Three Coins in a Fountain
I've got a black magic woman
Got me so blind I can't see
That she's a black magic woman
She's trying to make a devil out of me
--Black Magic Woman, Santana
Fair is foul, and foul is fair;
Hover through the fog and filthy air
--Witches, Macbeth (I. i)
We never see a headline
'Bout breadline, today,
And when we see the landlord,
We can look that guy right in the eye
--We're in the Money, 42nd Street
I will, I will, I will, I will
Be there to share forever
Love will keep us together
--Love Will Keep us Together,
Captain and Tennille
______________
Got me so blind I can't see
That she's a black magic woman
She's trying to make a devil out of me
--Black Magic Woman, Santana
Fair is foul, and foul is fair;
Hover through the fog and filthy air
--Witches, Macbeth (I. i)
We never see a headline
'Bout breadline, today,
And when we see the landlord,
We can look that guy right in the eye
--We're in the Money, 42nd Street
I will, I will, I will, I will
Be there to share forever
Love will keep us together
--Love Will Keep us Together,
Captain and Tennille
______________
All classes in the pre-volunteer Army used to start with a joke, or "life lesson" told as a joke. Let's do the same:
A disillusioned man climbed out on the ledge of a building with the intent to commit suicide by jumping. But before he jumped an old woman asked, "What are you doing, Sonny?"
"My life is garbage and I'm going to commit suicide."
"But," she said, "I'm a witch, and can grant you three wishes. But first, you must have sex with me for one week."
Since the jumper had nothing to lose, he agreed. After the week was up, he asked, "When can I get my first wish?" To which she replied with a question, "How old are you?"
"Thirty-seven," came the reply, to which the old woman said,
"Aren't you kind of old to believe in wish-granting witches?"
Well, Ranger is past 37 and certainly doesn't believe in wish-granting witches. The just-concluded Presidential election was a witch's promise. Both sides promised change, but they don't have the fairy dust with which to accomplish the feat.
What change is on the horizon?
- Will the phony wars end?
- Will the federal deficit diminish?
- Will the mortgage crisis end?
- Will the federal government save homeowners by refinancing their loans so they can keep the houses they could not afford to begin with?
- Will your taxes reduce?
- Will disabled vets get their benefits without administrative battles?
Ranger is old enough to remember another Democratic President who promised energy independence back in the 1970's -- Jimmy Carter. Despite his earnestness and scientific knowledge, it didn't pan out. Will global warming cease? Will love and change and warm fuzzies save us?
And now, the second half of As the World Turns . . .
Labels: black magic presidency, soap opera politics, willful suspension of disbelief in politics
posted by rangeragainstwar at 4:14 PM
8 Comments:
here's the deal on the economics and tax issue. my accountant, who is staunch republican, but a number cruncher extrodinaire did a work up of what my picture would look like under the proposed mcCain or obama tax system (he was taking both candidates at their word, which may or may not be foolish)
under mcCain i would have seen an instant hit to the tune of about 12K merely from his taxing my health care benefits as income. (myself and my three youngest children are all on my union health care plan)
under obama i would see competing benefits and increases. capital gains increasing from 35% to 39%, but seriously dude if you qualify for capital gains taxation at all you're doing alright, really. decreases in my small business income if i follow the trail of incentives, expand and take on employees, although if it remains a sole propietorship, overall decrease.
deacreases under the obama plan total 7%, after increases are factored in.
we'll see, i doubt i'll get a pony and shit, i doubt i will do discernably worse.
No magic, but at least Obama is a competent and intelligent man. Competence does count for *something*. Just ask the people who endured misery because of the incompetent response to Hurricane Katrina.
For anybody to make *real* change in America would require that the typical American suddenly come to his senses and realize that the current American lifestyle is toxic and poisonous and bad for our health and our future, and that we have to change the way we live or things will get even worse in the future. I expect cows to fly first. The Romans got as complacent, spoiled, and self-indulgent as current-day Americans and even as their empire crumbled refused to change until the Vandals came through and trashed the place and pretty much put an end to Rome, and I don't expect human nature has changed much over these past 1500 years...
- Badtux the History Penguin
MB,
he was taking both candidates at their word, which may or may not be foolish)This is the big disconnect- I won't take them at their word b/c i just don't believe in witches.Maybe if i did i'd get laid more often:) jim
BadTux,
How has Obama sown competance?By running an emotional church service campaign
I certainly hope that you are right.,but i'm not a big believer in words like hope. jim
I think you're misreading what this was all about. It was about the mood of the country and the Republican Party's deficiencies. Any decent Democrat would have won; Obama had a harder row to how simply because of his race. This was not a straight-up, head-to-head contest; it was in fact a referendum on the Republican Party, which finally proved to be too negligent and criminal for even the notoriously stupid American electorate to ignore. The total collapse of Wall Street and the big money boys was the final nail in the coffin. If you don't believe that, check the makeup of the new Congress.
We'd better all hope that Obama does a great job and can get the always lazy and negligent Congress to move forward on some decent policy, not only in economics, but in war and peace as well. But don't expect miracles from Obama: he was the anti-Bush/McCain much more than he was the savior. You want a savior, go to church. There will be hard times ahead.
Ranger (and Lisa), I always called you on your cynical view that all of these guys were alike. I have never agreed. And you'd better hope they aren't, that Obama doesn't end up having the type of criminal administration over which George Bush has presided.
Frankly, I don't expect Obama to be guilty of actively lying to the American people about national security issues and of actively working against the economic interests of most of the American people. Wish I could say the same about GW Bush and John McCain.
IMO, the right guy won. I suggest we hold off on our fire until he's actually in office.
Publius,
No doubt, Americans vote with their pocketbooks. If the markets hadn't imploded a few months before the election, it is questionable Obama would have won. People could not rewards Republicans with their vote this time.
I agree with you: "It's the economy, stupid." We are not looking for a savior, and agree there are tough times now, and there will be more in the future.
This is neither fire nor a preemptive strike; just a close reading of what we have, what we cannot expect and what is possible.
publius,
There will not be any check fires from this site.We call them as we see them.
Dylan-quote-Time will tell who has fell and who'se been left behind. jim
As a friend of mine said: Finally I US president I wish to throw eggs, not rocks at. Sums it up. It will be interesting to see how he unscrews Gitmo.
On the competence matter, I recommend reading Newsweeks behind the scenes account. A bit of hagiography, perhaps, but it brings out his qualities as a leader. The man is a pokerplayer and basket-fanatic, and doesnt loose his cool under pressure. That counts for something in my book.
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