barbara friedland

Who is the black guy with all the bankers?

Of course I am not sorry that I voted for Barack Obama.  What choice did I have?  An old man who doddered between right and redneck together with the real thing.  Redneck, not right, in the person of his running mate Sarah Palin.

Obama, for someone born into tenuous circumstances, just gets luckier as time goes by.

Seriously, all McCain had to do was grab a buttoned down middle of the Republican and he might have won.

I say might because the economy melted down in October.  And folks blamed the GOP and the criminals currently in office.

They were right, in part.  Clinton and the evil Robert Rubin together with others abetted this fiscal disaster. With Rubin still throwing gasoline on the smoldering embers of burnt money.

Still, that Obama luck-  the collapse occurred a month before the election, not after.

Continuing with Obama's fortune, his opponent and staff mistakenly believed they had to cater to the rabid right wing of their party.

Who cares? and it doesn't matter.

McCain needed to court Democrats- conservatives, racists, whatever.

But he gave us Sarah Palin, and thus patriotic Americans with IQ's in triple digits, had to push the "D" lever.

So here we are a year later, and all Obama can really do well is talk.  Blah. Blah.  Blah.

Frankly, I was not expecting a mixed race Bush.

Okay, calm down-  Obama is smarter.  But who isn't?

There is some level of progress.

Trials for accused terrorists are scheduled in NYC.  For some but not our own war criminals.

Rendition and indefinite incarceration continues.

Two wars rage on, with Afghanistan receiving more troops and money.

No solutions for either conflict are being executed.

Apparently Goldman Sachs is running the Treasury Department and Wall Street  can rape the American taxpayer at any time.  What Reagan, Clinton, Bush and Bush created, Obama is honing.

The current President, I perceive is a people pleaser.  Thus, no charges against his predecessor.

Nor effective tactics coming from the White House in regard to a health care bill.

I believe that this legislation, national health coverage, comes from his heart- Obama's mother died of breast cancer and had no insurance at the time.  Still, he will not get down and dirty with a Democratic Party controlled Congress.

Of course the previous administration slimed out of town and left the current President with Herculean challenges.

It's only been a year and wars are tricky.  The national legislature moves slowly.  

And more alibis and excuses.

What I don't understand is the handling of the financial crisis which amounted to Christmas for the companies that engendered it.  Why has Obama surrounded himself with a knot of greedy financiers who have proven to not have the nation's best interest at heart?

Why does Geithner still have a job with the administration?

Sadly, the question becomes is Obama corrupt or does the system corrupt whoever enters.

And speaking of....Indict Bush.

The appeal of Sarah Palin

Now I understand why some people like her.  Throw in Glenn Beck too.

There once was a cherished belief that anyone in America could become rich.  We are, or actually were, the land of opportunity.  No ossified class or caste systems to stand in the way of ingenuity and hard work.

But that belief is changing.  Even folks who do not understand toxic derivatives are beginning to realize that the deck is stacked against them.

There are a knot of greedy and selfish people who are running this country from Wall Street.  Unfortunately, the newest President has just ceded all control to them.  Hard to tell Republicans from Democrats without a scorecard.

Many families are experiencing job loss while their savings and pensions have been decimated. Simultaneously, prices are going up.  If you are lucky enough to live in a house and can go shopping.

All the legions of citizens who approved of massive tax breaks for rich in the belief that one day they too would be wealthy, are osmosising the fact that the game is rigged.

So what myth will replace the I will have money in the future one?  How about being President?

If George W. Bush, consummate failure, addict and coward can be elected, hell, who couldn't?  No only did this man apparently never have an original thought in his head- his policy concepts consisted of parroting the need for tax breaks for the wealthy and rationalizing war- but he couldn't speak in coherent sentences.

Bush the younger was unable to trot out a tired old cliche without messing it up.  I am talking along the lines of what's good for the goose....

Seriously, he crashed three businesses and did not sober up until his forties.  After being trained as a military pilot, the army kept losing him.  In Alabama, not Viet Nam.

In some ways, our country was better off with Cheney who obtained five deferments and said he had more important things to do than serve his country.  No expenses for flight school.

But I digress.

Take John Kerry.  He, a privileged and wealthy white man operated a swift boat in the Mekong Delta. In wartime. That took courage.  Coming home and opposing the war- after viewing it first hand- also was a brave and bold action.

Going AWOL, probably drunk or stoned, not so much.

Al Gore volunteered for the war and was a photo journalist for the military.  Just like Kerry somehow became a coward, this job, in a combat area, has been dismissed as soft and easy.  Okay, George or Dick or Rush- you do it.

Added to the fact that Gore keeps talking about some scary science and the planet melting makes him seem superior to most folks.

What percentage of the population are that brave or smart?

Back to the point.  When people opined that they would like to have a beer with Bush Jr.  the implication is that they related to him.  Folks usually drink with friends.

Taking it further, if they related to him on that level, they might fashion the idea that they too could be President one day.

And here comes Sarah.

Lair. Whiner.  Complainer.  Quitter.

Her personal life is a mess.  She never takes responsibility for anything and is fighting with an erstwhile teenager, through the media.

I know what citizens are thinking.  

I like to shop for free.  It's great to blame everyone else.  Quitting a job I can't do is the best solution.

I fight with my kids all the time.

I can be a Vice Presidential candidate and maybe one day, ghostwrite a book and run for higher office.

As for the Beck reference, even the mentally insane can have their own television program and are cited as possible Presidential running mates.

Indict Bush.

The Blindside Can't buy me love.

I saw the movie The Blindside yesterday, appropriately on Thanksgiving with people whom I love.

It is an extraordinary story that is replete with Hollywood cliches and unbelievable characters and events.

Except, it happened.  A wealthy white Memphis family adopted, cared for and loved a homeless black teenager.

They believed in him and helped to discern his wonderful nature and talent for football.

The most extraordinary part of the story for me was loving a teenager.   Difficult to do, speaking from experience.

Kidding.  Sort of.

The kindness and energy of this family, emblematic in the matriarch, was and is amazing. 

The Tuohys are Christian, and if this is what these folks are like, well, bring them on.

Suppose a writer tried to pitch a novel with the same plot line? He would be thrown out the offices of every editor and literary agent in the United States.  Possibly the western world.

But this happened and the young man now plays for us, The Baltimore Ravens.

I can't get the movie, and the lives it represents, out of my head.  Occasionally I am confronted by folks who are too good to be true or living their dream.  Sometimes people have extraordinary talent and thus have a wonderful time pursuing it.

So Bruce Springsteen gives me pause.  Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich also, both for different reasons.

JK Rowling. 

And now, Leigh Ann Touhy.

Her life eclipses the actress who portrayed her.  Sandra Bullock did a wonderful job, an Oscar worthy performance.  But Bullock is battling a porn actress for custody of a child. The actress's multi married and uber tattooed husband in real life  has a complicated family history and appeared with Donald Trump on Celebrity Apprentice.  Ick.  Not that I am judging.

But I digress.  Back to Michael Oher and his life's amazing circumstances.

I wish him well.  The Tuohy's deserve continued benefit and happiness.  But what if they weren't wealthy?

Perhaps, in another version of the story, their children were also attending the school on a scholarship. But touched by Michael's plight, they take him in.

What about feeding him?  I raised an athlete one half his size and the food bills were enormous.

Michael's tutor was expensive and the extra study help was continued through college.  

By the time Michael was 16, would love alone have made a difference?

Where would he have ended up, if the Tuohy's had not brought him into their hearts or had the money to really help him? 

Maybe he would have ignored intelligence reports about terrorist attacks and Bin Laden or destroyed the world economy.

Indict Bush.  If only his Christian impulses were to make a positive difference in the lives of others not to steal elections and roll out ill conceived and illegal wars in the name of God.

Sarah, God.

Hi Sarah, it's me.  God.

I wanted to contact you because there are a lot of issues that we need to discuss.

I guess thanks are in order for getting me out there, but I have a pretty good brand and don't need help marketing.

First of all, stop using my name in vain.  Cease invoking the Almighty all the time. You're worse than those football players who are giving me props for touchdowns.

I have more important matters to deal with- war torn countries, starving children and obtaining a public option for health care.

Also, I love all people.  They are my children.  Even well educated folks who live in places like New York City and Chicago. So stop putting them down.

Frankly, your lying is really embarrassing.  If you are going to constantly set forth untruths, then keep my name out of it.

As for hunting, I understand survival of the fittest.  After all, I did create Darwin. But let's have a fair fight. Shooting wolves from low flying aircraft is something the devil would do.

I don't allow my front people, those spreading the word of God, to make a lot of mistakes. Granted, that is an ongoing problem.  Most of the folks chatting me up have serious issues with veracity, effectiveness and kindness. Still, you are now on a book tour- try to get some facts correct.

Enough whining.  Being humble means taking responsibility for mistakes and seeking to do better.

You are human, ergo fallible.  But all you do is point your finger and shift the blame. 

Just like you are my child, so is every other person on this planet regardless of their stated belief. As a parent, you should understand.  Start acting like one.  To your offspring and mine.

The Bible was written by men, not me.  Do not cite this work to further hate or bigotry. There were a lot of typos before it went to press.

Sarah, if you break God's law or man's, I know.  Confess to all your sins.  That would be the legal ones as well.

As for George W, Bush, who stated that I wanted him to be President, I guess he is wrong again.

Indict him.

I'm sorry for Sarah Palin....was that so hard to say?

During the last Presidential campaign, I could not forget that John McCain was a war hero.  A true hero.

Of course, I would never vote for anyone with an "R" after their name or a person who hugged George W. Bush.

The fact that W. and his posse slimed McCain and robbed him of the nomination in 2000 before stealing the entire election, is irrelevant.  McCain never stood up and told the American people what he truly felt about that President and his policy decisions.

Of course the senior Senator from Arizona is boxed in by his own party.  Fanatics to the right of me.  War criminals to the left.  Stuck in the middle with you.

The senior Senator from Maryland (D) once commented about a popular, moderate GOP politician here- that he had to navigate between being right and being Republican.

Well said.

And those are the good ones.  Most just give it up the the tea baggers, right wing fringe and creationists.

Back to McCain.  Some of my friends snickered.  They said it was a lie that he refused to leave the POW camp when his military lineage was discovered.  Some posited that McCain's own ineptitude landed him in enemy hands.

He still suffered for five years while George W. Bush never left the United States.  And no one has investigated what went on in Alabama while this party boy was ostensible serving his country.

McCain still has at least the physical scars of his war imprisonment.

Now he must make another courageous stand.  He has to apologize to the American people, nay the entire world- not just Russia- for Sarah Palin.

He is the Dr. Frankenstein who released this monster.

And monster she is.

Unlike traditional fairy tales, ogres do not have to be physically ugly-  only evil on the inside.

Right Carry Prejean?  Many athletes and most of Hollywood celebrities?

If Palin had only been green, untested and unknowing, that would have been bad enough.

Her resume was not suffficent to garner a job as manager of an Alaskan Wal-Mart-  too little executive and decision making experience.

Perhaps if she actually read- and that is not a trick question but very revealing- and sacrificed to find time for her family and didn't, well, lie, she would remain an unsuitable candidate.

But lies she does. All the time.  On video tape and in her book.  

Back to her qualifications or lack thereof: If she wasn't a hypocrite and lazy and inept.

A whiner and complainer.  Apparently nothing that went wrong on the McCain campaign had anything to do with her.  Seriously?

Still she is all of these things and more.

She places too much in God's hands and her view of the world is colored by her prejudice.  The last President believed that he was the choice of the Almighty to run our nation.  If that is true, then the Lord is not infallible.

Everything about Sarah Palin is alarming.

We need leaders who are humble, caring, open to learning and diligent.

They must be honest with the American people and the world and not place folks in boxes based on arbitrary criteria.

One of Palin's children said it would be "cool" if her mom were eventually elected President.

That is not the trajectory, goal and mission of a Chief Executive.

Hurricane Sarah is here.  So investigate her.

Indict her and Bush.

Coffee with Sarah Palin

Hillary Clinton has said she would be happy to have coffee with Sarah Pallin

Really?  Doesn't she have enough to do- Clinton, not Palin.  The latter has no job.

Did I go to sleep and upon waking not realize that wars no longer exist and everyone on the planet is getting along?

Seriously, Madame Secretary of State, just the Stans.. Afghanistan, Pakistan... and the ones from the former Soviet Union, should keep you busy.  

I am glad that she believes she would like, need or want to sit down with a total ignoramus and discuss what?

Policy? 

Countries that Palin cnt see from her front yard?

What?

There is a homeless woman whom I have seen in my neighborhood and adjoining areas for years.  She has boundary issues and I once saw her hit someone who got too close during the Fells Point Festival.  He couldn't help it, the event is usually jammed and he was thrust near her.

My neighbors call her the Tourettes lady- an epithet that I resent on both personal and medical grounds.

She is extremely grouchy and does not hesitate to lob profanities at any passerby.

Word is that she hates dogs and makes that point very clear.

Why do I bring her up, this sad woman who lives in the streets of Baltimore?

Because Hillary Clinton should have coffee with her before Sarah Palin.

At least the chat would focus attention on important issues including the mentally ill and homelessness.

When anyone of stature gives credence to this cretin from Alaska, it helps to boost credibility when she deserves none.

She is a lazy and lying hypocrite who is incapable of any productive task short of firing up the fringe right wing.

Like arson and making moonshine, not a talent that one should cultivate.

She in no more qualified to be President than the old woman now sitting on a stoop a few houses away with all her belongings in the Safeway shopping cart.

Possibly less.

In terms of voter support, I would guess that there are more homeless- thanks financial sector- than rabid conservatives.

Maybe it would be okay if Palin somehow gnawed at the 2012 Presidential contest and came away with the GOP nomination.

Can you say "blowout?"  For the Democrats.  Yes, the inept and pathetic opposition party would win by a landslide.

If this scenario takes place, please let Palin pick her running mate.

Pretty please.

And broadcast her interviews while keeping a public log of all her ethics investigations, pregnancies and grudge feuds.

Even conservatives can't swallow the tripe in her new book.

Let's make her like the woman with no country-  her secessionist hubby would be pleased.

Never mention her again.  Unless, they finally prosecute her.

Indict Palin and Bush.

Today, the high will be in the 80's

My son's cat and his grandmother are starting to resemble each other.

One is 16 and a half, the other - 86 plus.

Both females, formerly curvy and solid, now look emaciated.

Each one is going deaf and forgets.  Both have balance issues.

It is obvious why old age is one of the four Buddhist sufferings.

It is awful.  And don't give me that old saw that it's better than the alternative.

Actually, the antithesis of getting old should be eternal youth and no wonder why everyone wants it.

In middle age, some folks use plastic surgery to stare down the calendar.

Unless it is very good, the results are often worse than natural aging.

I am lucky.  My mother looked beautiful until her death.  She was almost 86.

Every time I visit Dorothy now, she asks about my mother.  The question is posed several times each visit. And thus she is continually shocked and saddened to learn that my mother has died.

Dementia is different than Alzheimer's.  I am no expert, just an observer.

But I find that it is so much easier when there is only short term memory loss.

Dorothy, just like my mother, remembers me.  It sounds disloyal, but Dorothy has a better grip on reality and relationships.

My mother started to have short bouts of paranoia.  There were times when she feared my brother would harm her and wanted to return to her husband, gone for a quarter of a century.

Once she didn't recognize me and was polite, but formal and chilly.

She would claim not to be interested in my brother's stories about his children because they were strangers. But when they were in her purview, they were loved.

Jonathan, the first grandchild, was always warmly received, even at the end.

Dorothy connects me with my son, and mother- always asking about both of them.

She like my mother, exists on ice cream.  I buy 5 or 6 half gallons of Bryer's each week now.

Both of my parents adored ice cream, and it was clearly their favorite treat.  Old age gave my mother an excuse to make it a majority of her diet.

The final years of her life, she lived with my brother, before moving into a wonderful facility for a few months.

Before that occurred, I drove down one day and took her to lunch.  She ordered salmon, broccoli and whipped potatoes.  Also, homemade chicken soup.

The aroma was intoxicating and my mother could not stop talking about the dinner presentation.  How good it looked and smelled.

Finally, I ordered a vanilla milkshake for her, wrapped up her meal and left it for my brother to eat.

I don't know if my elderly cat would like ice cream, but I bet she would. Actually, she would have gobbled down the fish.

Mom, I miss you.

Indict Bush.

Are you blue?

If not, why not?

Blue has come to represent progressive, liberal and enlightened states.  As in divisions of this country, not a frame of mind.

But it is also a consciousness.

Being liberal- and there is nothing wrong with the word- means a journey marked by intelligence and an open mind.

Yes Virginia, I have read and watched many conservative pundits.  Not on a full stomach of course.

Their words are generally hate filled, manipulative and wrong.

An educated response would arrive in two stages.

After the initial wave of nausea passed, an erudite person could parse the insanity spouted by these folks.

And the previous President.

For example, George W. who stole two elections, has stated moronic utterances.  I am not just referring to the inept articulation and mispronunciations,  He has iterated untold times that we must fight terrorism over there not here.  We are in Iraq, presumably, so there is no hand to hand combat in the local Safeway.

Okay, breathe.

Taking that statement apart.

Is Al Qaida finite?  Are there a limited number of people who hate us and are willing to die to harm us? 

Apparently not.

In fact, George, I know that you weren't paying attention, but the United States was attacked here on American soil.

Thus is is not only probable but actually happened.

So, George, are you saying that an organization with many adherents and fanatics can not fight on many fronts?

In fact, our bungled presence in the region has generated more recruits for such groups and thus increases the chances of another attack here.

I don't have time to dissect all the bon mots of the far right.  Because that would entail anything said by this ugly group of folks.

I will leave you with this:

"I can see Russia from my house."

Don't buy her book but please continue the many ethics investigations.

Indict her and Bush.  

Oh Sarah

Thank you for being you.

Going Rogue.  Isn't that when elephants stampede?

As in, "please former Governor who couldn't hack it Palin, don't come to my state to campaign for me."

Seriously, how many times did Palin appear in New Jersey and/or Virginia?

That would be nonce.

As in, not once.

If you want to win, she can't be part of the mix.

Wait, unless you are a Democrat.  Then, come on over Sarah Palin.

Maryland is a very blue state, but among the eight congressional districts is a dyed in the wool one for the GOP and another that keeps tipping back and  forth.  Sarah Palin, please journey down to the lower 48, the east coast and campaign in either area.

Or both.

Back to her "book."

Where is the warm tone that this tome reportedly had according to various leaks before it was released?

News flash. Nothing is her fault and the blame lays on everyone else.

Plus the untruths.  Sarah, it is one thing to be a congenital liar, and even be caught on tape spewing words that are clearly, let's be charitable, not what actually happened.

But don't put it in writing.

The McCain camp is already denying that she paid for her own vetting for the VP slot.

First of all, no one seems to have done that.  Vet her, that is. Why would any campaign bring Palin on board if they knew the first thing about her?

McCain's folks are saying that the 50 grand Palin refers to are legal fees engendered by problems that predated their interaction with the mavericky governor.

For example, to deal with the mountain of ethics violations that Palin was facing.

And probably would still be dealing with if she hadn't quit her position.

I know that resign is a grander word but when losers cut and run, semantics don't matter.

Character is destiny.

Palin will blame and slime the folks whom she feels did her wrong.

After all, Katie Couric asked what magazines or newspapers the then Governor read.

How awful.

A softball query a kid could answer.

When Palin winks she can't help but contort her face into a sneer.

Like Cheney.

Indict him and Bush.

And her.

Charla Nash

Under life is scary, unfair and seemingly capricious, my heart goes out to Charla Nash.

She is the woman attacked by a friend's- I assume former - pet?  chimpanzee.

There are some creatures best left feral.  All orders of apes, snakes and Cheneys.

But I digress.  Oprah, who clearly has the ability to get any interview she wants, reveals what this woman looks like now.  And right after the brutal assault. It is horrific to see.

Charla will never view her new visage because she is blind.  Her eyeballs pulled out of their sockets.

Most of her face was mauled and lost.  As well as her hands.

I grieve for this woman.  I wish her peace, strength and faith.

I pray that her life finds its new mission and Charla will experience happiness.

She tells Oprah that she never thinks about the attack and her focus is on getting well.

OMG.

I burn for days about being cut off in traffic.  I unfortunately inherited my mother's trait of never forgetting anything.

Good or bad.  My son can recall everything, but only dredges up positives memories.  It is a gift, what can I say.

I remember as a child, my mother, who was the kindest person I have ever met and trembled with sadness for the pain of others, would recount what her friends did to her in elementary school.

She also refused to forgive folks she never met:  i.e.  Kissinger, Nixon and Reagan.

Of course, Hitler.  And any tin horn dictator who amassed wealth and murdered his people.

But I digress, again.

If Charla can get beyond this horrific event, it would be wonderful for her life and development.

Perhaps, she could give motivational workshops.  She is someone I would listen to, not like too many people who just spam others on the Internet. And brag about their financial prowess.

Or fake prophets with an array of new age rituals.

As well as evil political leaders who steal elections and destroy our government and economy.

I am still outraged at the treasonous and carelessly ignorant acts of the Bush/Cheney reign.

INDICT THEM.