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Thingish Things

Thanks But No Thanks, Uncle Sam

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Sep• 20•11

I’m in trouble with my wife again.  Not a lot of trouble because a.) she is crazy about me for some reason, and b.) I suspect she agrees with me, deep down inside, on the very thing she is mad at me for this time. But I’m marginally in the dog house this week nonetheless.

It’s not socks under the bed or the wet towel over the door that did it – slightly damp is a better description really – it is the Federal  Emergency Management Authority (FEMA) that put me in bow-wow land this time.  Gotta say, I never saw this one coming.  

FEMA arrived in our village last weekend to give us free money – to give everyone free money.  The reason?  We had a rain storm and a four-day blackout earlier in the month and it spoiled a freezer-full of food and flooded our basement.  (I don’t know if this is an official acronym in texting parlance, but the letters BFD spring to mind.)

We lost a few things because yours truly didn’t listen to, yes, his wife, and pick things up off the floor before the rain began. Three rugs, a couch, a couple of small tables and a dehumidifier later, I was rightfully in trouble.  We also lost half a tree. But that wasn’t my fault.

Nowhere in my town did I see houses floating away. There were no canoes on our main street, no helicopter rescues.  I saw those tragedies occur on television in other communities, mostly in central New York, Vermont,  and Massachusetts, but not in my village. So why was the federal government here in all its trumpeted glory offering us a few pennies back on our tax dollars? Don’t get me wrong, I could really use the money, but under no circumstance can I rationalize it as warranted. 

My wife logically suggested I walk down the hill into town over the weekend and apply for an easy federal payday, but I refused, for several reasons. We did not suffer an emergency; it rained and our basement got flooded.  Half the damage was my fault.  I cannot bear to fill out one more federal form, but, most importantly, don’t insult us.  The federal government is $14.6 trillion in debt; it is borrowing 42 cents on the dollar and screwing our children in the process. Are we supposed to be grateful for a check for $112.68 or something? And now, on top of all that, the feds have gotten me into trouble with my wife. 

I hate to say this to old Uncle Sam, but take your money and shove it.

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The Death of Accidents

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Sep• 20•11

Bus Driver Indicted for Manslaughter. Photo from NY1.com

I have a general rule of thumb when climbing onto airplanes.  If the pilot appears sober; if he is not chanting in Arabic, and if he is willing to go up in the air, I’m willing to hitch a ride with him.  Doesn’t matter if it is raining, snowing, windy, or hailing.  He knows more about flying than I do, and if he’s willing to put his life on the line to move me from point A to point B, who am I to argue?

That may not be the smartest measure, but it is mine.  It is a bet that the pilot values his life as much as I value mine – and I think that’s a good wager.  It’s not a 100 percent assurance, but it is probably a 99.9. Same goes for any mode of transportation — bus, boat, subway, train, and auto travel.

It disturbs me, then, to learn that the driver of the casino bus that crashed on I-95 earlier this year killing 15 people is now up on manslaughter charges.  It was a horrific accident, and a terrible tragedy for the victims and their families. Lawsuits aplenty are appropriate. But manslaughter? Wasn’t this an accident?

Anyone over the age of 40 will likely remember accidents.  They were those things that happened by mistake prior to 1990 or so – unfortunate things that were really no one’s fault.  They just happened, and we lived with the consequences and moved on, however pained.  Accidents were a part of life.

Not anymore. The trend of criminal justice today is following the trend of civil justice. Someone is always to blame.  First we began suing ladder manufactures for building…ladders.  And now we are jailing people for making poor, split-second judgment calls.  

In Italy today, scientists are on trial for failing to predict an earthquake in 2009. They, too, are being charged with manslaughter – 300 counts of it. Does anyone think a scientist would fail to predict an earthquake on purpose?

It is amazing to watch mankind turn on itself.  Who will we indict next?  God?

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Damned YouTube!

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Sep• 19•11

http://youtu.be/aufAtuTwKlE

This just up on Drudge sure to make its way around this week…

 

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Obama’s Narrative Crisis

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Sep• 19•11

President Obama’s re-election narrative got a lot worse today, with Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune urging him to forgo running entirely in 2012. That’s tough stuff for someone struggling to get up from off the mat.

Chapman enumerates the President’s re-election challenges — the economy, the economy, and the economy — and then writes:

“But there is good news for the president. I checked the Constitution, and he is under no compulsion to run for re-election. He can scrap the campaign, bag the fundraising calls and never watch another Republican debate as long as he’s willing to vacate the premises by Jan. 20, 2013.

“That might be the sensible thing to do. It’s hard for a president to win a second term when unemployment is painfully high. If the economy were in full rebound mode, Obama might win anyway. But it isn’t, and it may fall into a second recession — in which case voters will decide his middle name is Hoover, not Hussein. Why not leave of his own volition instead of waiting to get the ax?”

Chapman has upped the ante on what is playing out to be a depressive, and possibly inescapable, story line for Mr. Obama — see how he falls.  The President is like the heavyweight fighter cheered on his way up the ranks, then broken by the weight of the championship belt. 

It is no surprise who Chapman recommends as President Obama’s replacement.  It is Hillary Clinton, of course, the most popular political figure in America today. 

“The ideal candidate would be a figure of stature and ability who can’t be blamed for the economy. That person should not be a member of Congress, since it has an even lower approval rating than the president’s.

“It would also help to be conspicuously associated with prosperity. Given Obama’s reputation for being too quick to compromise, a reputation for toughness would be an asset.

“As it happens, there is someone at hand who fits this description: Hillary Clinton. Her husband presided over a boom, she’s been busy deposing dictators instead of destroying jobs, and she’s never been accused of being a pushover.”

Mrs. Clinton has made it abundantly clear that there is “zero” chance that she would ruin for president in 2012. There is an even lesser chance, if that is possible, that President Obama would capitulate now. But every mention of Hillary’s name is a page added to President Obama’s withering narrative. The taller they are, the harder the fall, indeed. 

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The Youth Vote, Part 67

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Sep• 18•11

http://youtu.be/RYhV2E-ennQ

I apologize for harping so much on the youth vote, but here is a new ad from the College National Republican Committee that rings irresistibly true.  It is playing on programming that appeals to the the under-30 age bracket on cable stations, including MTV and Comedy Central.  My gut says it will be explosively effective.

I remember hearing messaging that rang true in 1980 when Ronald Reagan ran for president. It stirred a ripple of conservatism through my generation after his election.  It was an electrifying revolution of optimism on the heels of the nihilistic 1970’s.   

I believe that a similar movement among young Americans is coming, based on the simple, accurate message articulated in this television ad.  But I do not believe that the movement will be personality driven — there is no figure today as singularly compelling as Reagan — nor, I fear, do I believe it will be so rooted in optimism.  This one, I think, might be angrier, pitting the generations against one another, more akin to what happened in the 1960’s — but this time with young people calling for more conservative governance. I do not see how such a conflict can be avoided really. 

America’s young people are being robbed.  In borrowing 42 cents on every dollar we spend, we  literally are stealing their futures away. Young people are slowly catching onto the gig, and when they fully realize it, they are going to mad. Justifiably so.  And we will be ashamed for what we have done to them. More justifiably still. 

 

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The Disappearing Debt Issue

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Sep• 16•11

I don’t care what anyone says, debt is the number-one issue in America. Polls say otherwise. They consistently report that the issue is jobs, but it’s debt as far as I can see. It should stay front-and-center on the national radar. 

I can hear it when talking to people on the campaign trail. I hear it from young people, who, as a group, backed President Obama in droves three years ago.

Unemployment is the screaming compound fracture; debt is the stomach cancer. The fracture is a triage winner no doubt, but, when push comes to shove, most people aren’t suffering from it. We all have the latter illness, and it’s eating away at our innards.  

I have long thought that the reality of our national debt — it will be more than $24 trillion when my youngest child is in high school (2021) — would awake young people to fiscal conservatism, and I am anecdotally seeing that happen. My fourteen-going-on-twenty-seven-year-old daughter told me last night that her friends are joining a high school Young Republican Club. In other words, it has become cool to identify as Republican — in an area that backed Barack Obama over John McCain with more than 65% of the vote (they must be the ones denuding area Subaru wagons of their factory-added Obama stickers.)

I can’t help but think, whether those kids know it or not, that debt is the underlying reason. It is the single greatest threat to their future. It affects all things — our world status, economic growth, the cost of college loans and mortgages, tomorrow’s social programs, the future of the U.S. Military, etc., etc., etc…. 

If I were to receive a call from a pollster today and be asked, “what is the single most important issue facing our nation today, jobs or debt?, I  might think of the struggling, unemployed and sympathetically answer “jobs.” But I’d be lying. I love and worry for my children more than anyone else. My truthful answer would be “debt.” I suspect I am not alone in that. 

Curious to know what other people think…

 

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Man on a Mission

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Sep• 15•11

Newly Sworn-In Congressman Bob Turner (R-NY)

 Many messages can be taken away from the NY-9 congressional election Tuesday – the President has problems among Jews and Catholics, machine politicians are an endangered species, and Watch Out!: voters of all parties are now in play – everywhere.

But my chief takeaway is the lesson that can be learned from Bob Turner the man.  (I ran his campaign communications and got to know him well in an abbreviated period of time.)  It is a lesson that must be learned by prospective candidates for 2012 and beyond.

It is simple: Know who you are. Know your convictions. Know your mission.  And then run for the seat like a man of fire. Voters will disagree with you on issue x, y, or z, but they smell passion and authenticity – they thirst for it in a world of manufactured politicians.

Bob Turner (R) didn’t waste a second of time in his race for the seat last held by Anthony Weiner (D).  He didn’t have to. To my occasional chagrin he cared not one iota for crafted talking points.  He never tailored his remarks for one ethnic group or another. And he did not waste time worrying about election results. As he saw it, they had nothing to do with him. That was for the voters to sort out.  All he could do was say “Here I am.  This is how I see things.”

I have worked with a lot of candidates over the years, and many of them lacked that essential self knowledge.  Without it, they are lost when it comes time to make tough calls. Bob Turner will not have that problem.

One other takeaway for me.  There is an untapped wealth in America of accomplished men and women like Bob Turner who can step forward now to run for office – people who know who they are after a lifetime of experience — and who could give a rat’s you-know-what about dancing around the issues.

The nation needs them.    

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The Internet Archive, 9-11

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Sep• 10•11


 

Temporarily back from the fishing expedition, but just to post this. 

A friend and colleague is working on this project.  It is an archive of television footage — worldwide — for the week of 9/11/01. The idea of the Internet Archive is to preserve every bit of digital information in the world for future generations. The 9/11 component alone is an extraordinary resource. 

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Gone Fishin’

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Aug• 30•11

Due to a rather overwhelming work and campaign schedule, The Blackberry Alarm Clock will suspend publishing until Thursday, September 15. That should spare you all two weeks of mindless filler.  Thanks and stay well.

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Bachmann’s God-Awful Comment

Written By: William F. B. O'Reilly - Aug• 29•11

Though Shalt Not Debt!

Michele Bachmann didn’t help her cause today.  The Minnesota congresswoman and Tea Party Caucus leader provocatively suggested  that the recent earthquake and Hurricane came about because of God’s wrath over the federal deficit.  The Bachmann campaign quickly walked the comment back as “jest.” 

“I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians,” she is reported as saying. “We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said: ‘Are you going to start listening to me here? Listen to the American people … They know the government is on a morbid obesity diet and we’ve got to rein in spending.”

Bachmann is lucky.  None of the Republican candidates is gunning for her at the moment. Pawlenty has dropped out, Palin hasn’t decided whether to drop in, Romney and Perry are sizing each other up — and who knows what the rest of the field is up to.   

If someone were gunning for Bachmann, she would have a very long — and very bad — news cycle coming. 

 

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