Lessons Learned In 2011

Image via WikipediaIn 2011, we learned that . . .

• just because the economy is improving, it doesn't mean you are.
• Osama bin Laden, Muammar Gadhafi and Kim Jong-il may be gone.  But American citizens can still be poked, prodded and sent away to prison in the name of defending the "homeland".
• in the spirit of Howard Beale, people around the world are taking to the streets and shouting "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more!" at governments and the economies that run them.
• Washington (and some state capitals) has become a "no compromise" zone.
• women politicians are just as capable of losing their jobs due to alleged sexual shenanigans as their male counterparts are, and have more to lose because of it.
• being the beneficiary of a controversial jury verdict doesn't mean you can be allowed to live in peace.
• one man can have an effect on his company, and leave behind a legacy of products people never knew they wanted.
• no secret is safe, now that even classified documents can be put online.
• for all their rantings about being part of the 99%, some liberal commentators take home salaries worthy of the 1%.
• tactics used by some British tabloids make the American media's methods of getting the story seem tame by comparison.
• we didn't know who Kate Middleton was before she married a king in waiting, and we still don't.
• the world's climate may be changing, but the debate about it isn't.
• what didn't kill Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords only made her stronger.
• the space shuttle entered the final frontier--history.
• Minnesota can still produce politicians that make Jesse Ventura look good.
• Sarah Palin and Donald Trump didn't run for President.  But the Republicans had plenty of characters who did.
• Russia's Vladimir Putin is not a lock to win another presidential term.
• Neither is President Barack Obama.
• the use of technology behind the wheel can be just as deadly as getting drunk.
• wars end when you least expect them to.
• in Japan, disaster came in threes.

Class resumes January 1, 2012.

Minnesota's GOP: Pot, Meet Kettle

Image via WikipediaOne year ago, Minnesota Republicans were riding on a national wave of electoral triumphs, promising tax cuts and shrinking the federal deficit in a faltering economy.  They captured both houses of the state Legislature, and would have had Tom Emmer as its Governor if Democrat Mark Dayton hadn't won the recount.

Now the Minnesota GOP is a party in shambles.  In the waning days of the regular Legislative session, they dithered with things like the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage instead of working on the state's massive budget deficit, which eventually led to last summer's government shutdown.  The party is a million dollars in debt after its bombastic chairman Tony Sutton resigned.  Currently, there is no credible Republican challenger for Democrat Amy Klobuchar's U.S. Senate seat.  And Emmer, who currently co-hosts a morning drive talk show on KTCN (AM 1130), was recently turned down for a teaching position by Hamline University.

What is most surprising (and a bit disturbing) is the sudden fall of State Senator Amy Koch of Buffalo.  She had to resign her position as Senate Majority Leader because of what is termed as an "inappropriate relationship" with a fellow staffer.  Michael Brodkorb, who was on Koch's staff, was also fired.

What is meant by "inappropriate relationship" has so far been shrouded in secrecy and legal mumbo-jumbo by those in the know, pending an ethics investigation.  One figures either the state GOP doesn't want the public to know how bad it really is, or they're just plain embarrassed.  Respecting people's privacy is one thing.  Obfuscating the truth is quite another.

Koch, who still plans to serve out her term and is not running for re-election, has publicly apologized for her actions.  She still has a lot of explaining to do with her family (she's married with a daughter) and her colleagues.  If she chooses to share her predicament with the public at some point, then that's her (and her attorney's) call.

These developments have made Republicans look like hypocrites going into the 2012 elections.  All that talk about lower taxes, ethical government and family values tends to blow up in their faces when something like this happens.  But this isn't really news to anyone who follows politics at the state and national levels.  It is also true that all this might be forgotten by the time November rolls around.  Remember, power is an aphrodisiac.  You can get burned if you get too much of it.

Country Gives Lite FM The Boot

Image via WikipediaSanta's leaving a late Christmas present for Twin Cities country music fans.  On December 26, WLTE  is replacing its annual holiday music marathon with Buzz'n @102.9, providing competition for K102 (102.1 FM), which is now the top-rated radio station in town.

A new staff for Buz'n will soon be hired, which means that those who worked for WLTE will soon be joining the multitudes at the unemployment line.  Just in time for Christmas.

WLTE, owned by CBS Radio, had been a light rock station for three decades, playing the hits of Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand and Phil Collins.  Then it went from music for the dentist's office to music that more resembled a Top 40 station--Neil and Barbra, meet Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.  Ratings suffered.

For months there was speculation on what direction WLTE would take.  Would it stay adult contemporary?  Would it start simulcasting with WCCO-AM (830)?  Or would it be something else?

Ultimately, the choice was country, which was no doubt influenced by the presence of Mick Anselmo.  He's a local CBS Radio executive who used to run K102 as one of the premiere country stations in America, before owner Clear Channel let him go.  Now Anselmo's competing against himself.

As further proof that this is not your grandparents' country music, both Buzz'n @102.9 and K102 are going for the same audience:   Young women who love Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert, and Rascal Flatts and Lady Antebellum.

CBS is not planning a call letter change for WLTE at this time.  But it should be noted that the handle for K102--KEEY--has been in use since the 1970s, when it was a beautiful-music station.

Frankly, K102 needs a little competition.  It's been at least a decade since another major station took them on (and no, Bob 106.1 doesn't count).  The question that must be asked is:  Can the Twin Cities support more than one country music station?   We should know the answer in a few ratings books.

UPDATE:  Seems the folks at CBS couldn't wait to unwrap their new present.  Buz'n @102.9 took to the airwaves on Christmas night.  And it's just been announced that the new call letters are KMNB, which means that if some other station wants to go Lite, WLTE is there for the taking.

KIm Jong-il: The Not-So-Dearly-Departed Leader

Image via WikipediaKim Jong-il, the North Korean strongman who held power for nearly two decades, has died at 69.  The government, whose job it was to embellish the legacy and legend of the "Dear Leader", said he had a heart attack while traveling on a train.

As dictators go, Kim Jong-il was standard issue with a few wacky touches. While his citizens starved and dissidents were either tossed into prison or killed, Kim Jong-il lived a life of luxury.  He ate well, had an absurdly low round of golf, and loved Hollywood movies to the point where he had thousands of them on DVD.

There are two reasons why Kim Jong-il was taken seriously by the rest of the world:  (A)  North Korea lies in a dangerous part of the world where a state of war with South Korea still exists, even though there hasn't been fighting in almost 60 years.  The United States has thousands of soldiers along South Korea's side of the 38th parallel.  (B)  The possibility that North Korea has nuclear weapons.  Despite claims of using nuclear power for energy needs, suspicions remain that they've built a weapon or two to use on Seoul, Tokyo, or even an American west coast city.

Adding to it is the fact that North Korea and its government is so isolated and secretive, one never knows what's really going on.

Kim Jong-il's handpicked successor is his son Kim Jong-un (apparently, his other sons were not deemed worthy).  Not much is known about him, except that he's in his 20s and is rumored to be a bit of a hothead.  Remember that attack last year on a South Korean sub?  That was believed to be his doing.

Some world leaders have expressed hope that a more moderate North Korea might emerge under Kim Jong-un, while others are more cautious.  Because the New Leader is so young and inexperienced, he may be under pressure initially to keep things the way they are.

Since he's presumably going to lead North Korea for a long time to come, Kim Jong-un might develop a taste for wine, women and movies just like his old man did.  And he can also watch his country's population shrink as they slowly starve to death.

All-American Bigotry

Image via WikipediaSome of you may have noticed a new show on the TLC channel.  It's about families in a Detroit suburb trying to make their way through life as normally as possible, even though their religion and culture is quite different from ours.  It's called "All-American Muslim".

This show would have settled in quite nicely with the rest of TLC's reality lineup, which includes shows on families with multiple kids, children competing in beauty pageants, style-challenged women who get makeovers, and--oh yes--"Sarah Palin's Alaska".

But then came the Florida Family Association, another one of those conservative Christian groups who make names for themselves by attempting to dictate the morals of everyone else.  They have called for a boycott of of "All-American Muslim", because it dares to put a lifestyle on TV that they don't agree with.  (The group has also complained about the ABC sitcom "Modern Family" for similar reasons.)  It's not so much that FFA objects to seeing Muslims in a positive light after years of being portrayed in TV news reports as terrorist thugs.  Instead, it sounds like they don't want Muslims on TV, period.

So far, two companies have pulled their advertising from the show, which is due to resume in January:  home improvement superstore Lowe's and travel website Kayak.com.  Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons has announced that he would buy whatever ad time the two companies gave up.

North Carolina-based Lowe's, the second-largest hardware chain in America behind The Home Depot, has more than 1700 stores nationwide, and has put its name on a speedway outside Charlotte that hosts two major NASCAR races a year.

Civil liberties groups have called for a boycott of Lowe's.  But is that really a good idea in this economy?  With so many people struggling to hang onto their jobs along with a terrible housing market, why should Lowe's employees pay for the stupidity of their corporate bosses?  Oh wait.  That's already happening every single day, which is the reason why we have Occupy Wall Street.

What the Florida Family Association has succeeded in doing (besides calling attention to themselves) is to turn "All-American Muslim", a show that some critics believe is mediocre, into a cultural phenomenon.  TLC couldn't have asked for better publicity than this, as they anticipate a big audience for the show's return in January.  Meanwhile, there are thousands of people of the Muslim faith who just want to go about their business and not be lumped in with the ones who gave them a bad name.  Good luck with that.

Saturday Night's All Right For . . . Debating?

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeWith a few weeks to go before Iowans go to their caucuses and New Hampshirites go to the polls, six of the remaining Republican presidential candidates went after each other in yet another debate, this time at Drake University in Des Moines.

This debate was televised by ABC, which was only the second one of these to be seen on broadcast TV.  The other one was on CBS a few weeks ago, and also on a Saturday night.  Since Saturday prime time has become a dumping ground of reruns and college football where Jackie Gleason and "All In The Family" once aired, many of you may not have noticed there was a debate on.

But there was, with ABC News' Diane Sawyer (who once worked for President Richard Nixon) and George Stephanopolous (who was part of President Bill Clinton's administration) asking the questions to a group of Ralph Kramdens and Archie Bunkers.

Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who's certainly no Edith Bunker (or is she?), had the line of the night in characterizing Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney as "Newt Romney", as if they were a celebrity couple combining names.  Bachmann wasn't far off the mark, either, with both of them about to suck the life out of the GOP nomination.

Former House Speaker Gingrich, the new front-runner in the polls, took heat for his stands on replacing janitors with school children, and for referring to Palestinians as an "invented people".  He also inferred that Romney's career as a politician might have been longer if he had defeated incumbent Edward Kennedy in the 1994 Massachusetts U.S. Senate race.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, inadvertently reminded everyone that he might as well be Thurston Howell III.  He tried to make a $10,000 bet with Rick Perry concerning his (ever-changing) positions on health care, but the Texas governor declined.  After all, who but Romney has $10,000 to burn?

Perry's still trying to live down his gaffes.  He made a campaign ad bashing gays and President Obama while boasting about being a proud Christian, which got a record number of "Dislike" votes on You Tube (previously set by Rebecca Black for her "Friday" video).  And he got the number of Supreme Court justices wrong, as well as flubbing Sonia Sotomayor's name.  Well, that's not as misleading as asking 21-year olds to vote for him on November 12, 2012.

The most applause lines of the night went to Texas congressman Ron Paul.  Considering he's a libertarian whose biggest support has come from college students (this was Drake, after all), it wasn't all that surprising.  What's scary is that he's making more sense than the other GOP candidates combined.

The next real debate will be Thursday night, and will be seen on Republican-friendly Fox News Channel.  The one after that, starring Donald Trump as moderator, might not take place as scheduled two days after Christmas.  Most of the GOP candidates, with the exception of Gingrich and Rick Santorum, have decided to take a pass.  Gee, I wonder why?

Once the votes have been cast in Iowa and New Hampshire, we should have a better idea as to which one gets to face President Obama next fall, and which ones get a one-way ticket off of "Fantasy Island".  Or is that "Gilligan's Island"?

Herman Cain: No Longer Able to Run

Image by TalkMediaNews via FlickrThere's still a logjam of candidates running for the Republican presidential nomination.  But Herman Cain has decided to join Tim Pawlenty and Donald Trump on the sidelines.  Cain says he's suspending his campaign in part because of all those sexual harassment allegations that keep popping up in the media, claiming they have hurt his family and his fund raising efforts.

Cain has become the latest politician to have his past come back to haunt him, interfering with his present aspirations.  The last straw was a woman named Ginger White, who told WAGA--Atlanta's Fox affiliate--that she had a 13-year affair with Cain which recently ended.  It was different from all the other women who claimed that unflattering comments and certain body parts were involved, but it was still proof that Cain might have some explaining to do with his wife.

Other than that, the former pizza chain executive didn't have much experience at campaigning, and it showed.  He didn't seem to have much grasp of the issues that any other candidate needs to have, and it showed.  But he's great at catchphrases such as "9-9-9", and for his amazing ability to promote himself.

For a brief period, as polls showed Cain running neck and neck with Mitt Romney for the lead, people actually began taking him seriously.  Now Cain can go back to selling his book, which must be what this whole campaign thing was about in the first place.

With Cain out, this is the remaining GOP field going into Iowa and New Hampshire:  Romney the flip-flopper that conservatives are running away from, Newt Gingrich the front-runner that Cain has reportedly endorsed, Rick Perry and his memory lapses, and Michele Bachmann's tendency to speak before she thinks.  We haven't even mentioned Rick Santorum, Ron Paul or Jon Huntsmann.  Should we?

You know that song about sending in the clowns?  Don't bother.  They're already here.

Pepper Haze and Shopping Daze

Image via WikipediaIn the months since the Occupy movement on Wall Street started, with people waving banners and repeating each others' words to a financial hierarchy too busy making money and influencing politicians to care much about what the "little people" think, the protests have spread to every city in America and overseas with varying degrees of success.

But the movement still hasn't been successful at getting its message out to the rest of the country, mainly because its list of grievances are all over the map and there's no figurehead.  Republican politicians and conservative commentators tell them to take a bath and get a job.  If you believe the poll numbers, most Americans are plain confused about what Occupy is and what they stand for.

City and government officials, initially tolerant of Occupy protesters camping out in local parks and college campuses as long as nobody got hurt, had finally decided enough was enough and started ordering crackdowns in the name of public safety and local commerce.  In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg had bulldozers clear the park next to Wall Street.  In Los Angeles and Philadelphia, there have been orders of evictions to Occupiers that have so far not been enforced.

Then there are the incidents that make martyrs out of protesters and law enforcement resembling armed thugs.  In addition to the melee in Oakland, California that resulted in the direct hit of a tear-gas canister at one man, there were widely-publicized pepper spray attacks in Seattle and the University of California at Davis.

Pepper spray is normally used to foil attackers, and when sprayed it stings the eyes and burns the throat.  Women use it to ward off purse snatchers and potential sexual predators.  The police, who have access to the industrial-strength formula in bulk, spray it on people who exercise their First Amendment rights whether it's a sitting human chain or an 84-year old grandmother, as if they used to exterminate termites for a living.

For all the screaming about being the 99 percent, the Occupiers actually represent about one percent of the population (or maybe not that much).  Truth is, there are lots of other people who would love to take up arms against The Man.  But they have families to take care of, bills to pay and reputations to protect.  Besides, having a police record doesn't look good on a job application.

And there's this:  According to all accounts, Black Friday was one of the most successful in recent memory.  People were ready at the stroke of midnight to spend paper or plastic on cheap flat-panel TVs and the latest discounted video game.  That must have made Wall Street happy, because stocks soared the following Monday and economic pundits speculated that this may have been the long-awaited turning of the corner.

Oh, there was the woman who allegedly pepper-sprayed other customers at a Walmart in California so she could be the first to get a particular item.  And there was also the man who dropped dead at a Target store, and hardly anyone noticed.

So the moral of our story is:  When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.  If the Occupy movement is to succeed with average Americans, this is the mentality they have to get past first.

The "Superdud Committee"

Months after arguments over raising the federal deficit ceiling caused the United States' bond rating to be lowered by one agency, the Congressional "supercommittee" of six Democrats and six Republicans failed to pass a plan to cut $1.2 trillion off the budget for the next decade.

Unless Congress acts in the next month, those spending cuts automatically go into effect starting in 2013.  They will take a big bite out of the military and domestic programs such as Medicare--$600 billion each, which is not what either party wants for its own reasons.

There are two basic reasons why the "supercommittee" became a super dud.  The first is that there were only 12 members, which meant that there was no deciding vote should there have been a deadlock.  Or was it because they were superstitious in avoiding a 13th?

The other was the same old partisanship that's been paralyzing Washington for who knows how long.  Democrats wanted to raise taxes to pay for the cuts, and the Republicans are too beholden to Grover Norquist to change their anti-tax stance.  Compromise?  Are you kidding?  It's like six Clark Kents going up against six Lex Luthors, with no caped avenger on hand to stand for Truth, Justice and the American Way.

It's not like the public has been holding out for a hero.  In a recent poll, those who replied thought politicians had a lower reputation than Wall Street bankers.  So it doesn't come as much of a surprise that the "super-committee" failed to do its job.  Now Congress needs a miracle to pass a bill that will avert potential economic disaster.  Don't hold your breath.

WCCO-TV: Lost In Translation

Image via WikipediaWCCO (Channel 4) is the Number One TV station in Minnesota.  Just ask them if you don't believe us.  They like to brag about WCCO being watched by more people than anyone else, and that this is not a coincidence.  Of course, having CBS' prime time schedule helps a bit.

Married co-anchors Frank Vascellaro and Ameila Santaniello (who we like to call Mr. and Mrs. News) have picked up where Dave Moore, Don Shelby and Pat Miles (among others) left off, anchoring a news-free 10 p.m. broadcast that looks more like a late-night video lifestyle magazine.  For sweeps month (do they still call it that?), Mrs. News went to Washington and scored interviews with President Barack Obama and members of the White House staff.  Not to be outdone, Mr. News was seen driving a tank and profiling bodyguards who protect celebrities.

Beat reporters such as Jason DeRusha and Esme Murphy get the star treatment, having their faces plastered on every needless graphic per newscast.  And recent hires Aristea Brady, Holly Wagner and meteorologist Lauren Casey might as well be called the 'CCO Blonde Patrol, for obvious reasons.

But there's one thing WCCO isn't bragging about, coincidence or not.  It's about a story they did on Halloween night concerning a Minnesota dog breeder.  The station claimed that this woman sold dogs to a market in New York's Chinatown, which were to be used as meat for human consumption.  That's frightening stuff for animal lovers if it were true.

Except that it's not.  Ducks, not dogs, are part of the menu at this particular market.  WCCO's reporter had apparently misunderstood the employee of the market he had contacted in New York, hearing the word "dog" instead of "duck".

Apparently fearing legal action, WCCO's parent company CBS ordered all traces of the story (video included) off its website.  The only explanation they've given is an internal memo from management (David Brauer of MinnPost has a much more detailed description of all this, along with the memo in question, on his blog.  See it at www.minnpost.com/braublog.).  No disclipinary action that we know of has been made on the reporter, his producer, and anyone else associated with the story.

This is the kind of story that gives news departments migraines, and could cost WCCO and CBS millions of dollars in legal fees and damages.  It's one thing to deliver a hard-hitting news report with the facts clearly on your side.  It's quite another to manipulate the facts for the sake of ratings.

WCCO used to have a strong reputation for journalistic excellence, as the number of awards on its mantle will attest.  That may not be as important these days, with many a newsroom having faced the corporate budget axe.  When you get a story wrong, all the married-couple news anchors and eye candy reporters can't make up for the hit the station's reputation just took.  Coincidence?  You decide.

The Runners Stumble

Image via WikipediaOK, folks.  Time for your once-in-awhile update on how some of the Republican presidential candidates are doing in this, the silly season before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. 

Herman Cain  Still fighting back charges of sexual harassment made over a decade ago by four women, Cain's stock depressed further when--in a video made by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel newspaper--he was seen having to think real hard about a question concerning President Obama's handling of Muammar Gadhafi's ouster in Libya, then gave a rambling answer.  Voters might have to think real hard themselves about where Cain stands on foreign policy.

Rick Perry  The Governor of Texas tried to atone for his notorious gaffe at a CNBC debate.--You've all seen it.  It's the one where Perry forgets to name the three federal departments he'd like to eliminate.--by going on nearly every TV show the next day (including being the subject of a David Letterman Top 10 list) to explain himself.  Maybe Perry was right when he said that there's too many debates, and that he'd like to skip some of them.  Next time, Governor, take some notes so you (and we) know what you're talking about.

Michele Bachmann   The Minnesota congresswoman's poll numbers have been barely showing a pulse since Perry emerged as the Tea Party's favorite.  She's also been wondering why she's not getting asked as many questions as the other candidates at the debates.  That is, until somebody leaked an e-mail from a CBS producer directing that those with the best poll numbers get the most questions, which prompted Bachmann to charge liberal bias against the network.  At the CBS debate, which was held on Saturday in South Carolina, the congresswoman voiced her approval of waterboarding, and thought the United States should be "less socialist" and more like China (Huh?).  But just in case this presidential thing doesn't pan out, she can always promote her new book.

Newt Gingrich   Your new #1 poll sitter, now that Cain's imploding and Republicans aren't real thrilled with Mitt Romney.  The former House Speaker doesn't offer much beyond the usual anti-Obama conservative rhetoric and his own baggage (his wife shops at Tiffanys, his self-destructive political career, and his authoring several alternative-history books), but what he is saying seems to be striking a chord among those who are weary of the other guys.  This week, anyway.

See what you're missing, Sarah Palin and Donald Trump?

Unhappy Valley, PA

Image via WikipediaBubbling under the surface of a successful athletic program at Penn State University lies a sordid tale of a longtime assistant football coach who allegedly had his way with a number of boys in a youth program he ran.  Those who were in a position to do something about the alleged abuse were either too slow, or looked the other way.

Now come the consequences.  The former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, was arrested Monday and charged with many counts of sexually assaulting eight boys in a 15-year period.  Two school officials were charged with perjury for allegedly covering up for Sandusky.  Wednesday, the university fired its president Graham Spanier and longtime head football coach Joe Paterno for improperly handling the situation. (For more on Paterno, please see Owljock Gazette at http://theowljockgazette.blogspot.com/.)

Penn State, a state-run academic institution based in State College, has now set itself up for lawsuits from the alleged victims and their families because of the school's negligence.  They are also at odds with their own students, some of whom rioted in the streets when Paterno's departure was announced.

While the charges against Sandusky may have been shocking and painful, and Paterno's exit becomes fodder for media saturation coverage, we are reminded that this isn't really about them.  It's about the boys.  But it's pretty hard to care about the alleged victims because, being juveniles by law, they're required to remain in the shadows.

When it comes to child sexual abuse, those in a position of authority (teachers, administrators, coaches, etc.) must report what they see to local law enforcement.  However, the protocol is so vague that there are some instances where doing the right thing isn't enough, ensnaring otherwise well-meaning people in a legal mess.

As the case unfolds and more victims may or may not turn up, it becomes a question of trust.  Are parents willing to trust their child to school programs and non-profit youth organizations, run by who they believe to be responsible adults?  If, God forbid, something terrible happens, can that child ever trust another adult?

UPDATE:  Paterno died January 22 at the age of 85 from lung cancer complications, which had kept him in and out of the hospital since the scandal broke.  Now it just made things a whole lot murkier.

Herman Cain: The Past Is Present

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeRepublican presidential candidate Herman Cain, who doesn't have much of a campaign organization (except for Smoking Man Mark Block) and no visible means of support (unless you count the Koch brothers), is nonetheless in a dead heat with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, depending on which voter preference poll you believe.

But now Cain's campaign is threatened by allegations of sexual misconduct.  Four women have accused Cain of inappropriate remarks and actions during his tenure as president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s.  Two of those women were allegedly paid off by the organization in exchange for their silence.  The other two, Sharon Bialek and Karen Kraushaar, were willing to go public with graphic descriptions of what they remember.

Cain has denied all the charges, but this scandal has sucked the air out of his campaign along with the rest of the GOP field.  Who wants to hear about his 9-0-9 tax plan (formerly known as 9-9-9), when one of his alleged victims is on TV describing how he had touched her in a place he shouldn't have?

What's disturbing about all this is the racial overtones.  There's a feeling among some that African-Americans like Cain shouldn't be in positions of power.  Clarence Thomas was on his way to becoming Supreme Court justice until Anita Hill went before a Senate committee to say she was sexually harassed by him.  And remember when conservatives demanded proof that President Barack Obama was actually born in this country?

What's also disturbing is that, in spite of all the laws that have been passed to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace, the incidents keep happening.  Is it too much to ask for people to act in a professional manner on the job while keeping their hands to themselves?

Having said that, how can we believe someone who accuses a public figure of sexual misconduct in any form while hiding in the shadows?  Just going through it must be painful enough.

Herman Cain continued to deny the accusations against him at a news conference in Arizona Tuesday, and said he is not dropping out of the GOP race.  Cain even said he doesn't know Bialik, and went so far as to say she was lying.  His poll numbers have not been affected by the scandal so far, and he seems content to let the voters decide his fate in the upcoming primaries.  But how long will it be before his past finally catches up?

Andy Rooney: Writer First, Celebrity Second

Image by billypalooza via FlickrTo anyone who's been watching CBS on Sundays, you've gotten used to hearing the phrase "Those stories--and Andy Rooney--tonight on '60 Minutes'" at the beginning of the broadcast.  That phrase became shortened after Rooney delivered his last curmudgeonly commentary a few weeks ago.  He died Friday at age 92 of complications from minor surgery.

In his 62 years at CBS, Rooney worked on many news and entertainment programs, writing for the likes of Arthur Godfrey, Garry Moore and Harry Reasoner.  Before that, he was in the Army covering World War II for the service newspaper "Stars and Stripes".

Rooney didn't start doing his end-of-the-show essays for "60 Minutes" until 1979.  Since then, he delivered more than a thousand commentaries focusing mostly on the minutiae of life (with the occasional serious piece thrown in) from his cluttered little office.

Sometimes, what Rooney wrote got him into trouble.  In a 1990 syndicated newspaper column, he made some offensive comments about gays that got him suspended by CBS for three months.  Public pressure forced the network to reduce Rooney's sentence, and he was back on the air in one month.

What we liked about Rooney was not just his appeal as the voice of the everyday man and woman.  It was also because he considered himself a writer first and a TV personality second, and he said as much in his final broadcast. 

"60 Minutes" has been on the air since 1968, and probably will continue to be as long as there is television.  Eventually, CBS will find someone to do end-of-the-show essays just like Andy Rooney did, and maybe that person will be just as plainspoken and witty as he was.  Good luck with that.

OWS: Not a Matter of LIfe and Death

Image by david_shankbone via FlickrThe Occupy Wall Street movement has branched out as the seasons change and the weather turns colder.  There are chapters popping up all over the country like McDonalds franchises, with varying degrees of success.  The message remains the same:  fighting for economic justice against the Wall Street bankers and corporations who have (more or less) taken over our government and our way of life.

The public seems to be on OWS' side so far, with a number of polls indicating a good chunk of support among those willing to be interviewed.

One small victory has already been achieved:  Bank of America and other financial institutions have dropped its controversial monthly fees for debit cards, which doesn't mean they won't bring it back in some other form when nobody's looking.

However, the OWS movement is being threatened by how unruly it's becoming.  While most demonstrations have been peaceful, local officials' efforts to shut down the parks used by the Occupiers for health and safety reasons have resulted in arrests and violent clashes with police in some cities.  In other places, such as Minneapolis, the Occupiers' numbers are dwindling and are being routinely ignored.

Conservatives are doing their best to counter the Occupiers by charging them with anti-Semitism (did you know that most Wall Street financiers tend to be Jewish?), referring to them as spoiled brats who think they're entitled and don't have anything better to do, and predicting their ultimate doom.  Of course, that's what people said about the Tea Party, except for the racism part in which African-Americans are substituted for Jewish people.

President Barack Obama and the Democrats would love to embrace the Occupiers, but there's a small problem.  The Occupiers don't think much of either the Democrats or the Republicans, because both parties' inaction in Washington is what contributed to their taking to the streets in the first place.  Then there's the fact that both parties will need corporate cash to help fund their 2012 election campaigns.  And if there's a public backlash against the Occupiers, the GOP will take over Congress and the White House.

In a previous post, we said that the OWS protest are nothing like the ones in 1968.  Let us explain. 

Not being able to find a job is not the same as getting drafted into the army, then being told to kill as many North Vietnamese (who looked remarkably like the South Vietnamese they were trying to defend) as possible.  Having your home foreclosed and your car repossessed isn't the same as African-Americans who lived in the Jim Crow South, intimidated from voting and forced to use separate facilities from white people.  And not being able to pay off your credit cards or student loans is nothing compared to the threat of nuclear war.

In other words, folks, whatever the Occupiers on Wall Street or Podunk, Nebraska are protesting against is not a matter of life or death.  It's retaining some semblance of what we used to call the American Way of Life.

The Iraq War, 2003-2011

Image via WikipediaJust when you thought the war in Iraq would never end, President Barack Obama announced Friday it would do just that by January 1.  That's nearly nine years, two U.S. presidents, over four thousand dead American soldiers (32,000 wounded), thousands more Iraqis killed, billions of dollars spent and one executed dictator.

The Obama administration would like you to believe that the war had come to a satisfying, yet honorable conclusion.  In reality, they failed to come to an agreement with the Iraqi government on keeping a small number of American soldiers for another couple of years, strictly for security purposes.  So the war ends with a whimper, not a bang.

This was a war that never should have happened.  There never was any evidence that Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destructiuon, harbored terrorists, or had anything to do with the events of September 11, 2001.  Instead of concentrating on the war they already had going in Afghanistan, President George W. Bush and his cronies decided this was the time to remore an "evildoer" from power.

After all the "shock and awe" caused by bombs raining down on Baghdad and environs resulted in Hussein's regime being toppled and his eventual capture, that's when the violence really began.  Insurgents planted roadside bombs, refugees fled, a version of Al-Qaeda appeared, and every day became a living hell for American soldiers and private contractors.  Back home, reports surfaced that the Bush administration lied about the reasons for going to war, that this was just a money-making operation for Blackwater and the oil companies, and that the Iraqi government itself was shaky.

After Obama became president, he added more troops in an effort to stabilize the situation in Iraq.  It must have worked because, as more forces came home, the country got a lot more peaceful.

Now, with much of the American military on their way out, with the exception of some contractors and guards to watch over the U.S. Embassy, the Iraqis really are on their own.  The government is still shaky, the military and police force aren't 100 per cent ready, and there's still the possibility of another civil war or Iranian invasion.  Whatever happens, Uncle Sam won't be around to keep the peace any more.

Which leaves us with another ongoing war in Afghanistan, now a decade old with even less reason for it to continue.  Eventually, American soldiers will be coming home from there, too.  And, as Gerald Ford once put it when he became President during another time of crisis, our long national nightmare might soon be over.

Arab Autumn

Image via WikipediaMuammar Gadhafi, who had ruled Libya for 42 years, had been on the run since rebel forces started fighting back against his dictatorship.  Thursday, Gadhafi stopped running.  He was killed when those forces brutally attacked him in Sirite, one of his few remaining strongholds.

This was the latest victory in the so-called "Arab Spring", with people all over the Middle East rising up to get rid of despots who hog the glory and loot the national treasure.  In this case it never would have happened without military support from NATO and, to a lesser extent, the United States.

So how have the other Mideast countries who have revolted fared?  For them, "Arab Spring" has had mixed results.

In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak may be gone but the military remains as the real power there, so the protests go on with less worldwide attention to bank on.  It remains to be seen whether the Egyptian people will still get the free elections they were promised.

In Syria, Bashar al-Assad has done an effective job so far of crushing his opposition through violence and intimidation while shutting out the rest of the world.  There's not much anyone can do about this without invoking the wrath of nearby Iran, which has its own ways of dealing with dissidents.  Use sanctions all you want, but remember Syria can always do business with China while the crackdown continues.

Now that Gadhafi is gone, all Libya and its people have to do is to form a credible (and palatable to the West) government.  Easier said than done, because the history of the Middle East is one of pharaohs, kings and strongmen, not democracy. 

Politics 2012: Fitting The Glass Slipper

Image via WikipediaThis is where we are in the Republicans' determining who gets to challenge President Barack Obama one year from now.  As the song goes, they still haven't found what they're looking for.  Or they say they haven't.

Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, is the front-runner who's considered the best candidate to defeat Obama.  But no one seems to like him much.  For a GOP dominated by Tea Party conservatives and evangelicals, Romney's Mormonism and comparatively moderate political stance is a turnoff to them.  So who else is there?

Herman Cain, who used to run a pizza chain, has been hogging the political spotlight since winning a straw poll in Florida a few weeks ago.  Cain has no prior experience in politics, but he does seem to have a knack for telling the other candidates where to get off, which might come in handy should he ever decide to work for Fox News.  But his "9-9-9" plan to stimulate the economy, which is one part lower corporate tax rate, one part flat tax and one part national sales tax, does nothing to solve the rift between the rich versus everybody else.

Rick Perry, currently Governor of Texas, is fading in the polls because of his poor debate performances, and because of controversies the other candidates have helpfully been pointing out.  Such as Perry's executive order mandating HPV shots for teenage girls to protect against cervical cancer (which he now wishes he hadn't done).  And then there's the Perry family retreat, which was purchased from the original owner who had named the property with a word starting with the letter "N", which also happens to be the mother of all racial slurs.

Michele Bachmann, sixth-district Congresswoman from Minnesota, is still in the race--just barely.  As the campaign money disappears and staffers are fleeing the sinking ship, Bachmann presses on in Iowa hoping for a miracle in the upcoming caucuses.  Now that her Tea Party supporters have moved on to Perry, Bachmann's numbers are dipping into the single digits along with Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsmann and Ron Paul.  It's just a matter of time.

As the Republicans find their Cinderella among the Seven Dwarf's (with apologies to Snow White, Disney and the vertically challenged), the pool for finding their prince (or princess) is getting shallower.  Sarah Palin and New Jersey governor Chris Christie have declare themselves unavailable after having dithered for so long.  Anybody else contemplating a run now would either be brave or foolhardy.  But through all this, Mitt Romney has been right there.  The Republicans may have already found their knight in shining armor right under their noses, and they don't even know it.

Occupation On The Street

Image by david_shankbone via FlickrIt began as a small protest at a park near New York's Wall Street, the financial capital of America.  Then it spread to other cities across the country to a degree that hasn't been seen since the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations of the 1960s.

They call themselves Occupy Wall Street, and they're protesting against what they see as the corporate takeover of the United States at the expense of the ordinary folks they claim to represent.  Their list of complaints go like this:  How politicians have been bought and sold by corporations.  How many jobs are being created overseas and eliminated here.  Why banks and corporations get a bailout and the rest of us do not.  Why more financial profiteers besides Bernie Madoff deserve to be in prison after the collapse of 2008.  And why the rich should be paying more taxes than they already do.

Republicans have largely pooh-poohed the movement, essentially telling the protesters to get a life.  Democrats are offering their support--sort of.  And the rest of the country is looking on with puzzled expressions.

The mainstream media is owned by several large corporations, many of whom happen to have a presence on Wall Street.  That's why you haven't seen much coverage of Occupy Wall Street, unless you're a devotee of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" on Current TV, which has offered extensive coverage.  In between the networks' coverage of Amanda Knox's acquittal and the death of Steve Jobs, the media only gets interested when there's conflict.  A little police brutality here (to date, hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested), pepper spray there, and soon you'll have fodder for the Six O'Clock News.  "If it bleeds, it leads", you know.

Occupy Wall Street claims to represent the 99 percent of us who aren't rich and never will be.  They're not unlike members of the Tea Party except that they don't wear funny costumes, wear their racism on their sleeves, or are funded by corporate backers.  And just like the Tea Partiers, the protesters we've seen seem to be 99 percent white.

Fortunately for Occupy Wall Street, there is a Democratic President in the White House.  Had someone like George W. Bush or any other Republican been President, there would have been a crackdown under the Patriot Act to rival, let's say, Syria, China or Iran.

Forgotten in all this is that we've just reached the 10th anniversary of the American military invasion of Afghanistan.  How come nobody's protesting that?  Oh, that's right.  We love Our Troops, even though they haven't done a damn thing to earn it.

Folks, this isn't 1968.  We appreciate what Occupy Wall Street is trying to do, but it may be too little and too late.  Wall Street is more concerned about computer hackers and European countries defaulting on their loans right now.   Politicians aren't going to give up the money and influence they get from their corporate backers, thus they're not going to stop passing legislation favorable to Big Business.  Banks will just keep raising fees and foreclose on more houses.

Oh, and one more thing:  You think it's tough trying to get a job now?  It'll be doubly harder when potential employers find out that not only did you participate in the marches, but that you were thrown in jail as well.  Not a good thing to put on your resume, unless you're planning a new career in activism.

Steve Jobs: Making The 21st Century As We Know It Possible

Image via WikipediaOn Wednesday, October 5, people from all over the country gathered in New York and other cities to protest what they believe is corporate greed.  To spread the word about this, they used their smart phones to text, tweet, take pictures and go on Facebook.

On the same day Steve Jobs, the co-founder and former CEO of Apple whose products he helped create made the 21st century as we know it possible, died after living with pancreatic cancer for several years.  He was 56.

Jobs was the man who brought you the Macintosh computer, the iPhone, the iPad, the iPod, and iTunes.  He changed the way we communicated, how we bought and consumed entertainment, and even the size of the computer itself.  He was what was right about Corporate America as far as innovation went, and for having a sense of what he thought the public wanted.

Jobs was also responsible for helping start Pixar, the computerized animation studio best known for such films as "Toy Story" and "Up", before selling it to Disney in 2006.

Apple had its failures, of course.  But they have had such a winning streak that no one seems to remember the misfires now.

New product launches became big events among Apple-philes and the media, because that's when Jobs would go into master salesman mode introducing his latest gadgets.  Before that happened, it's been said, this new product would undergo many changes before perfectionist Jobs approved the final version.

What will Apple do without Jobs?  Other companies such as Google and Microsoft see an opportunity to put out their own versions of Apple's devices that are faster, cheaper, and more compatible with their networks.  But they face an uphill battle.  Apple's products have become so successful and iconic (never mind the price tag) that, in the public's mind, anything else is a mere imitator.  But if Apple starts dropping the ball creatively, they're in big trouble.

From the California garage where he and Steve Wozniak co-founded what became Apple, to the multi-billion dollar Silicon Valley operation, the products, and the multitudes of fans he left behind, Steve Jobs is being hailed as a modern-day Thomas Edison.  But Jobs didn't build a better mousetrap.  He just reinvented one.

Chris Christie: Taking No For an Answer

Image via WikipediaChris Christie, the current Governor of New Jersey, has been in office for less than one term.  In that time, he's distinguished himself nationally as a tough-talking, take-no-prisoners executive who enacted headline-making budget reforms.  He's also just as embarrassed by the effect Snooki, The Situation, and the rest of the "Jersey Shore" gang has had on his state's image as you are--enough to deny the TV show a tax credit.

When the Republicans began pestering Christie to run for President in 2012 as an alternative to the Romneys, Perrys and Bachmanns of the world, the Governor always told them no, he's not interested.  He's also said the same thing to the media in what seems like a thousand times.  Trouble is, the more Christie keeps saying 'no' (and he's been using more elaborate settings like the Reagan Library to get his point across), the more party officials and political pundits take that to mean he's coming around to 'yes'.

What part of 'no' don't they understand?

Christie may be reluctant to challenge President Barack Obama because his abrasive style might be at odds with the diplomatic demands of the job.  One wonders what would happen if he met with, let's say, Chinese leaders and told them what he really thought of them in less-than-diplomatic language.

Christie may be a conservative, but not as far-right as the other guys are.  That could hurt him with a Tea Party-fueled electorate cheering executions and booing gay soldiers.

Sorry, but this has to be said.  Governor Christie might become the first overweight President since William Howard Taft, who also happened to be Republican.  Television wasn't around 100 years ago, and nobody gave a rip about obesity back then.  The Presidency is a demanding job, and Christie may or may not have the stamina for it unless he loses a few pounds.

If Christie really wanted to run for President, he should have started a long time ago.  Campaign financing and the crunch of primaries being what they are, it may already be too late for him to jump into the race.

Finally, Governor Chris Christie has been saying no because he just isn't interested.  Period.  Check back with him in 2016.

UPDATE:  Christie has officially announced that he's not running, which means that the GOP is stuck with either Mitt Romney or Rick Perry as their 2012 standard-bearer.  And we haven't even had the primaries yet.

Obama's Last Stand?

Image via WikipediaPresident Barack Obama, aware that his own job is at stake, recently announced a program that would bring employment back to Americans to the tune of $450 billion.  Thus far, though, Congress and most of the public have been skeptical of the plan, given the President's pleas to "pass it right away".  If the recent past is any indication, "right away" means several minutes before the deadline.

Now we come to how the American Jobs Act will be paid for.  According to the White House, $1.5 trillion would come from the wealthiest individuals and corporations, $1.1 trillion from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and over $580 billion from entitlement programs such as Medicaid and Medicare.  That adds up to over $3 trillion.  It won't make a dent in the federal budget, but it won't add to it either.

The part about taxing the rich has been dubbed "The Buffett Rule" in honor of Omaha's own Warren Buffett, who claimed that he paid less in taxes than his secretary.  Well, other billionaires can say the same thing, but that doesn't mean they have a real problem with it.

As you might expect, the Republicans who control the House aren't crazy about this plan, and have substituted more tax cuts for the rich in its proposal.  Some Democrats don't care for it, either, preferring instead to break the plan up into easily-digestible pieces.

While there has been overwhelming support among ordinary folks who may never see a million dollars in their lifetimes, there are two possible ways that the so-called "Buffett Rule" can be circumvented by the wealthy and the corporations, even without help from their GOP servants:  (1)  Tax increases will simply be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices, so we'll all be paying for this one way or another, and (2) the increases will become an excuse for the wealthy and the corporations to skip the country and move to tax-free havens with their money.

There's no mystery as to why Obama is throwing this Hail Mary pass.  His presidency is floundering, with poll numbers sinking to its lowest since he took office.  Republicans have so far succeeded in making the President resemble some of those emasculated men on TV sitcoms, putting the odds of getting re-elected as a tossup.  Liberals and independents are deserting him.  And whatever happened to the Democratic party?

Congress has been faring worse in the public's eyes, generating a favorable rating of only 12 percent.  Not that it matters, particularly to Republicans, because they don't really care what the public thinks.  The way elections are currently set up, many of the same people now serving in Congress will probably return in 2013.  And beyond.

Unemployment is at around nine percent, and no new jobs were added last month.  If President Obama's jobs bill is defeated or altered in any way, he could be looking for work himself come next November.

Is It Time To Junk The Mail?

Image via WikipediaThat old poem about how the mail doesn't stop for weather or anything else was written at a time when people really depended on what is now the United States Postal Service to deliver letters and needed packages.  For some, seeing the mail carrier was the highlight of their day.

We have less need now for the USPS, thanks to modern technology.  We read and send e-mail, ship through Fed Ex and UPS, use Facebook and Twitter, and even pay bills online.  As a result, we're sending and receiving less mail than we used to.  Most of what we do get tend to be bills and credit card offers, but that's another story.

But now the USPS--a quasi-governmental agency-- is at least $8 billion in the hole, and is seeking Congress' help in making major changes.  They want to . . .

• Close over 250 mail processing centers, eliminating 35,000 jobs.  It would also mean slowing the normal delivery time from one to two days.
• Eliminate over 3,000 post offices.
• Cut back mail service to five days a week, which means dropping Saturdays.

You can't just blame changing times on the decline of the Postal Service.  They brought some of this on themselves through ever-increasing postal rates, which is what made the "Forever" stamp necessary.

How about inconsistent delivery times?  In our neighborhood, depending on the carrier, the mail can get delivered any time during the day.  It might be morning one day, 12:30 the next, 3 p.m. the next, and  . . . well, you get the point.  If the mail doesn't arrive by at least 6 p.m., you might as well assume you didn't get anything.  It doesn't take Cliff Clavin to figure out why they call it "snail mail".

Granted, the United States Postal Service still performs a valuable service.  They are really the only ones who can handle your personal correspondence, such as a greeting card, in your own personal handwriting.  Post offices are often a small town's link to the outside world.  Their rates are reasonable, compared to the other guys.  And it has history on its side, with a legacy that goes back to Ben Franklin and the Pony Express.

Before we send the USPS to the Dead Letter Office (or whatever they call it these days), consider this:  Online communications are vulnerable to severe weather, computer crashes and hacking.  The mail is not.

Politics 2012: Christians vs. Lions

With two debates in one week, the Republican presidential field has essentially boiled down to a matchup between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and current Texas governor Rick Perry.  Oh, there's six others who are vying for the nomination, but they've been reduced to bit players.

In Tampa, Florida Monday night, the Elite Eight candidates gathered for a debate sponsored by the Tea Party and was televised by CNN.  Besides host Wolf Blitzer, the questions were being asked by Tea Party members either in the audience or at a remote location.  In practice, this sounds like the TV beer commercial in which a football coach's post-game news conference is dominated by dudes asking all the questions.

Governor Perry took most of the heat this night, trying to live down his comment at a previous debate in California that Social Security was a "Ponzi scheme".  This time, after a lively discussion with Romney, he flip-flopped by saying he now wants to reform it.  Romney, on the other hand, once again tried to distance himself from the health care program he helped create in Massachusetts by promising to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law once he gets into office.

(An aside:  Romney gained a supporter in former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, who is now working on his campaign.  Remember how Pawlenty knocked Romney's health care plan as "Obamneycare", then wouldn't say that to his face during a debate?  Now we know why.  He didn't want to offend his future boss.)

Most of the debate was centered on candidates' rehashes of their positions, which we've all heard before along with plenty of Obama-bashing.  But there was one pivotal moment.  It came when Perry admitted  regretting his decision to mandate 12-year old girls in Texas getting shots to prevent cervical cancer without first clearing it with his Legislature.

That's when Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, whose standing in the Tea Party has been eclipsed by Perry, lit into the Governor for forcing government-funded vaccine on the girls and their families without an "opt-out" clause.  She also accused Perry of taking campaign contributions from drug manufacturer Merck in exchange for his executive order on the vaccine, which was later determined to be close to $30,000.  The following morning, Bachmann went on NBC's "Today" claiming the vaccine caused mental retardation, which medical authorities refuted.

What was Bachmann thinking?  Does she really want to give girls the choice between cervical cancer and mental retardation?  It makes the congresswoman sound cruel and heartless, as if she's against the prevention of cancer for political gain.  Whatever the case, her grandstanding did little to keep her floundering campaign afloat.

There was a similarity between the debates in Florida and California, and that is the tendency by the live audience to be a little bloodthirsty.  At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library appearance, they cheered when it was mentioned that Governor Perry has executed more than 200 prisoners during his term in office.  In Tampa, CNN's Blitzer asked Texas congressman Dr. Ron Paul a hypothetical question about a 30-year old man refusing health insurance, then getting deathly ill.  Paul responded by saying that life is about risks, and that government shouldn't be paying for that man's care.  The audience applauded. 

There you have it, the Republican Party in a nutshell.  As the Great Recession rears its ugly head again and the GOP is hellbent on making the situation worse, the people who want to replace President Obama have taken the concept of saying anything to get elected to a new and disturbing level.  It's time to bring on the Christians vs. the Lions (and we don't mean Detroit), live from the Roman Colosseum.

9/11/11

Image via WikipediaChances are you're already done with every media outlet putting their spin on the day when four hijacked planes took aim at New York and Washington, killing 3000 people in the process.  A day for which there is still no name, just a date.  September 11, 2001.

Well, here's one more.

Since that day ten years ago. this country has become the Not-So-United States of America.  Politically, economically and socially everything has been split down radically different paths with no one daring to venture down the middle.

In New York, where the World Trade Center once stood, the place they call "Ground Zero" is a construction site soon to be filled by a memorial and a new tower that its backers believe will be terrorist-proof.

Orwellian terms became part of the language.  Police, firefighters and paramedics are referred to as "first responders".  National security is now "protecting the homeland".  Soldiers became "troops", and so on.

Because the hijackers were believed to be of Arabic descent and worshipped Allah rather than God, Muslims living in this country have been victims of a witch hunt reminiscent of the early Cold War years.  The only thing missing is a publicity-seeking politician with a list in his hands.

Two wars have been (and still are) fought in the name of 9/11, sending thousands of soldiers home in body bags for reasons that are no longer valid.  Yet government, the news media and Corporate America insists that we call them "heroes", even though they don't really deserve the honor.  They weren't defending our freedom so much as they were invading another country on the basis of lies.  Just like they did in nearly every war since 1945.

The men who sent the soldiers into harm's way, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, have been largely unrepentant in the tactics allegedly used in fighting the War on Terror (some of it illegal, but never really proved) since leaving office.  Bush's successor Barack Obama has continued some of those policies, even though he had said he would not.

It's true that there hasn't been another spectacular attack on the United States since September 11, 2001.  Al Qaeda isn't what it used to be since the murder of Osama bin Laden last spring, though they are rumored to be planning new attacks.  The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down, even if it doesn't seem like they really are.  And intelligence and law enforcement have gotten a lot better at capturing terrorism suspects, though there are some that slipped through the cracks.

However, Homeland Security officials tell us that the biggest threat comes from the "lone wolves", the Lee Harvey Oswald-Timothy McVeigh types who have a major beef with government and want to take as many lives as possible to prove their point.

Meanwhile, the government constantly reminds us to "be vigilant" of suspicious activity.  "If you see something, say something", the signs say.  Well, we'd like to help, but what is there to be vigilant about?  And just what do you mean by "suspicious activity"?  Sorry, but that information is classified.  Go back to whatever it is you were doing.

All the signs of paranoia are there.  Concrete barriers in front of government buildings, shopping malls and other public places because somebody tried to enter the front door using a vehicle containing bombs.  Airline passengers, young and old, searched from head to toe because somebody tried to hide explosives inside his shoes and underwear.

So who really is winning the war on terror?  If the terrorists' goal was to destabilize America after 9/11, then they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.  They didn't have to create fear, divisiveness, a stagnant economy, and rendering the Constitution as worthless as the paper it's printed on.  The Americans did that all by themselves.  And that's why, ten years after planes crashed into skyscrapers and the Pentagon, the terrorists are winning.

Presidential Addresses--By Appointment Only

Image via WikipediaThe latest blow to President Barack Obama's credibility came Wednesday when his planned address to a joint session of Congress, which would focus on jobs and the economy, was moved from Wednesday, September 7 to Thursday, September 8.

Speaker of the House John Boehner turned down the original date, which is believed to be the first time that's ever happened, claiming that Congress wants to get back to work after a monthlong recess.  Whether or not it was a coincidence, the original date also would have conflicted with a Republican presidential debate at the same hour.  It would air on cable network MSNBC.

But people don't care about that so much as they do about the start of the National Football League season, which is what the President's address would now become--a warmup act prior to the New Orleans Saints-Green Bay Packers game on NBC.  The speech will now begin just after 7 p.m. in the East, and the White House promises it will end before kickoff.

You're probably wondering why President Obama insisted on getting his economic message out in the same week that the TV networks are commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and why he couldn't have waited until the following week.  It wasn't just because he wanted to change the subject on such a somber occasion.  It might be that Obama believes since he's the President, he can command the attention of the country any time he likes.  Didn't work this time, did it?

There's no question that the President blinked on this issue.  It's great that he wants to take the high road, and become the Great Compromiser in an era of partisan gridlock.  But it makes him look like an appeaser who caves in to whatever the Republicans want, which is not surprising since that seems to be the default setting for the Democrats.  (See:  health care, raising the debt ceiling, etc.)  And the polls, which now give Obama a 42 percent approval rating, seem to reflect this.

Not that the Republicans have it any better in the eyes of the voters, who now see the GOP as conservative bullies more interested in keeping Obama to one term while bankrupting the country for their own political gain.  And the debate the party apparently wants us to see features candidates who would have big problems winning votes beyond their narrow political bases, along with an incredible knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.  This less-than-inspiring bunch is the only saving grace if President Barack Obama wants to win a second term.