The Electric Chair

First a couple of things…

I had my first Chick-fil-a sandwich about 3 weeks ago (before the kerfuffle). My daughter got a free sandwich coupon, which she’d never use, being a vegetarian. I took, enjoyed the sandwich enough (it was alright), and went on my way. So I’m no super fan of the restaurant.

I also really don’t have strong opinions about Gay Marriage one way or the other, but I have always subscribed to a more libertarian view that says the government really should get out of the Marriage business altogether. Marriage should be between you and your church. However, the government *does* regulate contracts, and therefore should grant whatever name you want to call it –civil unions seems appropriate– to couples who want to share their life together, and enjoy the benefits that gives “married” couples today. In a strict sense, I suppose I support “gay marriage” *ONLY* because I think it’s unconstitutional to discriminate against people who want to enter into a government sponsored contract based on their gender. I am more of a fan of traditional marriage, probably because I’m a traditional guy, and don’t really dig other guys — if you do, and want to be with another dude, that’s your right — but I’m not anti-anything.

So recently a number of people have come out and said they’ll never got to Chick-Fil-A because of something the President/Owner said. Of course that’s their right, it is a free market so more power to you for putting you money where you want. But I do feel I need to point out a few things.

1) An individual said this. While he is a big-wig, and may even profess to speak for the “company”, he really doesn’t. He does not speak for the individuals that work there. Hating on an entire group of people for one man’s opinion is just as bigoted as they think the individual is.

2) The man stated an opinion. In no way did he say he would discriminate, and there is no record of discrimination from him or his company. Get that: it was just an opinion.

3) While I may or may not support what the man said, I wholeheartedly support his right to say it. Rah Rah free speech!!

4) Government officials who are denying permits for Chick-Fil-A stores are discriminating illegally I believe. This is truly a horrible day in America. Let America decide with their money… I don’t want my politicians deciding for me what is correct thought or correct speech.

Based on that, I support Chick-Fil-A as a company. I support individuals and groups rights to say what they want, and support the people’s ability to decide for themselves where they want to put their food money. I’m ashamed of the people in this country who which to punish those who don’t “think right” (like they do), and don’t tow the Politically Correct Line. It’s OK to have an opinion, and to express it, even if I, or you, think it’s a bad one. No one should be afraid to speak their mind…

Now, whether I decide to go get another sandwich from Chick-Fil-A will likely depend on whether I get a craving for one, or it’s a convenient meal some time in the future… but if people keep acting like bigots, against a “bigot” for speaking his mind, I might just be apt to artificially get a craving.

The President proposed a plan to reduce the deficit by $1.5, which includes raising taxes on the “wealthy”.  Now, a few articles mention that it’s over a 10 year period, but many leave it out, and it’s important.  Doing the math, the current yearly deficit is projected to be around $1.2T.  Assuming a 10 year plan with no change in income or spending (ha!), that’s a $12T deficit, and $1.5T is a 15% drop, or a $10.5T addition to the already $14T+ debt.

Further, cuts are included as part of this plan, which included a $650B cut in Medicare/Medicaid.  The left balked and he’s backed down from that to  $320B number and taking Social Security Reform off the table as well (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/19/obama-yields-to-liberal-outcry-on-entitlement-reform/), so that’s $1.18T in deficit cutting now…. not even a years worth of Deficit spending, over a 10 year period (simple math says less than 10%). Either way, the maximum revenue, assuming the only cuts were those $320B, would be $850B.  That’s a large number… but that’s over 10 years!  That’s $85B a year in taxes (averaged of course).

These are not serious answers to the problem.  Raising the rate on Americans who employ the rest of us does the opposite of stimulating the economy.  For a paltry $85B/year we are going to stagnate job creation, competition, and punish the “wealthy”, who, if I haven’t pointed it out enough already: HIRE THE REST OF US!

Lest you think $85B is a huge number (it should be!), consider these facts:

2011 est Total Revenue: $2.17T ($85B is 4% of that)

2011 est Total Spending: 3.82T ($85B is 2.2% of that)

2011 est Deficit: 1.65T ($85B is 5.1%)

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_United_States_federal_budget)

So, it is true that the amount of money asking to be paid by the “rich” is a small number in comparison to overall revenue and spending, and one might ask “so what’s the big deal then”?  I’m of the mind that any less money that anyone has in their hands is less money that gets circulated.  Each dollar that is spent is not taxed just once, it’s taxed as it’s spent again and again.  But once money is taxed, it’s generally out of the loop.  Yes, it might be spent by the government, and taxed again, but by that time it’s already added a level of inefficiency that makes the same process done privately much more beneficial to the economy.

If you tell me I’m going to have 5% less money this year than last, I’m going to make changes that involve me spending less (an anti-stimulative effect when multiplied).  What makes you think that the wealthy are going to act any different? Further, what makes you think they won’t just move *more* money into tax-exempt holdings in order to keep their own money over the long haul.  Every time taxes have been raised, that’s been the effect (http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/277249/you-can-t-tax-rich-thomas-sowell).  That’s what the famed Warren Buffet does. I argue, that if you really want to tax the wealthy at a higher rate than the rest of us, then you want to eliminate some of those loopholes (which has been proposed by both sides, but never without the addition of several other measues).

I, for one, have never understood the attack on the job creators of this country.  We cannot be a truly free society while we force those who employ the rest of us to pay more than their fair share (and apparently “fair” is a higher percentage of their money than of mine… a ridiculous notion to begin with).  If Warren Buffet thinks he needs to pay more, then he should lobby for the removal of the tax breaks that allow him to skirt the IRS.  The fact is, however, that he’s an exception to the rule, and that most of the wealthy *do* pay more than the rest of us both in real value and as a percentage (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iP3lhS4ZQ-UhyUvFfUgdPCiu-jJA?docId=47a565563a294b2bad96544a7f0ddc1b).

The deficit and debt are surely huge problems that must be addressed, and everyone should agree that both raising revenue and cutting spending are both parts of the equation.  Where we surely disagree is how to raise that revenue.  I argue that we stop this class envy and get logical about it.  Reducing our military presence where it makes sense to worldwide, cutting all programs across the board, closing loopholes that allow some to skirt the existing tax rates, and allowing the economy to grow *privately* are the methods I see as best.  By allowing the private sector to grow, the economy grows (and thus tax revenue grows).

Look, the economy will naturally grow, our problem simply is that we grow spending faster than we grow the economy and revenue.  If we simply stop adding to spending, eventually it catches up.  That’s not sufficient to solve our problem in a timely manner, but it’s a start.  All I see from the current administration (and most politicians for that matter), is an insistence on stifling growth.  Almost every government policy has a net effect of slowing the economy.

The best thing that could be done right now is to have a true pro-business and growth policy and stop attacking the wealth makers and job creators.  Simply giving our businesses some stability by promising a no tax policy increase policy would generate good-will and reduce fear, thus freeing many companies and individuals to start spending and entrepreneurship.

*  Is it OK that the government is seizing private domain names on the internet?
(Stipulation: the domains *are* being used to advertise and sell pirated material)

*  Is it OK that the government has injected itself into the airline industry in the form of the TSA, and that people are required to give up their 4th amendment right to ride on a plane in a private industry?  And where the heck is the ACLU on this?

*  Does it concern you that when they do something so outrageous, as the physical pat-downs, it seems like full-body scans aren’t that big of a deal anymore?  Do you think that might have been the plan all-along?

*  Does it worry you that the government promised not to monetize our debt, but has done so anyway in order to prevent deflation (not inflation)?

*  Does it concern you that when figuring the rate of inflation the government does not use food and energy costs in that calculation?

*  Have you noticed that the price of food and energy have gone up at a higher rate than our so-called inflation rate?

*  Do you worry that recent classified document leaks embarrass the standing of our country as well as endanger the lives of those in our military?

*  Do you think a “two-year pay freeze” for federal employees will do anything to reduce the deficit?  And mustn’t it be nice to know, as a federal employee, that you’re job is secure for those two years, despite not getting a salary bump?

*  Do you remember when the debate was about “reducing the rising cost of health-care”?  What’s you’re insurance bill looking like these days?

*  Does it concern you that ousted congressmen, who are no longer accountable to their constituency, can still pass whatever laws they feel like.

*  Is “Censure” punishment enough for a congressman who’s been found guilty of ethic violations?

*  Should “Free speech” be regulated via the likes of the FCC and “Net-Neutrality” by our government?

Whether you’re a tea party lover, hater, or curious party, I think you might find the thoughts below somewhat interesting.

I’m going to the Tea Party today in Atlanta. I went last year, and wrote all about it (and re-posted in my last blog post). You can witness my excitement and reasoning there. This year I go in with the same reasoning and excitement, but with some added curiosity, encouragement, and some trepidation.

Reasoning, a year later…

Since last year, our government has done more to take away our freedoms, spend our money, and mortgage our children’s futures. We’ve seen “stimulus”, “jobs bills”, “health care reform”, and so many executive orders and decisions it makes our head spin. In a time when the economy is still trashed, we passed a massive bill which will tax us almost immediately, give us almost no benefits for 4 years, and start to dismantle 1/6th of our economy. Instead of working to improve the system by strengthening private industry (which produces jobs), while eliminating waste and corruption, we just piled on a new system which does almost nothing to help the overall problem. All this was done while the general public wanted some reform, but did not want it in the form it was given to us. It was done using backdoor politics, obscure rules, and closed door meetings. The level of distrust our elected officials showed us is only matched by the distrust we now have for them.

I speculated last year that the tea party movement was not a flash in the pan moment, that it would persist, and I was certainly right. The latest report says that 25% of voters identify themselves as “Tea Party Supporters”. That’s a huge movement. I’ve watched a lot of progressive Democrats and Republicans decide that their career is over, while watching a lot of moderate Democrats and Republicans get the message and start returning to their roots. I’ve seen many Republicans be challenged by more fiscally and governmental conservative folks who come from nowhere to take victory. And I’ve seen a lot of regular people put themselves out there to challenge the corrupt career politicians. I think anyone who doubts that the tea party had a hand in these changes is out of their mind.

I’m going to the Tea Party this year not as a protester, but as someone who wishes to demonstrate his right to free speech and assembly, and as someone who wants to let our politicians (all of them) know that we hold you accountable. The American people will remove the corrupt from power when tyranny affects them. We still have a form of government that allows and encourages this. We wanted some of the “change” Barack Obama promised (not all, but some)… and we’ve got none of that brand. We want an end to dirty politics, an end to endless spending, and an end to the erosion of our liberties under the guise of compassion and the shadow of fears.

Trepidation

There’s been a lot of talk lately about infiltrators who will show up with misspelled and racist signs in order to make us look bad. Since the news has been out there, I think it’s likely that we might not see as much of that as originally thought. I go in this time knowing that there will probably be some of those people, and there will be some legitimate crazies (birthers etc). I’m going to watch carefully and probably note them, take pictures, and document it all. If the tea party has been taken over by the crazies or if it’s obvious that it’s being infiltrated, I’ll document and report it.

I was also asked recently if I was afraid to go because we’ve automatically been branded as racists? I’m not worried, because I know the truth. I am not a racist, but the notion that people are dismissing us as such is very upsetting to me. Are there racists that go to Tea Parties? Sadly, I’m sure there are… but I know that we’re talking about a very tiny number, and that crazies unfortunately exist in any large gathering.

Preparation

I decided to take the entire day off, as there were other things I wanted to get done today as well. I started this morning by spending time with my baby boy, then heading outside to mow the lawn. (Surely the sign of an evil bigoted protester). I plan on taking Georgia’s public transportation system (MARTA) in to the gathering. It’s been pointed out to me that it’s “ironic” that I use a public system that apparently I’m protesting. For the record, it’s not ironic, and as I said before I’m not protesting.. I’m “demonstrating”. I fully support public transportation systems that serve a purpose. I regret that most of them are not as self sufficient as they should be, and would lobby to reform them so that they are, but I would point out that MARTA is both privately and publicly funded, and all in all a pretty decent system.

I plan on getting there early, and really check things out. I’m going in with an open mind regarding everything. If I see things I hate, I will probably “tweet” them. I will try to live-tweet most of the events today (GemZombie on twitter if you care).

I plan on meeting up with the same group of people I went with last year. They are a good group of people, and we enjoyed each others company last year. I will likely arrive before most of them.

I’ll be summing up the event in another post either later today or tomorrow. I’m looking forward to contrasting it with last years event, and will be looking closely for any ugliness on either side of the coin.

(Update: corrected numerous misspellings)

The second Atlanta Tax-Day Tea Party is approaching, and I’m once again planning on going. Last year I wrote a summary of my experience on facebook. I’m re-posting it here so it can be quickly contrasted with the write up I will do this year after the event. A long discussion occurred afterward, but that would be too difficult to re-post… if you’re curious, you can view the whole discussion on facebook.

From Thurday, April 16th, 2009 @ 4:41pm

I had wanted to go to the previous tea-party in Atlanta, but circumstances did not allow. If you don’t know what a tea party is, then you probably get your news from CNN who chose to mostly ignore it and marginalize it. I am not one for hyperbole, but let me assure you that this was a major event, it is not some fleeting thing, and those of us who attended are by no means radical extremists.

What is a tea party and why did we go?

The tea party phenomenon caught on because there are three groups of people who have been alienated. The conservatives, like myself have been sick of the ever expanding government attempting to solve problems with our money (and our childrens money with debt). We feel these problems have only gotten worse with these “solutions”. We are of the crowd that believes George Bush let us down fiscally and politically while we praise him for keeping America safe. The second group are the many moderates, who may have voted for Obama have joined us in our fears that government officials are not acting in our best interest as they have been surprised by the actions this congress and administration have taken. The third, albeit smaller, crowd are the democrats who have had a wake up call. They, like the moderates, have been surprised just how quickly this administration and congress has latched on to the economic crisis in the biggest power grab we have seen in our lives. They know that this trumps or at least equates with the power grab of the right after the 9/11 attacks.

The wake up call has come in a short period of time (less than a decade), during which we have seen our supposed representatives use serious problems and the fear they create to expand government and their control over it.

Us tea party goers have turned to the constitution and the founding principles which state that government needs to be controlled rather than the government controlling us. To us Liberty (which is _the_ theme) is only limited by government, but also requires government to preserve. Therefore we both respect government, but are wary of it.

The list of specific grievances is large, but here are just a few:

We’re sick of companies and people who make mad decisions receiving our money involuntarily. We are a compassionate country yet we believe we know how to distribute and spend our money better than government. Especially at a time when we are all hurting, why should my tax money go to someone who should have known better than to get into an adjustable mortgage. I looked into them too, and common sense told me it was a bad idea.

We’re tired of words not having original meaning any more. Many of us are frustrated with the loss of language. Specifically we are told that we are not engaging terrorists anymore. Instead they are insurgents, freedom fighters, engaging in man-made disasters. Yet, the day of the tea party Americans are warned of right wing extremists becoming “domestic terrorists”. Amazing how only Americans can be terrorists now. This only proves that our current administration is not the “change” we expected, just same of the same old marginalizing of the opposing viewpoint, and intellectual dishonesty that plagues almost all of our career politicians.

We are tired of politicians seeking more and more power and control over all aspects of our lives all the while taking our money. As one speaker said “When our children come home with report cards and A letter grades, we don’t turn to them and say ‘that’s great, now give me 5 dollars’… instead we reward our children. The government punishes you for being successful by taking more of your money. People should be rewarded for doing well and contributing to society”.

We understand that the original constitution allowed for taxes, but not an income tax. It took an amendment to add that bad boy in. We also understand that this was to be temporary, yet know that when it comes to government control, nothing is ever temporary. We understand the math behind taxes, and know that first our income is taxed, then the usage on the rest of the money is taxed (gas taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, social security taxes, medicare taxes, phone taxes, internet taxes, alcohol taxes, car taxes), and when all added together the math means that roughly 50% of our money ends up going to a government agency at some point, even if we get *some* of that money back after it sat with the government over the course of a year.

We’re sick of government telling us we’re extremists, we’re sick of politicians spitting in our face when they say that “Americans don’t care” (Chuck Schumer). We’re sick of people like Paul Begala saying we’re “Whiners” who should support Obama, pay our taxes and shut up (Yes, he really did… on Imus’ show). We’re sick of people like Barney Frank who refuse to take any responsibility for mishandling entities like Fannie Mae, and calling us Right-Wing haters when we merely ask him about it (what would he say if we applied labels to him when referring to him in the general sense. If you know who Barney Frank is, then I’m sure you know what I’m talking about). We’re tired of being told “We won, you lost, shut up”. None of this is the America we know and love.

Despite all that, it’s hard to fully explain the culture behind the tea-parties. I suppose if you don’t feel how we do, or even didn’t attend, you just can’t get it….

The Event itself:

I planned to meet a small group of people at a Marta station (local Atlanta public transportation). Once we boarded the train immediately it was obvious that this was going to be a big event. The train was loaded with people who had signs in their hands, American flags on their clothes, and a smile on their face. The amount of red was unbelievable. Getting off the train was a site to behold… literally hundreds of people streaming into the capital.

Our group stopped briefly before getting in line to get into the fenced off area. As we sat, a 10 year old kid walks by and asks us if we’d like a sign. He handed two of them two us: One a Fairtax.org sign, and the other a witty “Welcome to Sweden” sign (complete with Swedish Flag), both handmade. We gladly took the signs and held them proudly, all the while getting a kick out of how friendly and happy these folks were.

We got in line, where we made jokes with strangers about being “right wing” extremists while dads held their kids on their shoulders and danced along to the music being played on the main stage. My favorite sign was held by a young teenager which read “Don’t Tax me, Bro”. In line we were all handed pocket constitutions, and random fliers. Expectedly, there were a few folks selling things (water, fliers to buy shirts online), but I actually expected a lot more (after all, we are the capitalists and tax-earners of the country). Another of my favorite signs was “I paid for this sign with my stimulus money”. There was a lot of wit in the signs… none that I felt really went too far, though I suppose comparing the Obama Administration to the Mafia comes close, and only one sign that mentioned “Teabagging” (A term I found offensive) in the same sentence as Chuck Schumer.

We got into the main area and we were blown away by the number of people and signs. The party was supposed to start at 7pm, and we arrived at around 6:30 where the crowd was probably already close to 10,000 with hundreds of people still streaming in. The estimates we heard when all was done came in between 15,000 and 20,000 people.

There were a lot of speakers and a few prepared videos that were all very well coordinated. Most of the speakers spoke for less than 5 minutes which we all welcomed. There were very few politicians present (and the ones that were present were pretty small-time local politicians with the only exception being Dick Armey). As was heard said more than once, this day was for the people; the politicians were to shut up and listen to us for a change.

There were repeated themes of Liberty, respect for the constitution, an expectation that our politicians should listen to us, and that we need to vote almost all of them out. Repeatedly we heard “this isn’t about Obama, we were fed up with George Bush too” (yes I know, why didn’t we complain loudly when he screwed up – I’m first to admit that many of us were willing to let it slide a bit too willingly). Lower taxes… especially support for the Fair Tax, was of course a main theme seeing as this was “tax-day”.

Only a few of the speakers had real charisma, so I was a bit disappointed there, but everyone was articulate and respectful. We heard from local radio personalities, local event organizers, local businessmen/women, and just a few national names such as Dick Armey, and that 14 year old super-conservative kid (his was the longest speech, and admittedly a bit predictably boring, but still neat to see). There were two speakers who I felt were outstanding, one was a woman, the head of some action committee, and the other a local Radio guy (One of the “regular guys”) Of course the Atlanta party was headlined by Sean Hannity doing his show there to close things out. Many people left before and during his show (we left during to get a jump start on getting home). This to me proved that this wasn’t just about having a name like Hannity show up. Many of us were so far back that we couldn’t see him anyway, and we weren’t star struck enough to try to rush up and get a glimpse, or get on TV. That’s not why we were there.

Everyone I saw was in a good mood. I saw no “Pick-up truck Republicans” like my wife likes to call them… these were primarily folks with families, businesses, etc. There was an equal mix of age groups, including young children with parents, college age folks, and a smattering of older Americans. A small group of Obama Supporters showed up. The crowd of course made jokes and laughed in their direction, but there was no confrontation, no animosity, and certainly no hurtful comments. In fact many people said “good for them”. I commented that I bet they felt pretty safe, and made a joke that perhaps I wouldn’t feel as safe at one of their rallies. This got a pretty good chuckle. There were no “right-wing” extremists, despite the guy who had a sign which had an arrow pointing down at him proclaiming he was (obviously a joke referencing the recent DHS report). We saw one person (only one) holding a Confederate Flag. It was the consensus that this guy was probably an infiltrator hoping to get some media time to show how the group was ugly, or just a moron. Either way, he was ignored and didn’t seem to garner any attention at all other than our early notice.

I have never been part of a more polite, nice group of people in my life. I had my own worries going into this since I know that a crowd can easily turn ugly, but no such thing happened. The trip back (once again a packed Marta train) was fun too. There was the 60 year old women saying things like “I’ve never been to a protest before” followed by a murmur from the most of the passengers agreeing with her. Many people couldn’t wait until the next tea party. The news reports that marginalized this event as small and fleeting could not have possibly been honest.

It was amazing to be part of a group of people who respectfully demonstrated their views. There was a lot of excitement and happiness in the air. I was proud to be a part of it, and never once did I regret going… I only regret not going to the first one.

It’s been a while, and I need to take a few minutes of a break between work projects, so why not catch up with current events. But before that, just some fun stuff.

My youngest son turns 1 year old Feb. 1st, while the other children have recently turned 13 and 12. I love my family, and have been blessed with greats kids and a wonderful loving wife. Lately I feel like I have a pretty wonderful life. There are thing I’d love to change in my life (my financial situation, the location where we live), but with such a great family, I can overlook those things and enjoy my life.

Avery is so much fun. He’s become quite attached to me lately… probably because I’m the “fun” one. I pick him up when his mommy is busy and can’t attend to him instantly (ya i’m spoiling him). We play a lot, and he’s developing a fun and goofy personality. He’s also so very smart. He’s going to start walking any day now, as he’s already trying and his favorite thing to do is to have us hold his hands so he can walk over the entire house. He loves to climb stairs too (practically by himself) — much to the dismay of his mother. He’s definitely got some words now, even if they are hard to understand. The few baby signs (Sign language) we are consistent with he definitely understands, and I expect him to start repeating some of them any time. Watching all of these developments and how quickly they go by is very fun.

Ok, on to the news…

Health Care

Today is going to be an interesting day. The 60th seat of the Democratic Senate lock is likely to be broken today when Brown wins. That *should* change the game on Health Care, but I’m worried it won’t. Clearly the American people are *not* with our representatives on this brand of health care reform. The public wants reform, but they don’t want what is being shoved down our throats, and the arrogance of the Democrats in forcing it upon us is incredible. It’d be so easy for them to regain the public trust they’ve lost lately by being honest, and toning down this legislation into *real* reform instead of trying to control everything. Alas, I think these people are power drunk and don’t really even know what they are doing.

So if Brown wins, what happens? Well, I think the arrogance continues in one of three ways: 1) They refuse to seat him quickly, allowing their super-majority to stick until they pass it. 2) They use reconciliation to pass the bill with 51 votes. This would be the ultimate betrayal since that option is only for financial bills. So either they change the rules, break the rules, or change the bill in such a way that it becomes a finance bill. Either way, it’ll be a sad day for democracy. 3) The house decides to just accept the Senate Bill that was passed as is, which means they don’t need to do another vote and the previous Senate vote holds. Yet another sad day. Reference: Salon.com article

Looking Forward

Look, I recognize that the American people gave the Democrats the big majority (not the super majority mind you, that took a power hungry former Republican to make that happen), and those officials acting upon that vote is proper, except that now with a clear populace rejecting them, they continue down the wrong path. If I were a Republican election strategist, I’d be cheering for the Democrats to act so arrogantly, because it will be their demise. In fact, I think it already *is*. But in the end I want what is best for *everyone* in this country. I want the Democrats to realize their mistakes, and do the will of the people that elected them. I don’t want Republicans back in power because Democrats suck. I want them in power after they learn to be moral people and also do the will of the people who elect them. I’m looking forward to the 2010 elections, but at the same time I worry for the country. Yes, I’m quite sure Republican are going to cut the Democratic majority to almost even, maybe even better… but I have so much distrust in all politicians right now that I’m not giving the overall outcome much hope.

The Underwear Bomber

Someone asked me why I hadn’t blogged on this. I guess the whole thing is so ridiculous that I’m (almost) at a loss for words. Our government failed us. I don’t expect every attack to be prevented, but I do expect better of the money we give them. When a man gets on a plane with an explosive, and actually starts to set it off, that was a failure. When the man was on the Terror list, and gets on, that’s a failure. And for Napolitano to actually say the system worked, is arrogance in the highest. What worked was the diligence of the passengers on the flight. The only good thing that happened out of the whole thing was when Obama actually admitted that the buck stopped with him. Damn right it does, now fix it and stop trying to destroy our security with bad decisions like Gitmo and trying KSM with the same rights and courts as an American citizen. Do you know that’s going to cost $280 million or more. What a joke. He already said he’s guilty, he wants to be executed. Fine, make him a martyr, don’t read him Miranda rights and let him hurt *again* the victims families by giving him a “microphone”. What this government is doing is dangerous in both its action and inaction.

Much more to say, but gotta get back to work…

Take a look at this:

This kind of rhetoric is evil. It’s purely an attempt to stop debate. “Anyone who thinks this health care reform bill is bad is a Obama Hating, Right wing Militia, Aryan Group member”. It’s utterly preposterous.

Chalk up Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse as being another corrupt politician who has no idea what the term “Intellectual honesty” means.

It does him no good either. Honest people cannot listen to that and take the man seriously.

If I bore you with my story, skip to the bottom for “lessons learned”, because I can find politics and debate in anything.

On Sunday, October 18th, I headed to Decatur to DJ at Atlanta Varsity Showdown.  I wasn’t feeling that great, and had a scratchy throat.  I sucked it up, picked up a red bull and fulfilled my obligation.  At that point, I really just figured I was tired and run down.  During the drive home I quickly changed my mind.  That night I felt awful, and couldn’t sleep.

I took the next day off work, and rested… hoping that a day of rest would make me feel better.  So Tuesday I attempted to carry out a normal day, and for the most part I did, but I certainly wasn’t feeling great.  On Wednesday I felt a bit better, and I felt I was on the road to recovery.

How very wrong I was.  On Thursday I felt like I had been in a hit and run, and a serious cough had developed.  I took Thursday and Friday off of work, figuring I’d use those days, and the weekend to recover.

by Monday it was clear I was not getting better.  My symptoms were night sweats, completely achy body, headaches, congestion, intense coughing, and lack of sleep.  By this point I had already concluded that I had the flu, and not only that I had H1N1 (Swine Flu).    I decided this because about 3 weeks before I had the “Seasonal” Flu shot.  I wasn’t scared, as I watch and read the news *a lot*.  I knew that H1N1 wasn’t any more dangerous to the average person than any other flu, and I’ve certainly survived many a flu.  So I called the doctor, and went in that day. He said I probably have Swine Flu (no, I wasn’t tested). He told me to take Mucinex DM, and gave me an antibiotic, because I had developed Bronchitis (This is standard with me… every time I have any sort of respiratory infection, it almost always develops into bronchitis… this has been the case ever since I chose to go on the skiing trip with Krista and her family when I had a cold/flu when I was in High School.  By the way, my wife immediately quarantined me from the rest of the family.

The Musinex did nothing for me (I hear you all gasping, as apparently the entire world thinks this is a miracle OTC drug.  Well it sucks for me!), and my cough got much worse.  My coughing fits got so bad that my body would rebel and I’d start throwing up.   On Thursday I called the doctor back, told him my symptoms were worse.  He agreed to see me again.  He tested my lungs, gave me an inhaler, changed my antiobiotic to Levequin, and gave me TussionEx for the cough.

That helped.  The TussionEx is beautiful, it really slowed down the cough and helped me get some amount of sleep.  I eneded up taking the entire next week off of work to recover.

I began working on Tuesday of the next week (this week), but I’ve still been pretty sick.  The cough won’t completely go away, and I am very weak as my appetite has not fully returned, but all in all I feel dramatically better.  The Quarantine has partially ended, but I still sleep alone as I’m not pleasant to be with at night yet(the night sweats are terrible, and the coughing is still sporadic and annoying).

Lessons Learned

So that’s my story.  There are some lessons to be learned from this:

There are a lot of misconceptions about the flu and swine flu.

1) 90% of flu cases being diagnosed right now are H1N1.  If you think otherwise, you are fooling yourself.  There’s really no reason to test for it because it’s the flu, and you treat it the same way regardless of the strain.  For most people there really is no difference between H1N1 and any other strain.  It is true that they have noticed that children and pregnant woman are taking it a little harder than other people.  The theory is that H1N1 is showing worse symptoms for people who have strong immune symptoms.  Perhaps that means I have a strong immune system, or perhaps the Seasonal flu shot I had this year actually made it worse.  Or maybe I’m just getting older and things are hitting me harder.

2) I made the mistake of saying “H1N1″ is the seasonal flu this year to a number of people.  What I meant was that “the current season of flue is Swine Flu”.  Flu season usually really starts in January, and it’s very possible that a new batch of flu illnesses will hit the public. I still stand by the idea that if you have the flu right now, i’d bet money it’s H1N1… it’s “in season”.

3) People are terrified of the Swine Flu.  I was in the pharmacy when a woman walked up to the counter asking for the season flu shot.  The pharmacist said their store, and most of the others were out.  I interrupted and said I had the shot, and it didn’t do me any good.  The other woman’s eyes got wide as she asked me “You have the flu?”.  I said “yes”.  She said “What kind?”.  I said “You can only guess”.  She bolted from the store, while the pharmacist was happy to continue to talk to me at a few feet length.  The bolting lady wasn’t even within 20 feet of me as I was talking to her.  I understand not wanting to get sick, but that kind of fear is unjustified, and rather ignorant.

4) There’s a lot of debate about immunization, and frankly it surprises me.  Bill Maher (not my favorite person), questioned the entire science behind it.  In fact, he said something that I found quite hypocritical. (Links to video at the bottom) On his show, Chris Mathews, a guest, asks Bill “Why are fighting this fight”.  Bill responded “Just to say we need a debate about it, just to say that the science is not settled … this is not settled science like global warming”.  *Groan*  Global warming science is *not* settled, and when anyone says it is, grab your wallet, because you’re being taken for a ride.  At any rate, there is something to what he said despite his ignorance and being completely wrong in his reasoning.  Immunization for diseases that don’t mutate every year is different than seasonal and commonly mutable diseases.  I got the flu shot this year for the first time ever in order to hopefully prevent my baby from getting the flu, and having to get the shot himself.  Turns out that was at best possibly a useless gesture, and at worst made my H1N1 case worse.

5) Almost everyone I told that I had swine flu was surprised and concerned in a way I know they would not be if it had been regular flu.  It seems that people only listen to the scary details about H1N1 and don’t listen to anything else.  I encourage everyone to head over to the CDC website and read what they have to say. (http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/qa.htm).

This is the video that Bill was responding to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB5DLf1Qt78

This is the video I referenced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPrLCIoxe8Y

When the white house dug in their heals and made the statement that Fox News is *not* news, they also made a statement that Fox would not have access to any Whitehouse advisors or staff until at least next year.

Fox, of course, made sure it’s viewers knew about this. Then, of course, came the News Pool interview where Fox was denied the interview, while all other networks were not, until all of the other networks came to Fox’s defense, ultimately forcing the White House to back down.

What I find most interesting is the fact that Hilary Clinton will be on Fox tonight (on On the Record.) What’s even more interesting is the fact that Fox hasn’t made hay of that fact at all.  They are advertising it like any other interview, as though there was no Anti-Fox history from the White House.  One wonders if Greta will ask any questions about it, my guess is no.

The cynic in me sees it this way: The White House backed down, contacted Fox, and said “Alright, we’ll give you access to our staff, but let’s drop the feud on both sides”.  The White House was losing that bit of PR *badly*, and I think they took steps to stop the bleeding, while Fox, in the interest of news and ratings, decided that having the ability to Report the News was better than the PR/Ratings improvement the “See, we told you so” would bring.  They can let people, like me, do it for them.

One of the big stories lately, at least in my mind, is the Administration’s attack on Fox News.  This sort of attack isn’t new of course, as all of my friends on the left have long dismissed Fox News as anything but legitimate.  It’s no secret that I’m a Fox watcher and don’t totally agree with their assessment.

Their criticism usually centers around the idea that Fox is a “Right Wing” Network, and is completely biased to the right.  I think that oversimplifies things, and dismisses what Fox really is.  Anyone that denies that the programming on Fox leans to the right would be insane.  It is clear that Fox is the network to watch to find right commentary (I use right in the political sense, not the factual sense).  To say that Fox News isn’t a news network is not correct, however.  If you are one of those that disagrees with that statement, I simply ask you this: is MSNBC a news network?  Is it more of a News Network than FoxNews?

I asked myself that question this morning.  I attempted to look at the two networks with a blind eye (which is hard to do, but I think I did it).  I’ve concluded that the two are a result of each other, and are the Yin and the Yang of Cable News.  I attempted to analyze CNN too, but found that of all the networks, they were the most “News” Centric, and ultimately left them out of my comparison (which makes sense, and good for them — though once I took my “Neutral blinders” off, I still think CNN leans left). CNN does have commentary shows, and they do lean to the left, but compared to the other networks, this amount of programming is pretty minor.

So, being the geek that I am, I created a spreadsheet comparing the 24 hour programming cycle of MSNBC and FoxNews.  I put the programming into categories:

• (N) – News/Fluff – These are strict news shows, or semi-news/fluff shows.  Fox and Friends fits the News and Fluff while Special Report with Bret Baier is strict News.  (Need the MSNBC Equivelents?  Morning Meeting is News and Fluff and MSNBC News Live is strict News.
• (R) – This is a show that is hard right or leans Right.  In my list i separated that into (MR) too, as Morning Joe on MSNBC is definitely right leaning, but has more of a moderate tone sometimes.
• (L) – This is a show that is hard left or leans left.  I debated whether Chris Mathews was (L) or just (ML), and eventually gave him the (ML) rating.

Further, I noted that even the news shows could have a lean to them.  On Fox it’s fair to say that almost every news show has a bit of a right lean, at least in comparison to any other news network (It’s my belief that the other networks lean so far left that even fair reporting looks “right”, but that’s probably my idealogy, so for the sake of this “study” I’ve accepted that Fox has a bit of a right lean in their regular News).  I also accept that the MSNBC leans left in most of it’s news reporting. Whether or not those two lean each way equally is open for debate.

Both networks repeat their opinion shows multiple times. I did not clarify the number of shows in my study, but rather the hours of programming.

So here are my results, feel free to look through your programming guide and compare with me. In the 24 hours news cycle:

• Fox News has 16 hours of News Shows
• Fox News has 8 hours of Commentary Shows that are to the Right
• MSNBC has 8 hours of News Shows
• MSNBC has 3 hours of Commentary Shows that are to the Right
• MSNBC has 13 hours of Commentary Shows that are to the Left
• Fox has *one* business show (which leans right), while MSNBC has one Medical show (Which i’ve noted neutral)

Based on this I think the following conclusions are legitimate:

• Both Networks have a strict Political Lean
• Fox has more “News” programs
• MSNBC attempts to look more moderate and Balanced, and indeed does carry a commentary show that counters all of their others.  Fox lost their only “balanced” program when Colmes Left and Hannity and Colmes became just “Hannity”.

In case your curious and don’t want to do the analysis yourself, here are the shows and my classifications

FOX

• Fox and Friends (N/F) (3 hours)
• Americas NewsRoom (N) (2 hours)
• Happening Now (N) (2 hours)
• The Live Desk (N) (2 hours)
• Studio B With Shepard Smith (N) (1 hour)
• Your World with Neil Cavuto (BR) (1 hour)
• Glenn Beck (R) (2 hours)
• Special Report with Bret Baier (N) (2 hours)
• The Fox Report with Shepard Smith (N) (1 hour)
• The O’Reilly Factor (R) (3 hours)
• Hannity (R) (2 hours)
• On the Record with Greta Van Susteren (N/F) (2 hours)
• Red Eye (N/F) (1 hour)

MSNBC

• Morning Joe (MR) (3 hours)
• Morning Meeting (N) (2 hours)
• MSNBC News Live (N) (4 hours)
• Dr. Nancy (HN) (1 hour)
• Andrew Mitchell Reports (NL) (1 hour)
• Hardball with Chris Mathews (ML) (3 hours)
• The Ed Show (L) (2 hours)
• Countdown with Keith Olbermann (L) (4 hours)
• The Rachel Maddow Show (L)  (3 hours)
• First Look (N) (1/2 hour)
• Way Too Early with Willie Geist (N) (1/2 hour)

Conclusion

Now, if you’ve stuck with me this far… let’s quickly discuss what our administration is doing.  They are targeting a network because of it’s lean, and claiming they do not report news.  I think this is hypocritical and wrong.  MSNBC’s lean certainly looks like they have been in the tank for Obama.  I think Fox, despite the number of right wing commentators, has generally given a fair shake to the left in their news and interviews.  There is definitely an attempt to delegitimize each of the networks by their idealogical opponents.  I think that’s the wrong way to go.  The first amendment is a wonderful thing, and commentary is appropriate.  Perhaps the lean of the news show is problematic… but if you approach your intake of news and commentary with a skeptical and questioning mind, you can certainly make your own opinions.

We do not need a news Fairness Doctrine, we do not need to trash the news networks, and we do not need “Diversity” in the news and Radio… it’s already there!  The Free Market has already taken care of this.

The administrations efforts to dismiss Fox may backfire on them.  Their attempt to pat the other networks on the head has even CNN questioning the administration. My fear is that this backdoor attack on the first amendment is just the first step, however.  Obama just today dismissed FoxNews as “Talk Radio”.  If one did this, and the “Diversity Doctrine” (The new version of the Fairness Doctrine) makes any headway, that would allow the government to essentially shut down FoxNews.  Did you know that the government is attempting to fine Fox $30 million for “Wrong statements and indecencies”?  This is exactly the sort of thing Chavez has done to his critics… shutting them down.  No government should ever control the media. And of course it’s completely hypocritical, as I’ve shown that MSNBC leans way left.

We need debate, we do not need to stifle it.  Do not dismiss something simply because your politics say you must, and don’t let our government do it either.