A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be. – Wayne Gretzky
House Minority Leader John Boehner Takes On the Obama Administration: Thumbs UP!
Every once in a while I like to see what the opposition is saying. A regular reader of this blog knows that I started reading St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica before I graduated high school. (I used to serve daily mass on base, and the chaplain gave me his copy). Aquinas had a very distinctive style of first presenting the arguments of the opposing position as clearly and forcefully as possible; one knew he would refute the arguments, but one of my favorite pastimes was to anticipate his counter-arguments.
I read earlier today a critical piece on the Huffington Post regarding John Boehner's (R-OH) speech; I originally intended to rant about the piece, when I remembered the advice of my mentor Fr. Lonergan: "Don't make [some philosopher] out to be an idiot." I don't want to give the piece more pageviews than it deserves, but suffice it to say that, unsurprisingly, progressives are in a state of denial and unrepentant: it's the same old same old: class warfare; the Bush Administration was spendthrift and was negligent, even antagonistic to regulation, "causing" the recession...
Earth to progressives: there's not much the GOP could do to stop Obama and the progressives from implementing whatever was necessary to jumpstart the economy. If the progressives were correct, massive federal deficits and overregulation should have improved the economy. When Bush left office, official unemployment was under 8%; more than 3 million jobs have been lost on Obama's watch. The Dems have gone back to Bush bashing, because they have no constructive solutions.
John Boehner came out demanding the termination of the remaining top members of the President's economic team, in particular economic advisor head Larry Summers and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. He wants to cut--back to 2008 levels--domestic spending, continue the Bush tax cuts next year, and lessen the regulatory burden on businesses. A couple of points here: first, I think Boehner is correct that Obama would be better served with more business executive experience at top levels of his administration. Second, I think his promised domestic budget cuts are a good start but need to be broadened across all government expenditures.
McCain Wins a Tough Primary for Renomination
In a world that has seen incumbent senators (Bob Bennett (R-UT) and Arlen Specter (D-PA)) drop, it looked like McCain might be ripe for an upset against anti-immigrant rival and former Congressman JD Hayworth, not unlike Joe Lieberman, particularly as immigration became a red hot issue in Arizona. But McCain pulled it out tonight with almost 60% of the vote. Some wonder if he can reprise his role as a cross-party negotiator after being pushed to the right for the nomination. Congratulations, Senator!
Happy 40th Anniversary, Sir Elton John!
Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of his first American concert. Any regular reader of this blog knows that "Blessed" is my favorite Elton John song, with "The One" a close second. But I don't think he's cut a single I don't like. The following two videos are high on my Elton John short list (along with, of course, Elton's signature song, "Your Song"). Given my frequent criticisms of gay marriage, one may find it odd that I would promote a gay singer and like "The Last Song", which focuses on a straight father coming to reconcile with his gay son, dying of AIDS. But I recognize the indisputable scientific evidence of a natural basis for sexual orientation, am committed to the Bill of Rights, have been in favor of legal protections of committed gay relationships and do not have an issue with gays serving in the military. I am not aware of any gay friends or relatives, but I would like to think that my friendship or love for them would be unconditional.
Political Humor
More originals: my own progressive light bulb jokes....
- How many progressives does it take to screw in a light bulb? All of them. The first inspects the light socket, the second decides whether the bulb is energy-efficient enough, the third decides the price the vendor can charge for the light bulb, the fourth introduces legislation to distribute one light bulb with each package of government cheese, the fifth taxes everyone whom screws in their own light bulbs, the sixth calls the union electrician, and the rest take turns waiting for the electrician.
- How long did it take progressives to replace a light bulb? 10 years. For eight years they blamed the darkness on George Bush, and then it took 2 years to figure out the Chinese instructions that came with the light bulb they bought with stimulus money.
Musical Interlude: The American Songbook Series
Judy Garland, "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows"
