Labor Day Blog
Obama, republicans vs democrats, crowded house and more
Welcome to another week at Bogworld. Same story as last week.There have been so many distractions on this side of the internet that there just was not any time left over for drawing toons. I am not happy about that and things are changing here so that there is more time and energy available for my creative endeavors like Bogworld and novel writing like the national award winning The Prank. Pretty blatant plug there wasn't it? The Prank does make the perfect holiday gift. Soon it will be available on Apple's iBooks store and thus readable on the iPad and the iPhone. Yeh that was a pretty blatant plug.
Like many of you, I have been a little disappointed in the Obama administration. The campaign of hope made me hope just getting him into the White House would somehow magically change the nation back on the correct path. When in fact it was just the first step on a very long frustrating path to recovery. When I look at the big picture I become very forgiving of the Obama administration and even more bitter about the disastrous condition the Bush administration left for the Obama administration... and us... All of us. not just Democrats. But Republicans are suffering just the same.
So its a little confusing to me why some other people are not able to see this too. Or perhaps they have forgotten who created the mess because to them, the mess has not yet gotten any better. I get that. I really do. But how does it make any sense to start considering the people who placed us in this mess back into power this or any future election season?
You're right to sat Obama hasn't been an effective president. But how could he? Every step of the way the slight Republican minority in Congress has stood in the way of every effort to change things. Sure change is scary. But I think we can all agree things HAD to change from the way the Bush administration was running things. But then every proposal that went through congress either got so watered down in efforts to appease Republicans or got snuffed out completely by Republican lock step voting tactics.
And you're right. I cannot blame this all on just Republicans. There are an absurd amount of gutless spineless Democrats that should carry much of this blame too.
Wait there is more blame too. We the people carry load of blame for not seeing through and responding to the lies and stone walling that have come out of the right wing nay-sayers through this whole process. They are back to their old fear mongering, religious twisting, conservative but not willing to pay for anything they propose nonsense which will just make life worse for us all.
Lets looks at taxes. Its election season so were all seeing Republicans everywhere painting their Democrat rival as crazy tax raisers. They either say broad things like Dems are going to raise your taxes, but then not get into the very edifying detail that Dems are really only proposing taxing the top 5 or so percent. The folks who can afford to contribute a little more. Taxes actually go down for the vast majority of us. Or they try to argue that raising taxes on the rich kills jobs. Well historically that is proven to be untrue. Look at how well everyone did... even the "over-taxed" rich... During the Clinton years. It was the greatest period of peace and growth in American history. And now even with things as tough as they are. There is measurable job growth under Obama's taxing of the rich approach to things. Thats a fact.
No one likes taxes. But we all like paved streets, indoor plumbing, untainted food, clean water, fire trucks, police and medical help when we need them, a strong military and all the other things our tax money pays for. We could give those things up and pay less taxes or we can all shut up and realize civilization requires we all pay for this stuff. Republicans love the idea of trying to privatize this stuff. But time and time again we have seen privatized versions of any of these things usually end in disaster.
Sorry folks. I'm all for a free market. But if my house is on fire or someone I love is having an heart attack I don't want emergency services checking what kind of response I can afford. Neither do you. I want my streets to be as smooth as those in rich neighborhoods and I want the sewers to be functional everywhere I go. I want the police protecting me from crime no matter where I am and I want my military to be strong, cost effective, and always able to kick ass when called to do so. And I do not see a problem with asking those who have the extra money to contribute a little extra.
Republicans will argue that the rich are the job creators in this country. Thats not true. The rich might be business owners. But in many cases these are the people who are out sourcing jobs to foreign countries too. Or they are sitting on their wealth during relatively hard times because they do not have to spend it. Taxing them a little more makes sure the money circulates. And it makes certain those dollars stay here in America.Meanwhile, dropping taxes on lower income earners guarantees the money circulates because they have to spend it. They do not have any other choice. And that stimulates the economy. And that, in a nutshell, is what most Democrats have been proposing.
I'll give you one very recent example of whats wrong with this country today. This past week President Obama gave an important nationally televised speech talking about the end of combat operations in Iraq and a philosophy of backing down from a war stance across the globe. This means thousands of our best and brightest soldiers will be coming home. And perhaps we can start looking for peaceful alternatives for the near future. It was a big deal. And what was the big story the next day? Obama redecorated the Oval Office and people thought it was too modern looking. Fox spent the whole morning pondering how much Obama spent on the remodel at a time when many Americans are out of work. Sigh. Somehow the story of our fighting troops coming home was lost in a barrage of nonsense about new furniture and drapes in the President's office.
America has the attention span of a gerbil on coke.
And that's precisely why Americans are forgetting who put this whole country... all of us... into a disastrous place and are considering voting for those same idiots all over again.
Crowded House
This weekend I got to see one of my all time favorite bands for the first time live. The band is New Zealand’s Crowded House. If you listened to the radio at all in the 90s you certainly have heard them. They have a very Beatlesque sound. Sort of like those gem collaborations between Lennon and McCartney where John provided the edge to Paul’s sweet melodies. Well in Crowded House both sides are created by one person. Singer/songwriter Neil Finn. I really believe when the story of 90s pop music is told in history books there should be a special section for Finn. While so many other bands were playing fluff, Finn and his band managed to provide poignant songs that really meant something to their fans.
It was a magical late summer night at the Minnesota Zoo’s outdoor amphitheater. During the day this venue hosts a really cool bird of prey show. But during the evenings in the summer it is the place to be for really good outdoor concerts. The night was magical mostly because there was a full house (crowded even) of fans who were well versed in the bands music. Finn had the band drop down for whole sections of some songs so that the audience could carry the tune. And it was a surprisingly musically inclined crowd. Sometimes sounding more like a large choir than a collection of rock and roll fans. It was really quite amazing at times.
If you get a chance to see Crowded House in your town, make sure you do. It was a wonderful night of wonderful music.
Like many of you, I have been a little disappointed in the Obama administration. The campaign of hope made me hope just getting him into the White House would somehow magically change the nation back on the correct path. When in fact it was just the first step on a very long frustrating path to recovery. When I look at the big picture I become very forgiving of the Obama administration and even more bitter about the disastrous condition the Bush administration left for the Obama administration... and us... All of us. not just Democrats. But Republicans are suffering just the same.
So its a little confusing to me why some other people are not able to see this too. Or perhaps they have forgotten who created the mess because to them, the mess has not yet gotten any better. I get that. I really do. But how does it make any sense to start considering the people who placed us in this mess back into power this or any future election season?
You're right to sat Obama hasn't been an effective president. But how could he? Every step of the way the slight Republican minority in Congress has stood in the way of every effort to change things. Sure change is scary. But I think we can all agree things HAD to change from the way the Bush administration was running things. But then every proposal that went through congress either got so watered down in efforts to appease Republicans or got snuffed out completely by Republican lock step voting tactics.
And you're right. I cannot blame this all on just Republicans. There are an absurd amount of gutless spineless Democrats that should carry much of this blame too.
Wait there is more blame too. We the people carry load of blame for not seeing through and responding to the lies and stone walling that have come out of the right wing nay-sayers through this whole process. They are back to their old fear mongering, religious twisting, conservative but not willing to pay for anything they propose nonsense which will just make life worse for us all.
Lets looks at taxes. Its election season so were all seeing Republicans everywhere painting their Democrat rival as crazy tax raisers. They either say broad things like Dems are going to raise your taxes, but then not get into the very edifying detail that Dems are really only proposing taxing the top 5 or so percent. The folks who can afford to contribute a little more. Taxes actually go down for the vast majority of us. Or they try to argue that raising taxes on the rich kills jobs. Well historically that is proven to be untrue. Look at how well everyone did... even the "over-taxed" rich... During the Clinton years. It was the greatest period of peace and growth in American history. And now even with things as tough as they are. There is measurable job growth under Obama's taxing of the rich approach to things. Thats a fact.
No one likes taxes. But we all like paved streets, indoor plumbing, untainted food, clean water, fire trucks, police and medical help when we need them, a strong military and all the other things our tax money pays for. We could give those things up and pay less taxes or we can all shut up and realize civilization requires we all pay for this stuff. Republicans love the idea of trying to privatize this stuff. But time and time again we have seen privatized versions of any of these things usually end in disaster.
Sorry folks. I'm all for a free market. But if my house is on fire or someone I love is having an heart attack I don't want emergency services checking what kind of response I can afford. Neither do you. I want my streets to be as smooth as those in rich neighborhoods and I want the sewers to be functional everywhere I go. I want the police protecting me from crime no matter where I am and I want my military to be strong, cost effective, and always able to kick ass when called to do so. And I do not see a problem with asking those who have the extra money to contribute a little extra.
Republicans will argue that the rich are the job creators in this country. Thats not true. The rich might be business owners. But in many cases these are the people who are out sourcing jobs to foreign countries too. Or they are sitting on their wealth during relatively hard times because they do not have to spend it. Taxing them a little more makes sure the money circulates. And it makes certain those dollars stay here in America.Meanwhile, dropping taxes on lower income earners guarantees the money circulates because they have to spend it. They do not have any other choice. And that stimulates the economy. And that, in a nutshell, is what most Democrats have been proposing.
I'll give you one very recent example of whats wrong with this country today. This past week President Obama gave an important nationally televised speech talking about the end of combat operations in Iraq and a philosophy of backing down from a war stance across the globe. This means thousands of our best and brightest soldiers will be coming home. And perhaps we can start looking for peaceful alternatives for the near future. It was a big deal. And what was the big story the next day? Obama redecorated the Oval Office and people thought it was too modern looking. Fox spent the whole morning pondering how much Obama spent on the remodel at a time when many Americans are out of work. Sigh. Somehow the story of our fighting troops coming home was lost in a barrage of nonsense about new furniture and drapes in the President's office.
America has the attention span of a gerbil on coke.
And that's precisely why Americans are forgetting who put this whole country... all of us... into a disastrous place and are considering voting for those same idiots all over again.
Crowded House
This weekend I got to see one of my all time favorite bands for the first time live. The band is New Zealand’s Crowded House. If you listened to the radio at all in the 90s you certainly have heard them. They have a very Beatlesque sound. Sort of like those gem collaborations between Lennon and McCartney where John provided the edge to Paul’s sweet melodies. Well in Crowded House both sides are created by one person. Singer/songwriter Neil Finn. I really believe when the story of 90s pop music is told in history books there should be a special section for Finn. While so many other bands were playing fluff, Finn and his band managed to provide poignant songs that really meant something to their fans.
It was a magical late summer night at the Minnesota Zoo’s outdoor amphitheater. During the day this venue hosts a really cool bird of prey show. But during the evenings in the summer it is the place to be for really good outdoor concerts. The night was magical mostly because there was a full house (crowded even) of fans who were well versed in the bands music. Finn had the band drop down for whole sections of some songs so that the audience could carry the tune. And it was a surprisingly musically inclined crowd. Sometimes sounding more like a large choir than a collection of rock and roll fans. It was really quite amazing at times.
If you get a chance to see Crowded House in your town, make sure you do. It was a wonderful night of wonderful music.