The State of My State of Mind

Last night, President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address and I received a nice treat that I wasn’t expecting. Because of a previous commitment I wasn’t able to watch the beginning of the telecast and had to listen to the first half of the speech on the radio in the car.

Wow! How great was it to not have to see the hours and hours of clapping and grandstanding and pre-speech “analysis”. I didn’t have to suffer through what Anderson Cooper, Chris Matthews, Brian Williams, and even Brit Hume had to think about what Obama might say during the speech (even though they usually have an advanced copy). I didn’t have to see the human yo-yo, Nancy Pelosi, stand up and sit down and stand up and sit down (see my previous post on exercising during the speech) All I had to do was sit back and actually listen to what he had to say.

I can’t say that he hit on too many interesting topics for me but I did like his dig at senators who were holding up nominations to Federal posts based on their little pet projects. But again I don’t think he went far enough to make me happy. If it were me (and that’s a stretch because I’m quite sure that I’d have a couple thousand attempts on my life the second I was sworn in), I would have started to call them out by name and whom they were “holding up” (see Kit Bond, R-MO, holding up the GSA nomination).

Furthermore when he was talking about his health plan he should have insisted that Dick Durban (R-IL) stand up, in front of the class, and give the GOP health care insurance reform bill book report that they said they’ve been working on for all this time.

I think direct embarrassment is always the way to get things done.

Turning the White House Black and Where’s the Booze

Well maybe just a finer shade of Gray. I don’t usually use this space to promote things. In fact its usually just the opposite. But I want to make an exception here and tell you about a wonderful documentary (well Part 1 of 2 anyway) that I took in last night and I encourage anybody out there who is interested in how the White House really works to take a look at.

Brian Williams of NBC News did a long form documentary broken up into 2 parts (part 2 airs tonight) that is really something to see. He follows President Obama and his staff all around the White House grounds, into offices, and sometimes even to grab a burger. BTW: why the hell can’t somebody bring the burgers in? Why does he always have to go out. Eh....anyway. Go check out the videos over at MSNBC’s site.

Last night I had a very nice opportunity to sit outside on a warm night and eat Mexican/Salvadorian food with my wife and a good friend. However the night was ruined. No, not by the luke-warm pupusas (which were actually quite good) but rather by the lack of alcohol in our pitcher of margaritas. The pisser in all of this is we didn’t notice until we were getting up to leave when we both looked at each other and realized nobody had even the slightest buzz. I want justice!

That’s all...now go away

Smart Cars, Obama Mania, and Interview Questions

I really love the idea of the Smart Car. You know these are the 4-wheelers that look roughly like a combination of a clown car from the circus and the result of a large, old Cadillac that has run in to the back of a parked semi-truck. Besides being affordable and fuel efficient they are a great car for getting around a crowded city and specifically parking in the dense downtown areas of your local metropolis. Although I now see a “challenge” that has previously gone unnoticed or kept under wraps (possibly in part to the efforts of the “Stone Cutters”) It seems that while the driver of the Smartcar has no problem fitting into tight spaces, drivers of normal size cars feel that they loose out when they pull into a spot either in front of or behind the Smartcar. In other words, two Smartcars may fit into a single parallel spot. If only one is in there and centered between the car in front and behind it, a driver of a normal size car is upset because it feels like wasted space. Yes I know this is very petty but that’s me in a nutshell so deal with it.

I got caught up in Obama Mania this morning and I’m a little concerned about it. Today while walking into work a motorcade past me and I stopped to look thinking it may be “the Great One”. This bothers me. I’ve spent the last 15 years of my life hearing, watching, getting stuck on the sidewalk for, getting stuck in traffic behind, having to move over to the side of the road, covering my ears because they are too loud for motorcades. It is just part of life when you work or live in Washington. You almost never pay it any mind and just continue doing what it was you were doing in the first place, but today was different. Instead of just continuing to walk in an effort to get the slightest feeling back into my fingertips through the nip-chilling cold, I stopped and actually gawked. Boy was I pissed and it wasn’t just because I got caught up in the commotion, it turns out that it wasn’t Bawwak Obama but rather some crappy low level diplomat from some country who would collapse if we didn’t prop them up with millions of aide dollars every year.

Lastly a quick tidbit I found on the Interweb today: “The Ten Worst Job Interview Questions Ever”. Thanks to Mike at The Business Pundit for this one.

Follow up from the Schlep

Thanks to Tara I now can share Sarah Silverman's take on "The Great Schelp"


The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

Can We Just Stop Asking Her Questions?

Most of you know where I fall out in this year’s presidential campaign but I still am interested in a good solid, issues-driven campaign on both sides. To that effect I ask everybody, “Please stop asking Sarah Palin questions!!!”

She has no experience, even the staunchest of Republicans have to agree on that and the only reason she’s in this thing is that she believes in Jebus, Guns, and is, frankly, a woman.

All that aside, she just should stop answering questions because she comes off like a complete ditz. Case in point, last night’s interview with Charlie Gibson on ABC. When asking about her foreign policy experience (something by the way the VP’s office has gotten much more involved with in the past 20 years), Palin said she has not traveled abroad much -- to Mexico and Canada, and since she became governor, to Kuwait and Germany to visit troops. And she said she has not met with a foreign head of state, but dismissed that experience held by Obama and his running mate Joe Biden, and McCain.

"We've got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time," she said. "It is for no more politics as usual," she said, "and somebody's big fat resume, maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yeah, they have had opportunity to meet heads of state." (her quote)

Um...Ms. Palin, the McCain campaign is on the phone and they want you to shut the hell up! Are you aware that you just described your running mate? John McCain has served in the US House and Senate since 1982. By my count that’s 26 years, or in your words “decades and decades in that Washington establishment...” perhaps you should just stick to giving advice on how to be a “hockey-mom” and the proper way to clean your semi-automatic assault, err hunting, rifle.