We learned in our high school history classes when studying the Great Depression that FDR was the first president to truly reach out and speak directly to the people, through what were known as his fireside chats. These were radio addresses, radio then being the mass medium equivalent to television and the internet in our contemporary times, and they were his way of talking to citizens without the filter of the mass media. We also learned that it was FDR’s New Deal programs that put people back to work and lifted the nation out of the depths of economic depression.
This second aspect is a matter of debate, especially now as our modern day pundits are awash in Great Depression comparisons and apocalyptic claims of gloom and doom for our economic system. There are many on the right who believe it is necessary to discredit the New Deal as simply providing the Democrats with a whole litany of social spending programs that allowed them to control national politics for a generation and which gave rise to the modern welfare state that they so deplore.
Those on the left argue that the spending provided by the New Deal was not enough, and that had FDR not given into the urge to control spending and deal with the increasing deficits we could have been out of the Depression even earlier. What most historians agree on however, is that from an economic standpoint it wasn’t until the enormous spending (and accompanying deficits) that came with the war effort in 1941-1945 that we actually came out of our economic malaise.
The point here is not to join this debate, it is one of those arguments like so many in politics where each side will use the facts that most help in making their claims, accusing the other side of revisionist history (which is somewhat of an oxymoron as all historical interpretation is to a large extent revisionist) and as in most debates between conservatives and liberals the truth likely lies somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. The point here is that FDR was effective in keeping the nation together through the decade of the 1930’s, and in keeping his popularity high enough to get reelected in 1936 through both his policies but perhaps more importantly by his means and style of communicating directly to the American people. This is the page from the playbook that our president is taking and I for one applaud it and find it to be highly effective.
Obama has been all over the airwaves, giving his modern day version of fireside chats, filling out tournament brackets on ESPN, going on the Tonight Show and 60 Minutes, giving a prime time press conference and giving numerous town hall style performances that are often picked up by the cable news channels. While I imagine that he is being lampooned on Fox News and other right wing medium such as the Wall Street Journal and National Review, I find it refreshing to have a president that is making himself so accessible and in doing so getting out of the Washington bubble and taking his message to the streets, and to the people directly.
I appreciate being able to hear our president speak without the filter of so many pundits and op-ed columnists who are generally critical without being critics. Those who make their living as the chattering class are always full of vehemence and outrage but generally short on actual ideas and solutions. They are also motivated not by some sense of civic duty or statesmanship, with few exceptions they are motivated by profit. The more outrageous their statements and writings, the more hyperbole they deliver, the more attention they bring to themselves and the organizations they represent, and the more advertising they can then sell on their networks or the more papers they can unload. Rush Limbaugh is a great example of this, but he is by no means alone and neither is this a phenomenon only of the right. For every Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reilly on the right there is a Keith Olberman or Paul Krugman on the left, blowing hard but contributing little but hot air.
So in his wisdom as a practical and pragmatic politician, Barack Obama is making his case directly to us, his constituents, and he is talking to us frankly, without filter, in an intelligent and articulate manner about issues that we actually care about. While the professional rabble rousers are busy covering Blago and Rush, or trying to get us worked up into a lather over the AIG bonuses, Obama is making his clear and convincing case for government spending as a means for boosting the economy, for health care reform as both an economic as well as moral issue, for energy policy as an environmental, economic, and national security concern. He is staying on message on education, presenting it as an issue that affects the long term vitality of our society and which must be addressed.
He has also recently sent his much maligned Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner out to explain the fiscal policies that are attempting to deal with the banking and housing situations that lay at the heart of the recession. And after getting mostly the shallow carciature of the man provided by the pundits, it was interesting to listen to Geitner give two great interviews yesterday on Meet the Press and This Week, where he laid out administration policies in clear terms and impressed me with his level of knowledge and sincerity.
There is a line at the beginning of the movie Dances With Wolves, where a superior officer refers to Captain Dunbar, played by Kevin Costner, with the words that we finally have an officer here who’s worth something. Well, we finally have a president, and an administration who’s worth something, who are actually working hard to keep the promises of the campaign, who are intelligent and considerate, and most importantly pragmatic about dealing with the myriad of problems and challenges that face our nation and to a large extent the world.
I hope that Mr. Obama continues with the direct approach, I find it refreshing and effective, and I suspect that it is a big reason for his popularity in the polls remaining high despite the economic mess we’re in. Let the naysayers continue with what they do, they are mainly pandering to those who have decided to oppose our president at every turn. I believe that with sound policies and firm conviction, and with a continued direct delivery of the message, Obama will keep the support of the majority of the American people and will be able to enact many of the policies on which he campaigned and on which he was elected.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Sunshine Girl
Twelve years ago on this day, the sun shone a bit brighter than it had before. It may not even have been a visible difference, for all I know it was an overcast or cloudy day, such as I was inside most of that day and my mind was occupied with concerns other than the weather. Yet it was something that I could just sense, a special warmth and energy that the world contained, everything became clearer and sharper and more distinct, more beautiful and graceful than it had been the day before, or for that matter up until that moment in the entire history of days. That moment, which changed my life forever in ways in which I am still discovering, was the moment that Chloe Susana Nicholas came into the world, at just after 5:00 in the morning, and changed it forever.
I call Chloe my sunshine girl, among other nicknames that we have for her, some more flattering than others depending on the purposes they need to serve, but this one is from me to her and nothing can better describe how I feel about my one and only daughter, and the youngest of my two beautiful children. She is more than just a ray of sunshine, she is what you get when you open the blinds of a heretofore dark room and let the bright energy of the outside world come in, the overwhelming and momentarily blinding force that has an effect of first knocking you off your center, but which once accustomed to radiates to the core of your very being and soul.
I could go on and on like the proud father that I am about how talented and beautiful and smart she is, I could write for days on end about how much I love to hit the mute button on the TV when she is upstairs in her room singing, about how her soulful voice strikes a chord in me that resonates like all great music when it enters your consciousness.
I could describe her mind and the intelligence with which she perceives and observes the world around her, I could recite her good grades in school and accomplishments in that regard. I could spend hours musing about her beauty, her big brown eyes and her playful smile, her physical form that could serve as the model of beauty and grace in any era.
But more than all of these factors, what sets her apart is something more intangible and difficult to capture, but something that one need only spend a brief time in her presence to see and hear and feel for themselves. This something is for lack of a better description, her essence, the soul of who she is and why to be around her is like being out in the sunshine on a perfectly warm spring day. You don’t know for sure why or how, but you just know that you feel better for being alive, and being around Chloe is like that.
Chloe is like a beautiful butterfly that dazzles the mind and the soul with her colors and charm, but never stays put for long, so you know that you had better enjoy the moment. Celebrating her 12th birthday only drives home the point, as cliché as it is to say, “it was only yesterday when…” it’s the truth and the time is moving by at much too quick of a pace. Chloe is busy and active, she keeps a litany of friends and if she’s not out with them, she is often up in her room texting and talking to them, when she’s not singing or waiting to pounce on the computer as soon as her brother leaves his room, where access to the internet resides. She floats down to be a part of our lives every so often, brightens our day, and then just as quickly moves on to some other pursuit. Being a 12 year-old going on 16, I don’t imagine that will change, nor would I want it to, I want my kids to grow into their own skin and while giving them guidance, my wife and I believe in letting them develop into the people that they are meant to be.
For Chloe, I know that she will continue to light up not only my world, but all those she comes in contact with because that is her rare gift. I have never known someone so free with her soul and her beauty, so generous to all those around her, and so appreciated by so many. She is a gem among gems, and words will inevitably fail me when I try to express the love in my heart and the good fortune I feel for being able to be a part of her life. I know not what she will become in her life, whether she will attain greatness as a singer and musician, or perhaps she will become a renowned performer, or maybe she’ll end up being a teacher like her old man. The world of opportunities is before her, and I only hope that she pursues her dreams, whatever they may end up being. I do feel confident in this however, that as long as she is in this world, the skies will be a bit bluer, the air a touch crisper, the birds will sing a little sweeter, and the sun will shine brighter. And every day I will awake to this world, knowing that no matter what else may come, I’ll have sunshine in my life.
I call Chloe my sunshine girl, among other nicknames that we have for her, some more flattering than others depending on the purposes they need to serve, but this one is from me to her and nothing can better describe how I feel about my one and only daughter, and the youngest of my two beautiful children. She is more than just a ray of sunshine, she is what you get when you open the blinds of a heretofore dark room and let the bright energy of the outside world come in, the overwhelming and momentarily blinding force that has an effect of first knocking you off your center, but which once accustomed to radiates to the core of your very being and soul.
I could go on and on like the proud father that I am about how talented and beautiful and smart she is, I could write for days on end about how much I love to hit the mute button on the TV when she is upstairs in her room singing, about how her soulful voice strikes a chord in me that resonates like all great music when it enters your consciousness.
I could describe her mind and the intelligence with which she perceives and observes the world around her, I could recite her good grades in school and accomplishments in that regard. I could spend hours musing about her beauty, her big brown eyes and her playful smile, her physical form that could serve as the model of beauty and grace in any era.
But more than all of these factors, what sets her apart is something more intangible and difficult to capture, but something that one need only spend a brief time in her presence to see and hear and feel for themselves. This something is for lack of a better description, her essence, the soul of who she is and why to be around her is like being out in the sunshine on a perfectly warm spring day. You don’t know for sure why or how, but you just know that you feel better for being alive, and being around Chloe is like that.
Chloe is like a beautiful butterfly that dazzles the mind and the soul with her colors and charm, but never stays put for long, so you know that you had better enjoy the moment. Celebrating her 12th birthday only drives home the point, as cliché as it is to say, “it was only yesterday when…” it’s the truth and the time is moving by at much too quick of a pace. Chloe is busy and active, she keeps a litany of friends and if she’s not out with them, she is often up in her room texting and talking to them, when she’s not singing or waiting to pounce on the computer as soon as her brother leaves his room, where access to the internet resides. She floats down to be a part of our lives every so often, brightens our day, and then just as quickly moves on to some other pursuit. Being a 12 year-old going on 16, I don’t imagine that will change, nor would I want it to, I want my kids to grow into their own skin and while giving them guidance, my wife and I believe in letting them develop into the people that they are meant to be.
For Chloe, I know that she will continue to light up not only my world, but all those she comes in contact with because that is her rare gift. I have never known someone so free with her soul and her beauty, so generous to all those around her, and so appreciated by so many. She is a gem among gems, and words will inevitably fail me when I try to express the love in my heart and the good fortune I feel for being able to be a part of her life. I know not what she will become in her life, whether she will attain greatness as a singer and musician, or perhaps she will become a renowned performer, or maybe she’ll end up being a teacher like her old man. The world of opportunities is before her, and I only hope that she pursues her dreams, whatever they may end up being. I do feel confident in this however, that as long as she is in this world, the skies will be a bit bluer, the air a touch crisper, the birds will sing a little sweeter, and the sun will shine brighter. And every day I will awake to this world, knowing that no matter what else may come, I’ll have sunshine in my life.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
The Letter H
Today’s diatribe is brought to you by the letter H. Specifically as it pertains to the Republican party, there are a few words that come to mind. Hypocritical, hawks, and hubris all start with the letter H. So let’s begin with the most obvious claim, the one that most Americans, if polls are to be believed (and let’s face it, I’m not a fan of polling per se, but we do tend to put more credence in them when they back our assertions) show that people tend to see through the thin veneer that the minority party is putting up these days.
There is outrage among the GOP clan over all of this spending, and the impact it is having on our already sizeable deficit. Not that I completely disagree with them on this point, I am on the record as being against the stimulus bill as it was constructed, and I am somewhat of a fiscal conservative when it comes to government spending and deficits. The opposition party traditionally has a role to play as a responsible check on the power of the majority, and for a brief time I held out hope that the Republicans would serve in just that role. I am no longer avowed of that hope or opinion though, having seen what I have over the last few weeks.
How convenient, as the Church Lady from the old SNL skits would have said, that after taking our budget from surpluses to deficits, after using accounting tricks to lessen the appearance of how bloated the budget really was, tricks that would make the former executives at Enron (not to mention most of corporate America) proud, that now these so-called fiscal conservatives have once again gotten religion on the matter of government spending. Where were John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, not to mention the fat, pill popping idiot Rush Limbaugh during the last 8 years when Bush was putting a dagger into the notion of fiscal restraint? (I must give credit for the Limbaugh description to Matt Taibi of Rolling Stone, but it was so apt that I had to use it here)
They didn’t say word one when their guy was in the White House, offering a handout to the huddled masses on Wall Street and in corporate board rooms. They didn’t object to exploding the debt for 8 years, 6 of which they firmly controlled the reins of power in the Congress, but now they are all in an uproar over the new president and his spending plans. They are all once again deficit hawks, since the whole war hawk thing hasn’t exactly gone as planned, not that there aren’t still plenty of those lurking around the halls just waiting for the chance to go after Iran or some other perceived enemy in the name of defending our freedom and all the other Republican bumper sticker ideology that they love to defend.
Two items in particular that Obama is proposing that merit consideration are health care reform, and energy policy. Without getting into the details, I will simply say that these are examples of spending money now to fix long term problems that will greatly benefit our economy in the long run. The caveat of course is that the money must be spent prudently, and the devil as always will be in the details. But if done right, these are two areas which can have a lasting legacy on our society and our economy.
In the case of health care, it should be quite obvious by now what a drain it has become on businesses both large and small, not to mention the individuals that are affected by lack of quality and affordable coverage, which pretty much means everyone in the country who isn’t either rich enough to pay out of pocket, poor enough to be on Medicaid, or old enough to be on Medicare.
In the case of energy policy, not only will a new movement towards clean energy in the form of solar and wind in place of fossil fuels have a positive impact on our environment and on our national security by making us less dependent on foreign supplies and the bad actors that control those sources, but it will create countless real jobs doing the type of things that this country used to do before everybody became a paper shuffler and derivatives trader. The only job more meaningless and insignificant than that of a paper shuffler, is the paper shuffler manager, who sits around in his or her office all day long inventing new ways of more effectively shuffling paper, without of course actually doing any of the actual shuffling themselves. But I digress, the point is that tackling health care and energy are examples of where we need to spend money now to produce a benefit for the long term.
This new way of viewing our problems that Obama represents may or may not work, and time will be the ultimate arbiter of this bold course of action that he is proposing. But time has already told us that the old way is an utter failure. Again, I will spare the gory details, but since Ronald Reagan took office nearly three decades ago and proceeded to enact his trickle-down, supply side economic theory of giving every conceivable break to the aristocracy that already had all the advantages to begin with, in the belief that these benefits would somehow trickle down to the rest of us in the working classes, our nation has become more inefficient and unequal.
The effects are being felt now, as the middle class has finally run out of ideas for keeping up with the rising cost of living and the consumer ethic that tells us we always need more in order to be happy and to create the illusion of success. To my way of thinking, if a basic ideology hasn’t worked for 30 years, it’s time to try a new approach, which is exactly what our new president represents. I must say that its also refreshing to see a president who is actually doing what he said he would do on the campaign trail.
But the GOP is apparently going to try to block him at every turn in hopes that the failure of our president and our economy will lead them back into power, a power which they so brazenly abused and squandered for most of this decade. This opposition, being presented as a matter of principle by a group of people sorely lacking in such matters, is a mere political ploy. This is a natural part of the political game that is played and implicitly supported by the populace who continues to accept the limitations of a dualist system, but my thinking is that if Obama and the Democrats fail, it may just be time to throw all the bums out, blow the thing up completely and start from scratch. Start fresh with 535 new members of Congress, only this time how about if we fill the halls of power with regular people instead of the ruling elite that has let us down for so long.
I don’t think that Obama will fail, but neither do I think the task at hand will be without great difficulty, given the hubris that is so prevalent among Republicans. Hubris is exaggerated pride or self-confidence, and these guys are pretty full of it these days. For a party that nearly ran the country into the ground during their reign, and who were soundly rejected by the voters just a few months ago, they’ve got some nerve coming off as strongly as they have been. If they decide to come up with some actual ideas that are constructive, and offer criticism of the policies of the majority in that regard, I’ll listen. Until then (and I’m not holding my breath in anticipation) there’s as much chance of me heeding the words of a Republican politician as there is of me tuning into the Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reilly show, which is to say none.
Only time will tell of course how these policies are actually enacted and carried out, the Democrats in Congress still pose a concern as they are no prize either, but with the support of the American people and firm resolve to do what is in the best interests of the majority of us, the greatest good for the greatest number, I believe our new president can and will succeed. And until proven otherwise I will stick with that belief. Today’s program is brought to you by the letter H, which of course also stands for hope, and that is what I and many of my fellow country mates have in our new president and in the possibility of getting our country back on the right track.
There is outrage among the GOP clan over all of this spending, and the impact it is having on our already sizeable deficit. Not that I completely disagree with them on this point, I am on the record as being against the stimulus bill as it was constructed, and I am somewhat of a fiscal conservative when it comes to government spending and deficits. The opposition party traditionally has a role to play as a responsible check on the power of the majority, and for a brief time I held out hope that the Republicans would serve in just that role. I am no longer avowed of that hope or opinion though, having seen what I have over the last few weeks.
How convenient, as the Church Lady from the old SNL skits would have said, that after taking our budget from surpluses to deficits, after using accounting tricks to lessen the appearance of how bloated the budget really was, tricks that would make the former executives at Enron (not to mention most of corporate America) proud, that now these so-called fiscal conservatives have once again gotten religion on the matter of government spending. Where were John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, not to mention the fat, pill popping idiot Rush Limbaugh during the last 8 years when Bush was putting a dagger into the notion of fiscal restraint? (I must give credit for the Limbaugh description to Matt Taibi of Rolling Stone, but it was so apt that I had to use it here)
They didn’t say word one when their guy was in the White House, offering a handout to the huddled masses on Wall Street and in corporate board rooms. They didn’t object to exploding the debt for 8 years, 6 of which they firmly controlled the reins of power in the Congress, but now they are all in an uproar over the new president and his spending plans. They are all once again deficit hawks, since the whole war hawk thing hasn’t exactly gone as planned, not that there aren’t still plenty of those lurking around the halls just waiting for the chance to go after Iran or some other perceived enemy in the name of defending our freedom and all the other Republican bumper sticker ideology that they love to defend.
Two items in particular that Obama is proposing that merit consideration are health care reform, and energy policy. Without getting into the details, I will simply say that these are examples of spending money now to fix long term problems that will greatly benefit our economy in the long run. The caveat of course is that the money must be spent prudently, and the devil as always will be in the details. But if done right, these are two areas which can have a lasting legacy on our society and our economy.
In the case of health care, it should be quite obvious by now what a drain it has become on businesses both large and small, not to mention the individuals that are affected by lack of quality and affordable coverage, which pretty much means everyone in the country who isn’t either rich enough to pay out of pocket, poor enough to be on Medicaid, or old enough to be on Medicare.
In the case of energy policy, not only will a new movement towards clean energy in the form of solar and wind in place of fossil fuels have a positive impact on our environment and on our national security by making us less dependent on foreign supplies and the bad actors that control those sources, but it will create countless real jobs doing the type of things that this country used to do before everybody became a paper shuffler and derivatives trader. The only job more meaningless and insignificant than that of a paper shuffler, is the paper shuffler manager, who sits around in his or her office all day long inventing new ways of more effectively shuffling paper, without of course actually doing any of the actual shuffling themselves. But I digress, the point is that tackling health care and energy are examples of where we need to spend money now to produce a benefit for the long term.
This new way of viewing our problems that Obama represents may or may not work, and time will be the ultimate arbiter of this bold course of action that he is proposing. But time has already told us that the old way is an utter failure. Again, I will spare the gory details, but since Ronald Reagan took office nearly three decades ago and proceeded to enact his trickle-down, supply side economic theory of giving every conceivable break to the aristocracy that already had all the advantages to begin with, in the belief that these benefits would somehow trickle down to the rest of us in the working classes, our nation has become more inefficient and unequal.
The effects are being felt now, as the middle class has finally run out of ideas for keeping up with the rising cost of living and the consumer ethic that tells us we always need more in order to be happy and to create the illusion of success. To my way of thinking, if a basic ideology hasn’t worked for 30 years, it’s time to try a new approach, which is exactly what our new president represents. I must say that its also refreshing to see a president who is actually doing what he said he would do on the campaign trail.
But the GOP is apparently going to try to block him at every turn in hopes that the failure of our president and our economy will lead them back into power, a power which they so brazenly abused and squandered for most of this decade. This opposition, being presented as a matter of principle by a group of people sorely lacking in such matters, is a mere political ploy. This is a natural part of the political game that is played and implicitly supported by the populace who continues to accept the limitations of a dualist system, but my thinking is that if Obama and the Democrats fail, it may just be time to throw all the bums out, blow the thing up completely and start from scratch. Start fresh with 535 new members of Congress, only this time how about if we fill the halls of power with regular people instead of the ruling elite that has let us down for so long.
I don’t think that Obama will fail, but neither do I think the task at hand will be without great difficulty, given the hubris that is so prevalent among Republicans. Hubris is exaggerated pride or self-confidence, and these guys are pretty full of it these days. For a party that nearly ran the country into the ground during their reign, and who were soundly rejected by the voters just a few months ago, they’ve got some nerve coming off as strongly as they have been. If they decide to come up with some actual ideas that are constructive, and offer criticism of the policies of the majority in that regard, I’ll listen. Until then (and I’m not holding my breath in anticipation) there’s as much chance of me heeding the words of a Republican politician as there is of me tuning into the Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reilly show, which is to say none.
Only time will tell of course how these policies are actually enacted and carried out, the Democrats in Congress still pose a concern as they are no prize either, but with the support of the American people and firm resolve to do what is in the best interests of the majority of us, the greatest good for the greatest number, I believe our new president can and will succeed. And until proven otherwise I will stick with that belief. Today’s program is brought to you by the letter H, which of course also stands for hope, and that is what I and many of my fellow country mates have in our new president and in the possibility of getting our country back on the right track.
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