Random musings on politics, society, and pop culture from the Internet's marketing curmudgeon.
Yep. I did it. I cast my vote, as early voting runs through October 31 here in Amarillo. Mrs. Digital and I headed over to the mall and cast our votes for President, Senator, Representative, and a slew of local offices.
You might expect, given that I am a proud conservative, that I voted the straight Republican ticket.
And you’d be wrong. [Read more…] about Voting Early.
Remember the movie Network? In it, Howard Beale famously ranted, “I’m mad as Hell, and I’m not gonna take this any more!”
Indeed.
If you’ve not seen the Paddy Chayefsky classic, rent it. It’s a great flick. Peter Finch gave the performance of a lifetime (one of his last performances, too, as he was the first – and so far only – actor to receive an Oscar posthumously for the role). What really struck me is the on-air speech he made after finding out he was being put out to pasture. Thanks to the fine folks at iMDb.com, here’s a transcript: [Read more…] about My own, special, little Howard Beale moment.
If you’re anything like I am, you’re pretty steamed at the way Congress has acted throughout this financial crisis. Here’s a couple of salient facts you might NOT know:
As I write this, the bailout bill went down to defeat.
Good.
From where I sit, the bill was flawed from the get-go. To start with, the boneheads that screwed the markets up to begin with (Committee chairs Chris Dodd, Chuck Schumer, et all) claiming that they know what to do to fix this mess. That’s rather like giving a fox the keys to the hen house, and a fresh supply of chickens, immediately after he’s eaten the previous stock. Not a good idea.
With taxpayers of all political persuasions screaming blue murder about this bill, I’m not surprised that it failed. While it’s amusing to see Congressmen running for cover like so many cockroaches in a kitchen during a 3AM snack binge, the results are, we have an institution that is dedicated to two propositions (getting reelected and maintining the status quo) forced to face the music with voters. [Read more…] about If “Pro” is the opposite of “Con”…what is opposite of “Progress”?
If you were paying me, oh, say…$175,000 a year, what would you expect for your money? Would you expect me to show up to work? Do my job? Maybe deal with more than one problem at a time? Ya think?!
Let’s consider Congress. According to the NYTimes bestsellers by Dick Morris and his wife, in a GOOD week, Senators and Representatives spend about one day or so on the floor, debating and voting on things, and perhaps another day in a committee or subcommittee hearing. That’s it. And for at least six months of their term, they’re out, schlepping for votes, to get RE-elected. Not exactly a great return on our investment.
Now we come to a genuine crisis, albeit one that our esteemed members themselves helped create. According to Senate majority leader Reid, the idea of Messrs. McCain, Obama, and Biden coming back to Washington to help negotiate a bailout deal, was “unhelpful.”
God, I hate politics. [Read more…] about What are we payin’ these guys for?