to post right now. I have very little on my list of things to do today accomplished. I finally decided those index dividers were trash. I was prepared to stand and sort them into packs, paper clip them, and then donate them. However, they are multiple vintages and types and the sorting got the better of me. I made a decision on the tapes as well. I will give the tapes of George's music to Matthew. I don't want to be guilty in my own eyes of holding onto anything that should possibly go to him. So, I am sorting tapes. Many of Joe's tapes are unlabeled. Some of my tapes are mixed in. It's another "Joe box". Just put things somewhere and worry about retrieving anything later...... Here's a fun fact: I have a little storage unit for audio tapes. Why did we need a box in the first place???????
I did not watch the State of the Union speech last night. I knew it would most likely sicken me. I found this quote this morning and almost puked on my keyboard: President Obama says "America is back," and anyone who tells you otherwise "doesn't know what they're talking about."
I was talking to my mother the other day. One of the things we discussed is that many of Obama's supporters are young and idealistic. It is those of us who have a few notches on our guns, who've been around the block, who live in the real world, who do not support him, by and large. We've lived through the pie in the sky dreams. We lived through President Johnson's War on Poverty. We lived through "what can you do for your country". We've lived through so many broken political promises and bankrupt programs and the exposure of so much graft and so many unethical practices in government. We know these programs don't work. They never have and they never will.
We know that average unemployment in the US for decades has been around 4%. How can you say "America is back" when current unemployment is 9% and that doesn't take into account all those who have used up their unemployment benefits or aren't eligible or have just given up? How can you say "America is back" when our credit has been devalued, we are still borrowing to fund useless or minimally useful programs, and we are borrowing at higher rates? Our Federal debt is now more than 100% of our Gross Domestic Product. How, Mr. Obama, are we going to pay it back?
If a typical US household has income of $50,000 a year (and I pulled that number from the air), that would translate to $750,000 in debt for that household. If these numbers were true at the family level, the bankruptcy courts could never handle the number of bankruptcies being filed. And, let's face it, that family has to eat, pay rent, cover the cost of commuting to work, buy shoes for growing children's feet, and so on. How much of its $50,000 a year could it possibly pay toward debt retirement? THIS is America right now, Mr. Obama. And, only twice in the history of this country have we ever owed more than the GDP--right after World War II and now. Back to what, Mr. Obama?
I have seen more political payoffs in the last 3 years that were open and totally visible to the casual observer than I can recall seeing in the previous 40 years. And I have never seen such open disregard for public opinion as is exhibited by this administration. And out and out lies: "Our borders are safer now than ever"....... 15.1% of America lives at or below the poverty level as of 2011, Mr. President. That is higher than at any year since 1933. Yeah, right, we're back. But, back to what?
Either Mr. Obama is a cock-eyed optimist, a lot dumber than I think he is, or an out and out liar. We can't live on optimism. We can't live on idealism. We have to live on reality and he is living somewhere else.
Pardon me for sounding off politically here on this blog. It IS my blog and I do pay for it and get to say what I think. I try to stay out of this crap to the extent I can, but sounding off to the dogs isn't very satisfying. Sometimes you just have to get things out.
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