Letterman: What a Disappointment

As a kid, I loved Late Night with David Letterman on NBC (not to date myself too much!)
He's had his lows and highs on cbs, but tonight--truly--was a new low.
His guest was GOP candidate Herman Cain. And in short, he was downright rude.
I completely agree that US Pres candidates should be put under the microscope (although somehow Mr. Obama cleanly escaped such a fate, but I digress...) but Letterman--and watch the tape if you think I'm exaggerating--was confrontational, dismissive, and downright rude. He made a mockery of the 9-9-9 plan every chance he could get. Not asking thoughtful, pensive, insightful questions, he was quite obviously defensive and downright venomous. Cain, although admittedly not my ideal candidate at the moment, did a fantastic job of laughing off the literal "bullying" that was Letterman. My concern is not that people are picking on the GOP candidates. That is a liberal mantra. As an admittedly former (gulp!) liberal myself, I am concerned about the general tv watching liberal populus (clip OWS) that have their ridiculous anti-capitalistic, anti-first ammendment views even more swayed by this has-been comedian.
If Obama had been "allowed" the same scruitiny, his resume of community organizer and one-term junior senator certainly wouldn't have held up.
Which party is the "racist" now?

Owning Up

Great article this week from Dr. Tim Nerenz, "Own It."
As someone who used to call themselves an independent voter (I always said I voted for the candidate, not the party) it's difficult for me to 1) rationalize the recent behavior of Democrats 2) find a real nugget of a usable action plan from Dems to get our country out of this economic crisis. Their attention doesn't seem to be on real, long-term solutions that inherently will cause pain to some who are used to entitlements. They're like a spoiled child--they want what they want and they want it now. And if they don't get it, watch out for the violent tantrum. We saw it on ObamaCare, we saw it in Wisconsin. If you don't agree with them or give them what they want, then you're an awful, awful parent--I mean, person.
Democrats: I really, really, really tried to give you a chance. But you have to grow up sometime.

Not a Good Time to be a Teacher

No matter where you stand on the states’ budget crises, one thing is for certain – our educational system seems to be paying the price. I’m not so much talking about teachers having to contribute to their pensions or health care (and we’ll stay away from the sticky subject of collective bargaining and unions!). As a private sector ‘minion’ I’ve seen decreased job security, decreased company matching for retirement contributions, skyrocketing health care insurance costs, and frankly, have been expected to produce more for the same or less money. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for that part of the equation. But where I do feel trepidation is when I hear that at the top of most states’ budget cut list is education. I’m not an economist, and I’m sure there are details regarding educational spending that could use some attention. But when I hear that the average American child is ranked something like 23^rd in the world in science and math, when I interact with young people who scarcely know if cabbage is a fruit or a vegetable (seriously, this just happened to me last week at the grocery check out line–I didn’t ask if he had ever had cabbage juice), I get gravely concerned. If the public educational system is run financially inefficiently, then I think a major restructuring should be in order. But is anyone doing this? Does anyone care? The last generation sold out this one in order to make things easier for today. I pray we are not now continuing the cycle. But I am not very optimistic.

"Everybody's fault but mine."

So it's winter here in the sometimes downright arctic American north, and much to my chagrin I have found myself watching T.V. on a regular basis. Something that the warm days of summer, and crisp autumn evenings had successfully kept me away from.
I am in awe of the number of expertly produced commercials singing the praises of the latest pharmaceutical wonder, and (in a low frenetic tone) expose the dangers and possible side-effects -- many of which outweigh the symptoms of the original problem. Because it is indeed the symptoms that a majority of these drugs treat, not the cause. But in our current "someone else fix me now" society, marketers are only trying to give the people what they want.
Can't blame the commercials. Commercials are made to attract a specific demographic or buying group. Companies spend billions on identifying needs and finding trigger points to tune into those needs.
Fact is, we have become a society of victims. A society that blames everyone else for their problems and looks outside of themselves for solutions.
Have a weight problem? It's McDonald's fault.
Have anger issues? Probably your Mom's fault.
Even with the recent tragedy in Arizona (again, playing out to nauseating depths on the boob tube) the story has become more than a deranged, obviously psychologically unstable person committing a heinous act. It has become someone else's fault.
His parents. His friends. His fellow students in Community College. The media. Sarah Palin.
Really??
What happened to personal accountability? What happened to the notion that there are consequences for individual choices?
A Homer Simpson quote for me says it all: "This is everybody's fault but mine."