It's not just me...

This is the trailer for an actual new film. Color me intrigued...

Let me be succinct.

This is your turn signal. Frickin' use it. Use of turn signals is not optional. Hit your frickin' blinker.

Earning Obsolescence

I will be the first to tell you I am ambivalent about the Stimulus Package. I think it is necessary as we have debted ourselves into a new depression, and since the government exists to keep society safe, preventing economic crashes is pretty important. However, I think there are things in this bill which do not really contribute to economic bailout. As I am reading all 700 pages of bill, I am wondering how $450,000,000 for space exploration immediately stimulates the economy. I am all for funding space exploration, but why is it in this bill?

So the bill isn't perfect certainly, but necessary, and I believe will do more good than harm. It is after all a compromise. Negotiation between the parties altered the bill to bring both sides of the American political spectrum together to vote on this bill. There's only one problem:

Having negotiated a compromise, the Republicans then backed out. "We won't vote for it until you change this. Ok, that's better. But no, we won't vote for it." Apparently the word compromise is lost on them. But no, they felt strongly, and opposed it vehemently. Indeed, the three Republicans who did vote for it are already getting flak from the party- the party intends to find people to oppose them in the primaries. That's how strongly they feel on this issue. There's only one problem:

All their opposition was for naught. Even with negligible Republican support, the bill has passed, and let's face it- in record time. From the right I am hearing what a defeat for the President this was because he couldn't sway the Republican party, but to me it seems the Republican opposition has only really proved a couple of things; Republican obsolescence and Republican impotence. Their vicious opposition resulted in nothing, and all polls show Americans mostly in support of this bill. We may not all be completely happy with it, but an 80% solution now is better than a 100% solution at some indeterminate time in the future, when its too late to matter. Apparently the Republicans Congress don't agree, leaving the rest of Congress to say, "so what?"

If the Republicans couldn't stop or even really slow something this contentious, they likely won't be more than a low speedbump for ANYTHING Congress or the White House wants in the next two years at least. That is the Bush legacy for the Republican Party- America has to fail for them to have a chance of regaining ground in the Government. With that in mind, how does one drum up support for the party? What does this mean to the party? What does this mean to America?

The President has to succeed, or we all suffer. If he fails, and we are suffering it seems our only recourse is to re-elect the people who got us into this mess in the first place. That's how Revolutions begin.

So, I am hoping this package works, and I am hoping the people who opposed it hope it works too. Either way, Congressional Republicans did prove a point- they are now irrelevant. Not the point I think they were trying to make. They need to come down off their high horse if they plan to stay relevant, and make themselves part of the solution. The party lost and lost badly- regroup and stop trying to earn your own obsolescence.

Meanwhile, in "God I feel old" news...

My son turned 18 today. Ack, pffffft, blarrgh.

Where's my Geritol?