Travellinguist's Musings

Obama lives down and up to my hopes. Car bailout.

So here is the thing. I knew Obama was not really all liberal and radical as everyone implied and as his Republican opponents and many white detractors tried to paint him. However in the last couple of days of his campaign I began to believe that he might be more, that he might be a significant change. Well he has appointed such DLC (Democratic Leadership Council- also known as the Democrat schmucks who helped speed the Reagan-Bush train to this crap destination) stalwarts as Hilary Clinton and Rahm Emmanuel, which is surprising but not so radical at all. Heck, the best thing from his appointment of Hilary Clinton is that the Gov. of New York might actually appoint a liberal to take over Hilary's seat. Here is hoping.
Obama has not been bold, but as I said a post a few weeks ago he will at least NOT do the things which Bush did, take the specific actions which destroyed so much, so that absence of destruction will be an improvement even if he is not bold enough to END the destruction that is currently taking place that he will inherit from his deservedly maligned predecessor. So I have to say he has disappointed the me on election day who began to believe, but has lived up to the expectations, low though they were, of him which I held for most of the election campaign. I am still going to hope that he is really actually redefining politics in a way that will be better than I can conceive right now. I am willing to think that my own progressive way might not work. (That is what makes me a Progressive as opposed to a my way or the highway conservative).
Speaking of which, it is reassuring to see Republicans remember conservatism recently in regard to the bailouts. They caved for the first bailout because it was all about Big Finance which BIG FINANCES their campaigns and libraries, but they are staying considerably tougher in regards to the car companies because well as I heard Sen. Jim DeMint say this evening on News and Notes on NPR because "this bailout is about saving Unions... and the Union model is outdated in the modern economy." So basically the Republicans won't be so easily bought off because the working man might get to keep his pension and the UAW might maintain its status as one of the few effective Unions in the USA. That is a shame, but they are definitely not wrong about the problem being a Union problem. Of course what they fail to regard is that the abyssmal failure of GM, Chrysler, Ford etc. leadership over the last 40 years has nothing to do with Unions. the UAW didn't foist SUVs on us with 10 MPG fuel efficiency and they surely didn't design those nasty tanks of cars everyon drove in the 70s before OPEC punished us with the first gas price shock. These motor companies are terrified to go under a judge's bankruptcy eye because this judge will be able to not only force concessions on the Unions which they would surely support and clearly Sen. DeMint supports (a man who no doubt has never worked a hard physical day in his entire life for minimum wage without benefits), but they are worried the judge will shred their posh executive compensation packages which reward their stupidity and insulate them from failure. It would probably force them restructure their corporate board system which likewise encourages corruption and waste at the top level and has doubtless helped stifle more useful innovation than anything else. So they go begging hat in hands to Congress, flying their personal jets on the way, and the Unions equally afraid of change find common ground with their bosses for the first time since......... since I don't know when. Two mutually opposed entities terrified of change and pooling their resources to maintain a crappy status quo. I might not like Demint's and others' motivations for wanting to block this bill (Sen. Richard Shelby has at least taken CEOs to task so seems more even-handed) but at least they seem as if they are on the right track. Radical change in necessary. Working men might suffer, but they are going to anyway. That is what happens in a Depression, but at least in bankruptcy the fat cats who create the problems can potentially suffer the failure of their visions and leadership as well. This alone is worth something.
Oh yeah, it begs remark. Gov. Blagojevich is a scumbag and the day after mentioning the sale of the Parking Meter concession to a privte comapany it turns out that Obama's Senate seat was for sale too. It is exciting that the Democrats are eagerly trying to insure that they cannot maintain their supremcy. On the other hand it is wonderful that the Republicans who wanted Patrick Fitzgerald dethroned when he was investigating Cheney and Libby are now suddenly supporters now that he is bringing down a Democrat. Fitzgerald at the moment looks like one of those genuinely great Americans who has helped to clean up politics. All success and credit to him. We need a whole lot of cleaning up. Let's hope he is not visiting hookers on the side or making propositions in Minnesota restrooms.
Back to Blagojevich. Notice how perfectly coiffed his hair is. It is amazing to me that the more slimey a politician the better his hair is. That is truly a warning sign. Look at slippery Mitt Romney, screws-around-on-his-sick-wife Edwards, etc. If the guy's hair is too good look out! Heck this actually applies to Sarah Palin but of course to say so would open one to charges of sexism, since of course all my other examples would be disregarded in favor of a chauvinistic focus on Palin's hair and clothes. Her perfect coiffing is not beacuse she is a woman but because she is a corrupt politician. Other guys with too perfect hair include John Ensign, always in his plaid flannel but who seems so far honest (if profoundly misguided), but keep your eyes open, Randy Cunningham (no more need be said), Rick Santorum (Mr. my kids are in private school in Virginia and the PA taxpayers pick up the 20K per year tab) and probably others but I haven't looked at the pics recently.

Labels: Obama HilaryClinton UAW GM Ghrysler Bailout Ford Blagojevich hair corruption

posted by travellinguist @ 8:19 PM