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Around this time each year, I've traditionally done a Top 10 things I'm-thankful-for-post, so without further adieu and a tad hastily-contrived, ten things I be grateful for this holiday season:
10. Sarah Palin (for pretty much handing over the election to the Democrats on a platter)
9. Nature bloggers, who share with all of us their joy, interests, and personal slants on the natural world
8. Europe for not hating us anymore
7. political cartoonist Tom Toles (for always hitting the mark and making me smile)
6. computer geeks (who keep making this stuff user-friendly enough that the rest of us can play with it)
5. "Scrubs" reruns (for pure wackiness, an underappreciated commodity)
4. YouTube
3. Air America (radio)
2. 'True believers' everywhere
1. Barack Obama and Joe Biden (...needless to say)
Happy Holiday to all, and in these particularly rough times, may you yet find much to look upon with gratitude and appreciation.
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3 comments:
It was the 3% downpayments, 125 % home equity loans greedy banks with 30 to 1 leverage, Fannie and Freddi corruption under Barnie Franks types and others who crashed the economy that led to an attitude that hey he (Obama)can't do any worse. Indeed he is, as Mc Cain would have been also, going to do better under these near bottom, starting conditions.
Your unending belief, shown by putting parties/politicians in your top ten, shows your attitude that problems, env and others, can be solved via electing someone thats on. The good politicians will be ineffective without any accompanying change in individuals behavior.
You should have some thanks to individuals that have shown the power to lead others to changes in behavior.
On a connected subject Bush was able to foster in national elections in two traditionally tribal/sectarian countries...and in so doing freed (imperfectly, yes, just as our country was shaky for decades) 50,000,000 people.
The shift in the US govt outlook to the mideast has been downright radical, a watershed event, to not support govts just for the sake of stability over fledgling and imperfect democracies.
To Obama, great wishes; and hope that we will not unfairly judge/ degrade him as some have done our president by not mentioning the good with the bad. Also the leaders of other countries in Europe and Iran and Russia deserve some criticism also...unless they are indeed perfect as part of the press seems to connote.
I see your conspicuous concern of what Europe, the perpetual procastinator to quickly solving problems, thinks and that worries me. As I predicted years ago to "Eurocentric worshipers" lets see what happens in Darfur which is basically a European sphere/responsibility with US support as needed. Have seen little from you about the hundreds of thousands killed there...or the US citizens disgust with EU on their leadership atrocities/ problems...seems criticism flows one way only, towards the neotemperate areas, and never to the EU or the rest of the world.
Have also seen very little credit given to the US for IRAN slowing nuclear development in ~ 2003 when Bush had them shaking....or do you think Europe did that?
Good wishes to the new President, and all of us, let him carefully study the past mistakes and successes of our presidents and leaders of other countries. Lets hope we can stop Iran with your EU allegedly on our side.
happy thanksgiving
ps new sightings are in this month. a few are reviewing
SFTV
hmmm... seem to have touched a nerve.
You hit on several subjects vicariously by thanking certain entities as if they are holy and all-fixing.
Your worship of Europe is quite evident yet their failures in NATO Afghanistan and Darfur seemed to be brushed away yet failures by Bush or the US are magnified.
Your treatment of Obama and Biden is down right gushing. Lets see if they can deliver as much as Bush 2 has in certain areas and do better in areas he has failed.
Unless the pattern has shifted in the Earth's magma Obama will move much to the center as all left leaning-individuals must do after the real intelligence that you do not see, and pretend isn't there, is viewed and he gets the unfunded bill for his health care, etc. ideas.
Many like his energy ideas and he is right on in stimulating that market...its unfortunate in some respects that oil has dropped.
This is where changing behaviors comes in and where Bush was weak and hopefully Obama will be strong.
Your lists' focus should change also ...you are not exactly changing perceptions by presumptuous worship of Obama and bashing of Bush.
We need changes in the oil culture regardless of the pump price and we need the world to join,,,,green-house gases is not a unilateral issue and China shouldn't get a free ride.
Oil is more expensive than just the price at the pump. Externalities and their costs should be funded right at the pump....floods, other climate effects, asthma, some cancers. This is needed since Americans can't seem to get off oil by anything other than price differentiation.
Just because Clinton, Gore took money from the Loral missile fiasco and the monks doesn't mean China gets a free ride to destroy the earth via coal. Kyoto like treaties, rejected by both US parties need to wean China off the carbon too.
And you need to thank doers in changing to paradigms................hopefully Obama and the average US citizen will deserve to be thanked soon...for actually accomplishing something rather than just a nifty speech or getting gas on super Tuesdays, 5 cents off.
tks
SFTV
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