An Apology

Dear Mr. Stroud,

I apologize for falling so far behind on this blog. The enormous backlog has been dealt with, and I will try not to let it happen again.

Best regards,

Peter

The USPS

This cartoon by Mike Keefe of the Denver Post is the perfect explanation of why the postal service is running into financial trouble.  The key objects here are the mailman, and the fact that he is emailing about how post offices are closing.  The satire is that email is killing much of the postal services business, and here's a mailman writing a bewildered email about how the postal service could be shutting down 3100 post offices. Keefe's message is explaining why the postal service is having so much difficulty, and he doesn't show any point of view on it, and is simply pointing out the problem.

GOP: Defenders of the Wealthy

In a nation of endless opportunity, injustice has been allowed to prevail.  What sort of society are we that so heavily taxes it's wealthiest and most successful citizens, effectively taking away their rewards for all of their hard work, and hands it down to the most needy and impoverished, allowing them to be lazy and feed off of the teat of the government?  Who will defend these great Americans who embody the spirit of capitalism?  Why, the Republican Party of course!

That was sarcasm, in case that wasn't blatantly obvious.  This is one of the better cartoons I've seen lately.  Matson is clearly a liberal, who thinks that the GOP's coddling off the super wealthy is simply ridiculous.  The key object in this cartoon is the boy in Santa's lap, Richie Rich, the main character from a cartoon series about an extremely wealthy boy and how he must defend his vast fortune from countless people who want to get their hands on it.  The secondary object are the Christmas list, which reads "tax cuts," and Santa himself, who is the GOP symbol, the elephant.  Matson uses a combination of ridicule and satire, driven home by the cultural reference to Richie Rich.  The caption at the bottom and the look of disgust on the elephant's face indicate the GOP's displeasure at not being able to offer any tax cuts to the wealthy this year.

Why No One Likes Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney is perceived as being out of touch with the typical American, and his bet comment only emphasizes that.  In a way, I almost feel bad for Romney because that wasn't his intention at all with that comment.  However, anything you say when you're running for president is going to be scrutinized, so I don't feel too badly for him.  It's well known that Romney is extremely wealthy, and in this economy, when so money people are struggling to make ends meet, he does not want to draw attention to that.  Jimmy Margulies, the cartoonist, is presumably a liberal who doesn't like Mitt Romney because he's a Republican, or a conservative who thinks that Romney is too liberal.  We can see that he is mocking Romney by looking at the third frame, where he makes his point that Romney is not only out of touch, but doesn't understand that he is out of touch.

Holiday Memory

I like this question of the week. My favorite holiday memory is probably Christmas Eve of 2002.  As you all know, we rarely have a white Christmas here in Northern Virginia.  In 2002, I still regularly attended the Catholic church.  Christmas Eve of 2002, my family went out to dinner at Clyde's at Reston Town Center, one of our longer standing holiday traditions.  Afterwards we went to church.  When we went into church, there was no snow, and only a small chance of it in the weather forecast.  When we came out of church about 90 minutes later, it was snowing fairly steadily, and by morning it had accumulated to the point that the grass was covered.  For some reason or another, I've always remembered this, and it's always stood out as one of my fonder childhood memories.  Strange how something as simple as a well timed snow storm can be a favorite holiday memory.

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney might be the best man for the job.  That being said, I'm still voting for Obama.  If Romney were defnding his moderate record, I could support him, but his recent pandering to the Tea Party frightens me.  I realize he has to pander to the ultra-conservative Republican base in order to win the nomination, but in doing this, he has given people the impression that he is a flip-flopper and a weak leader.  This represents the biggest threat to Romney's candidacy, and is the main reason that Newt Gingrich is currently leading in the polls.  People have seen the effects of weak leadership the past 3 years, and are looking for a candidate who is willing to assert himself and defend his record.  Romney's biggest strengths are his backgtround as a successful businessman, and, perhaps most importantly, his experience as governor of Massachusetts, when he proved that he can be bipartisan and work with Democrats to effectively run a government.  If Obama isn't reelected this November, I hope it's Ron Paul.  If it's not Ron Paul, I hope it's Romney.  He scares me less than Gingrich.

Obama Update

Obama's approval rating is back up to 43%, a slight improvement over where he has been the past couple of months.  I think that despite the challenges Obama faces, and his evident lack of leadership ability (I'm pretty damn liberal and I still don't think he's a good leader) that he will win reelection in 2012.  This is not necessarily because of his own merits, but because the Republicans have yet to find a challenger who seems to have a real chance.  Gingrinch is probably there best shot, and many within the Republican party dislike Gingrich.  If you don't have the full backing of your own party, then whose backing do you have?  Although Gingrich has been doing well recently, I don't doubt that he'll eventually put his foot in his mouth.  Romney seemed a to have the nomination locked up for lack of a better option, and look at him now.  I'm willing to bet Gingrich implodes.  I'm looking forward to the Obama-Gingrich debates; I think that is where Obama's best chance at success lies.  Obama's ideas appeal more to the majority of Americans.  The Republican mantra of slash government services and slash taxes really only benefits the wealthy.  If Obama can find a way to reenergize the 20-something crowd that swept him into office in 2008, which I think he will win the election fairly easily.