Dear President Obama
Dear President Obama,
You've got a big job tonight, giving the State of the Union and trying to rally the country back to the point where we were over a year ago, when you were inaugurated. We we full of hope and you were full of promises. Now, just where have we gone off the track, and why do you face such a challenge tonight?
My high school civics teachers would be very proud of me because I've got it figured out. And it's pretty simplistic. What I can't figure out is why all those hot shots you've gathered around you didn't figure this out a year ago. The deal is, my dear, is that in order to get anything done in this country, you have to get the votes in Congress. Yep. Legislative. Executive. Judicial. Three branches of government. And the folks in Congress are the ones you pass the laws. You just get to sit at a shiny table and use a dozen pens to sign off on them.
Yes, you have given great speeches. The best in several generations. Your use of the language is superb, and the folks who set up these speeches do a stellar job of gathering the crowd, pumping them up, and having you come on stage to uproarious applause. But the people who really need convincing are those folks in Congress. And you can't do it by having them over to the White House for coffee, or even to watch a ball game -- as I recall was a tactic last fall. You need to get over to the capitol and call in all the chits you and your pals there have. Oh. No chits? So in your less than a full term in the Senate you didn't learn the horse trading game? Oh dear.
My guess is that the day after the election, some congressional Republican leaders met in a room, lit up their cigars, and decided on their slogan for the year: Just Say No. Don't join those Dems on a single thing. Even if it's legislation that we ourselves proposed a few years ago, let's be sure they can't pass it now. Let's make Washington look more dysfunctional than ever. And then when we run for re-election in 2010, we can lament the mess the Democrats have made, and position ourselves as outsiders, even if we've been in Congress for a dozen years or more. And voila! Republicans are elected. It worked in Massachusetts. It'll work again.
Now, President Obama, I like you. I like you a lot. I voted for you. And why, oh why, did your high school civics teachers fail you? Or do you all have bad cases of Potomac Fever? Whatever. I wish you well tonight. And I wish the country well. Whatta mess.
Posted by: msupnorth on 1/27/2010 at 9:06 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: civics teacher, massachusetts, obama, repulicans, speech
A Rant on the Supreme Court
Okay, folks, here's your word for the day: oligarchy.
And here's the definition:
1. Government by the few
2. A government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes
3. An organization under oligarchic control.
Some years ago in an American History class at the University of Minnesota, I read a treatise on democracy that pointed out why an oligarchy was the opposite of the democratic ideals upon which this country was founded.
But friends, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, we're well down the road to oligarchy. Some believe we're already there. And another nail in the coffin of representative democracy was nailed this week by none other than the justices of the Supreme Court. In a 5-4 ruling, they opened the door for corporations and labor unions to hand out just as much money as they pleased to political campaigns.
This reverses an over 100-year old practice in this country of limiting the influence of the few over the many. But the majority of justices decided that corporations are just like people, and they should have the same right of freedom of speech that is given to individuals under the constitution.
Huh?
So Taco Bell, Coca-Cola, Honda, and Anheuser-Bush -- to name just a few of the companies that are forking over big bucks to advertise on the Super Bowl -- have the same rights to speak out as I do, a little old lady in Northern Minnesota?
You got it. That's what the justices decided. So if any of the companies noted above, as well as big outfits like the health insurance people and the big NY bankers, can now send their lobbyists into the offices of our senators and representatives and tell them that they should support legislation favoring their company's best interest "or else". And the "or else" means simply that all the stops will be pulled out on contributing money to advertising campaigns to defeat said senator or representative.
And I, the LOLNM can do what? Well, I can give ten bucks, or maybe twenty-five or even a hundred to the folks in Washington who represent my views. And others can do the same. But can we possibly ante up enough to support what we see as the right pathway for this country? And even if we do, let's fasten our seat belts for the most rock'em, sock'em political campaigns ever launched in this country.
The truth, that evasive quality, will be shaded six ways from Sunday. Off-handed remarks made by a candidate in his or her youth will be brought back in living color on our big flat screen TVs. Well, you say, that happens now anyway. "It's politics".
But back then, in my school days, I learned about representative democracy, and that as good citizens we could work for candidates, vote, and have our say. But I'm not sure I believe that anymore. Not after the wreckage the Congress has made of health insurance reforms. Not after this Supreme Court decision. Maybe it's time to crawl into a hole and pull the top in over me.
But before I do, thanks to Justices John Paul Stevens, Sonia Sotomayer, Stephen Breyer, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who dissented in this opinion. The majority opinion, favoring the big guys, was supported by Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy, and Samuel Alito Jr. They've smoothed the path to oligarchy in this country.
Posted by: msupnorth on 1/23/2010 at 6:02 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Tags: democracy, oligarchy, supreme court
The language, oh, the language
Today is the anniversary of the inauguration of Barack Obama as our president. He came on with an ambitious agenda and a whole slew of 24-hour news services tracking his every move. And this morning I understand that Obama's approval rating is 50%, the second lowest of any president in recent memory, at this point in his presidency. Ronald Reagan, believe it or not, had an even lower approval rating at this point. Maybe that will be some consolation to Obama.
The poor man woke up in his bed in the White House this morning with one more Republican senator, and the chances of health care reform dimming. Oh, I guess he knew that before he went to bed last night. By now, he and all those smart guys he has assembled to help him run the country are figuring it out. Just why did this happen? Everyone has an answer.
And here's one from a little old lady in Northern Minnesota. It's all about language, and once again, Republicans have staked out the territory and nobody has given language a second thought. Because what we need in this country is HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM. Not health care reform. Having a husband who has more diagnoses than you can shake a stick at (to use an old adage that many younger folks have never heard), we are very familiar with the health care system. And it's darn good. And, thank heaven, he has Medicare and good health insurance. But for the people who don't have those benefits, and for all of us who will pay more and more and more for our Medicare supplement, the thing that needs reforming is HEALTH INSURANCE. Not health care.
I've said for years that Al Gore did us a disservice when he came on with his warnings about Global Warming. During the past chilly summer here, I heard it more than once: "You call this global warming?" The correct term is CLIMATE CHANGE, and if you're paying the slightest attention, you know that the weather is changing around the world. And then we have Sarah Palin talking about "death panels" which is total malarkey. If anybody is condemning people to death, it's the insurance companies that deny coverage for whatever they please. And they get away with it.
Now it looks like the health insurance companies have bought themselves another senator, the new guy from Massachusetts. Maybe what we need is a clean sweep next November. Send the whole gang of them in Congress home and bring on some new folks. Maybe that's populism. Hmmmm...a word I need to look up, being this rant is about language.
Have a nice day.
Posted by: msupnorth on 1/20/2010 at 12:06 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: congress, health insurance, language, local, obama
Haiti and the Bankers
We lie in bed in the morning and listen to the news. Yesterday, Wednesday, January 13, 2009 was the day when two big events dominated: the earthquake in Haiti, and the Wall Street bankers explaining why they deserve their big bonuses. Talk about irony.
I can barely watch the news and the stories of the absolute desolation that the earthquake left in its wake. Yes, Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Yes, help is on the way as the full forces of United States non-governmental agencies (NGOs) and our military as well head south. But will they get there in time to help the hundreds, probably thousands of people trapped beneath the rubble; to bring food to people who have none; to try to restore order where chaos erupts?
Meanwhile, the big bankers, who We The Taxpayers bailed out just a few months ago, are all slicked up in their $1500 suits and $80 manicures and $200 silk neckties, explaining why they and their people deserve bonuses that are as much as many folks make in a year, or a lifetime, of hard work. They're talking about seven figures. Count 'em: seven: $1,000,000. That's just a bonus. Never mind about the regular salary.
Wouldn't it be nice if just one of those bankers took the money and contributed it to OxFam or the Red Cross or another reliable NGO? Fat chance. They live on the American creed and it's greed, green, greed. The Park Avenue apartment, the house in the Hamptons, private schools for the kids, and a little diamond bracelet from Tiffany's for the wife, an anniversary present.
Tne then there's Pat Robinson, declaring that the people of Haiti deserved the earthquake because they made a deal with the devil. Pat's arch-enemy, of course. And this is a religious leader?
Yes, it's a whacko world. We can send money. And pray. And do our best, wherever we are. I just hope those guys on Wall Street get theirs!
Posted by: msupnorth on 1/14/2010 at 10:17 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Tags: bankers, earthquake, greed, haiti, oxfam, red cross, wall street
From Teckla's Kitchen
Years ago, I wrote a poem that began, "My mother Teckla, a good Swedish woman...." I think I have it around here someplace, but can't lay hands on it at the moment. But I actually got two -- count 'em --TWO requests for the recipes I mentioned yesterday, which are Teckla's recipes, so here they are, with some comments at the end:
SOUR CREAM COOKIES. Ingredients: 1 c. sugar, 1/2 c. butter, 1/2 c. Crisco, 1 egg, 3 T sour cream, 1 t. vanilla. Mix all of this up and then add the dry ingredients: 2 1/2 c. flour, 1/2 t. salt, 1 t soda, 1 t cream of tartar. Mix thoroughly. I use my hands, the best mixers. Chill. Roll out. Cut shapes. Bake at 350. In my oven, 5-6 minutes, but watch 'em. For the frosting, I mix a bit of butter, then powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla, and stir until it's the right consistency for frosting the cookies. Oh...divide it up and add food coloring, and of course the sprinkles at the end. Oh, you know all that.
MOLASSES COOKIES: 1 c. sugar, 1/2 c. butter, 1/2 c. Crisco, 2 eggs, 1/2 c. molasses. Cream the sugar, butter and Crisco, stir in molasses. Mix it all up good. Then add dry ingredients: 1/2 t each ginger, cloves, cinnamon, 2 t. soda, 4 c.+ flour...enough to make a stiff dough, and 4 t. grated orange rind. Mix it all up good, again with your hand. Chill. Roll out. Cut shapes. Bake 350, again 5-6 minutes, but watch it and figure out what your oven does best. Carry on. Frost. Oh, sometimes I make the frosting with orange juice. That's good.
TIPS FROM THE COOK: Hey, do I sound like Sue Doeden, or what? Be sure to use butter, margarine just doesn't work as well, I haven't tried these with margarine for years. A few weeks ago, Marketplace had butter for $1.88/lb, and I stocked up. "Crisco" is a generic term from the old days. Use white shortening. I guess lard is another term. Now, I've collected cookie cutters over the years and it's a simple collection, and includes a star and a bell from Teckla. The bell has a red wooden knob on top, the star, green. They'd be classified as "vintage" on Ebay. I made these cookies with my mom, and then my kids, and now our granddaughter. She has assurred me she'll take over the cookie collection, and carry on the tradition. She has come up with some garrish color combinations over the years, and we've had frosting from one end of the kitchen to the other, but hey -- that's what Christmas is all about. Besides the birth of Our Saviour, I might add, as a good Lutheran girl. Anyway, the beloved granddaughter is a teenager now and the frosting has become more artistic.
While others search cookbooks and online for the latest Christmas treats, these are the only cookies I make. And we love 'em.
Posted by: msupnorth on 12/09/2009 at 8:15 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: christmas cookies, molasses, recipes, teckla
