Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

47%. Well, Now We Know

It's Claude Rains award time again. The media and Twitter are alive with quotes about the secret tape that got published with Mitt Romney speaking to donors and saying this, among other things:

I'm not sure why all the outrage. Isn't this a mindset that we've already known Romney is for? It's just out in the open without code words. It may be a secret tape, but it ain't no secret to those who pay attention. No one has to read Ayn Rand anymore to figure out it. If Romney and his party had any guts at all they wouldn't backtrack from this. They'd call a spade a spade, and say: "OK, it's on."

But they can't and they won't. Because that would expose the game that both sides play. And like in magic, if you show off the trick, well, the audience loses interest. 

And speaking of 47%. That's a mighty big number of folks. Last I looked that would contain all sorts of folks who pay taxes, got their 401Ks raided, fight for this country, teach your kids, build your roads, clean your teeth, and well, the list goes on.

And this guy is supposed to be a numbers guy.

Irony: iPhone 5 Lines in NYC and OWS Anniversary

So, citizens are occupying some real estate in NYC again. This recurring event that seems to be a good news story happens whenver Apple releases a new iPhone And once again, lines are alrady forming in the Big Apple for the iPhone 5 release this Friday, September 21. Funny, how it seems some professional line sitters are being hired to do this kind of thing. Business is business after all. And speaking of business, today is also  the anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. That's not necessarily a good news story. It appears that demonstrators and cops are already out in force. I find it an intriguing if not ironic contrast that both things are happening simultaneously with two distinctly different reactions from the authorities. But then, one is about spending money, and the other is about how others take advantage of money. You figure out which is which.

Arab Fall, October Surprise

As I looked ahead on my schedule, today was supposed to be an easy and inconsequential day. Not too terrible a workload at the office. Apple was going to announce a new iPhone, and the weather was predicted as wonderful. Late yesterday though when I first started hearing rumblings about trouble at our embassies in Cairo and LIbya, I somehow knew today wouldn't quite turn out that way. When I got up this morning and heard that our ambassador and three others had been killed I was extremly concerned. Within a few minutes I also heard that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign had fired off a quick shot condeming the Obama administration late last night. Typical and sadly so, I thought. As sad as imagining that we still try to coop God into our fights with each other like he was some willing ally.

Then when I heard Romney double down on his previous statement those feelings of concerned turned into a downward spiral. Actually that sprial started when I heard that the coward who made the film that sparked the protest in Egypt and may or may not have been used as an opportunity by thugs to launch the attack in Libya said from his hiding place: We went into this knowing this was probably going to happen.

Three points here.

While we still don't know what really happeend in Libya, it is becoming very clear that this is a tragic, messy and complex situation. One that more than defies any sort of quick response from anyone. To ignore the complexity of it and pander or posture is demeaning to those slain in service to our country and to all of us. Anyone on any side of our political school yard fight that seeks to do so deserves to be flushed out of the system with shame and opprobium.

Second, whoever the vile perpetrators of this slaugher are, they have not only harmed those killed and wounded, but done damage to the people of Libya and all of those in Arab countries who risked quite a bit in the recent past to gain an opportunity to build something better than they had before. It was never going to be easy, it might never have been what we wanted. I fear now that it is going to be even harder.

Third, if you can't see the parallel between those two previous statements and the thoughts behind making the film in the first place, and surmise something about the hearts behind the mirroring manipulative motives, then you need to open your eyes. The thirst for power is never sated and those desperate for a sip of power will apparently do anything to try and quench it.

I guess there's a fourth thing. Apparently the manipulators behind these cowardly acts have been joined not just by folks here at home. Powerful officials from Israel look to take advantage of a terribly tumultous environment to protect their interests. The way I'm reading it, they were going to take advantage of our schoolyard fight that we call a presidential election before these events happened anyway. I can't argue with anyone who seeks to protect themselves from an enemy who vows to wipe them off the face of the earth. I can and do however find myself less sympathetic when they don't just stand up and take care of business, instead seeking to drag their friends into the fight for them.

I'm thinking this election cycle's October surprise happened a bit early.

9-11 Never Forget

Title says it all.

Am I Better Off Than 4 Years Ago? You Betcha!

So, the Republican Party decided it needed to spend some money to "promote" the trending topic #areyoubetteroff" on Twitter heading into the opening of the Democratic Convention. This is a move that, to me, seems either fraught with one of the worst cases of amnesia known to man, or makes me wonder if whomever is pulling the strings for the Repubs has suffered some sort of forceable rape of imagination.

Why?

Well, on a larger scale we were heading into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. One that shook just about everything we know to its core. Unless you were one of the folks on Wall St or in the finanical sector that brought this thing down on our heads I can't imagine that the chaos four years ago didn't affect you or someone you know.

On a personal level what happened four years ago came very close to killing the not-for-profit business I run. It's called a theatre. Ticket sales had already been slowing as the economy had already started slowing (remember we wouldn't find it out that we'd been in a recession officially since 2007 until much later). Fundraising was non-existant. Major pledges that had been made to pay for a much needed renovation on our facility did not come through worsening our debt situation. Don't get me wrong, we know in this business that when times are tough our business suffers. So, I can't blame folks who were themselves hurting. I can and do blame the bastards who brought this down on all of us, and the folks who were supposed to be on the watch for the theivery they perpetrated. And let's remember that all happened in the run up to four years ago.

Even more personal, my mother was still alive. She had yet to be diagnosed with the cancer that woud take her life. The hell she went through in 2010 brought about by her disease was going on while the debate over health care was taking place. As I lived through that with her, I watched really good people in the health care industry find ways to skirt through the rules of the game set forth by the insurance companies. Talk about a system rigged absolutely against those who need it and those who work to help those in need. I to this day wonder why the Democrats were stupid enough to let the Republicans walk away using the term Death Panels. I dealt with a few Insurance Company Death Panels for my Mom. Talk about vampires. But neither the Democrats or the Republicans have have locked in the market on idiocy. They seem to share enough of that to go around. But then there's that hashtag that makes me wonder about that currently.

So, there's two moments from my life that answer the ridiculous question that the Republcans want us to ask. Hell, yes, I'm better off than I was four years ago. Here's my question to the Republicans, #areyouguysreallythisstupid? Get a clue.