Random Thoughts on Other Notable Headlines of the Day — Issue XXV

June 15, 2009  

• I know anyone who has done any traveling has seen those signs along side a highway under construction that displays the cost of rebuilding the road. The sign usually points out how much money the state kicked in and how much the federal government kicked in. We travelers usually view this as either a waste of money or a good feeling about the way our tax dollars are being spent. This past week I was traveling through Louisiana on Interstate 10 when I saw one of these signs. But this time I saw something I’ve never seen in my many decades of traveling the interstate system. The sign reflected how much the state was spending, but where it should reflect how much federal money was being spent, the dollar amount was $0. I suppose you could read anything in that you wanted to, but it occurred to me ‘what’s the purpose’? Then I remembered — Bobby Jindal is the governor of Louisiana — the Republican governor who was once the apple of the Republican Party’s eye. You know the one — he’s the one who made a complete fool of himself with his speech following President Obama’s speech to Congress earlier this year. It makes one wonder if Jindal suggested this road sign should reflect “no Obama money being spent here!” as just another way of firing shots at the enemy. Politics! Man, where is the common sense that should say ‘we work for the people, not the party’?
• How many times and from how many different news people and politicians did we hear criticism of others who were suggesting that swine flu could turn into a pandemic? That’s was all we heard for a week when the outbreak started. News media ‘celebrities’ and enemies of the current administration suddenly became medical experts. But, what the hell — what’s new, huh? So I guess now that the World Health Organization is calling swine flu a pandemic, what those “experts” were spouting off about weeks ago is simply “old news that nobody cares about” now. Why else would that not be the number one topic of conversation?
• Well, I suppose Bill O’Reilly of the infamous Fox Liars is rejoicing. Dr. George Tiller’s family is closing his clinic. I mean, if he was so happy that he played a major roll in Tiller’s murder, he must be beside himself with the closing of the clinic. And who says so-called news people can’t control an outcome?
• Among the 20 house leaders who had financial stakes in bailed-out companies were Democrat Nancy Pelosi and Republican Eric Cantor. Pelosi and her husband lost hundreds of thousands of dollars and Cantor and his wife had as much as $495,000 in several firms. Most all lost money. I suppose we can’t criticize our lawmakers for investing, but it sure makes it difficult for us taxpayers when those same lawmakers are making a decision of whether or not to use our money to bail out those companies. Now we have 30 lawmakers who are drafting health-care legislation invested in that industry. Are we supposed to believe they are going to be looking out for our interest? Yea, right! When pigs fly! The Washington Post article says the list “includes Congress’s most powerful leaders and a bipartisan collection of lawmakers in key committee posts”.