In The Weeds

"Who, day and night, must scramble for a living, Feed a wife and children, say his daily prayers? And who has the right, as master of the house, To have the final word at home?" -Fiddler On The Roof Ok, admittedly it may be a bit too patriarchal for modern times, but as I was reading the story today about Obama firming up his transition budget on the HuffPo , for some reason the tune "Tradition" popped into my head. Traditionally , the transition period between administrations can be one area where lobbyists can really insert themselves in the process and set the tone as to how much influence they will have going forward while the new president is distracted with finding his footing. Not this time. Obama brings with him the strictest ethics rules on transition in the history of the country: • Federal Lobbyists cannot contribute financially to the transition • Federal lobbyists are prohibited from any lobbying during their work with the transition. • If someone has...

According to an article in today's Washington Post, while the financial system was in meltdown, the Treasury secretary " ...in the midst of this late-September drama, ... issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention..." "Some congressional staff members have privately concluded that the notice was illegal. But they have worried that saying so publicly could unravel several recent bank mergers made possible by the change and send the economy into an even deeper tailspin..." "...The change to Section 382 of the tax code -- a provision that limited a kind of tax shelter arising in corporate mergers -- came after a two-decade effort by conservative economists and Republican administration officials to eliminate or overhaul the law, which is so little-known that even influential tax experts sometimes draw a blank at its mention. Until the financial meltdown, its opponents thought it would be nearly impossible to revamp the section bec...

Also known as "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot". (Or "Lies and the Lying Liars That Tell Them") Hats off to A. F. for so succinctly putting it. Rush's name could be subbed for that of Michael Savage. Or Michael Graham. Or Laura Ingram. Or Howie Carr. Or Jay Severin. I do not have the time to type all the possible names right now. But we know who they are. ( I can always add them when the time permits.) I think the majority of the country, when faced with the seriousness of real life, realize that the lies, hate and bile that these blowhards spew from their self-appointed soapboxes have really become a caricature of reality. They have been Palinized!

Last night when the race was called everyone else in my house had long since fallen asleep . As I did during the 2007 Red Sox World Series victory, I savored what was a surprisingly emotional moment in the quiet solitude of a slumbering household. As I sit here muddling through the work day coping with my post-election euphoria-hangover ( I was up well after 1AM watching the saturated coverage of the moment) what happened yesterday is starting to sink in. It has been a long time since a presidential election did not feel either fixed, stolen or tempered by the apathy of a disaffected electorate. The current (P)resident (with a silent P)in my opinion was never elected to his first term by the people, thereby rendering illegitimate this current mess of a "Presidency" , if we could go so far as to call it that. Under his "leadership" our government has been akin to a taxpayer-funded ATM, and the "friends of W" have the P.I.N. Bush was simply the door man ...