WHERE ARE THE ECONOMIC EXPERTS

We always thought we had a pretty good education. We are well grounded in the sciences, have read all the classics, know our history, ancient and modern, well versed in world geography and other cultures, able to read three languages, and better acquainted than most in the arts. However, we admit to having only a superficial knowledge of economics. We were smart enough to hire a good accountant, but even he is knowledgeable in the nuts and bolts of our tax system.

So we are not surprised that no one in our Congress has a clue on how to turn this economy around. While we recognize that good people feel obligated to act in a crisis, we are frightened that so many people who are so ignorant of economic theory are so determined to throw so much money at the problem. We have heard of Keynesian economic theory, the belief that massive government spending and low interest rates will keep an economy reving like a well tuned engine. However, your attention is directed to our masthead. We are moderate. We are uncomfortable with actions that stray too far from the middle of the road.

Everything about our elected officials reaction to this financial crisis is too extreme. Too much money is being spent too fast by people with too little expertise and too few safeguards. We fear that the pendulum has swung too far in other direction. President Obama may have been swept into office by a public seeking a change, but we are pretty certain that the American electorate did not think that change would be greater government spending, fewer financial safeguards, and more corruption.

We return to that point on education. We would like to hear from a couple of experts on the subject, perhaps a Nobel Laureate or a well published University professor or anyone else that is not remotely connected to a politician. We spent a career advising companies on long range planning. We frequently were told by CEOs that they couldn’t afford to take the time to do all that planning and we always told those CEOs that they couldn’t afford not to do the planning. Those that didn’t heed our advice are no longer CEOs. Now we tell our Congressmen and Senators take the time to listen to the experts before you act.

OBAMA DOES GOOD

We like to cultivate the image that we are moderate and middle of the road. So it was inevitable that President Obama would do something that we admire. Twice this week President Obama has show a political pragmatism that heartens us. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, had incensed middle and conservative America by earmarking tens of millions of dollars in the proposed stimulus plan for family planning. Fiscal conservatives failed to see the connection between birth control and financial stimulation and social conservatives saw it as a late Christmas bonus for abortion clinics. However, anxious to provide an olive branch to recalcitrant Republicans, President Obama made it clear that he would have the offending dollars removed from the stimulus package in exchange for bipartisan support.

In a second, brilliant, PR maneuver, President Obama gave his first exclusive television interview to Al Arabia, a network focused on the Arab world. The moderate network, based in Dubai and owned by a member of the Saudi royal family, reaches 23 million Muslims in the Persian Gulf. Telling Muslims, ”…Americans are not your enemy.”, Obama promised to do a better job at listening to the concerns of Arabs than had his predecessors. He reminded Al Arabiya viewers of his Muslim connections, “I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived in a Muslim country.”, associations he sought to minimize prior to his election. While most Americans may find the ingratiating tone of the interview somewhat embarrassing, it served to put critics of the US on notice that there is a new sheriff in town. Whether the interview will be taken as a gesture of good faith or a sign of weakness remains to be seen, but it caught everyone off guard, including us.

In the meantime, we may be from the Volunteer State, but we will adopt the attitude of our neighbors from the “Show Me” state.

IS IT LIVE OR IS IT MEMOREX?

Back during the Beijing Olympics much was made of the Chinese government’s digital enhancement of the opening ceremony’s fireworks and the dubbing of the voice of the angelic child that sang at the festivities. Pundits railed at the PRC’s obsession with controlling the images the world saw and heard. Now we learn that the Obama camp has taken a page from the Chinese and altered the broadcast that the world viewed on their television screens

The inaugural committee took great pains to make sure that the festivities would span the entire range of American culture, featuring artists from rapper Jay-C to cellist Yo Yo Ma. The latter played a piece specially composed by movie theme legend John Williams (Jaws) in a quartet including violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriella Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill, four of the most distinguished classical musicians of our day. The New York Times reports that only a handful of people sitting near the quartet heard the real performance. The remainder of the 1.8 million people in the crowd assembled on the Washington Mall and the 38 million Americans gathered around their TV sets were listening to a studio recording of the piece.

Obamabots quickly rationalized the dishonest performance as absolutely necessary because of the cold, even though the Marine Band and the Navy Band Sea Chanters were able to perform under the less than perfect temperatures. We don’t know if the decision to dupe the public was made by the musicians, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, or the Obama handlers. We do know that the 1.8 million people, who waited hours in the cold to witness this President who they so desperately want to believe in, deserve honesty, that the 38 million Americans watching deserve the truth, and 300 million US residents demand integrity in their President.

Now you may think that this is a minor, superficial thing. A generation addicted to the IPod may not be aware that artifical amplification is never used in classical music. We, however, think that this is just one more example of a man who has carefully presented a manufactured image to the electorate, a man who is obsessed with controlling everything the public sees and hears. We think it is fitting that this controversy centers on music written by the most famous movie composer of all time. The question is are we going to have a real President or just a man that plays one on TV?

PRESIDENTIAL PARANOIA

We have not warmed to President Obama yet. Having spent much of our life in the San Francisco Bay area, we remember the cult followings of Reverend Sun Myung Moon and the People’s Temple Jim Jones. From the Iowa Democratic Primary campaign to Tuesday’s mega Woodstock that was the inauguration, we have been reluctant to jump on the Obama bandwagon. It’s not that we don’t long for a President than can renew our enthusiasm for the promise that is America. It’s just that we don’t really believe in love at first sight. After all we married the girl next door whom we had known since we were 14.

We have watched President Obama as closely as if he had just started dating our only daughter. After all, we just met him a little over year ago, for us a too brief courtship. Frankly we don’t know much more about him now than we did a year ago…nice looking chap, good education, well spoken, but questionable antecedents and associations and, above all, few accomplishments. Nonetheless, the wedding is over, the American people have made this unknown suitor our President. The fact that he is now part of the family does not mean he has proved himself yet. We are encouraged by the quickness and decisiveness of his actions. He has already issued executive orders to close Guantanamo and end torture, actions we applaud. However, we witnessed something yesterday, that gave us our first glimpse of the real man behind the hype.

During a swearing in ceremony of White House staffers, Vice President Joseph Biden, when asked to adminster the oath, joked about Chief Justice John Roberts’ well publicized gaff during the inaugural. President Obama grabbed his arm, whispered something into his ear, and stepped back, the familiar smile completely gone. We’ve seen puppies that soiled the carpet corrected less severely. Poor Joe Biden is in for a long stretch. Later that day Chief Justice Roberts would be summoned to the White House to readminster the Presidential oath in a fit of presidential paranoia unseen since the Nixon administration. What may be just a footnote in Presidential history (it’s been done twice before without much notice) has offered us a glimpse of Obama’s modus operandi.

• First, there was an orchestrated effort to control the media’s portrayal of the event. Only four members of the press were allowed to view the redo swearing in. No video was allowed, though audio of the event has surfaced. It is unclear if said audio was authorized.
• Second, a carefully worded press release deemed the redo not required, but undertaken, “…out of an abundance of caution…” Today, in his first press briefing, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, repeated the “abundance of caution” mantra several times. He might have said, “just in case” or “to be sure”, but he didn’t, signaling that future responses to the press will be carefully scripted by the Obama inner circle.
  

We hope that what looks like paranoia is, in fact, an abundance of caution, and that President Obama will continue to act forcefully and not be paralyzed by an obsession to control all around him. In the meantime, we would love to have that body language expert from the Bill O’Reilly show assess that arm grabbing move. Around here, if you grab your kid or wife like that, you’ll end up in family court.

SHOW ME

It’s not often that in political commentary one gets to invoke a show tune, but after listening to the endless yammering about the historical importance of the coming administration of President Elect Obama and all we can look forward to, we find ourselves wandering about the house humming a tune from My Fair Lady. No it isn’t “I Could Have Danced All Night”. It is “Show Me” For you kiddies that don’t remember the ethereal Audrey Hepburn or don't know Lerner and Lowe's musical legacy, at the end of the movie, the character Eliza Doolittle chastises her too verbose suitor for promising and never delivering.

Words, words, words, I’m so sick of words. Never do I want to hear another word. There isn’t one I haven’t heard. Here we are together in what ought to be a dream. Say one more word and I’ll scream.

Yes, Obama’s election is historic. Yes, the world he promises is utopian. Yes, even we want much of what he promises to deliver. But we are past the dreaminess of our youth. We have spent a lifetime of working hard, hoping to provide a secure future for our children and a worry free retirement for ourselves. We have listened to our own parents and studied hard and secured our academic credentials. We followed the advice of our mentors and worked diligently to have a successful career. We have listened to our political leaders and fulfilled our role as responsible citizens, supporting our government and serving our community. Now we want the life we were promised. So, President Obama, show me. Show me now .

PRESS ON A LEASH

We have been patient with President elect Obama. We, like all Americans, are cautiously optimism. After all President Bush has set our expectations extraordinarily low. As disgusted as we are with the 43rd President, we are angrier with the press. Yesterday's Presidential press conference, Bush's last, was an embarrassment all around.

Despite the "go easy on the guy" attitude reserved for the occasion, the press allowed President Bush to make some of the most outrageous claims ever spoken aloud by a chief executive. Among the outrageous claims were that he thought that the federal response to Katrina had been adequate, that the financial melt down was something he inherited and that he was able to stay “lighthearted” while, “…reading reports about soldiers losing their lives.” Yet not one reporter challenged him.

President elect Obama has had several press conferences already and it has become apparent that he and his staff are manipulating the press, picking and choosing the reporters that are allowed to ask questions. This is an frightening state of affairs. We have the super powers of Russia and China brazenly predicting the fall of the US. There has never been a time in our history when we needed more the press to aggressively challenge every thing our government does. We are on the brink of disaster.

The one hopeful thing we see is this very medium, the medium that Obama rode into the White House, the medium that will be his undoing for it not a easily controlled. At this time Obomabots effectively drown out opposing views, but this will not last long. Such people have short attention spans. They will soon tire of their new idol and will be off to the next cover of People magazine and the grown ups will be here to deal with what they have wrought. And we will. We may be older, but we still believe in an America that can do anything and, for all of the inherent arrogance and xenophobia, we still believe that we are better than any other country. We will not let these people or the sycophant press prove us wrong.

BARACK, THE MAGIC NEGRO

Once again the Republican National Party proves it can’t negotiate the parking lot of the local mall without stepping in a cow pattie. RNC chair candidate, Chip Saltsman, has been sending around a "comedy" CD to fellow party officials featuring the song "Barack the Magic Negro”, set to the music of the 1960s song, “Puff, the Magic Dragon”. Living in one of the nation’s major African-American cities, we have been taught from birth that such mean spirited jokes are rude, hurtful, and, well, just bad manners. However, that’s not what we are concerned about. There will always be people who belittle people outside their group because there will always be ignorant people afraid that aren’t good enough unless someone else is beneath them.

What we are concerned about is the fact that political dissent in this country is being mistaken for racism. We did not support President Elect Obama and we still believe that he is ill suited for the most important job in the world. However, we are encouraged that he has surrounded himself with many people from the Clinton administration, an administration that brought us the most prosperous and peaceful period in our country’s history. Nonetheless, our nation faces the most difficult challenge in our since WWII. If we are to survive we need everyone to do their part and that includes the press. The media must keep a watchful eye on this administration and assure that it stays on the path of recovery.

Our journalists have been asleep at the wheel for the last several years, failing to blow the whistle on the faulty intelligence that lead us into a disastrous war, failing to condemn the loss of our liberties under the Patriot Act, failing to foresee the economic apocalypse that we now face, and failing to investigate the least qualified candidate for President in a 150 years. The sycophantic behavior of news people regarding Barack Obama is frightening. Someone has to risk being called a racist and be a critic, in the true since of the term, of our government, including the President Elect. The American people need their fourth estate to do its job, keep the three branches, all three branches, of government in check.