Curmudgeon's Corner
cur-mud-geon: anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner
The Debates Are Finished!
The last of, thankfully, the Barrett – Walker ‘debates’ was held last evening. I say “thankfully” since these were somewhat akin to being tied to a chair and being forced to listen to someone scratching their nails on a chalkboard. These debates were not particularly well-put-together in my opinion.
At The Epicenter...
We are at the epicenter on Tuesday, June 5th. The eyes of our nation will be turned toward Wisconsin as we go to the polls to cast our votes in the recall election, just as they have been trained on us for months.
The Morning After...
The outcome of yesterday’s election was something I had hoped would occur and something I voted for, so I am happy that Governor Walker will continue to serve as our Governor.
An "Aha" Moment?
Have you ever had the experience of getting into something and ultimately wishing you hadn’t given in to the urge to do so? I certainly have had that experience, and more often than I’d like to admit.
Yippee! Another Election.
We have time to take a couple of deep breaths and then we will begin to prepare for our next statewide election. The primary election for the normal fall races occurs on August 14th. That is only 10 weeks away.
Week In Review
National politics, thankfully, has supplanted state politics and there was much to ‘enjoy’ this week.
Happy Tax Increase
Our taxes will increase next year if the ‘Bush Tax Cuts’ are permitted to die, as will be the case unless Congress gets its act together. President Obama would have us believe these tax cuts were primarily a gift to the “wealthy”. Too many in Congress are probably dreaming of just how they can spend that newfound money on some new programs to stimulate public employee headcounts, and maybe even on some of those vaunted ‘shovel-ready’ jobs that have not seemed to materialize to the degree we were told would be the case.
Are You Satisfied?
The Gallup organization published the latest results of its survey to determine our satisfaction with things as they are today. The open-ended question posed to each respondent was: What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?
Ugly News
The Jerry Sandusky case, that is spewing forth graphic and lurid testimony detail, is simply sickening. If it indeed happened, as numerous people who are now testifying under oath say that it did, he needs to be imprisoned for what should be the rest of his natural life, and he needs our prayers as do the apparent victims.
Interesting Timing (Not Really)
As President Obama realizes his actual plight with voters in this country, he will, I believe, resort to any number of questionable ways in which to ‘buy’ votes. One example is being announced today. The Obama administration, today, said that it will stop deporting illegal immigrants who came into the country at a young age. Frankly, I’m not sure what there was to stop since it doesn’t seem that we are actively deporting anyone who isn’t a convicted felon, and they often stay here.
Fathers' Day Thoughts...
Fathers’ Day evokes different thoughts and feelings for different people. Some of us remember our fathers fondly and with deep appreciation and admiration. Others of us remember a father who was not around when he was needed, or who was not a very good father even though he was there. Others of us are unable to remember a father because he wasn’t there at all or because he was taken from the family unit before we had the ability to remember things like that. I suspect most of us remember a father who was sometimes a good father and sometimes a not-so-good father. Even fathers have trials and tribulations in their lives while they are supposed to be parenting.
Does the Emperor Have Clothes?
The long-awaited decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on ObamaCare is nearer with every passing day. That day is somewhere between today and the end of June.
Nicknames
Nicknames have been intriguing for me for a long time. As regular readers know, I also have had the habit, since being a very young man, of watching the obituary columns daily. It is sometimes interesting to see the nicknames by which people desired to be remembered, or by which their loved ones remember them.
The Executive Privilege Gambit
Well, there is obviously some thing or maybe even many things that President Obama does not want revealed concerning Fast and Furious. His asserting Executive Privilege this morning to prevent Eric Holder from being forced to testify before Congress makes one draw the obvious conclusion. Something is contained in the papers requested that make someone look bad.
ObamaCare (PPACA) Decision Critical
Another Supreme Court decision-announcement day has come and gone with nothing mentioned about PPACA (a/k/a ObamaCare). It now appears that we’ll wait until either next Monday or as late as next week Thursday before learning what the justices have decided in this case.
Entitlements Unlimited?
The Supreme Court for the European Union decided a case on Thursday that pretty well ties a big bow around all the problems that the 27 member countries of the Union have today. We know that entitlements are sinking the economies of the EU countries. We know that bail-outs are the order of the day for EU countries. We know that people simply cannot seem to understand that there has to be a limit to what they receive from their governments.
Conservatives Question Tommy
Republican Senate candidate Tommy Thompson received some tough questions at an Oconomowoc-area meeting that had plenty of conservatives in the audience. He is leading the group of primary candidates and polls above Tammy Baldwin at the moment. The other primary candidates poll under Baldwin at this point. That is likely more a function of name recognition than anything else. I have to believe that whoever runs on the Republican ticket will defeat Baldwin; if I prove to be wrong, I won’t be the only sad person in the state; I’ll have plenty of company.
ObamaCare/PPACA Winners & Losers
High court decisions often create winners and losers; those decisions taken do not intentionally create winners and losers, but by definition there are winners and losers in any case.
Shame on the Supreme Court? Hardly.
The shame of Arizona isn’t the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday that basically said it is okay to seek proof of immigrants’ status if they are first encountered for some other valid reason, but that Arizona or any other state cannot go further.
PPACA Outcome Totally Unexpected
Wow! The PPACA decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has caught me looking like the “deer in the headlights”. Obviously this decision is opposite what I expected it was going to be, and it is opposite on completely different grounds than I had expected.
Sobering Thoughts
A friend, with whom I share similar sentiments on politics and life, and with whom I share a vocation, shared a word, new to me, yesterday at the end of this tumultuous week in our country. The word is ineptocracy (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) and is defined as follows:
