civil war will break out and the loser will gracefully cede to the winner. I suppose that it is possible that there will be law suits like 2000, but still, that is within the legal and constitutional process.

The amazing part is that we have had non-violent, non-militant succession of power for 220 years.

I guess its just one of those things to be thankful for on Turkey Day.

Not becoming the bad guys

This weekend I had to have a discussion with my children regarding the importance of showing respect to McCain supporters. My youngest had said some things to a friend of my eldest during a car ride. the friend is a McCain supporter and "NObama" person. Without the gory details, I simply did not approve of what was said.

Fast forward to today. A friend of mine confesses that he has hit the point that he doesn't even want to discuss politics with supporters of the opposition. He is tired of the backlash and more importantly, tired of the ignorance he finds every day.

One of the things I find about the Obama supporters I know is that this group is the most informed, well read group of people I have ever seen in a political campaign. The Obama campaign started as much as a movement behind "Yes We Can" as anything else. Over the course, it has evolved into an intelligent discourse on the future of the United States.

I have been politically active and a self describe junkie for my entire adult life. I have never seen anything like this in any campaign. Usually, when I start conversations, rolled eyes and yawns are the response. This year is different. People, especially young people, are earnestly interested in the facts of the campaign. Not just the junkies.

So, what does this have to do with my title? The closest thing to this level of interest (and it was no where near this level) that I have ever seen was in 1994. Anyone remember the Contract with America? Newt Gingrich led a Congressional charge to communicate a message of conservatism. The GOP rode this wave to a blow out in the mid-terms.

That campaign was issues based, and while limited in audience, was similar in tone to the current Obama campaign. It was a campaign of change with specific goals and paths to meet those goals.

The problem with a well thought campaign is that it generates disdain for those that are not deeply involved. It certainly did this in the GOP in the 1990's to the point that being a Republican simply required a hatred of all things Democrat. This is evidenced by the success of certain right wing talk radio shows that made their name by bashing Bill Clinton.

Any way, some advice to those committed to intelligent, informed debate:
1. Stay informed- duh
2. Question everything, even on your own side. Being able to support your argument is the key.
3. Do not look down on those that support the other side. People have their reasons.
4. Do not expect to change someone's mind in a Eureka moment. These decisions take most people much time to commit to and as such take even more time to change.
5. Never attack the person for his opinion.
6. If you don't have the supporting facts at hand, commit to following up-- then DO.
7. Don't get frustrated or down.

We are on a real positive wave, let's not lose the high ground.

Robin Hayes Quotes Himself

Firstly, I do not live in Robin Hayes' district. I have the unfortunate luck of living in the NC 9th (Sue Myrick) which looks to be in GOP puppet hands for some time to come. However, I am right on the border of the NC 8th. For those of you that do not know the story here, Larry Kissell ran against Hayes in a grassroots, upstart campaign two years ago only to come up short by around 300 votes.

This time around, Kissell is getting more support from the DNC, but nothing compared to the machine of multi-millionaire Hayes.

My point- I have been seeing a Hayes ad recently that claims accuses Kissell of failing to pay taxes, Social Security, and Medicare on his employees. This has been itching at me, mainly because of Kissell's bio. You see, Larry Kissell was a textile mill manager until the industry went into the ground, then went back to school to and became a public school teacher in Montgomery County. Anyone see where I am going here?

WHAT EMPLOYEES????????

So, I just saw the ad on again and paid special attention to the text on screen sourcing this accusation. The citation is "The Hill", 6/12/2008. I went to thehill.com and did some searching and found the following date 6/11/2008 (I am pretty sure this is the article):
Link: thehill.com

Rep. Robin Hayes (R) is wasting little time going after Democratic opponent
Larry Kissell this cycle, releasing a television ad this week that accuses
Kissell of skirting campaign payroll taxes.
For each of his two campaigns
against Hayes, this cycle and last, Kissell has hired all his staff as
independent contractors. That means they are responsible for paying their own
taxes and Kissell is not paying for Social Security, unemployment benefits or
Medicare.
The ad, Hayes’s first of the cycle, says Kissell is “manipulating
his workers’ paychecks to save himself a buck.”
Kissell spokesman Thomas
Thacker said the campaign only recently hired field staff that will be full
employees, and that they will be paid July 1. He said that in the 2006 cycle,
the campaign was so poorly funded that it relied on volunteers and
month-to-month consultants.
He said the staff would be doubling soon and that
about half of it will be on payroll.

There are 2 things that are so, so, so wrong with this.

First, Kissell did nothing wrong, for short term assignments (and sometimes long term), it is accesptable and even common to hire people on a "W-2" or "1099 Only" basis. If you don't believe me, ask anyone you know that works in IT. It happens every day and is not unethical or criminal.

Second, and this is the part that makes me crazy, look at the article. Hayes' ad is quoting thehill.com quoting the HAYES CAMPAIGN. The entire section of the article is simply a "sources at the Hayes campaign report that" article.

I tend to divide the politcal spectrum into "good guys" and "bad guys". More on that later, but Hayes is one of the bad guys and needs to go as soon as humanly possible.

More on the Palin Future

Palin May Cut Off Handlers

From a completely different direction: the phases of underwear

I have long held a theory that marriage can be broken down into phases that are associated with underwear. (this applies mostly to guys)

Phase 1: You are clothed most of the time and your spouse doesn't see your underwear (except the "good" ones you wear on dates)
Phase 2: You comfortably wash your clothes together and see each others underwear. Each still buys his/her own.
Phase 3: You ask your wife to pick up some underwear for you when she is out shopping.
Phase 4: She gets you underwear as a gift (birthday, Christmas)
Phase 5 (this is the most important one): Underwear becomes a substance that you no longer think about it. You do not buy it or throw it out, but somehow, you always have clean underwear in good repair in your drawer.