Back on the Psychiatrist's Couch...
Happy New Year!!!!
I figure that must be an appropriate statement as this is my first post to THIS blog since July of last year. Almost half of 2008 is gone.
The lengthy blog silence has been brought on by two significant changes in my life.
The most important, significant and WONDERFUL change manifested itself in the form of a beautiful little boy. My son came to join us in September and I’ve set up a little blog for him…something of an online baby book. His birth has added an all-new dynamic in our house (that of the multi-child household) and he’s kept his Mom, Dad and Sis on their toes.
From a personal standpoint, I couldn’t be happier. A beautiful wife who has born me two beautiful, wonderful kids, all of whom are very tolerable of me and haven't yet thrown me out of the house.
This is extremely fortunate as it’s been a very pleasant diversion from the other important and significant, yet HIGHLY DISAPPOINTING change I’ve experienced over the past year…
An identity crisis.
I continue to be the tolerable husband, loving father and under-appreciated corporate whiz kid…these fundamental elements of my life are unchanged. Regrettably, what I thought was another of the fundamental elements of my life (politics and the state of society in general) has taken such a beating over the past couple years and my opinions on these matters have become so caustic that I had to take a hiatus.
Actually, it wasn’t a hiatus. Hiatuses are planned. This was a withdrawal prompted by a complete lack of motivation. I threw my hands up in the air and gave up.
You see, less than eight VERY LONG years ago, the party who I felt best represented by beliefs took both houses of Congress and the White House. Silly me was under the impression that this would result in lower taxes, a common sense approach to spending (i.e., less of it) and smaller government...you know, things that Conservatives (and, by reference, Republicans) traditionally stood for.
Boy was I wrong about all of those but the first one.
Dubya spends money like a drunken sailor and has overseen the greatest expansion of Federal Government since the LAST Texan was in office. Apparently, he misplaced his veto pen as he didn’t manage to veto a single bill for the first 78 months that he was in office. His first veto was a fucking Stem Cell Research bill. Six and a half years without a single veto and he can only find it in his heart to veto a bill with which he has a moral dilemna.
Don’t get me wrong…I’m fine with him acting on principle. Hell, that’s part of the reason I voted for him. I’m more concerned over the fact that he has not been conflicted over spending money on shit he can’t afford.
I liken it to a conversation I could have with my wife:
“Honey, you are NOT spending ten dollars on that Bratz doll for the kid as it is a reflection of EVERYTHING that is wrong with kids today! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! I'm against it and I'm taking a stand!
Oh, by the way, I picked up that SL65 AMG I’ve been wanting for a while. Yeah, I know that we don’t have $175,000 to spend on a two-seater,.but, hey, if we fall short, the kids have plenty of money in their savings accounts to cover our shortfall every month.”
For me to say, 7 years later, that Bush has been a miserable failure at everything he has done during his presidency would be dishonest. He has had a few successes. Some of them, such as the Alito thing, was a success in spite of his best efforts to screw it up. But, overall, I don’t think that history is going to be kind. I was a big fan of the guy for quite a while and if I find him indefensible he’s a pretty easy target for everyone else.
And despite Bush’s indefensibility, I can’t come up with a word strong enough to describe how deplorable the rest of the Republican party is to me.
Unfortunately, in 2008, all the Democrats have to do is take a play out of the Reagan handbook:
“Are you better off today than you were [8] years ago?”
If you asked me this question 2 years ago, it would have been a resounding “yes!” My salary had nearly doubled, my 401k had MORE than doubled, my wife and I purchased our own house and we actually had some disposable income after the bills were paid.
Today, however, my monthly gasoline bill has more than quadrupled ($.89 a gallon in 2000 vs. $3.71 this morning), my 401k has had minor losses over the past 2 quarters and, although my house has gained in value since I bought it, I can’t sell it right now because the housing market has gone to shit.
Are these things all Bush’s fault? Maybe a little but not really. It could be argued that the gas prices can be linked to him which, in turn, contributed to the sub-prime crisis, which led to stagnation, etc., but, more than anything, most of this just happened on his watch.
Problem is, we're going into an election year and we don't require voters to pass a basic knowledge assessment before they cast a ballot. For the most part, Joe and Jane America are idiots who will believe anything they’re told if the person telling them is attractive enough, famous enough or at least confident enough to tell a blatant lie without stuttering.
"Sean Penn says John McCain sucks and I REALLY liked him as Spicolli so he MUST know what he's talking about, right?"
Joe and Jane are being told that every struggle they’re facing today is the direct result of failed Republican policies. Arguments are being made that the only way they’re going to improve their station in life is to put a Democrat in the White House.
The problem is, it’s all bullshit. Well, mostly. If Joe and Jane are making less than $50 grand a year and have 4 kids, their station may well be improved.
For those of us in the middle class, though, any dream we have of improving OUR station will have to be put on hold. We’ll be too busy paying higher taxes on incomes that we lost when we got laid off because our companies couldn’t afford to pay higher taxes AND my salary…especially since the company’s stock price went into the toilet because the people with money decided that stuffing their cash in a mattress was a better investment strategy than investing on Wall Street.
It’s depressing just typing this. Pass the Prozac and the bottle of Bulliet.
Since I’m not really keen on anti-depressants and because my liver can only take so much bourbon, I’ve re-fired the blog as a form of therapy.
Lots to talk about. There’s an election to get ready for! Piss and vinegar to unload!! People to ridicule!!!
YEEARRRGH!
I figure that must be an appropriate statement as this is my first post to THIS blog since July of last year. Almost half of 2008 is gone.
The lengthy blog silence has been brought on by two significant changes in my life.
The most important, significant and WONDERFUL change manifested itself in the form of a beautiful little boy. My son came to join us in September and I’ve set up a little blog for him…something of an online baby book. His birth has added an all-new dynamic in our house (that of the multi-child household) and he’s kept his Mom, Dad and Sis on their toes.
From a personal standpoint, I couldn’t be happier. A beautiful wife who has born me two beautiful, wonderful kids, all of whom are very tolerable of me and haven't yet thrown me out of the house.
This is extremely fortunate as it’s been a very pleasant diversion from the other important and significant, yet HIGHLY DISAPPOINTING change I’ve experienced over the past year…
An identity crisis.
I continue to be the tolerable husband, loving father and under-appreciated corporate whiz kid…these fundamental elements of my life are unchanged. Regrettably, what I thought was another of the fundamental elements of my life (politics and the state of society in general) has taken such a beating over the past couple years and my opinions on these matters have become so caustic that I had to take a hiatus.
Actually, it wasn’t a hiatus. Hiatuses are planned. This was a withdrawal prompted by a complete lack of motivation. I threw my hands up in the air and gave up.
You see, less than eight VERY LONG years ago, the party who I felt best represented by beliefs took both houses of Congress and the White House. Silly me was under the impression that this would result in lower taxes, a common sense approach to spending (i.e., less of it) and smaller government...you know, things that Conservatives (and, by reference, Republicans) traditionally stood for.
Boy was I wrong about all of those but the first one.
Dubya spends money like a drunken sailor and has overseen the greatest expansion of Federal Government since the LAST Texan was in office. Apparently, he misplaced his veto pen as he didn’t manage to veto a single bill for the first 78 months that he was in office. His first veto was a fucking Stem Cell Research bill. Six and a half years without a single veto and he can only find it in his heart to veto a bill with which he has a moral dilemna.
Don’t get me wrong…I’m fine with him acting on principle. Hell, that’s part of the reason I voted for him. I’m more concerned over the fact that he has not been conflicted over spending money on shit he can’t afford.
I liken it to a conversation I could have with my wife:
“Honey, you are NOT spending ten dollars on that Bratz doll for the kid as it is a reflection of EVERYTHING that is wrong with kids today! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! I'm against it and I'm taking a stand!
Oh, by the way, I picked up that SL65 AMG I’ve been wanting for a while. Yeah, I know that we don’t have $175,000 to spend on a two-seater,.but, hey, if we fall short, the kids have plenty of money in their savings accounts to cover our shortfall every month.”
For me to say, 7 years later, that Bush has been a miserable failure at everything he has done during his presidency would be dishonest. He has had a few successes. Some of them, such as the Alito thing, was a success in spite of his best efforts to screw it up. But, overall, I don’t think that history is going to be kind. I was a big fan of the guy for quite a while and if I find him indefensible he’s a pretty easy target for everyone else.
And despite Bush’s indefensibility, I can’t come up with a word strong enough to describe how deplorable the rest of the Republican party is to me.
Unfortunately, in 2008, all the Democrats have to do is take a play out of the Reagan handbook:
“Are you better off today than you were [8] years ago?”
If you asked me this question 2 years ago, it would have been a resounding “yes!” My salary had nearly doubled, my 401k had MORE than doubled, my wife and I purchased our own house and we actually had some disposable income after the bills were paid.
Today, however, my monthly gasoline bill has more than quadrupled ($.89 a gallon in 2000 vs. $3.71 this morning), my 401k has had minor losses over the past 2 quarters and, although my house has gained in value since I bought it, I can’t sell it right now because the housing market has gone to shit.
Are these things all Bush’s fault? Maybe a little but not really. It could be argued that the gas prices can be linked to him which, in turn, contributed to the sub-prime crisis, which led to stagnation, etc., but, more than anything, most of this just happened on his watch.
Problem is, we're going into an election year and we don't require voters to pass a basic knowledge assessment before they cast a ballot. For the most part, Joe and Jane America are idiots who will believe anything they’re told if the person telling them is attractive enough, famous enough or at least confident enough to tell a blatant lie without stuttering.
"Sean Penn says John McCain sucks and I REALLY liked him as Spicolli so he MUST know what he's talking about, right?"
Joe and Jane are being told that every struggle they’re facing today is the direct result of failed Republican policies. Arguments are being made that the only way they’re going to improve their station in life is to put a Democrat in the White House.
The problem is, it’s all bullshit. Well, mostly. If Joe and Jane are making less than $50 grand a year and have 4 kids, their station may well be improved.
For those of us in the middle class, though, any dream we have of improving OUR station will have to be put on hold. We’ll be too busy paying higher taxes on incomes that we lost when we got laid off because our companies couldn’t afford to pay higher taxes AND my salary…especially since the company’s stock price went into the toilet because the people with money decided that stuffing their cash in a mattress was a better investment strategy than investing on Wall Street.
It’s depressing just typing this. Pass the Prozac and the bottle of Bulliet.
Since I’m not really keen on anti-depressants and because my liver can only take so much bourbon, I’ve re-fired the blog as a form of therapy.
Lots to talk about. There’s an election to get ready for! Piss and vinegar to unload!! People to ridicule!!!
YEEARRRGH!
posted by Big Bad Dad at 3:39 PM
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