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Name: RANT BRAZEN
Location: Wilmington, NC
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Is It Nice (or Smart) To Be Nice?

I am hearing mucho jabber, clatter and fuss discouraging Americans (us) from criticizing President Obama. Well, hey, how come? There seems to be some sort of threshold on really speaking one's (or two's or more) mind about President Obama as he weighs in on his homework for USA 101. I do feel that the negatives can be burdensome. And that a rookie in any league can feel sort of insecure. But, people, here's the guy who glibly said, "Bring it on. I'm the man. That's the job. Put us together and we'll make magic." Prove it. I mean, if you can't back up your big talk on the playground, shut up or some big bully, or several big bullies, will pick up all the marbles, kick dust in your face, and go tell the teacher you're a meanie. No big deal. Mr. Obama is simply entering into Oval Office Hazing, Part I. He is going to get his pants pulled down and will just have to grin and bear it. No, wait a minute, that was President Clinton, who I expect is still grinning and bearing it at every opportunity, though in settings probably not as opulent, rare and historic as that area right back of the big ol' desk. Just tonight on the teevee an entertainer who I suspect is a decent guy urged Mike Huckabee to ease up on Number One. Mike shrugged it off, then went to a commercial. Who called for a let-up on the two Presidents Bush during their struggles to do right and please the electorate? Nobody on that dreaded "other side of the aisle" where demons lurk and Republicans who enter in have never been seen again. Nope. Not them. So, call me merciless. Call me cruel. Or just call me Verne. But if President Obama nominates one unqualified dude or dudess after another for a rareified position, and it turns out that these individuals have not paid their taxes or committed some other malfeasance, then I say rap the president sternly on the knuckles and see that he owns up to a failure of the vetting process. And if the President runs up a tab in the federal budget that cannot NO WAY be paid back while we are still here to observe the fall-out, then I say give 'im heck Newt. And if he calls for bipartisanship, whatever that is, and doesn't give any of it to the Republicans, whilst figuring that he should be given some of that stuff anyway, then I say that ain't fair and it ain't right and quit it. I'm getting tired now. I'm 72 years of age, it's going on toward midnight here in my little home on the North Carolina coast, and I've had a hard day surfing the breakers. But don't let your guard down, and remind the President Obama that I'll be back after I have a real good nap, and I'll have updates on his report card in hand. You see, I don't forget. I may be old, but I still have a wonderful memory. It's not very long, it's just wonderful. So good night, you all.
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Can't We Just Get Along?

 

02:02:30pm 02/21/2009

VerneStrickland

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Mere weeks have passed since we witnessed the election of America's first black President. But already the rhetoric is ratcheting up. And some leaders who ought to know better are acting as if they don't know better. House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-SC, bitterly states that black citizens will be unfairly targeted if the Governors of four states refuse to accept their states' shares of the $747 billion stimulus pay-out. Clyburn claims the motive of the governors is racial. The governors respond that their stand is based on the belief that the huge federal bonanza is not a "stimulus" package but merely a "spending" spree. If the Senator truly feels that he is right, and I suspect he does, he might have phrased his objections in more delicate terms. In a similar brouhaha, Eric Holder, the nation's first black attorney general, went off the rails by complaining that, while Americans mix racially in the workplace, they appear to shun one another in their private lives. To this, he added, we are a "nation of cowards" where race is concerned. The fact is that, while the tart-tongued Attorney General might have some sway over integration of the business world, it is none of his business how we choose to spend our free time, and with whom we spend it. Sensitivity seems to be boiling over just when the nation is feeling a measure of pride over the historic significance of the national election. Ill-chosen words and hot tempers won't make this victory any sweeter. Quite the contrary. Why can't we all just get along?

Tags: Politics   race  
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I Like President Obama. Omigosh!

Look, I'm not having any fun heaping saracasm on President Obama. Not at the moment, at least. Maybe I've softened up a bit. I don't know. Actually I'm a little embarrassed to have become such a wimp. Where did my conservative Republican take-no-prisoners instinct go? Look, I have to admit I'm beginning to like the guy. Great smile. Warm personality. Beautiful family. Oh, my gosh! I've been a Republican ever since Jimmy Carter took that humble hike to the White House. This was before peanuts were found to have killed some people and sickened others because of salmonella poisoning. Well, to round out my confession, I learned to lob live philosophical rounds into the liberal camp by my old pal (now deceased) Jesse Helms. I miss him. He was a fighter. A patriot. A champion of conservative American causes. Jesse wouldn't be ashamed of me. He loved the Senate and his fellow Senators. He would tangle with the best liberals in Washington -- fiercely, tenaciously -- but when the tussle was over, he was their friend. I experience the same split personality where President Obama is concerned. He is practicing OJT. In the U.S. Army this meant "on the job training". With our new President, it might stand for "Obama's Just Testing". This would bother me less if he hadn't assured everyone during the campaign that he would be the one candidate who could hit the ground running, and take that celebrated 3:00 a.m. phone call confidently, without a pause or a whimper. But when the call came, there was nobody home. His team in the White House explained that it was all just "campaign rhetoric". Maybe so, but to me it was bordering on false bravado. Misleading. Bombastic boasting. It got him elected. Now where is he? He's not failing miserably. Former President Clinton says he is doing a good job. But Billy Bob is the guy who wondered what the meaning of  "is is"? 'Membah that? Then Mr. Obama looked like he was nominating and appointing complete strangers to some of the most sensitive and strategic positions in the U.S. government. Not impressive, my friends. The President didn't seem to understand what "vetting" means, and it's strange that his pet bulldog Rahm Emanuel had not explained it to him. President Reagan, the great delegator, was mocked by his liberal detractors for being "disconnected" from the daily realities of his job at theWhite House. But President Reagan had his agenda, and he stayed on target. And -- this is important -- he recruited good people, then trusted them to do their jobs. They deserved the trust, and Ronald Reagan posted many impressive accomplishments while in office. But I digress, or egress, or ingress, or whatever. I started out apologizing for liking Mr. Obama for being a regular guy. Well, I do like him. But that's not enough. America needs leaders who "git-er-done". And it takes more than a pleasant personality and a smooth delivery at the podium and well-tailored suits to make that happen. We'll give him time, okay? If hope we have it.
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