The stimulus package our President seems so frantic to shove down our throats is a little like being strapped to a bomb just before it drops from a plane. We don’t have much choice, and apparently King B O thinks we’ll see it the same way Slim Pickens did in “Dr. Strangelove”, and we’ll “Yee-ha” all the way to impact. Well, not me. I’ll try to escape all the way to the end with my last breath. Even if I’m still going to hit the ground.

Just like dieting, we didn’t get into this fix in a matter of weeks. It’s going to take considerably more time, and certainly more sacrifice to get out of it. Since that’s the case, why all the rush to “Get some money flowing back into this economy”? And let’s just look at THAT statement for a minute. . .the Congressional Budget Office says this ‘emergency’ stimulus will drop a whopping 3 percent into the economy by the end of 2009. Three percent. That’s a three percent emergency fix, folks. Let’s take a couple breaths, step back and think before we pull the trigger on this thing.

Hey BOYS!!! CAN YOU HEAR US?

As you well know, our teeny voices at full volume are lost before the sound waves make it up to Washington. Aren’t we supposed to have ‘representatives’ up there amplifying our tiny squeaks for us? Why aren’t they doing that? Have they gotten drunk with power, or worse, lost in the romantic notion that King B O notices them? 

This Administration . . . no, more appropriately: Totalitarian Regime is about to lock the doors on one of our freedoms. The freedom to fail. Every good parent knows the benefit of failure. Any inventor or good business person will tell you that in order to succeed, you must first fail. . .a lot. 

Frankly, I’d rather be poor and know that while tough times would prevail for a while, we’d be better off in the long run. This “Stimulus Package” is nothing more than a giant ‘Ponzi Scheme’, and our REPRESENTATIVES are about to invest in it on our behalf. Go figure.

Hey BOYS!!! GIRLS!!! REPRESENTATIVES???!!! CAN YOU HEAR US?????

Now, the King wants to ‘set up banks’ to absorb toxic mortgages. This is a spending spree on a grand scale that will result in government owned . . . . EVERYTHING. . .

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

You can now listen to Just Talking It Up 27 in the player on the left sidebar of the blog, or on iTunes!

With the election of America’s first black president, racism is bound to be effected in some way. Has racism become a thing of the past here in the U.S? Or is it alive and well and gaining strength? Janet (as usual) is very outspoken and Crash (as usual) helps put things in proper perspective.

Listen in on this challenging topic, and be sure to give us your opinions at: feedback@justalkingitup.com!

dang if i didn’t just spend 24 hours in a metal tube with a newborn only to land in the heat and dust of east africa.  it was a long and glorious 4 months in america but it had to come to a bitter end on tuesday.  mabelline and i packed up all our burp cloths and diapers and headed east to meet back up with francis.  i won’t complain about the flight cuz my baby did pretty good but i might take a moment to purge all the evil thoughts i’ve had about this forgotten country and it’s wacky ways.  

first off, it smells bad.  my house is open-air and every window is screened in.  this is fantastic when a delightful breeze finds it’s way to my yard but it’s downright abominable when my neighbor burns his trash.  in a poor country where most folks live on a dirt floor, how is it that my neighbor has enough trash to burn around the clock?  i’m a wasteful and consumptive american and i couldn’t burn trash for more than 5 minutes a day.  and is it possible he’s actually a scatologist because his trash smells like 8 kinds of poo, it’s terrible.

secondly, they didn’t learn how to drive in my absence.  i know this because i’ve already been bumped and i’ve only driven once since tuesday.  the pedestrians have also not figured out that death can happen as a result of darting in front of moving cars.  you can’t drive 200 yards without someone ambling out in front of your car.

they say when you leave a place you don’t like you end up mourning things about it you never realized were so good.  as i was dodging my 65th pedestrian of the day i decided that i couldn’t spend the next year and a half whining about how foreign africa is so i set out to find the things that i might one day miss about uganda.  the thing is, it’s foreign to us westerners but WE are the outsiders.  it’s so american of us to be frustrated with them for not acting like americans.  it took some soul searching but here’s what i came up with to balance out my first two complaints:

first off, you don’t pump your own gas.  there’s an attendant who fights other attendants for the right to pump your gas, clean your windshield, and check your oil.  they’re very quick and you only have to tip them about fifty cents for all that work.  i usually tip about a dollar so they will like me and give me extra fuel.  i swear it works.

secondly, a really good massage only costs about $30 for an hour.   i dig a good massage and today i had an hour with zora, the best masseuse in town, while francis watched baby mabelline.  the thing about an african massage is they don’t honor the unspoken american code of spa modesty. zora exposed parts of my post-baby body that i haven’t dared let myself see.  it would probably require special state fair fun house mirrors for me to see those parts but zora felt they needed airing out.  back up… this half of the post is devoted to things i will miss about uganda so strike that last part from the record.   i loved my surprise massage.  i will one day miss $30 totally exposed massages.

even though africa is still very african i’ve decided to be ok with it.  i hope you’re ok with where you are, too.

What? Is he just pretending to be king? Does he really believe his own press? After all, the press is still cooing over everything Obama does. If the President passes gas unexpectedly, the print media people want the three inch bold type headline: ‘President Obama Compared To Pavarotti’. 

Today, in a meeting with republicans about his gazzillion-bazzillion dollar stimulus package, Obama actually told GOP leaders ”You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done” . He was clearly agitated. He’s only 3 days in and is swiping at a radio talk show host? While Rush Limbaugh is a little more than just a host, he hardly shapes/shakes the republican party. If he did, we’d have McCain to complain about.  Most of them (like me for the most part) consider him sheer entertainment via giant  ego. But obviously, he gets under the Presidents skin. 

Speaking of ego . . . that ain’t all King B O pulled today. In a discussion with Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the king sarcastically said “I won.” Making it clear that discussing the nuts and bolts of the stimulus package is merely a photo-op, also said to Cantor, “I’ll trump you on that”. In other words, he’s going to make it look like he’s reaching across the isle, but never intends to use any of the advice or ideas he gets there. Some change.

The more Rush Limbaugh needles the President, the closer we are to bringing back The Fairness Doctrine. Just watch. . . and listen, because it may be soon that you can’t do either.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

It seems that those who do not wish President Obama great success in his new position and leader of the free world are cast as idiotic, narrow minded, sore losers……an on and on.  I must admit to have almost fallen prey to that distorted view but,  headlines this morning have indelibly etched in my mind a much more patriotic, reasonable, United States centric and Christian worldview position.  I am for the success,  sovereignty and protection of our nation and I believe that Obama’s first week’s  actions do not align themselves with that end result.

The_New_York_Times reported this morning that former Guantanamo Bay detainee and suspected participant in the deadly bombing of the US Embassy in Yemen, Said Ali al-Shihri,  has emerged as the leader of Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch.  This heightens the risk to the U.S. and the world brought on by Obama’s Thursday signing of the executive order that the Guantanamo Bay site be closed.

Further to the point of not giving blanket support to “Obama’s success” as opposed to our Nation’s success is Obama’s decision reported this morning by international news service  Reuters .  Obama has committed to signing an executive order that lifts the ban on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad.  This reverses the ban imposed by former President George Bush.

Do I want Obama to suceed?  NO…if it is at the expense of the sanctity of life  and the security of our Nation.

I’m in a serious quandry over this issue of racial division or racism or racial equality or whatever the politically correct term for the relationship, or lack of same, between the the black and white races is currently.   I thought we had just elected a man of mixed race, with a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya, as President of the United States and all should, therefore, be well between the races.  It seems that the Black Rap World got a different message.  The  inhabitants of this world are using the recent inauguration of President Obama  to work their followers into a foul mouthed frenzy of adulation and euphoria coupled with the trashing of all who do not share their distorted activities and world perspective.  I suspect that saying “foul mouthed frenzy” and “rap”  in the same sentence is the epitome of redundancy but the situation seems to call for it.  Their actions certainly indicate a heightened level of racism is in the air.

Black rappers Jay-Z and Jeezy rabble roused a screaming, jeering out of control crowd at an inauguration ball on Tuesday night by shouting multiple racial epithets and declaring that their President was now black.   They used the “W” word….that would be Whitey to refer in a denigrating manner to those whose skin is not black.  They used the “N” word…….you know that one, it is the one that blacks can use to describe themselves but whites cannot.  But blacks can use the “W” word to describe anyone in the white race with no fear of retribution or recrimination.  Go figure!

For Obama to have won the Presidency as he did a number of things had to happen.   White voters who went for Obama were in one of three segments.  Either they voted for him because he was black, in spite of the fact that he was black or were agnostic as to his race and voted for him because they thought he was the better candidate.  There is ample data to indicate that the racially agnostic vote was the greatest reason.  Blacks went overwhelmingly for Obama thinking that he was the better candidate and that he was black.  There is, likewise, significant data to show that they went to the polls in much larger numbers than ever before because of the racial issues present in the race.  I don’t blame them for this at all, just stating what seems to be fact.  If it were not for this fact, Norm Coleman would, doubtless, be the Senator from Minnesota and not be embroiled in a battle to keep his seat by fending off one of the biggest kooks in America today, Al Franken.

I have a plethora of questions about this and I hardly know where to start.  First, is racism really on the decline in America as the election would indicate, or has there been a resurgence of it?   Is racism a one way street?  Can the black race be racist?  Interesting questions for a people struggling with numerous financial, socio-economic, political and spiritual issues.

Obama’s election would indicate that whites put aside racial prejudice to vote for him.  If that is the case, then I applaud them.  I did not vote for him, but it had nothing to do with race but had everything to do with his policies which I think will take our country in a socialistic direction.  I must admit that I have been pleasantly surprised by what seem on the surface to be more centrist actions than his campaign rhetoric foretold.  Time will tell if he  maintains this more mainstream stance.  If he does, then the black race will probably be as mad and a hatter because he didn’t fulfill their extremist liberal desires.   The rapper’s tone, language and arrogance would indicate a high level of expectation for special treatment that may or may not come.

Obama’s meteoric political rise and subsequent election should put to rest the commonly espoused black belief that there is a ceiling on how high anyone of any race can rise in our society.  Only time will tell whether this belief will hold or if it proves to be rejected and fleeeting.  I’ll bet Bill Cosby will have an easier time drawing a crowd and less catcalls than his message to his race has drawn recently.  Racism….regression or resumption…..we’ll see!

Who really CARES why she pulled out? Does anybody want to know the real reason? I certainly don’t. . . BUT, I must say, who can blame her? With nanny’s and taxes and marriage stability under the microscope, I would too if I were in HER shoes.

On the same subject, if I were planning a ‘go at it’. . . I’d have FIRST made sure that my marriage was solid, my taxes were in order & my ‘hired help’ employment history was beyond reproach. But that’s just me. Apparently it’s not HER. Everybody’s different. 

My take on the whole stupid affair is that she got pushed. Pushed because she’s a ‘Kennedy’. American Royalty. . . as it were. 

All I can think of is Princess Diana’s near death words “leave me alone”. . . 

Why doesn’t everybody just leave Caroline alone? The name “Kennedy” does not bring with it a universal destiny. Let her BE what she wants to be. She’s earned it many times over.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Timothy Geithner attempted to wax eloquent in explaining to the Senate confirmation committee why he didn’t pay $34,000 in self-employment taxes when for the IMF in 2003 and 2004.  It didn’t work!  After an IRS audit, he paid part of the tax but not all.  Obama’s transition team later discovered that Geithner also hadn’t paid taxes for 2001 and 2002.  He claimed both were  “honest mistakes”.   His explanation doesn’t pass the smell test.  But, in today’s society it probably will not matter, he’ll likely be placed in the position of running the Department of The Treasury and will oversee not only the massive TARP program but also taxpayer compliance.  T.A.R.P. is the acronym for Troubled Asset Relief Program……I think it should be deemed The Asinine Redistribution Plan….but that’s not the point I’d like to make.

Last week Harry Reid squirmed and refused to make eye contact with reporters and the C-Span camera as he defended Obama’s choice of Timothy Geithner for the Treasury post.  His reason was that even though Geithner made a small but honest (sic) mistake, these are difficult times and “we need  Geithner” to help us solve our massive financial problems.  In today’s  Senate confirmation hearing, even after having months to develop a plan for reviving a comatose banking industry, Geithner stumbled over questions about his plan and couldn’t define what action plan he will take to Congress.    So is this the man with the expansive smarts to lead us out of the financial woods, and how smart do you have to be to cause these serious  indiscretions to be overlooked?  This is just one more example of situational ethics that is so pervasive in our society.

This “protection of the blessed” starts early in life.  The 8 year old baseball phenom’s temper tantrums are overlooked because of his athletic prowess.   The strikingly beautiful pre-teenage girl is given special attention because of her appeal.  They both learn to expect similar treatment as they get older and their behavior will likely make them less than wonderful young adults.  It’s the reason that Mark McGwire’s  steroid aided home-run record stands and Barry Bonds supercilious arrogance was permitted and even celebrated.    On his 1987 Topps rookie baseball card Bonds looks like a malnourished Biafran refugee.  He was a steroid bloated joke when he broke Henry Aaron’s career home run record 21 years later, in September of 2007.   Both have been given a pass because of their athletic ability, albeit chemically aided.

Our society is materially effected by these people and the way a permissive population deals with them.  Bill Clinton changed the prevailing categorization of oral-sex in the minds of a generation of youth by his tawdry behavior, lies under oath and society’s allowing him to “skate” even in light of his indiscretions.  He is still a “rock-star” in the eyes of many in our jaded society.    And who believes that O.J. didn’t kill Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman….or that Bill Clinton did not sexually assault Juanita Broadderick.   Michael Vick  was feted for a while, but he finally got his comeuppance and went to jail.  But it was for mistreating dogs,  which is  bad, I agree.  But if he had only murdered unborn children through abortion he would still be in the NFL.

Now back to Geithner.  Reject him Senators!  Give us someone who can exercise authority over taxes and our finances who is not compromised by his failure to pay his own taxes.  Take a stand against situational ethics.    How could you do otherwise with a straight face.

Interpretation, please. OK, poetry is not something I actually know very much about. However, I do know what it’s not. Elizabeth Alexander apparently knows little more than I do on the subject. Is it just me? That was just AWFUL. What did any of it mean? At least I could understand and enjoy the art of Maya Angelou. I believe she is the ‘real deal’, but what was Ms. Alexander trying to convey? At the very least why, oh why didn’t she let someone else read the thing FOR her? Then at least it might have sounded better than it was, like a bad script in the hands of a great actor. As it was, it sounded like the worst computer-generated voice EVER. You know, like when you bring home a new answering machine, and until you record your own, that cold robot voice says, “We are . . .not . . . available. . . Please . . . leave . . . a message.”  

Whether you voted for him or not, this was a HUGE deal today. I just can’t imagine how she was selected to have this high honor. Worse, what moron organizing this thing heard the practice run and said, ‘Oh, that’s beautiful. Just super. It’s a go.’? Wow, I wish I’d had his/her job. If the President himself requested her, then maybe all the organizers sat in a room after the first run through and said amongst themselves, “OK, who’s gonna tell him the poem stinks?” I guess they collectively decided to let this one go.

Then there’s the strange religion of the  Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery:

“And as we leave this mountaintop, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.”

Then later in his prayer . . . and I use the term loosely :

“Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man , and when white will embrace what is right.”

Here’s MY interpretation, and I guess it’s why my bigotry can sometimes be mistaken for racism: Apparently, if you are black in this country, even at the highest level, you get a free pass on excellence. A bad poet is invited to write & recite at the Presidential Inauguration because she is a black female. Why else would they ask her? A nuttier than a fruitcake, so called minister is invited to ‘pray’ at the Inauguration of our first BLACK President because the nutcase is also, black. EVEN though the words he wrote & spoke in that prayer sounded as though they were written by an angry black man back in the 60′s. 

What the heck am I missing? Maybe I really AM a racist.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

When Rick Warren prays today, by golly he’d BETTER end the prayer right. Realizing that there is always room for debate & argument over the nuts and bolts within that prayer, there is a truth that is not debatable in the Christian community. If he ‘closes’ that prayer with something wimpy like in ‘the name of God’, or Father God, or anything that leaves out reference to Christ, Jesus Christ, or Jesus. . .he will have caved. We are CHRISTians. President-elect Obama says he is a CHRISTian.

Like Crash (yea me!!), I think Warren has an incredible opportunity to be available to our new president. Taxes, rules, prosperity and jobs come and go like global warming (ha!). Two major points I completely disagree with the new administration, and they are: right to life, and gay marriage. Everything else in my mind is pretty much cyclical. Obviously, there’s more to it that’s important like Supreme Court appointments, etc. Presidents too, come and go just like weather and preachers.

Obama will be our president & I have great respect for that office. Rick Warren is our Christian representative and I have great respect for that office, as well. If Warren doesn’t include Jesus name in some form, it will be just like Obama taking the oath, then immediately taking up residence in France.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .