Showing posts with label Barack Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barack Obama. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

OK, enough is enough!



Well, I, for one, am getting a little tired of the ongoing saga of all the outrage over Rep Joe Wilson’s “You lie” outburst last week. As you can read in the story here, Wilson has just been officially rebuked by the House of Representatives for his breach of decorum and, mainly, for his refusal to apologize on the House floor.

This whole circus, in the meantime, is inspiring a lot of sanctimonious ruminations about the state of American culture and just how much of a “coarsening” of the culture is going on. Others still – Democratic others, to be sure – are shaking their dismayed heads over the Wilson outburst being just another example of how ugly and dangerous the debate over health care is turning into. This is just one more example, they say, after the nasty and loud “town hall” screaming matches going on all across the country about health care.

It’s about time – especially for the Congressional Democrats – to get over it and put a cork in all the righteous outrage over a coarse culture and the disappearing decorum.

Was Wilson out of line yelling at the president the way he did? Yes.

Should he have apologized to Obama? Sure.

Which he did and now it’s time to move on. Congress has much more important things it should be troubling itself with than the lack of decorum. As I recall, by the way, it wasn’t entirely civil and proper to start booing George W. Bush during a State of the Union address either. And other than decorum, I think a major problem this country could possibly be facing is that enormous deficit our grandkids will be paying off. That’s something to get worked up and worried about, not Wilson’s refusal to apologize yet again.

And let’s also stop romanticizing a past of perfect civility and good manners in American politics. Because it never existed!! If this was the early nineteenth century, the president just might have challenged Wilson to a duel over the public insult.

As for the anger over health care, the loud town hall debates, and the insults hurled at Obama from the right-wing…Sure, many of the charges and name calling are ridiculous and out of line. But, then again, such constitutional provisions as the right to free speech, assembly, and the right to petition the government give everyone the right to vent their anger at lawmakers. In a lot of places in the world, people would be arrested and killed if they insinuated half the things the conservative right has yelled at Obama.

And, then again, perhaps concern, fear, and anger might even be warranted with the sort of debt this country is sinking into and an administration whose health care plans have, for far too long, remained vague about how to pay for an overhaul of the system and still maintain quality health care.

For those looking for the root causes of all the anger and rancorous debate, perhaps it’s the fact that the president had one too many comic books written about him and YouTube videos made where he is portrayed as a superhero, a savior, and a messiah, and too many fluff pieces written about his wife's sleeveless dresses. Perhaps this seemingly endless public honeymoon is to blame for his vague healthcare promises and seemingly flip declarations that he was certain that the healthcare overhaul would all be done by this fall, no problems, no concerns, no disagreements, no debate. The president’s time to be a celebrity is over and it’s time to be a leader in a democracy that allows for such sticky and uncomfortable rights as debate, criticism, and the public airing of anger and mistrust of the government.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Sly, say it ain't so!!!


OK, despite everything on my plate today, I just need to comment on a sketchy movie rumor right now. I must do this as a film fan, action movie buff, author, and Rambo fanatic. Some of the rumors circulating on the Internet - including a sketchy and confusing voicemail to aintitcool.com by Sly Stallone himself - the plot of the next Rambo film sounds like it might take a bizarre detour into...science fiction!

And hey, don't get me wrong, I love science fiction and I love Rambo!

You can check it out at http://www.aintitcool.com/ but I think having Rambo hunting a genetically-engineered beast in the frozen northern wilderness has got to be one of the most insane ideas I've heard in a long time.

For the sake of referencing topical political issues, let me make this comparison: it's almost as insane as fearing political indoctrination during Barack Obama's speech to kids about staying in school!

Friday, May 1, 2009

More Culture Wars Podcasts Available Now!!

On April 30, Ernabel Demillo and I hosted the last Culture Wars episode of this "season." It's now available for downloading at http://culturewars.libsyn.com or through a free subscription at I-Tunes. So be sure and catch this because new episodes will be returning only in September.

But our last spring episode had a great interview with presidential historian Nick Ragone discussing Barack Obama's first 100 days in office. I'd highly recommend you take a look at the link on the right to Nick's excellent blog, too!

Plus, we gave our spin to some of the top headlining news stories, controversies and even conspiracy theories. Check out our take on the swine flu - including Joe Biden's travel advisory - blogging by parents, the FCC ruling on curses in broadcasting, and the biggest question of the day: has Tupac Shakur really faked his death??

But in the meantime, do keep checking in on this blog throughout the summer and get a good fix of Culture Wars: the Blog Version!!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Presidential analysis on Culture Wars

Don't miss today's live broadcast of Culture Wars for some interesting takes on the Presidency and op-ed controversies!

Presidential historian Nick Ragone joins us to discuss his impression of the State of the Union address...and whether President Obama will stay more popular than God.

Over the past week, we also got some interesting listener feedback on the New York Post chimpanzee controversy. We'll read all them on the air today. Don't miss it!