Obama: Unsung hero as usual

This latest budget/shut-down saga left the Tea Party people referring to the Speaker as “white flag Boehner,” and the left calling for the President’s head because he supposedly gave away the store.  Knowing Obama as I have come to know him, I am certain that he truly believed that a shut-down would be disastrous to the economic recovery, and that he deeply cared about the suffering it would bring to hundreds of thousands of citizens who would not receive a paycheck, along with all the services the whole country would lose.  I had a feeling that there was a deeper, untold story that the main-stream press was missing in its insatiable quest to highlight conflict and criticism.

So, when I opened the main section of today’s S.F. Chronicle and saw this article, I was elated, and also vindicated.  I was so excited  that I practically had to read the whole thing out loud to my wife, who is not nearly as rabid as I am when it comes to politics.  But she was a good sport about it and in the end agreed that this is something that everyone should read and understand.  People, especially our friends on the far left, need to remember that George Bush and his cronies left our President with a horrible mess, but the President, while pointing that out, has never complained or shirked what he believes needs to be done to save our country.  Again, this article is a “must read” that needs to be widely disseminated.  If any of you are blogging, “Face-booking,” or tweeting, please pass the link on.

Vocabulary lesson

ol·i·gar·chy

1.  a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.

2.  a state or organization so ruled.

3.  the persons or class so ruling.

~ Dictionary .com

Oligarchy

1.  government, or State governed, by a small group of people.

2.  members of such a government.

~ Pocket Oxford Dictionary

Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία, oligarkhía) is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of people. These people could be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, corporate, or military control. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words "ὀλίγος" (olígos), "a few" and the verb "ἄρχω" (archo), "to rule, to govern, to command". Such states are often controlled by a few prominent families who pass their influence from one generation to the next.

Throughout history, some oligarchies have been tyrannical, relying on public servitude to exist, although others have been relatively benign. Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as a synonym for rule by the rich, for which the exact term is plutocracy, but oligarchy is not always a rule by wealth, as oligarchs can simply be a privileged group, and do not have to be connected by bloodlines as in a monarchy. Some city-states from ancient Greece were oligarchies.

~ Wikipedia

“The King’s Speech” and some other stuff

We’re up here at the Tahoe place for some skiing.  Going back down to the Bay Area in a couple of hours.

We did not ski on Friday because there were 90 mph winds over the ridge tops.  Instead we drove to Reno and saw “The King’s Speech.”  I thought it was a wonderful movie – perfect in every way.  I like the way that they did not make the story come out to be an unbelievable triumph – just an “ordinary” triumph was better.  What I am getting at is summed up in the final scene where the King at last gives his speech.  I was sort of expecting that he would pop up to the microphone and rattle off the speech like Laurence Olivier and Richard Burton combined.  That would have been the unbelievable triumph.  Instead, he still had serious trouble getting through the speech and even his loving daughter said he was “halting” at the beginning but got better as he went alone.  A triumph to be sure, but an ordinary one.  Let me close by saying that often times the favorite wins because it is the best.

On Saturday on the way to ski, we had to get gas.  The price for REGULAR was $4.49 per gallon.  It cost me over $68 to fill my tank.  The oil companies have us right where they want us.  We are the classic captive market to be preyed upon by a truly heartless monopoly.

I’ll close by pulling your coats to this excellent column by E.J. Dionne in today’s WaPo.  To the barricades folks, lest our country be taken over by the super-rich while the poor and needy circle the drain.

Your interpretation?

Check out this photo that I ran across a while back.  I have been looking at it off and on since then and each time I get a different take on it.  There is something about it that is powerful and a bit mystical.  Your thoughts?

Mash: Oh my, I’m ancient

Rummaging around on the Net I came across this photo:

Folks, Mash was released in 1970!  I felt a surge of youth when I chuckled over the picture, then realized how old I have become since it was taken. 

Alda and Wayne Rogers were nifty in the TV series but let’s face it, these guys are the only Hawkeye and Trapper I’m opening my front door to.

Elizabeth, R.I.P.

From today’s Chronicle obit:

In her twenties, Ms. Taylor’s looks went from light and lilting to voluptuous, and she cut a fine figure as Maggie in the screen adaptation of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958), though the play was sanitized beyond recognition in its move from stage to screen.

Still ……

Remember, this was 53 years ago!

A not so politically correct quote, but probably true

“Translation is like a woman.  If it is beautiful, it is not faithful.  If it is faithful, it is most certainly not beautiful.”

~ Yevgeny Yevtushenko (Russian Poet)