A really good read. I share it from our old friend CF who said, “A great, great response to America’s Constitutional fetishism. Probably requires more tolerance for ambiguity than we can muster.”
I agree with much said by the good professor. I fear the preceding sentence might be hazardous to the health of the reade, for which I give my apology.
Here we are again at the end of another year. The election results turned out the way I wanted them to be – but just take one look at the current Congress that cannot even agree on any budget deal until the last few minutes of this year with that fiscal cliff right before our eyes…
And let’s not forget – these same Congress Critters were the ones that made this fiscal cliff by voting for those sequestration automatic spending cuts…..so, who the hell would have kept their job if they were working in the private sector if they did not meet their deadline?
At the very least….these Congress Critters need to lose their heatlh insurance and their pensions – and withhold their paychecks until they agree on some damn budget.
My hope for the new year is that the new Congress will be able to at least attempt to represent WE the PEOPLE and not worry about their own damn jobs and their own political partisan hacking.
But……didn’t we say the same thing the last time around….and the time before that….and the time before that?
Seriously……I do believe we have the chance to make things better for everyone…..I just hope we don’t waste another year and end up saying the same thing come December 31, 2013….
I just read that President Obama will be speaking to the nation soon. Several days ago I thought the choices were limited to three and asked if anyone could think of others. No one responded. I still can only think of these three:
1. An agreement is struck that no one will like.
2. They change all the deadlines so the situation in its entirety is simply kicked down the road.
3. The fiscal cliff is achieved, gone over, and then the congress critters argue about what to do about the parts of those tax increases for everyone and draconian (according to some) spending cuts that go with sequestration.
And even if one of the above happens, anything those congress critters do today is subject to change tomorrow or next week or month.
So, we wait. Bet none of us will be totally happy about whatever it is.
Well… He did what any boss should do in keeping morale up. He encouraged us to hope and be optimistic while we all continue working. Our part is to contact our congress critters. It is the job of the lawmakers and once they complete their job something will be on President Obama’s desk for him to consider. He certainly has made it very clear what he will support (sign).
No wonder he wasn’t the parties nominee, he makes entirely too much sense to be chosen by the clowns that do the deciding for the Republican Party.
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) had harsh words for his party in an interview published Sunday in Britain’s Daily Telegraph.
“The party right now is a holding company that’s devoid of a soul and it will be filled up with ideas over time and leaders will take their proper place”, he said.
“We can’t be known as a party that’s fear-based and doesn’t believe in math”, he added. “In the end it will come down to a party that believes in opportunity for all our people, economic competitiveness and a strong dose of libertarianism”.
“In my party, compromise cannot be seen as analogous to treason, which it has been recently”, he said
I always liked Jon Huntsman…..and I always believed he was too intelligent for the curent group of Rabid Religious Right, Tea Party Mad Hatters and the Birthers.
Seriously – I think Jon Huntsman would have given Obama a definite run for his money this election…..
Today’s “post:” Sad and true. This truth will not change until the US government changes … and the government will not change until the Congresspersons and Senators change … and the congress and senate will not change until the voters change. Whoa … that’s us! Sad and true. Maybe a representative democracy is not such a good idea, after all.
I am concentrating on happy today. I can’t get bogged down in the what’s gone wrong because there is so much that is going right. And, we truly are the change we want to see in the world.
Bob calls it a representative democracy, which clearly from the original text of the Constitution, was not intended (except perhaps the structure of the House of Representatives). B. Franklin referred to it as a republic, much closer to the truth.
Democracies, in whichever form, have not been long-lived in the history of the world, and have been in most instances the precursor to a totalitarian state (in some cases, with a perid of anarchy between the two). There would not be, IMHO, any ‘doctrine’ of the Imperial Presidency without the attempts at democratization of the U.S. Government.
My thoughts on this are colored by the writings of Plato and Plutarch, among others. While the Age of Enlightenment (Age of Reason, should you prefer) laid the foundation to the U.S. Constitution, be aware that these philosophers’ thoughts and writings were also the seminal bases for Socialism. Abstractly, an argument can be maintained (in good faith) that the natural result of the American Experiment is a Socialist form of government.
Ah, I ramble. Time to shut it down. Best to all my friends here at PPP for a Happy New Year.
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Is this anything like that phone answering automated message I got when I called my doctor’s office last Friday? I called three separate times. The first time I was on hold for 10 minutes, the second it was 15 minutes and the last it was 20 minutes.
I thought I was in automated message-loop H-E-L-L….
I never did get to talk to a live person….
But you know what? Before Via Christi bought out Wichita Clinic – I never had to wait for a live person to pick up the damn phone.
If this is more of that Catholic Compassionate mission-based healthcare – thanks but NO thanks!
BTW – I went down to the nearby Walgreens Take Care Clinic for my problem I knew what it was because it is a recurring problem. I simply needed someone to confirm it by a UA test and to call in an antibiotic for the UTI.
This clinic down the street from me was wonderful – they took me as a walk-in patient – they did a dipstick UA, confirmed the suspected problem, faxed in antibiotic for me to my Dillons Pharmacy across the street and I was back home within an hour and half.
NOW that is what health care should be….
If you have something minor or routine that can be handled by one of these Take Care Clinics – I recommend them.
BTW – The Medical Assistant from Take Care Clinic called me this morning for a follow-up call – to see if I was feeling better and the antibiotic was helping.
I don’t even get that service from the Christ-centered mission people….
And the cost of the Take CAre Clinic – $11 for UA dipstick testing and $89 for new patient appt – they take most insurance cards. I only had to pay my $25 copay.
Saving money=automated telephone gateways. Doesn’t matter; VA has similar system. Eventually, a live person comes on, shortest wait so far =20 minutes. Good followup by nurse, so long as a 72 hour wait isn’t discourging (to be fair, weekend intervened, and my question was more procedural than substantive [yes, fnord, a reversion to my ‘native language’ here] so I was not shocked).
Yes, I’ve switched to the VA for my primary care provider. The folks there are kind and caring, albeit over-worked. I’m going to see whether there are any suitable volunteering opportunities available once I’m a bit better ensconced in the system.Seems the least I can do.
The big take away from the ongoing ‘fiscal cliff’ negotiations is that this manufactured crisis doesn’t have an ending as long as its architects are also its manipulators.
Remember when politicians preferred voters not pay attention, when they stayed out of the spotlight and made their back-rooms deals then told the public what little they wanted us to hear?
I listened to Sen. Tom Coburn (Republican from Oklahoma ?) rattle on and on about how Obama’s proposal was not even attacking the real problem – the spending cuts. He said that Obama was only wanting more revenue and then wanted more spending.
Excuse me….but isn’t Coburn adn his fellow Republicans the same folks who sat back and watched George W. Bush spend us into trillions of debts?
Or how about the fact that these same Republicans all supported Romney – who wanted to spend $4 trillion MORE on the military than was even asked for in the budget?
So – how the Hell do these Republicans think I will listen to them complain and moan about how bad Obama is when they have proven to me (and everybody) that they really do not care about spending money we don’t have – if it is their ‘boy’ who is doing the spending.
As for this fiscal cliff crappola – I really believe that Republicans are so stupid that they really think that voters will applaud them when they go in after the 1st and vote for the same proposal that Obama put forth in the past two weeks .
But, with one difference, as of Jan. 1st – the tax rates would be the higher rates from the sequestration budget and then these RePUKES can claim that they ‘lowered’ taxes on the 98% of the people.
These RePUKES really think the voters are as stupid as they are?
THIS voter is NOT stupid…….and I’m tired of these RePUKES playing partisan politics.
Either get in there and try to resovle our problems or get the HELL out of the way…
I hope there is a big backlash on the RePUKES….we’ll see how low the approval rating for the Congress goes after this fiasco…
The republicans are used to only their constituents and so they don’t realize what it’s like to be speaking to voters who are capable of rational thoughts and critical thinking skills.
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
A really good read. I share it from our old friend CF who said, “A great, great response to America’s Constitutional fetishism. Probably requires more tolerance for ambiguity than we can muster.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/opinion/lets-give-up-on-the-constitution.html?_r=0
I agree with much said by the good professor. I fear the preceding sentence might be hazardous to the health of the reade, for which I give my apology.
“New Years is the accepted time to make your annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” — MARK TWAIN
Here we are again at the end of another year. The election results turned out the way I wanted them to be – but just take one look at the current Congress that cannot even agree on any budget deal until the last few minutes of this year with that fiscal cliff right before our eyes…
And let’s not forget – these same Congress Critters were the ones that made this fiscal cliff by voting for those sequestration automatic spending cuts…..so, who the hell would have kept their job if they were working in the private sector if they did not meet their deadline?
At the very least….these Congress Critters need to lose their heatlh insurance and their pensions – and withhold their paychecks until they agree on some damn budget.
My hope for the new year is that the new Congress will be able to at least attempt to represent WE the PEOPLE and not worry about their own damn jobs and their own political partisan hacking.
But……didn’t we say the same thing the last time around….and the time before that….and the time before that?
Seriously……I do believe we have the chance to make things better for everyone…..I just hope we don’t waste another year and end up saying the same thing come December 31, 2013….
We shall/
I just read that President Obama will be speaking to the nation soon. Several days ago I thought the choices were limited to three and asked if anyone could think of others. No one responded. I still can only think of these three:
1. An agreement is struck that no one will like.
2. They change all the deadlines so the situation in its entirety is simply kicked down the road.
3. The fiscal cliff is achieved, gone over, and then the congress critters argue about what to do about the parts of those tax increases for everyone and draconian (according to some) spending cuts that go with sequestration.
And even if one of the above happens, anything those congress critters do today is subject to change tomorrow or next week or month.
So, we wait. Bet none of us will be totally happy about whatever it is.
Well… He did what any boss should do in keeping morale up. He encouraged us to hope and be optimistic while we all continue working. Our part is to contact our congress critters. It is the job of the lawmakers and once they complete their job something will be on President Obama’s desk for him to consider. He certainly has made it very clear what he will support (sign).
I have just sent emails to Pompeo, Moran and Roberts. I think I’ll call their offices next.
It now seems possible that bits and / or pieces of the three possibilities is yet another possibility. đŸ™‚
Yes, which was my immediate thought upon reading your earlier post.
No wonder he wasn’t the parties nominee, he makes entirely too much sense to be chosen by the clowns that do the deciding for the Republican Party.
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) had harsh words for his party in an interview published Sunday in Britain’s Daily Telegraph.
“The party right now is a holding company that’s devoid of a soul and it will be filled up with ideas over time and leaders will take their proper place”, he said.
“We can’t be known as a party that’s fear-based and doesn’t believe in math”, he added. “In the end it will come down to a party that believes in opportunity for all our people, economic competitiveness and a strong dose of libertarianism”.
“In my party, compromise cannot be seen as analogous to treason, which it has been recently”, he said
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/republicans/9771589/Republican-party-is-devoid-of-a-soul-says-Jon-Huntsman.html
I always liked Jon Huntsman…..and I always believed he was too intelligent for the curent group of Rabid Religious Right, Tea Party Mad Hatters and the Birthers.
Seriously – I think Jon Huntsman would have given Obama a definite run for his money this election…..
Today’s “post:” Sad and true. This truth will not change until the US government changes … and the government will not change until the Congresspersons and Senators change … and the congress and senate will not change until the voters change. Whoa … that’s us! Sad and true. Maybe a representative democracy is not such a good idea, after all.
It is very sad.
I am concentrating on happy today. I can’t get bogged down in the what’s gone wrong because there is so much that is going right. And, we truly are the change we want to see in the world.
Bob calls it a representative democracy, which clearly from the original text of the Constitution, was not intended (except perhaps the structure of the House of Representatives). B. Franklin referred to it as a republic, much closer to the truth.
Democracies, in whichever form, have not been long-lived in the history of the world, and have been in most instances the precursor to a totalitarian state (in some cases, with a perid of anarchy between the two). There would not be, IMHO, any ‘doctrine’ of the Imperial Presidency without the attempts at democratization of the U.S. Government.
My thoughts on this are colored by the writings of Plato and Plutarch, among others. While the Age of Enlightenment (Age of Reason, should you prefer) laid the foundation to the U.S. Constitution, be aware that these philosophers’ thoughts and writings were also the seminal bases for Socialism. Abstractly, an argument can be maintained (in good faith) that the natural result of the American Experiment is a Socialist form of government.
Ah, I ramble. Time to shut it down. Best to all my friends here at PPP for a Happy New Year.
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Please do not respond to this email as this inbox is unattended. Thank you again for sending me your note.
Mike Pompeo
Member of Congress
Is this anything like that phone answering automated message I got when I called my doctor’s office last Friday? I called three separate times. The first time I was on hold for 10 minutes, the second it was 15 minutes and the last it was 20 minutes.
I thought I was in automated message-loop H-E-L-L….
I never did get to talk to a live person….
But you know what? Before Via Christi bought out Wichita Clinic – I never had to wait for a live person to pick up the damn phone.
If this is more of that Catholic Compassionate mission-based healthcare – thanks but NO thanks!
BTW – I went down to the nearby Walgreens Take Care Clinic for my problem I knew what it was because it is a recurring problem. I simply needed someone to confirm it by a UA test and to call in an antibiotic for the UTI.
This clinic down the street from me was wonderful – they took me as a walk-in patient – they did a dipstick UA, confirmed the suspected problem, faxed in antibiotic for me to my Dillons Pharmacy across the street and I was back home within an hour and half.
NOW that is what health care should be….
If you have something minor or routine that can be handled by one of these Take Care Clinics – I recommend them.
BTW – The Medical Assistant from Take Care Clinic called me this morning for a follow-up call – to see if I was feeling better and the antibiotic was helping.
I don’t even get that service from the Christ-centered mission people….
And the cost of the Take CAre Clinic – $11 for UA dipstick testing and $89 for new patient appt – they take most insurance cards. I only had to pay my $25 copay.
Hey – not bad, huh?
To be fair to my doctor’s office – it was a Friday and they have been swamped with alot of sick people with this respiratory crappola and the flu.
BUT…..if my call was being answered in the order it was received, wouldn’t I have had the pleasure of talking to a live person within 20 minutes?
Just asking…
Saving money=automated telephone gateways. Doesn’t matter; VA has similar system. Eventually, a live person comes on, shortest wait so far =20 minutes. Good followup by nurse, so long as a 72 hour wait isn’t discourging (to be fair, weekend intervened, and my question was more procedural than substantive [yes, fnord, a reversion to my ‘native language’ here] so I was not shocked).
Yes, I’ve switched to the VA for my primary care provider. The folks there are kind and caring, albeit over-worked. I’m going to see whether there are any suitable volunteering opportunities available once I’m a bit better ensconced in the system.Seems the least I can do.
The big take away from the ongoing ‘fiscal cliff’ negotiations is that this manufactured crisis doesn’t have an ending as long as its architects are also its manipulators.
Remember when politicians preferred voters not pay attention, when they stayed out of the spotlight and made their back-rooms deals then told the public what little they wanted us to hear?
Things worked a bit more efficiently then, whether one agreed with the outcome.
I listened to Sen. Tom Coburn (Republican from Oklahoma ?) rattle on and on about how Obama’s proposal was not even attacking the real problem – the spending cuts. He said that Obama was only wanting more revenue and then wanted more spending.
Excuse me….but isn’t Coburn adn his fellow Republicans the same folks who sat back and watched George W. Bush spend us into trillions of debts?
Or how about the fact that these same Republicans all supported Romney – who wanted to spend $4 trillion MORE on the military than was even asked for in the budget?
So – how the Hell do these Republicans think I will listen to them complain and moan about how bad Obama is when they have proven to me (and everybody) that they really do not care about spending money we don’t have – if it is their ‘boy’ who is doing the spending.
As for this fiscal cliff crappola – I really believe that Republicans are so stupid that they really think that voters will applaud them when they go in after the 1st and vote for the same proposal that Obama put forth in the past two weeks .
But, with one difference, as of Jan. 1st – the tax rates would be the higher rates from the sequestration budget and then these RePUKES can claim that they ‘lowered’ taxes on the 98% of the people.
These RePUKES really think the voters are as stupid as they are?
THIS voter is NOT stupid…….and I’m tired of these RePUKES playing partisan politics.
Either get in there and try to resovle our problems or get the HELL out of the way…
I hope there is a big backlash on the RePUKES….we’ll see how low the approval rating for the Congress goes after this fiasco…
The republicans are used to only their constituents and so they don’t realize what it’s like to be speaking to voters who are capable of rational thoughts and critical thinking skills.