She would have been 85 today- just like Andy Griffith.
Talk about a Birthday Odd Couple…
I’ll compare and contrast below…
Here’s my favorite Marilyn Clip:
And here is my favorite Andy Griffith movie- yes, movie. He did more than television and Mayberry…
He was great in this one and I’ve run this trailer several times…
I like to think of it as “The Glenn Beck Story”…
Great article from Thomas Friedman in today’s New York Times is worth reading in its entirety.
I especially like his assertion that governments only govern based on either Fear or Trust.
The Arab world is losing it’s fear of government and we have lost our trust in government.
That makes for a scary and complicated time ahead….
Here is a brief excerpt from the middle of the column:
In America, President George W. Bush used the post-9/11 economic dip to push through a second tax cut we could not afford. He followed that with a Medicare prescription drug entitlement we cannot afford and started two wars in the wake of 9/11 without raising taxes to pay for them — all at a time when we should have been saving money in anticipation of the baby boomers’ imminent retirement. As such, our nation’s fiscal hole is deeper than ever and Republicans and Democrats — rather than coming together and generating the political authority needed for us to take our castor oil to compensate for our binge — are just demonizing one another.
As the Israeli political theorist Yaron Ezrahi points out, governance is based on authority “that is generated in one of two ways — by trust or by fear. Both of those sources of authority are disintegrating right now.” The Arab leaders governed by fear, and their people are not afraid anymore. And the Western democracies governed by generating trust, but their societies today are more splintered than ever.
Filed under Elections, Politics, Uncategorized
Like I’ve said, the Democrats are known for shooting themselves in the foot. But luckily the GOP just shot themselves in the head….
From TalkingPointsMemo.com:
It doesn’t take much political savvy to note that Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) Medicare-destroying budget plan hasn’t panned out all that well for the GOP. But a new poll out from advocates for the Democratic health care law shows that the Ryan budget fail goes even deeper than embarrassed presidential candidates and special election upsets.
Not only does the poll show huge opposition to Ryan’s plan to replace Medicare with a voucher system, the poll shows Democrats winning the credibility war when it comes to Medicare and “protecting the middle class.” And — in a jolt of good news for the White House and Democrats — the numbers show that when voters are given Ryan budget messaging from opponents, support for the Democratic health care law actually goes up slightly in response.
I’ve seen the same types of responses in several other polls today…..
Now, if the Dems just don’t cave in during the negotiations over the debt ceiling, they have a- probably the- winning issue for the 2012 elections.
And the GOP has got to agree to increase the debt ceiling or Wall Street-who owns most of the government- will have a nervous breakdown.
They really have no bargaining legs to stand on….
But that’s not stopped the Dems from caving in the past…
via Poll: GOP Medicare-Ending Budget Bigger Political Fumble Than First Thought | TPMDC.
More wisdom from Paul Krugman…
He’s right…
As usual…
The voice of common sense in the wilderness.
Bear in mind that the unemployed aren’t jobless because they don’t want to work, or because they lack the necessary skills. There’s nothing wrong with our workers — remember, just four years ago the unemployment rate was below 5 percent.
The core of our economic problem is, instead, the debt — mainly mortgage debt — that households ran up during the bubble years of the last decade. Now that the bubble has burst, that debt is acting as a persistent drag on the economy, preventing any real recovery in employment. And once you realize that the overhang of private debt is the problem, you realize that there are a number of things that could be done about it.
For example, we could have W.P.A.-type programs putting the unemployed to work doing useful things like repairing roads — which would also, by raising incomes, make it easier for households to pay down debt. We could have a serious program of mortgage modification, reducing the debts of troubled homeowners. We could try to get inflation back up to the 4 percent rate that prevailed during Ronald Reagan’s second term, which would help to reduce the real burden of debt.
So there are policies we could be pursuing to bring unemployment down. These policies would be unorthodox — but so are the economic problems we face. And those who warn about the risks of action must explain why these risks should worry us more than the certainty of continued mass suffering if we do nothing.
In pointing out that we could be doing much more about unemployment, I recognize, of course, the political obstacles to actually pursuing any of the policies that might work. In the United States, in particular, any effort to tackle unemployment will run into a stone wall of Republican opposition. Yet that’s not a reason to stop talking about the issue. In fact, looking back at my own writings over the past year or so, it’s clear that I too have sinned: political realism is all very well, but I have said far too little about what we really should be doing to deal with our most important problem.
As I see it, policy makers are sinking into a condition of learned helplessness on the jobs issue: the more they fail to do anything about the problem, the more they convince themselves that there’s nothing they could do. And those of us who know better should be doing all we can to break that vicious circle.
Filed under Elections, Politics, The Economy, Uncategorized
Great news…
Now if the economy doesn’t tank- more- he should be fine for re-election next year…
The GOP Primary season is going to be the Greatest Show on Earth with all the clowns they have running…
That will only make President Obama look better to the electorate…
Bring on Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann!
President Barack Obama’s performance on national security and international affairs and his image as a strong leader appear to be behind his rising approval rating, according to new national poll conducted as the president was on an overseas visit to four countries.
A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday indicates that Obama’s approval rating among Americans stands at 54 percent, with 45 percent saying they disapprove of the job he’s doing as president. Obama’s approval rating appears to have steadily risen in the past two months, from 48 percent in early April to 52 percent in early May and the current mark of 54 percent.
“On specific issues, the president’s approval rating is over 50 percent on only three out of 11 items tested, and all three – terrorism, Afghanistan, and Iraq – are foreign or security issues,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “But his approval rating on every domestic issue listed in the poll is well below 50 and on most of them – including the economy, health care, taxes, and the budget deficit – his rating has remained flat or dropped since the start of the year.”
Filed under Elections, Politics, Uncategorized
I’m on the mailing list for Virginia Republican Congressman Robert Hurt both because it amuses me and to see what he’s up to….
I just received his Memorial Day message– this morning….
Uh, Robbie, Memorial Day was yesterday….You didn’t get your paper in on time and this isn’t Hampden-Sydney College.
You are in the big leagues now…at least theoretically.
I still can’t believe folks in my old home District voted for this guy to replace the incredibly smart, effective and dedicated Tom Perriello.
They are getting just what they deserve….
Incompetent representation due to incompetent voting…
But she’s making $140K a year!
I’m going to have to give this some serious thought as a second career….
I wonder if Students around here can pay as much…
Hmm….
And I bet I could whip them into shape in no time….
From the Daily Beast:
It’s 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday in Philadelphia, and 51-year-old Kia Katrina Grasty, donning only her pajamas, is heading to a frat party.
Pulling up in her white GMC envoy truck to one of the University of Pennsylvania’s unofficial fraternity houses on Pine Street, Grasty marches confidently into the bash, shuts down the deejay and makes an urgent announcement: everyone needs to look for a package belonging to Penn junior Jack Cortese, one of the students living in the house.
Jack’s mother—actress Kim Delaney of NYPD Blue—was frantic that Jack hadn’t yet received the high-end suit and shoes she had overnighted for his upcoming internship interview. When Delaney couldn’t reach her son on the phone that night, she called Grasty. Unable to refuse the mother of a “privileged” client, Grasty darted out of bed immediately and took control of the situation.
“We need to look for a package!” she declares to the glassy-eyed college kids, who somewhat obediently stop carousing to search among strewn beer cups, cigarette stubs and other detritus. Moments later, Grasty emerges victorious from behind a bench on the front porch. “Got it!” she yells, and like clockwork the show goes on. Grasty can go home for the night, but she’ll be back soon enough to mop up the mess. That’s her job, after all.
Since 2005, Grasty has been cleaning up after Penn. While her partner at Diamond Cleaning, Candy Boyd, handles more conventional work—commercial buildings in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania—Kia has parlayed the effusive recommendation of one student, who found her on Google, into a customer base of dozens of Ivy League neat freaks and slobs—including high-profile scions like Delaney’s son, Vera Wang’s daughter, and the heir to the Beverly Hilton—many of whom pay her for the entire year in advance.
via Ivy League Cleaning Lady Confessions: From Clogged Toilets to Feces in the Bathtub – The Daily Beast.
Filed under Education, Entertainment, Uncategorized
This guy really is a disgrace on so many levels….
Totally heartless…
On Sunday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) reiterated his position that disaster relief funds for the tornado victims in Joplin, Missouri must be paid for with cuts to other programs. “Congress will find the money,” Cantor said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” “And it will be offset.”
“I know that America is just stunned by the scope of devastation and loss and the horrific tragedy that the people of Joplin and other places across the country really are experiencing this tornado season,” Cantor said. The federal government typically pays for disaster relief, but Cantor has said repeatedly that the government must maintain fiscal discipline. On Sunday, he compared the situation to that of a family putting off buying a new care when a family member became ill.
“When a family is struck with tragedy — like the family of Joplin … let’s say if they had $10,000 set aside to do something else with, to buy a new car … and then they were struck with a sick member of the family or something, and needed to take that money to apply it to that, that’s what they would do, because families don’t have unlimited money. And, really, neither does the federal government.”
Democratic lawmakers from districts hit by the storms have blasted Republicans for talking about the need to pay for an emergency package, HuffPost’s Jennifer Bendery reported:
“Where is his heart?” Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) said of Cantor. “Where is his compassion for people who are suffering today?”
“If they want to fight and quibble over the supplemental, I mean, they are heartless. What’s wrong with them?” Clay said. “Nothing for the average American community. That’s what they’re saying: we don’t have anything for the average American community.”
via Eric Cantor On ‘Face The Nation’: Disaster Relief For Joplin Tornado Victims Must Be Offset (VIDEO).
Filed under Congress, Elections, Politics, Uncategorized
Very interesting article about the real origin of “Memorial Day” at the Institute for Southern Studies…
Shows South Carolina wasn’t always as demented as it is today….
Year in which former slaves in Charleston, S.C. held a funeral procession to honor Union soldiers who died in a local Confederate prison camp: 1865
Number of people who took part in the May 1 procession, called Decoration Day, held after the freedmen dug individual graves for the soldiers (in photo), who had been buried en masse: nearly 10,000
Number of African-American children who marched past the graves, strewing flowers and softly singing “John Brown’s Body” and “The Star-Spangled Banner”: 2,800
MORE: ISS – INSTITUTE INDEX: The Southern roots of Memorial Day.
Lost in the 21st Century 
Doomsday Preacher Wrong in More Ways Than One – Leonard Pitts Jr.
Beautiful column from Leonard Pitts…
He points some of the things I don’t understand about these people focusing on the End of Times…
I still say we should all embrace this life- and not just focus on what happens next….
We’ll find out that answer eventually.
via Doomsday preacher wrong in more ways than one – Leonard Pitts Jr. – MiamiHerald.com.
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Filed under Religion, Uncategorized
Tagged as End Times, Rapture, religion, Social Commentary