Where Fun Comes to Die

I’m just flabbergasted.  Even from CNN, which is so ridiculously left, it makes me (admittedly left-leaning myself) queasy, has this clip on their front page today.

Someone, please, anyone, let me know why this is still an issue.

There’s a heated discussion occurring online surrounding President-Elect Obama’s citizenship, and unfortunately it’s not got the attention of the mass media.  For me, it only speaks to the alarming trend that I noted as I was working in the Obama HQ, answering calls from around the world – that people really do have obsessive qualities.  It’s perhaps the funniest conspiracy theory that I have heard in a while, though the feeling of humor quickly turns to one of embarassment…

I had a conversation with one caller during the campaign who wanted proof of Obama’s birth by means of his birth certificate.  I directed him to our fact check page, on which a scanned version of the legitimate document was posted.  He then said, well if Obama’s father isn’t American, than neither is Obama.  I corrected him on that fact, as well as pointed out that even if Obama was born outside of the country, he would still be considered a citizen because his mother was a citizen.   He not only said he thinks that is absolutely wrong, but that even if it were the law, McCain would have an exception because he was born to military parents.  I again corrected him and stated that our nation does not have a special class of citizenry for the military.  That although definite exception has existed historically, under the law, our citizens are equal…  and the conversation turned downright silly.  I even had to make a comparison – we may not like that the speed limit is 55mph and that it’s our right as Americans to speak out against it, but we still must conform to that law.  This gentleman agreed, but still thought that in Obama’s case, regardless of the law, he should not be allowed to run for office.

Yes, embarassment…  For those that just don’t quite get it.

Thankfully the Supreme Court is not taking part in this discussion.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/supreme-court-rejects-appeal-over-obamas-citizenship/

Let’s say you manage a fair-sized division in a regular Office-Space scenario. You have a large number of employees and were responsible for their final products. Let’s say you bargained with those employees, sometimes without recourse, over how they wanted their office environment to be kept – just so that you could personally assure the completion of their final product, and hence, your pay check. You really didn’t take into account the interactions between your employees, between your employees and other teams in your company, how the current environment might affect future productivity. You just got paid – that’s all that was important to you. Sure you liked to give some morning pep talks about how the office was making some green-friendly moves – recycle bins in every cubicle, energy saving through unplugging the computers every night. But in reality, your bottom line was all that matter. Let’s say over time the public doesn’t like your product as much – for what ever reason you can imagine. You have competitors that tend to make other versions of your product better – at least in the eyes of the public. How should you be held accountable? Does it make a difference if you are the major employee for Small Town, USA? For a state? At what point does your company then deserve some assistance? Now extrapolate out… A little further… And a little more…

Yes, the automobile industry has been poorly managed. Yes, they have spent ridiculous lobbying dollars. Yes, they have perpetuated somewhat destructive labor relations, and are still nowhere near their foreign competitors as far as benefits. Yes, there have been multiple missteps over many years. But how do we protect those workers who are currently struggling in the current recession situation? Do we just let the industry go bankrupt – and risk their jobs in the process? Do we fault the industry – or just the managers instead?

We already have a bailout plan in place. If we are willing to help out the many banks that have also selfishly been led by their spa-going CEOs for the sake of national economic security, why would we not also include the automobile industry, one of America’s most fundamental industries? We need to protect our own American industries – and by allowing the automobile industry to supposedly regulate themselves through the bankruptcy option, there will continue to be very little oversight over their already misdirected handlings. Through the bailout plan, we can provide more detailed directions – in fact, we can REQUIRE the development of future strategic planning concerning management, employment, health care, and energy saving.

“What Washington must ensure is that Detroit is never able to return to business as usual. If the Big Three are to survive, there must be fundamental changes…” (New York Post, November 19, 2008) Like President-Elect Obama says, forget the blank check – let’s get the real negotiations on…

My problem with the bailout/rescue/fat-cat-spending plan is that I myself hardly have a grasp as to what the end results might be.  So I sit and I listen to the copious commentary – and I recently came upon the Financier himself, the Donald, the Trumpster, on CNN.  I am completely unsure of exactly who I should listen to – if indeed the CNBC or FOX News pundits are adding something worthwhile or whether they are pushing their ratings (as usual).  But the Donald himself stepped up and said it rather plainly (not that I am prone to listening to yet another billionaire espouse protection of the masses).   But he was honest – he has no idea if this plan would work, he has no idea what would work if this doesn’t – and all he can say is that we need to try something.  For me, that was enough – I was sold…

The market jumped over 400 points today – without a plan in place.  One day after taking a complete nose dive into the deep end, into guaranteed Depression levels of concern (if you really listen to the madness on any one of the news outlets)… And yet, the market took a turn in the opposite direction today.  I’m leaning more and more towards the Donald’s viewpoint with every point the Dow gains.

The Executive Branch has no idea what to do – and even denied this was going to happen as late is March of this year.  The administrative cronies are too steeped in Wall Street to even understand the blight of Main Street.  The Legislative Branch has absolutely no idea what to do, and yet still is trying to seem authoritative.  I salute their attempts at non-partisanship – but really, very few of them have much concern beyond the November elections at this point.  The long term reprecussions of their actions are at the forefront…

So who should we listen to?  I’m still at a loss – like the Dow.  But maybe I’ll gain some points tomorrow.