AAARGH!!!!!

Frustration can be - well, frustrating! When I was still working I had little time to read the daily newspaper. Usually, I'd simply glance at the headlines and maybe take a peak at the sports page while gulping a cup of coffee prior to bolting out the front door. However, since April of 2000, I read the daily local newspaper cover to cover, and check out the NY Times and Washington Post most days on-line, with occasional looks at the L.A. Times and Chicago Tribune. This, along with Time Magazine, I think gives me a pretty good feel of what is going on in the world.

Several things have occurred in the last couple of days that had me close to tearing out what little hair I have left. Here they are:

MR. PEANUT. The guy that owns the factory which produced salmonella-laced peanut butter was called before congress the other day and confronted with facts proving he was aware his product was diseased, and yet he ordered it to be shipped off. This guy pleaded the 5th amendment to every question asked by the various congresspersons. So far the tainted peanut butter has caused 8 deaths and upwards of 550 reported illnesses. He ought to be facing charges for murder.

U.S. WEAPONS IN HANDS OF TALIBAN. The Government accounting office (GAO) released a report a couple days ago, ordered by congress, that tens of thousands of U.S. weapons shipped to Afghanistan might be in the hands of the Taliban. The Reason? No one in our Armed Forces apparently set up any type of inventory control system to handle these weapons. What makes this even worse is it is a repeat of what happened just a few years ago in Iraq. So many people complain about too much interference from the government - but, like the lack of oversight on Wall Street and in the banking industry, shouldn't oversight and regulations be imposed on where our products and money go?

BONUSES. I am a believer in bonuses. They are a reward for a job that exceeds goals, budgets, etc. However, when a company is failing it seems to me that paying out bonuses to individuals is simply wrong. An article about Failed giant, Merrill-Lynch caught my eye the other day. In 2008, Merrill Lynch paid out a bonus of over $1 million to 696 people. That is NOT a typo. 696 people received a bonus of at least one million dollars. Isn't this the same company that had to be bailed out by our government - and then had to be acquired by Bank of America with funds given to them by our government?

BIPARTISANSHIP. President Obama campaigned on a spirit of bipartisanship. As a matter of fact, so did John McCain to some extent. Soon after taking office, Obama showed he meant it, by appointing two Republicans to his cabinet, and attempting to reach across the aisle to the opposing party by asking for input into the stimulus plan he was proposing. After Bill Richardson took his name out of consideration for the Secretary of Commerce position, Obama went one step further, by naming Republican Senator Judd Gregg as his new nominee to the post.

Yesterday, Gregg, in a shocking move, took his name out of consideration for the position. As the President was on the road delivering a speech about the stimulus plan,
it came as a complete surprise to our 3 week President. Gregg gave his reason as akin to that of what so many use in filing for divorce - "irreconcilable differences".
Now here's a guy who just took the job a week ago. He is an avowed conservative. He apparently "campaigned" for the job, according to administration insiders, and certainly was aware of the stimulus plan - I was, and I'm just this guy in Oklahoma who reads newspapers, so I gotta believe he knew what Obama was up to. Then all of sudden he has a change of heart?

Frankly, my dear, I believe his cronies saw "an opportunity" to embarrass the rookie president, and talked their cohort Gregg into taking advantage of it. The glee in which Leader Mitch McConnell "welcomed" Gregg back to the Senate was telling.

My thought is that, though noble, bipartisanship only works when both sides are actively engaged. So far, ONLY Obama has practiced bipartisanship. The Republicans won't - even though the country sent them quite a message in November - until they are sent yet another message. Hopefully, the public will let them know that it needs to change NOW.

Old Fart Mike