State of the Economy: It Ain't Necessarily So

My last entry discussed the state of the radio broadcast business and my recent escape from the downturn in that industry. The economy may not be as bad as everyone makes out but it seems the media have nothing better to do than harp on it ad nauseum. The presidential campaign occupied the press so deeply and so long, over 18 months, there's a huge void to fill. And filling it, they are, with gloom and doom and little to look forward to. Congress isn't helping. The $750 billion dollar bailout may be just the beginning of more economic woes, most of which will be heaped on the little guys: you and me.

I work with people in business on a daily basis. Northern New England is a cautious region when it comes to spending money. I don't think we are anywhere near as vulnerable as other parts of the country but we are subject to the same network and cable network naysayers who raise their ratings and the rates with negativity. Pointing this out to my clients doesn't hold much water when every Tom, Dick, Cramer and O'Reilly won't shut up about how terrible things are.

If we have to tighten our belts, how bad is that? Perhaps we can all step back and take a break and wait for the tide to turn. I just wish Congress would step in and help the average person...yes, Joe Six Pack, you, me, instead of rewarding these guys who mismanage their companies then come crying to Washington for a handout.

Now the REAL Work Begins

Obama Wins Chicago Tribune photo by Zbigniew Bzdak Nov 4, 2008

Nothing more to say than "I'm proud to be an American and I'm proud of my country."

McCain/Palin Ticket Nosedives Along With Economy

Wish I could say I am happy about all the Republicans tanking but...the economy is front and center and nobody is happy. We are, in fact, scared. These are scary times and I am glad my father, who would have been 98 this year, is not alive to see this. Dad lived through the Great Depression. He was not a child. He was working for Florsheim Shoes in downtown Chicago when the market crashed. He actually saw people hit the pavement outside his basement window in an office building. He never forgot the fear, the panic and the aftermath. Nobody who lived through those years forgot the aftermath. My mother-in-law, born in 1927, wore dresses made of flour sacks to school in Pennsylvania. She never forgot the humiliation.
My ability to relate to the Depression is through the stories of my relatives , photographs and books such as The Grapes of Wrath and Dorothea Lange photographs. The candidates studiously avoided characterizing the economic free fall we are in with the word "depression". They didn't even want to use the word "recession" although too late for that.
What I want to know is, who's going to be made accountable for this mess? We all know who is going to pay for it...we are. But where is the accountability? I mean, when you have CEOs appearing before Congress, such as the $186+ million dollar compensated CEO of Lehman Bros, Richard Fuld, wanting to know "where's our bailout?" without so much as an apology, you know we are getting screwed, blued and tattooed...and not in a good way.
Unless we, as tax payers, demand accountability and recompense for this debacle, we are going to watch our country become insolvent, our assets diminish and disappear and mortgage our children and grandchildren's future for some time to come.

I Don't Know What to Think

I watched the debate last night til I could stand it no more. My take, overall, was this: McCain was able to corner and bully Obama by repeatedly going on the attack, talking over his responses to the attacks, and belittling Obama for his "naivete" and lack of understanding (aka "experience"). I was devastated.

Do I buy into what McCain had to say? Hell no! But, do I buy into the American people buying into what McCain had to say? Hell yes! I'm in advertising, remember? It's not what you say, it's how you say it, how often you say it, and how receptive (or dumb) the audience.

Obama certainly came off as the more reasonable of the two. He showed incredible restraint against increasingly vitriolic accusations about his record on all fronts. I would have liked to have seen more passion, less restraint and more offense, less defense.

Keith Olbermann, God love him, thought Obama won. Mr. O & the rest of his MSNBC cohorts, including Pat Buchanan, thought Obama's show of restraint, grace and composure, contrasted sharply with the surly attack dog tactics of MCain. Several of them, including Buchanan (!) went so far as to suggest that McCain's pugnacious stances are exactly what America wants to get away from...more of the same of the past 8 years.

I hope to heaven they are right but, I just don't know.

Not Ready for Prime Time Players or Grandstanding?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26900453/?GT1=43001

Whaddyaknow? McCain is going to show up for the first debate tonight after all. I know it's almost October and we're waiting with baited breath for the Pennant races and World Series but John McCain's grandstanding is not the sort America wants to see. His stunt to "suspend the Presidential campaign" until the financial bailout is achieved was just that...a stunt. I have to wonder if his campaign simply doesn't think he is ready for the event and wanted an out. Of course, McCain's placing himself "above the fray of politics" to step in and act presidential smacks of the worst kind of hucksterism. The entire gambit has backfired and I don't think even the most die-hard Republicans are too pleased right now.

But what a great night on tv for the rest of us!

Citizen McCain, Faust or Both?

John McCain's evolution from a hard charging truth telling centrist with some liberal policies to conservative-base-pleasing win the race at any cost candidate is reminiscent of the great cinematic character, Charles Foster Kane.

"Citizen Kane" is a movie about many things on many levels, not least of which are the extraordinary changes in the political views of the title character. Charles Foster Kane's career begins as a person determined to "use journalism to protect the interests of ordinary people."
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033467/synopsis)

He does so with great vigor and is heralded, at first, as a reformer. But Kane becomes a man
consumed by his own ambition and he leaves his well known crusading values by the wayside as he struggles to achieve political success. As one critic noted, "This is a mighty exposition of American society and a devastating critique of the American Dream which, coming on the heals of the Great Depression found an audience that was all too aware of the shortcomings associated with a capitalistic free market enterprise system when it does not work. To a great extent the film is a contemporary version of Faust (a fact that was no doubt not lost on Hearst or Wells), the story of a man who gains the world and loses his soul in the process."

This, sadly, is the way I see John McCain, a politician I once admired. I defended him many times over the years, believing he was one of the few truth tellers, unaffected by pressure put on him by the Republican party. I honestly believed he went his own way.

John McCain has succumbed to the very people he once resisted. His desire to be President has overcome his desire to maintain his moral code. He is a maverick no more.

"Really, there is no beautiful style, no beautiful design, and no beautiful color: there is just one beauty, that of the truth that is revealed."

This quote about truth is by Auguste Rodin. Double click on the title and you'll link to a Sep 10 Washington Post article on truth vs lies and whether those lies, in this presidential campaign, become facts before they can be "undone".

I am appalled by the television ads the McCain camp is running. They present lies and they are spending alot of money for high frequency among viewers. Some examples: 1) Obama will raise your taxes 2) Obama will retreat from Iraq, etc. 3) Obama knows nothing about foreign policy.

Last night's Rachel Maddox show, MSNBC 9pm EST, debuted a new tv ad implying Obama was for sex education to kindergartners. The visual shows a photo of him, smiling, next to that is a photo of young children. The juxtaposition of the two looks as tho' he's leering down at them. The voice over discusses his desire to teach sex to children. In reality, he had sponsored a bill to protect children from sexual predators by teaching them simple questions to ask strangers. Hells bells, I worked for a radio station in the early 90's that sponsored predator protection programs all over San Diego County aimed at elementary school children, K-6. It was co-sponsored by the San Diego Sheriff's Dept, Police Dept and Fire Dept. I used the techniques with my children. It had wonderfully simple ways to help your child when confronted by a stranger. My sons, now 20 & 21, remember those techniques to this day and I've no doubt they'll teach them to their own children.

My point is these lies are costing Obama votes. Why? People accept them at face value. People want to believe the worst. This is why tabloids flourish. My question is, when is the Obama/Biden camp going to combat these lies with their own pointed ads? They want to take the high road, I know. But the Republicans never do and this is no time to play nice.

Consider the fact that John McCain is now stooping to the very tactics used against him by "W" during the 2000 election. Consider the fact he is working with a Karl Rove alum for strategy. that is enough to give everyone pause...unless of course you approve of lies, subterfuge, no first amendment protection and the end always justifies the means.

Where's the Beef?

This is my new mantra now that I've heard the Sarah Palin speech. Shakespeare's line, "it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing" made its way through my mind as I watched her.

I do not underestimate her nor the American people. She has just the right look and delivery to gather many followers. But ask yourselves, what is she really saying? What are her policies? What are her plans for the country? How is she going to help the middle class? Just because she came from a small town and terms herself a "Washington outsider" doesn't give her credentials to accomplish anything. She has to have an agenda and lay it out. None of us should vote with our emotions. Everyone needs to take a long hard look at the issues and decide which candidate is best suited to: revitalize the economy; deliver a health care plan affordable to all Americans; bring home our soldiers; provide environmentally friendly solutions to our energy crises,;fix our educational system...it's a disgrace; stop taxing the middle class and start taxing the top 1%; stop giving tax credits to major corporations; provide tax incentives to companies that DO NOT OUTSOURCE.

Let's get real. She and John McCain represent the same old story. There is NOTHING new in anything they say. She tried to use patriotism and love of country as a weapon against the Democratic ticket. That is, if you're a war hero and you believe in the war in Iraq, you're a patriot. If you're against the war, you're not. That is utter nonsense.

Stick to the issues and lay out your plans Sarah Palin. Then maybe we'll all have something concrete to discuss.

"Guyland" or Why My Sons don't Wanna Grow Up

I am reminded of "I Won't Grow Up" song from Peter Pan, the musical. I sang this song on stage at the age of four or five (not sure) during a recital. I still know the words:

I won't grow up
I don't wanna go to school
Just to learn to be a parrot
and recite a silly rule

If growing up means it would be
Beneath my dignity to climb a tree
I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow uuuupp!
Not me. Not I. Not me.

I won't grow up
I don't wanna wear a tie
or a serious expression
in the middle of July.

And if it means I must prepare
to shoulder burdens with a worried air
I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow uuupp
Not me. Not I. Not me. So there!


Never gonna be a man
I won't.
Like to see somebody try
and make me
Anyone who wants to try
and make me turn into a man...
catch me if you can!

I won't grow up
Not a penny will I pinch
I will never grow a mustache
Or a fraction of an inch!

Cuz growing up is awfuler
than all the awful things that ever were
I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow uupp!
No sir!

What strikes me about this video and the accompanying article which you can read if you double click my post title, is how true this study and appraisal of young men seems to be, at least to me.

Our boys are now 20 & 21. They are both in college; one after a false start last Fall. The elder should have completed his Junior year last Spring but didn't want to take a full load. He's still 10 credits short. He doesn't ask for money though. He's working to support himself waiting tables.They are both partyers and neither knows what they want to be when they graduate although the younger one is pretty sure he wants to own his own business and "be rich." I know the feeling.

Many but certainly not all of our friends have sons with varying degrees of similarities in their confusion and their belief they can just get by. None of us understands this and none of us knows how to help. Maybe that is the problem. What we are trying to do and have to learn to do is let go. We have to let go and let them find out for themselves what the world is about.

I listened with rapt attention to Barack Obama's acceptance speech Thursday night. One of his remarks had to do with "accepting responsibility" for who we are and where we are headed. I immediately thought of my sons and wondered when this will happen.

Then I thought of the song, my recital and most of all, Mary Martin.

It's Joe

Well, the suspense is over. On to the Democratic convention...

"Black is the new President, Bitch"

Tracey Morgan on SNL says it all...

OUTRAGE

So, we've crossed another milestone in Iraq; the milestone of 4000 US troops dead. And for what? Where is the outrage? Where are the protestors? Why are we seeing this number or any number for that matter and doing nothing? What price are we willing to pay before somebody does something to stop this? Why do I feel such a sense of helplessness, anger and despair about my own country and our leaders? People want change in this country but are they going to get out and do something to make sure that change occurs no matter whom we elect? Or are we going to hope against hope that our elected officials will listen to their constituents, do their jobs and bring home our troops? I honestly do not know.
Link

Fortitude & Fundamentals

It's getting rough out there. I am beginning to wonder what the Democratic party is trying to do with respect to our candidates and our chances. I am solidly behind Hillary Clinton but I can see the allure of a Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton's tenacity, strength and in-depth knowledge of so many issues we now face convinces me she is the right person for this job. I am bowled over by the idea of finally having a female president. It is wonderful. I believe she is committed to her causes: health care, economic reform, the removal of troops from Iraq. I am continually impressed with her ability to bounce back from the truly angry & snide comments made about her; the press counting her out; the 11 straight losses to the two big wins in Texas and Ohio. This is what we need; someone with fortitude, smarts, and stamina.

For almost 8 years we have suffered with a president who basically has no smarts, no stamina (how many vacations/days off/visits to Crawford & Camp David has he taken?) and his fortitude has been completely wrong-headed stubborn and downright stupid with respect to Iraq and the economy.

My husband talks endlessly of leaving the US. He is so disgusted with the plight of the nation. He is sickened by the death and disability of our military men and boys. He is frustrated by what he sees as the "corporate mentality" of our politicians and the big business they pander to...the big business that cares for nothing but profit. He is despairing of the manner in which the middle class, of whom we are part, is expected to keep this country afloat with payouts from the govt we are supposed to spend. He is particularly depressed by the manner in which we treat our poor and our children. My husband is a former social worker. He is also a former VP Marketing for a major U.S. veteran's organization. He knows all about bureaucracy,red tape and politics.

So what do we do? We, the people, not just Democrats, Independents or Republicans, need to get out and vote this year. We need to stand up for what we believe in and get out and grass roots politic ourselves. We need to make sure our friends, our neighbors, our acquaintances vote. We need to speak. I believe we will vote for a better tomorrow, health care reform, the end to war and an economic overhaul the likes of which we haven't seen in decades. But, we have to take the trouble to vote.

Choices

There is a well-written blog on GMA about the choices women have today in terms of career opportunities and changes we've experienced over the past generation or so.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/legalities/2008/03/choice.html
The writer does not wax poetic; she comments on situations that seem to ask "How far have we, as women, really advanced from previous generations and how inclusive are the opportunities?" I am especially struck by the writing because I watched "Sicko" last night. "Sicko" is Michael Moore's movie about the state of health coverage in the U.S. http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/dvd/
He asks similar questions, "How far has medical coverage changed from previous generations and how inclusive is it?" The answers to both questions seem to be that the ideal is in our hearts but reality lags far behind.

I work in the broadcast industry where I've been in sales for 27 years. About 8 years into my career, I made the decision to step down from management in order to have less desk time and more free time with my children. I bypassed a management job offer with Gannett to return to local sales so I would be more available. We did not have daycare, job-sharing or flexible hours in broadcasting and I agonized over the decision but I made it anyway. For the next three years, I worked for a manager who would penalize me every time I was late to the station, even by five minutes. He actually stood at the door, tapping his watch, when anyone, particularly me, came in past 8am. At the time, my husband worked out of town and I was getting up @ 5am each day in order to get my toddlers ready for their country day school and myself ready for work. The plans was to drop them by 7am and go but often each one would grab onto my legs and start crying while the teacher murmured, "Just go. They'll be fine." I would then cry all the way to work! My boss didn't give a rat's ass about my parenting problems or anything else. He took great pride in the fact he had never had to deal with his daughter's illnesses, school matters or anything because his "wife did it." Well, I didn't last too long in that job and I did find a great job with a manager who agreed to my working half days and trusted me to meet my billing goals. When he left, I was faced with a female replacement who immediately insisted I could not possibly do a credible job part-time and wanted half my billing list to give other salespeople. I quit. The joke is, I had been more productive during the six months working half days than I had the first year working full time. I had stopped worrying about the quality time I could or could not give my children. I was "having it all."

In the movie last night, Moore interviews a table of Americans living and working in Paris. They enjoy mandated 35 hour work weeks, 5 weeks of vaca, free health care (courtesy of the govenment) and extended time off when a baby is born. In Canada, he interviewed people of all ages and walks of life enjoying govenment-provided, aka "socialized", health care. All interviewees were enthusiastic, citing no long waits, no pre-approvals necessary, no fear of being "denied" and no bills or co-pays. It is all taken care of. He even took a group of 911 Rescue Workers to Cuba for health care after our government refused to aid them medically. The Cuban government provided great health care at no cost to these people who returned to the US in better shape than when they had left!

What is the point of all this? Have we all just been fed a bill of goods over the years that we are the best, the brightest; that we can do anything; that our services reign supreme; that we are citizens of the United States of America, the greatest country in the world? Is any of it true? If women have come so far, why aren't there more women in top management in broadcasting? I believe the per centage is the same now as in the mid-80's: about 15-17%. Why is our health care system broken? What is really going on here?

Right now, I can think of one way to attack both issues with one blow: I am voting for Hillary Clinton. She is the toughest candidate out there and I know she will overhaul our health care system. It's her mission. This woman has been bad-mouthed, vilified, and stop-gapped at every turn. When she attempted to create a national health care plan in '93, she was crucified for it. Our country desperately needs a solution to our health care woes. Anyone who doesn't agree should see "Sicko" and compare our health care to that of other European nations as well as Canada.

As for a woman becoming president, it's about time. What a great role model for women. What a great precedent for our gender. Give 'em hell, Hillary!