Meanderings

The Beer Summit

So the conciliatory sit down with Cambridge, MA police officer Crowley, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and President Obama is being organized. I'm sure that it is much more complicated for this to occur with an African American President than it would be at your house or mine. Why? Here are a few of the political considerations that I've come up with in the last few minutes:

I wonder if it would it be politically incorrect to serve an import? What message would that send to the U.S. beer industry? Should they serve a Boston-based beer like Sam Adams? Should they reach out to an African-American microbrewery somewhere? Should they serve something that is more stereotypically African-American, like Colt Malt Liquor, to show solidarity with da boyz in da hood? What if the families of one of the old-line U.S. brewers once owned slaves, what would the African-American community think then? Obama and Gates drinking slave beer, the horror!

Many things to consider before sipping a cold one with the Prez.

Open Letter to the President

Mr. President,

With all the respect due to your office, I think that you, personally, are a raving socialist and no friend to the United States of America. I think that you are exploiting the kindness of the American people to impose an agenda that is antithetical to the principles upon which this great republic was founded. You know well that we ache for those in need and do what we can to help, so you disguise your confiscatory and redistributionist programs in a veil of altruism, saying that we are assisting those who cannot help themselves. This is despicable.

Perhaps I would think more highly of you, and your ilk, if you were honest about who you are and what you are. If you ran for office under the banner of the American Socialist Party then I would have more respect for you because you wouldn't be lying to good-hearted, but naive, masses. If you ran as a Socialist, your agenda would be consistent with who you purport to be. I would oppose it as vigorously as I do now, but at least it wouldn't be positioned as something that it is not. As a Socialist your chummy relationships with Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro wouldn't be as offputting because we would expect them; birds of feather, etc. As a Socialist your apologies for Americas greatness would be more properly framed since the roots of our greatness is at odds with your predominant ideology.

Most importantly, as a Socialist you would be irreleveant because many more Americans would see you as you really are.

Kindest Regards

His words, my questions: Ellis vs. Obama

Obama said today that the driving force behind the federal deficit was skyrocketing health care costs.

Ellis' question: What about your uncontrolled spending Mr. President? It seems that your two attempts to stimulate the economy through massive spending have done more to expand the deficit than ten years of naturally occurring inflation in health care costs.

Obama said today that if we do not control the costs of Medicare and Medicaid that we will not be able to control the deficit.

Ellis' Question: Since this is already a government program, how will nationalizing the rest of the health care system help with controlling costs here?

Obama said today that his health care proposal will create a government run health care plan to compete with private insurers.

Ellis' Question: How do you "compete" with the government? That's like playing a game with the referee on the opposing team. They can simply regulate private insurers out of business and do the same with doctors who attempt to operate outside of the government program.

Obama said today that they have rough agreement that will keep the government out of health care decisions.

Ellis' Question: How is this possible if a government panel will decide which medical procedures are covered and which ones are not? This is the government being directly involved in health care decisions, isn't it?

XXXXX

Random Question

Who has more claim to the title "African American" a fair skinned person born in Johannesburg who moved to the U.S. as a child or a dark skinned person who was born on the west coast of America and is nine generations removed from African soil?