I woke up from a unique dream last night on the eve of Barack Obama's Health Care Summit:
Remember the John Grisham novel that spurred the 1996 movie 'A Time to Kill?' And how Samuel L. Jackson portrayed the character Carl Lee Hailey - the man who shot and killed two White Supremacists in the courtroom after they allegedly brutally raped his 10-year-old daughter and left her for dead?
And how Matthew McConaughey played Carl's good friend and lawyer - Jake Tyler Brigance?
Well picture Obama at the HC Summit with the select few invitees sitting around the now-renowned square-shaped table in Blair House. With C-Span cameras rolling, and millions of Americans watching, Obama walks into the center of the arranged tables and asks everyone to please close their eyes. And in his best Obama dead-pan, instructs the cavalry of media: "Yeah...you guys too," pointing to the reporters, "you're all part of this...close your eyes." After some curious looks and some rustling amongst the crowd, Obama presciently and meticulously launches into his best Jake Brigance impersonation and tells the narrative of America, with its broken down health care system.
The president puts a human face on the story. He is able to smash preconceived notions and peel away the many ridiculous partisan innuendo that clouds the narrative. Everyone is listening intently, to his every word. He has a captive audience - a national captive audience at that.
And on cue, the main stream media breaks in from their regular broadcasting schedule for this palpable moment. Obama continues with his story, sounding like Morgan Freeman narrating a Pyrrhic Victory, and explains all that is fundamentally wrong with the system and does it in a way that crashes through the partisan bickering.
Soon thereafter, Congress, sullen from this awakening, promises to have a "come-to-Jesus meeting" and resolves to pass a bipartisan bill that will put the people first.
Fiction and Hollywood, I know, but one can only dream.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Obama on Jobs: 'Health Care, Health Care' and Prince Harry
Back in early February - Tuesday the 2nd, to be exact, President Obama and Air Force One touched down in Nashua, New Hampshire. His White House schedule had him visiting a medium-sized company that engineered and manufactured LED light technology. The headline event for Obama, after earlier visits to Elyria, Ohio and Tampa, Florida, was a Town Hall meeting in one of Nashua's quaint High Schools.
Mr. Obama delivered his, now very honed, post SOTU stump speech to the white and blue-collared New England crowd. He rolled up his sleeves after his ten-minute speech and took questions.
However, the questions were all about health care.
Likewise, today, in Henderson, Nevada, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- NV) alongside, the President basically re-tweeted his New Hampshire and Elyria, Ohio speeches.
Obama was highly criticized after his SOTU speech - especially after the administration showed remarkable tone deafness regarding the Scott Brown 'Mass acre.' Thus, with introspection and trepidation, Mr. Obama subtly swung to the middle. But more importantly, he claimed - chief economic adviser Christine Romer claimed - Press Secretary Robert Gibbs claimed - and David Axelrod claimed that jobs were our number one priority.
Ya think?
Yet, inexplicably and under the guise of subterfuge, Obama boomeranged back to the merits of passing health care. When asked by a lifelong Nevada resident about the loss of jobs in the air line industry, and how she and her co-workers were all laid off from United Airlines, Obama, incredulously, tried to link health care to her plight.
Indeed the upcoming and much-awaited February, 25 (bipartisanship) Health Care Summit is around the corner. Thus, Obama is priming the pump and is strategically herding the Republicans into a corner.
With unemployment in Nevada around 13.5%, and with 1 in 4 homeowners in some fashion of foreclosure, the president continues with his intractable focus on health care reform. According to a Rasmussen poll, 61% of respondents say Congress should scrap the health care bill all together. Likewise, 19% of voters say it is only somewhat likely that the Democrats and Republicans will agree on a bipartisan health care plan this year. More telling is that 80% think it is unlikely to pass at all.
And although month-over-month job losses are shrinking vis-a-vis mid-2009, this is one of the worst jobless recoveries in history. With less people in the workforce, employees are working harder. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal productivity in the U.S. is up 6.2% for the fourth quarter of 2009. However, there are still 14.8 million Americans unemployed as of January, 2010.
More troubling is the rate of unemployment for teens and blacks - 26.4% and 16.5%, respectively. Vice-President Biden and the Obama administration have continually touted job creation at 2 million; all of these 'created' or 'saved' jobs were because of the Stimulus Plan (The Recovery and Reinvestment Act). However, even the White Houses' own recovery.gov Web site shows only 655,00 jobs created.
The job situation is only going to get worse before it gets better - all economic indicators as well as anecdotal evidence point to that conclusion.
Don Peck, of The Atlantic, writes in his March, 2010 article about the effects of joblessness:
Obama and company spent thirteen months pursuing health care reform in Congress - all to the detriment of millions of Americans who are out of work or are underemployed. If you promised that jobs and the economy were your top priority in 2009 and you did not deliver, why are you repeating your mistake and ignoring the people again in 2010?
Besides, does anyone really believe Obama's visit can catapult Harry Reid to victory in November? The president's magic sure didn't help in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
Mr. Obama delivered his, now very honed, post SOTU stump speech to the white and blue-collared New England crowd. He rolled up his sleeves after his ten-minute speech and took questions.
However, the questions were all about health care.
Likewise, today, in Henderson, Nevada, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- NV) alongside, the President basically re-tweeted his New Hampshire and Elyria, Ohio speeches.
Obama was highly criticized after his SOTU speech - especially after the administration showed remarkable tone deafness regarding the Scott Brown 'Mass acre.' Thus, with introspection and trepidation, Mr. Obama subtly swung to the middle. But more importantly, he claimed - chief economic adviser Christine Romer claimed - Press Secretary Robert Gibbs claimed - and David Axelrod claimed that jobs were our number one priority.
Ya think?
Yet, inexplicably and under the guise of subterfuge, Obama boomeranged back to the merits of passing health care. When asked by a lifelong Nevada resident about the loss of jobs in the air line industry, and how she and her co-workers were all laid off from United Airlines, Obama, incredulously, tried to link health care to her plight.
Indeed the upcoming and much-awaited February, 25 (bipartisanship) Health Care Summit is around the corner. Thus, Obama is priming the pump and is strategically herding the Republicans into a corner.
With unemployment in Nevada around 13.5%, and with 1 in 4 homeowners in some fashion of foreclosure, the president continues with his intractable focus on health care reform. According to a Rasmussen poll, 61% of respondents say Congress should scrap the health care bill all together. Likewise, 19% of voters say it is only somewhat likely that the Democrats and Republicans will agree on a bipartisan health care plan this year. More telling is that 80% think it is unlikely to pass at all.
And although month-over-month job losses are shrinking vis-a-vis mid-2009, this is one of the worst jobless recoveries in history. With less people in the workforce, employees are working harder. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal productivity in the U.S. is up 6.2% for the fourth quarter of 2009. However, there are still 14.8 million Americans unemployed as of January, 2010.
More troubling is the rate of unemployment for teens and blacks - 26.4% and 16.5%, respectively. Vice-President Biden and the Obama administration have continually touted job creation at 2 million; all of these 'created' or 'saved' jobs were because of the Stimulus Plan (The Recovery and Reinvestment Act). However, even the White Houses' own recovery.gov Web site shows only 655,00 jobs created.
The job situation is only going to get worse before it gets better - all economic indicators as well as anecdotal evidence point to that conclusion.
Don Peck, of The Atlantic, writes in his March, 2010 article about the effects of joblessness:
"There is unemployment, a brief and relatively routine transitional state that
results from the rise and fall of companies in any economy, and there is unemployment - chronic, all-consuming. The former is a necessary
lubricant in any engine of economic growth. The latter is a pestilence that
slowly eats away
at people, families, and, if it
spreads widely enough, the fabric of society.
Indeed, history suggests
that
it is perhaps
society's most noxious ill."
Obama and company spent thirteen months pursuing health care reform in Congress - all to the detriment of millions of Americans who are out of work or are underemployed. If you promised that jobs and the economy were your top priority in 2009 and you did not deliver, why are you repeating your mistake and ignoring the people again in 2010?
Besides, does anyone really believe Obama's visit can catapult Harry Reid to victory in November? The president's magic sure didn't help in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
TOP TEN Reasons Why Tiger Woods is Holding a Press Conference Friday:
10. He's been really Pumpin' Iron a lot lately and wants new potential 'babes' to see his Guns.
9. The Golf Channels' ratings are tanking during Olympics.
8. He wants to announce to the world that he is the new de facto leader of the Tea Party.
7. He wants to come clean about his one-night-stand with Rielle Hunter (aka mistress #17).
6. He wants to brag about the $2 million he donated to the Haiti relief fund.
5. Jesper Parnevik dared him to.
4. Wanted to reinforce idea that HE still controls the media.
3. He wants to announce his newest sponsor: Viagra!
2. Elin told him to get the F*#$ out of the house!
1. To announce that he was chosen to be next season's Bachelor!
9. The Golf Channels' ratings are tanking during Olympics.
8. He wants to announce to the world that he is the new de facto leader of the Tea Party.
7. He wants to come clean about his one-night-stand with Rielle Hunter (aka mistress #17).
6. He wants to brag about the $2 million he donated to the Haiti relief fund.
5. Jesper Parnevik dared him to.
4. Wanted to reinforce idea that HE still controls the media.
3. He wants to announce his newest sponsor: Viagra!
2. Elin told him to get the F*#$ out of the house!
1. To announce that he was chosen to be next season's Bachelor!
TOP TEN Jobs Created by Obama's Stimulus Plan:
10. White House hires a Social Media maven to teach Press Secretary Gibbs how to use Twitter.
9. 'Snowmaggeden' brings the most shovel-ready jobs to the east coast since FDR's New Deal.
8. Umar Farouk Mutalleb was 'Mirandized' creating 1 defense attorney and 500 White House PR folk.
7. Allusions to Scott Brown's Chevy pick-up truck spurs hiring of additional shift of employees at GM truck plant.
6. 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' agenda will SAVE US Military 13,478 jobs.
5. Recovery.gov Web site cost approximately $18 million to create.
4. Ellen DeGeneres gets hired on 'American Idol,' but keeps her day job.
3. Biden's one idea: Move 'Jersey Shore' from NYC to Miami Beach and give Snookie a makeover.
2. Tea Partiers hold conventions, town hall meetings and marches throughout US - Denny's and Motel 6 Ecstatic!
1. The White House buys GM and Chrysler!
9. 'Snowmaggeden' brings the most shovel-ready jobs to the east coast since FDR's New Deal.
8. Umar Farouk Mutalleb was 'Mirandized' creating 1 defense attorney and 500 White House PR folk.
7. Allusions to Scott Brown's Chevy pick-up truck spurs hiring of additional shift of employees at GM truck plant.
6. 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' agenda will SAVE US Military 13,478 jobs.
5. Recovery.gov Web site cost approximately $18 million to create.
4. Ellen DeGeneres gets hired on 'American Idol,' but keeps her day job.
3. Biden's one idea: Move 'Jersey Shore' from NYC to Miami Beach and give Snookie a makeover.
2. Tea Partiers hold conventions, town hall meetings and marches throughout US - Denny's and Motel 6 Ecstatic!
1. The White House buys GM and Chrysler!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
'Writers' on the Storm
Since its inception, the publisher and writer(s) of the DE2010.com political Web site have remained a mystery.
And like all good mysteries, I am going to make a stab at debunking all of the rumors and go: Bernstein and Woodward on finding out the identities of these pol scribes (I dare not use the ridiculous James O'Keefe investigative journalism tactics, however).
I know that they registered their DE2010 site on January 8, 2010 at GoDaddy! I also have a very strong hunch that these Op-Ed guys (or gals) are most likely from downstate - probably Sussex County.
Here are some of my first educated guesses:
Patrick Jackson?
Dave Burris?
Friends of thy Honorable John Carney
More to follow. I still need to cull bits and pieces of clues from their 'comment' posts (e.g., the one recent post from amerada hess asking the administrator on a presumptuous date at Toscana's). Hint: "BTW...Where's Toscana?...I'm not familiar with that place?" tells me you're not from New Castle County.
At any rate, the site is a fun place to go for Delaware politicos. If any DE2010.com readers have any more clues to divulge about the publisher/writers of said Web site, please post them in the comment section below.
And like all good mysteries, I am going to make a stab at debunking all of the rumors and go: Bernstein and Woodward on finding out the identities of these pol scribes (I dare not use the ridiculous James O'Keefe investigative journalism tactics, however).
I know that they registered their DE2010 site on January 8, 2010 at GoDaddy! I also have a very strong hunch that these Op-Ed guys (or gals) are most likely from downstate - probably Sussex County.
Here are some of my first educated guesses:
Patrick Jackson?
Dave Burris?
Friends of thy Honorable John Carney
More to follow. I still need to cull bits and pieces of clues from their 'comment' posts (e.g., the one recent post from amerada hess asking the administrator on a presumptuous date at Toscana's). Hint: "BTW...Where's Toscana?...I'm not familiar with that place?" tells me you're not from New Castle County.
At any rate, the site is a fun place to go for Delaware politicos. If any DE2010.com readers have any more clues to divulge about the publisher/writers of said Web site, please post them in the comment section below.
Bayh's Damnatory Departure
Perhaps Michael Moore should revisit the old movie classic: "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," and do a sequel: "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington..It Sucked...and Thus Went Back to Indiana."
Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind) knew he would be vilified after his press conference where he announced to a stunned nation that he's had enough of Congress - especially the partisanship and gridlock. This two-time Governor of Indiana knew he would have detractors from all sides, given the gravity - and especially - the timing of his announced departure.
After all, the Democratic Party, as well as the Obama Administration, are barely firing on three cylinders as it is.
And before Democratic National Committee chairman Tim Kaine, along with Obama and his inner circle of strategists can stop the world from spinning for a moment, they will have to develop a real game plan, lest this administration ends up resembling a certain peanut farmer.
Mr. Bayh is following his heart. After all, is there really a good time to quit anything? Political Science professors, colleagues, pundits and bloggers alike are quickly writing their very own narrative. That is the game in Washington. Win. Lose. Or quit. It doesn't matter, someone will tell you why your decision ruined their life or made it grand.
Ultimately, Bayh's real message is the one in which he's been trying to make for a while now: We should be solving problems and we should be civil servants, not fodder for journalists, bloggers and broadcasters. Arrogance and polarization aren't welcome during such trying times.
Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind) knew he would be vilified after his press conference where he announced to a stunned nation that he's had enough of Congress - especially the partisanship and gridlock. This two-time Governor of Indiana knew he would have detractors from all sides, given the gravity - and especially - the timing of his announced departure.
After all, the Democratic Party, as well as the Obama Administration, are barely firing on three cylinders as it is.
And before Democratic National Committee chairman Tim Kaine, along with Obama and his inner circle of strategists can stop the world from spinning for a moment, they will have to develop a real game plan, lest this administration ends up resembling a certain peanut farmer.
Mr. Bayh is following his heart. After all, is there really a good time to quit anything? Political Science professors, colleagues, pundits and bloggers alike are quickly writing their very own narrative. That is the game in Washington. Win. Lose. Or quit. It doesn't matter, someone will tell you why your decision ruined their life or made it grand.
Ultimately, Bayh's real message is the one in which he's been trying to make for a while now: We should be solving problems and we should be civil servants, not fodder for journalists, bloggers and broadcasters. Arrogance and polarization aren't welcome during such trying times.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
I'm a Little Teapot...
...Short and stout
Here is my agenda
Here I spew my spout
When I get all pissed off
Hear me shout:
Give me lots of money
So we can vote them out!
While the Washington, D.C. area is being pummeled with what Barack Obama calls Snowmagedden, another storm of sorts has materialized over Tennessee.
But unlike the high winds and piles of snow back east, Nashville, Tennessee is hosting its very own climatic event - the first-ever Tea Party Nation Convention. Grassroots types need not apply, however. And that is one of the characteristics of the storm enveloping the Volunteer state.
You see, the "official" TPN organization is a for-profit operation. Judson Phillips, a little-known Tennessee trial lawyer, along with his wife Sherry Phillips, have clashed over what constitutes the core Tea Party movement, and more importantly, who should guide it and how.
Four of the early organizers of Phillips' TPN event have resigned in protest. Moreover, these grassroots organizers have created their own convention to counter the perceived shift away from the very essence of its being - that of a grassroots movement. Joe Q. Public doesn't care about fancy Surf-n-Turf dinners at a glitzy Opryland hotel, they want a voice.
According to reporting done by Kenneth P. Vogel of the web site Politico:
The language in that last sentence sounds vaguely familiar. Sounds a lot like a certain pundit on Fox News - the one who "didn't go to college," and the one who claims "I've been really reading a lot of history lately" about our country and its founding.
And the part about "restore the United States Constitution to that direct authority which our Founders, and the Consent of the Governed, originally intended," sounds like the typical straw man argument which people sometimes fall prey to.
It's also instructive to know that, since the so-called Main Stream Media (MSM), has treated this TPN convention with what could only be described as contempt, there are around 40 MSM folk at the convention. In fact, C-Span and Fox News are televising keynote speaker Sarah Palin's speech in its entirety.
And speaking about what most right-leaning bloggers would label the MSM, Andrew Breitbart's BigJournalism.com, notwithstanding, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann has all but bought the pitch forks and torches when talking about the Tea Party movement. His favorite pejorative retort is "Teabaggers," or simply "Baggers," when he is especially incensed.
Politicos' Vogel reported yesterday that Olbermann, opining about the TPN's lead-off convention speaker, Tom Tancredo, a former congressman from Colorado and Republican presidential candidate, declared, American values are under siege from the "cult of multiculturalism," as well as "Islamification," and asserted President Barack Obama was elected because "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote in this country."
It's no wonder why the Tea Party grassroots gang is upset now. 1) They aren't the type of folks who pay $539 to attend a grassroots convention; 2) the whole reason for having a grassroots Tea Party is to keep the Washington establishment out; 3) and analogous to another Juggernaut first-ever convention - the Daily Kos convention for bloggers in Las Vegas in 2006, there is a real anger that is sometimes palpable as to the relevancy of today's MSM.
The New Yorker Magazine recently wrote about the Tea Party and who is attempting to co-opt it. It's becoming apparent that maybe the new, Gang of Four, who rejected the movement on the grounds that the MSM is too involved, and views the national Republicans, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann alike, as Carpetbaggers to the movement. A closer look at the Nashville Convention reveals a Fringe Element as well.
Thus, in the second stanza of this famous children's jingle:
I'm a clever Teabagger
Yes it's true
Here let me show you
What I can spew
I can shape my audience
Hear me shout:
I am Glenn Beck
And that's what I'm about!
Here is my agenda
Here I spew my spout
When I get all pissed off
Hear me shout:
Give me lots of money
So we can vote them out!
While the Washington, D.C. area is being pummeled with what Barack Obama calls Snowmagedden, another storm of sorts has materialized over Tennessee.
But unlike the high winds and piles of snow back east, Nashville, Tennessee is hosting its very own climatic event - the first-ever Tea Party Nation Convention. Grassroots types need not apply, however. And that is one of the characteristics of the storm enveloping the Volunteer state.
You see, the "official" TPN organization is a for-profit operation. Judson Phillips, a little-known Tennessee trial lawyer, along with his wife Sherry Phillips, have clashed over what constitutes the core Tea Party movement, and more importantly, who should guide it and how.
Four of the early organizers of Phillips' TPN event have resigned in protest. Moreover, these grassroots organizers have created their own convention to counter the perceived shift away from the very essence of its being - that of a grassroots movement. Joe Q. Public doesn't care about fancy Surf-n-Turf dinners at a glitzy Opryland hotel, they want a voice.
According to reporting done by Kenneth P. Vogel of the web site Politico:
The coalition recently held its own, less lavish convention at which it
formalized a mission statement drafted by 58 delegates from around the state. It
states "our objective is to restore the United States Constitution to that
direct authority which our Founders, and the Consent of the Governed, originally
intended," and calls it "the duty of the governed to take back the reins of
control, and to remove the shackles forged by our own apathy, that have chained
our Liberty."
The language in that last sentence sounds vaguely familiar. Sounds a lot like a certain pundit on Fox News - the one who "didn't go to college," and the one who claims "I've been really reading a lot of history lately" about our country and its founding.
And the part about "restore the United States Constitution to that direct authority which our Founders, and the Consent of the Governed, originally intended," sounds like the typical straw man argument which people sometimes fall prey to.
It's also instructive to know that, since the so-called Main Stream Media (MSM), has treated this TPN convention with what could only be described as contempt, there are around 40 MSM folk at the convention. In fact, C-Span and Fox News are televising keynote speaker Sarah Palin's speech in its entirety.
And speaking about what most right-leaning bloggers would label the MSM, Andrew Breitbart's BigJournalism.com, notwithstanding, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann has all but bought the pitch forks and torches when talking about the Tea Party movement. His favorite pejorative retort is "Teabaggers," or simply "Baggers," when he is especially incensed.
Politicos' Vogel reported yesterday that Olbermann, opining about the TPN's lead-off convention speaker, Tom Tancredo, a former congressman from Colorado and Republican presidential candidate, declared, American values are under siege from the "cult of multiculturalism," as well as "Islamification," and asserted President Barack Obama was elected because "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote in this country."
It's no wonder why the Tea Party grassroots gang is upset now. 1) They aren't the type of folks who pay $539 to attend a grassroots convention; 2) the whole reason for having a grassroots Tea Party is to keep the Washington establishment out; 3) and analogous to another Juggernaut first-ever convention - the Daily Kos convention for bloggers in Las Vegas in 2006, there is a real anger that is sometimes palpable as to the relevancy of today's MSM.
The New Yorker Magazine recently wrote about the Tea Party and who is attempting to co-opt it. It's becoming apparent that maybe the new, Gang of Four, who rejected the movement on the grounds that the MSM is too involved, and views the national Republicans, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann alike, as Carpetbaggers to the movement. A closer look at the Nashville Convention reveals a Fringe Element as well.
Thus, in the second stanza of this famous children's jingle:
I'm a clever Teabagger
Yes it's true
Here let me show you
What I can spew
I can shape my audience
Hear me shout:
I am Glenn Beck
And that's what I'm about!
Toyota's Tumult Requires 'Leadership Moment'
Toyota Motor Corp. was built on two principles: that the customer always comes first; and, a Zen-like passion for excellence, using a systematic approach to manufacturing and production - The Toyota Production System (TPS).
The TPS is now a world-renowned system. It is followed, in varying iterations, across a myriad of sectors of society; it is utilized in hospitals, multi-national sales organizations and even governments cull bits and pieces of this ingenious system that strives for excellence one small fix at a time. 'Continuous Improvement' is the goal - not every week or even every day, but every minute.
From Bombay to Buenos Aires, the TPS has increased productivity, decreased cost and, more importantly, increased quality. Over one-hundred books have been published on the subject.
Japanese engineer Taiichi Ohno is the pioneer who developed the system. And Eiiji Toyoda, the Japanese industrialist who would champion and lead the "Toyota Way,' would encourage such philosophies.
Flash forward to now. Toyota is facing what was once thought of as inconceivable - failure. Failure of quality, failure of safety and failure of one of the most important tenets of the Toyota philosophy - failure to protect the customer because of the lack of problem solving. In fact, Toyota's system of waste elimination, just-in-time delivery, visual management and built-in-quality has always been so good that they rarely have had to deal with such a public relations and management crisis.
4.5 million vehicles have been recalled across the globe. Worse, the original problem of gas pedals sticking because of improperly designed floor mats, has morphed into an actual mechanical problem with the pedal mechanism itself. At times, it seemed as though the grand masters of engineering and problem solving weren't exactly sure what the problem was. And before Toyota's team could get out in front of the story, the problem became what advertisers refer to as going 'virile.'
Now the venerable icon of smart engineering and green technology - the Prius - is having brake problems. Toyota sold 270,000 Prius' last year, but has yet to announce an official recall.
Talk about stop-and-go marketing.
Toyota has been clawing to become the world's No. 1 automaker for over a decade. They tirelessly did everything possible to ascend to the crown which General Motors held for more than half a century. Toyota now sees the torment in what was their unwavering redlining to draft the Chevy's and Pontiac's for so long. Toyota has slingshoted themselves into the lead. But at what cost?
The 'Quiet' Giant Speaks
Toyota President Akio Toyoda finally addressed the media regarding the recalled vehicle crisis. Even the Japanese media and government have voiced their displeasure with Toyota's handling of the problem.
The top Nikkei business daily said in a editorial that "words are not enough." The reporter also said that "The company's crisis management ability is being subjected to severe scrutiny." Another criticism came from the nationwide Asahi newspaper which calls Toyota's delayed reaction to the crisis "Utterly too late." It says, "The entire world is watching how Toyota can humbly learn from its series of recent failures and make safe cars."
Mr. Toyoda promised to beef up its quality control and said he would head a special committee to review quality checks, go over consumer complaints and listen to outside experts to develop a fix. That last comment is unprecedented. Imagine the President of Toyota Motor Corp. asking for 'outside help?' In the annals of engineering and problem solving, for Toyota to have to ask for help is heresy. The Japanese just don't make blunders such as these.
To be sure, this will be a leadership moment for Toyota. They have a unique opportunity to show the world what real leadership is. Remember how Johnson & Johnson dealt with the Tylenol crisis? It was genius - tell the truth, do what's in the best interest of the customer and develop a robust containment plan - a Toyota Commission of sorts - to answer any and all critics. After all, the best defense is a good offense.
Since its founding in the early part of the 20th century, Toyota has been anything but a stalwart company - it has redefined entrepreneurship and innovation. A whole South Korean automobile industry has grown out of Toyota's trailblazing efforts. In fact, Toyota's simple, but disciplined approach to manufacturing and production has changed the world in many ways
Thus, only by keeping the customer first and by learning from a large-scale failure, Toyota will hold true to its overriding principles: 'People' and 'Quality.' Hopefully Mr. Toyoda can live up to this 'Leadership Moment.'
The TPS is now a world-renowned system. It is followed, in varying iterations, across a myriad of sectors of society; it is utilized in hospitals, multi-national sales organizations and even governments cull bits and pieces of this ingenious system that strives for excellence one small fix at a time. 'Continuous Improvement' is the goal - not every week or even every day, but every minute.
From Bombay to Buenos Aires, the TPS has increased productivity, decreased cost and, more importantly, increased quality. Over one-hundred books have been published on the subject.
Japanese engineer Taiichi Ohno is the pioneer who developed the system. And Eiiji Toyoda, the Japanese industrialist who would champion and lead the "Toyota Way,' would encourage such philosophies.
Flash forward to now. Toyota is facing what was once thought of as inconceivable - failure. Failure of quality, failure of safety and failure of one of the most important tenets of the Toyota philosophy - failure to protect the customer because of the lack of problem solving. In fact, Toyota's system of waste elimination, just-in-time delivery, visual management and built-in-quality has always been so good that they rarely have had to deal with such a public relations and management crisis.
4.5 million vehicles have been recalled across the globe. Worse, the original problem of gas pedals sticking because of improperly designed floor mats, has morphed into an actual mechanical problem with the pedal mechanism itself. At times, it seemed as though the grand masters of engineering and problem solving weren't exactly sure what the problem was. And before Toyota's team could get out in front of the story, the problem became what advertisers refer to as going 'virile.'
Now the venerable icon of smart engineering and green technology - the Prius - is having brake problems. Toyota sold 270,000 Prius' last year, but has yet to announce an official recall.
Talk about stop-and-go marketing.
Toyota has been clawing to become the world's No. 1 automaker for over a decade. They tirelessly did everything possible to ascend to the crown which General Motors held for more than half a century. Toyota now sees the torment in what was their unwavering redlining to draft the Chevy's and Pontiac's for so long. Toyota has slingshoted themselves into the lead. But at what cost?
The 'Quiet' Giant Speaks
Toyota President Akio Toyoda finally addressed the media regarding the recalled vehicle crisis. Even the Japanese media and government have voiced their displeasure with Toyota's handling of the problem.
The top Nikkei business daily said in a editorial that "words are not enough." The reporter also said that "The company's crisis management ability is being subjected to severe scrutiny." Another criticism came from the nationwide Asahi newspaper which calls Toyota's delayed reaction to the crisis "Utterly too late." It says, "The entire world is watching how Toyota can humbly learn from its series of recent failures and make safe cars."
Mr. Toyoda promised to beef up its quality control and said he would head a special committee to review quality checks, go over consumer complaints and listen to outside experts to develop a fix. That last comment is unprecedented. Imagine the President of Toyota Motor Corp. asking for 'outside help?' In the annals of engineering and problem solving, for Toyota to have to ask for help is heresy. The Japanese just don't make blunders such as these.
To be sure, this will be a leadership moment for Toyota. They have a unique opportunity to show the world what real leadership is. Remember how Johnson & Johnson dealt with the Tylenol crisis? It was genius - tell the truth, do what's in the best interest of the customer and develop a robust containment plan - a Toyota Commission of sorts - to answer any and all critics. After all, the best defense is a good offense.
Since its founding in the early part of the 20th century, Toyota has been anything but a stalwart company - it has redefined entrepreneurship and innovation. A whole South Korean automobile industry has grown out of Toyota's trailblazing efforts. In fact, Toyota's simple, but disciplined approach to manufacturing and production has changed the world in many ways
Thus, only by keeping the customer first and by learning from a large-scale failure, Toyota will hold true to its overriding principles: 'People' and 'Quality.' Hopefully Mr. Toyoda can live up to this 'Leadership Moment.'
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
New Hampshire Revisited
President Obama touched down in the bucolic and quaint town that is Nashua, New Hampshire late Tuesday afternoon. He is in campaign mode again, visiting this small, but very influential state in which many see as a microcosm of America.
After visiting a medium-sized company on the outskirts of town, Obama's security detail whisked him to the Nashua High School gymnasium where hundreds of citizens awaited. He was there to espouse his plan for job creation, much like he outlined in Tampa, Florida and Elyria, Ohio earlier.
The thing is, he keeps repeating himself.
Mr. Obama must've had a real affinity for his SOTU speech, because he keeps summarizing the Populist tones from the aforementioned speech over and over again - oftentimes using exact quotes. Of course today was groundhog day, so...
After what looked like another professorial speech that sometimes bordered on lecture, Obama in his new inimical way, was incredulous. He then proceeded to, figuratively and literally, roll up his sleeves before invoking a town hall Q&A session with the 'folks.'
We waited to hear some piercing questions for the president from the crowd. The first question came from a woman from Fairfield, Connecticut no less and it revolved around jobs. The woman had explained how she was a three-time cancer survivor who managed to "be one of the lucky ones" and was able to retire before her illness greatly affected her livelihood.
But she wanted Obama to give her an answer about how to grow jobs. Yet, Obama, after a sentence or two of congratulatory praises, inexorably thrusted himself into a fifteen minute answer as to why health care reform was necessary. It almost seemed as though this woman was a "plant" who was pre-scripted to throw Obama a leading question that would've propelled the president into the direction of HCR.
The president never once answered the substance of the original question.
After visiting a medium-sized company on the outskirts of town, Obama's security detail whisked him to the Nashua High School gymnasium where hundreds of citizens awaited. He was there to espouse his plan for job creation, much like he outlined in Tampa, Florida and Elyria, Ohio earlier.
The thing is, he keeps repeating himself.
Mr. Obama must've had a real affinity for his SOTU speech, because he keeps summarizing the Populist tones from the aforementioned speech over and over again - oftentimes using exact quotes. Of course today was groundhog day, so...
After what looked like another professorial speech that sometimes bordered on lecture, Obama in his new inimical way, was incredulous. He then proceeded to, figuratively and literally, roll up his sleeves before invoking a town hall Q&A session with the 'folks.'
We waited to hear some piercing questions for the president from the crowd. The first question came from a woman from Fairfield, Connecticut no less and it revolved around jobs. The woman had explained how she was a three-time cancer survivor who managed to "be one of the lucky ones" and was able to retire before her illness greatly affected her livelihood.
But she wanted Obama to give her an answer about how to grow jobs. Yet, Obama, after a sentence or two of congratulatory praises, inexorably thrusted himself into a fifteen minute answer as to why health care reform was necessary. It almost seemed as though this woman was a "plant" who was pre-scripted to throw Obama a leading question that would've propelled the president into the direction of HCR.
The president never once answered the substance of the original question.
Obama did not grow up surrounded by wealth and opportunity. And even after graduating from Harvard Law School, Obama was compelled to give back to the 'people.' He was a community organizer and often did pro-bono work for the Legal Aid Society, as well as lending his hand to other socially-minded organizations.
Yet, somehow, Mr. Obama comes off as an Elitist. In fact, he is worse than an Elitist - he's an ineffectual Elitist. Thus, unless he inculcates himself with strong actions and not just bloviate with tired rhetoric, he will continue to lose the adulation of the very electorate that propelled him into the White House. The 'folks' are getting antsy.
President Barack Obama does deserve some latitude given the Katrina-meets-Haiti type of environment he finds himself in.
To be sure, no president, Republican, Democrat or Independent, could've risen from the ashes like a Phoenix and simply "waved his magic wand" for all to marvel at. No, that would've been a ridiculous proclamation to assert otherwise.
Greek tragedies aside, Obama is devoid of the scarcest of all characteristics - leadership.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Dylan's Deductive Dichotomy
Dylan Ratigan, former CNBC pundit, has his own show on MSNBC from 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm. I hyperlinked this must-see clip (instead of posting the actual point-and-click video) because MSNBC makes you watch a 30-second advertisement before watching the clip.
This hyperlink bypasses the forced commercial ad. The clip is great because it's a summary of the Financial Meltdown; Ratigan is superb at explaining complicated issues in layman's terms.
This hyperlink bypasses the forced commercial ad. The clip is great because it's a summary of the Financial Meltdown; Ratigan is superb at explaining complicated issues in layman's terms.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
SOTU Reaction and Review
My wish did not come true.
Perhaps I did not have the 'audacity' to hope.
President Barack Obama began his speech with his requisite historical references about former statesmen of our great Republic as well as some of the pointed accomplishments of the 20th century. As a student of history, I always appreciate such historiography's. However it did not take long before Mr. Obama started with his ubiquitous, and often misleading, finger pointing.
Barack Obama cited all of the excessive spending from George W. Bush's administration and finished with "and this was all before I walked in the door," referring to the large deficit he inherited. Obama must not look in the rearview mirror. As John F. Kennedy once said:
Continuous blame of the previous administration wears thin after you hear it for twelve months or more. No, my wish was for the president to sprinkle in a lot more contrition regarding his own failures as a leader. Indeed, George W. Bush was never contrite about the wrongheadedness of the Iraq war - especially the embarrassment after Hans Blix and company could not find any evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
Why would Obama want to juxtapose his credibility alongside W's? When you are wrong, you are wrong - it's that simple. And the people get that.
And besides, the fact that Obama came out swinging right away about the need to create jobs only solidifies his mismanagement of the previous year. During his inauguration speech in January, 2009, Obama reminded us that his unwavering "priority" was that of the economy and job creation. To now say "it is my number one priority for 2010," rings hollow. This commitment is woefully late.
President Obama did manage to articulate a few nice surprises, however. For example, his allusion to building nuclear plants and raising the specter of off-shore oil drilling was definitely a surprise. Likewise, Obama's position on capital gains tax relief for small business and other tax cuts will surely stimulate the job engine that is small business.
However, the most egregious comment of the night was when he politicized the recent Supreme Court ruling [Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission] that was only a week or so old. With Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr and the balance of the Supreme Court facing Obama in the first row of the congressional chamber, he all but threatened to quickly reverse the de-facto nature of the ruling by professing he would create legislation to counter the effects of the court's ruling.
To be sure, there is absolutely nothing wrong with debating or commenting negatively about Supreme Court cases; however, the SOTU address was not the time and place.
The President here-to-fore needs to posit a mea culpa and apologize to the Supreme Court forthwith.
Mr. Obama's tone seemed to wander back and forth, appeasing the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and then blaming the very same Dems for not putting the country before their own interests.
The President of The United States had a difficult task tonight. He had to find a way to close the credibility gap that he's created over the last twelve months. His task was daunting. He's damned if he addresses Wall Street and bankers in a pejorative tone; and, he's damned if he doesn't realize the overall importance of big banks for the good of the nation's economy.
Sadly, he resorted to too much finger pointing, excuses and a continued insistence of polarization between the two parties. One-party rule begets legislation that is bad for the Republic.
Perhaps I did not have the 'audacity' to hope.
President Barack Obama began his speech with his requisite historical references about former statesmen of our great Republic as well as some of the pointed accomplishments of the 20th century. As a student of history, I always appreciate such historiography's. However it did not take long before Mr. Obama started with his ubiquitous, and often misleading, finger pointing.
Barack Obama cited all of the excessive spending from George W. Bush's administration and finished with "and this was all before I walked in the door," referring to the large deficit he inherited. Obama must not look in the rearview mirror. As John F. Kennedy once said:
"Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democrat's answer, but the right
answer. Let us not seek to fix blame for the past. Let us accept our own
responsibility for the future."
Continuous blame of the previous administration wears thin after you hear it for twelve months or more. No, my wish was for the president to sprinkle in a lot more contrition regarding his own failures as a leader. Indeed, George W. Bush was never contrite about the wrongheadedness of the Iraq war - especially the embarrassment after Hans Blix and company could not find any evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
Why would Obama want to juxtapose his credibility alongside W's? When you are wrong, you are wrong - it's that simple. And the people get that.
And besides, the fact that Obama came out swinging right away about the need to create jobs only solidifies his mismanagement of the previous year. During his inauguration speech in January, 2009, Obama reminded us that his unwavering "priority" was that of the economy and job creation. To now say "it is my number one priority for 2010," rings hollow. This commitment is woefully late.
President Obama did manage to articulate a few nice surprises, however. For example, his allusion to building nuclear plants and raising the specter of off-shore oil drilling was definitely a surprise. Likewise, Obama's position on capital gains tax relief for small business and other tax cuts will surely stimulate the job engine that is small business.
However, the most egregious comment of the night was when he politicized the recent Supreme Court ruling [Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission] that was only a week or so old. With Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr and the balance of the Supreme Court facing Obama in the first row of the congressional chamber, he all but threatened to quickly reverse the de-facto nature of the ruling by professing he would create legislation to counter the effects of the court's ruling.
To be sure, there is absolutely nothing wrong with debating or commenting negatively about Supreme Court cases; however, the SOTU address was not the time and place.
The President here-to-fore needs to posit a mea culpa and apologize to the Supreme Court forthwith.
Mr. Obama's tone seemed to wander back and forth, appeasing the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and then blaming the very same Dems for not putting the country before their own interests.
The President of The United States had a difficult task tonight. He had to find a way to close the credibility gap that he's created over the last twelve months. His task was daunting. He's damned if he addresses Wall Street and bankers in a pejorative tone; and, he's damned if he doesn't realize the overall importance of big banks for the good of the nation's economy.
Sadly, he resorted to too much finger pointing, excuses and a continued insistence of polarization between the two parties. One-party rule begets legislation that is bad for the Republic.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
The 'Plouffe' Stops Here
Less than a week after the Massachusetts 'Mass acre,' President Barack Obama has finally invoked 'Transparency' into his presidency.
No, he will not be pulling out his BlackBerry and ringing C-Span's Brian Lamb and inviting him into the hallowed, but generally, secretive halls of Congress. Instead, Mr. Obama has dispatched himself aboard Air Force One; and his flight-plan led to the very epicenter of the Rust Belt.
It couldn't of been too soon, either. And while his plane still idled at a nearby Ohio airport, President Obama visited a few blue-collar factories and met with some ordinary folk.
He talked with students at the Loraine County Community College and even made an impromptu stop at a local diner.
He got a little angry too. Obama invoked the word "fight" at least twenty times during his speech to the job-stricken townspeople of Elyria, Ohio. I "will never stop fighting," said Obama.
The 'Transparency' was - well, obvious.
Senator-Elect Scott Brown had only four days earlier, put the Democratic Party, and Obama specifically, on notice. Obama quickly understood, even before Martha Coakley conceded to Brown, that Massachusetts did not buy his message.
Instead of the 'Audacity of Hope,' Obama had the audacity to pejoratively diss Scott Brown's pick-up truck.
Obama should of learned a lesson from some of the 'other' Rust Belt types. The same way Wagoner, Nardelli and Mulally surely learned their valuable lesson after being questioned during Congressional hearings on their respective management styles. Imagine Obama driving an old Ford F-150 into town - with 'SEIU' and 'Yes We Can' stickers emblazoned on the rear cabin glass.
Fox News and the rest of the media would have eaten him alive for such a stunt. Of course, save for the 'rest of the media,' Fox News already eats Obama alive.
No, the Obama Administration's "It's the Economy, Stupid," and "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs," came out of their anemic political playbook. A playbook that looks about as good as the Washington Redskins' playbook looked this season. The fans knew that Jim Zorn's strategy was way off after the first few games of the season. Similarly, the voters knew, especially those without employment, that Obamacare would never lead them to the Super Bowl - or at least away from the local unemployment line.
Now, Mr Obama is enlisting his Brett Favre back onto the field. Axelrod, Emanuel and Jarrett have been temporarily benched - or at least put on injured reserve. David Plouffe, his former campaign manager, will be taking the snaps from center now.
And that is where the administration will be headed - to the center - much like former President Clinton had to do early in his first term. Obama will spare no expense for Mr. Plouffe. The Obama team may even get creative and align themselves with the 'netroots' crowd and other anti-Washington types.
After all, President Obama and his administration will have to worry about a lot more than filibusters and cloture votes. They will have to worry about a 1994 mid-term election repeat. And David Plouffe will be Obama's main don't-want-a-'94-repeat-strategist-in-chief while he works the politics behind the scenes of the Democratic National Committee.
It is yet to be seen if Plouffe and his team can indoctrinate the DNC with Rovian magic, or if Obama himself will force some of his closest advisers out of his inner circle.
One thing is for sure. He should listen to the people outside of Washington for advice. And he should finally acknowledge the 800-pound gorilla that's been camping out in the Oval Office over the last twelve months.
He need not retrench himself back into the very partisan dogma for which he has here-to-fore perfunctorily dismissed earlier in his presidency.
Contrition goes a long way, in fact.
In 2008, the electorate voted for the anti-Bush candidate, to pull troops out of Iraq and to bring a new leadership back into Washington. Health care reform was never a mandate - it was a long-held personal ideological goal that Obama had and thus pushed upon Congress, the media and the citizenry. Obama, Congress and the left-leaning media pushed so hard that Populists, Independents and the Tea Party gang shook their collective heads and forged a grass-roots coalition against what they felt was a kamikaze-like arrogance that Team Obama had perpetrated.
In his Jan. 24, 2010 Op-Ed piece in the Washington Post, Plouffe's main point failed the smell test. He claims that the health care reform bill will bring jobs. "We own the bill and the health-care votes," says Plouffe. He also calls it "a good plan that's become a demonized caricature."
More problematic for Plouffe and Obama is that a Nor'easter that developed along the Virginia coast and turned into Hurricane Mitch, sweeping unapologetically through New Jersey and making landfall in the Bay State. The political winds had shifted and the administration seems tone deaf to political reality.
David Plouffe needs the political will to confront White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel if he is to avoid a Pyrrhic victory. Plouffe must stop the ridiculousness of the administration's current trajectory and reorient his bosses' strategy if they are to end the harbinger that awaits in the 2010 mid-terms in November.
Plouffe's task is way more than "getting back on message," or refocusing the president's talking points. Obama must come clean with the American people, streamline his rhetoric about the denizens of Wall Street and avoid platitudes, arguments ad-metum and his ubiquitous populistic approach for which he is headed.
Someone needs to tell the president to put down his pitchfork and invite the Republicans to a seat at the table.
Because his current offense desperately needs some first downs before it can make its way to the playoffs.
No, he will not be pulling out his BlackBerry and ringing C-Span's Brian Lamb and inviting him into the hallowed, but generally, secretive halls of Congress. Instead, Mr. Obama has dispatched himself aboard Air Force One; and his flight-plan led to the very epicenter of the Rust Belt.
It couldn't of been too soon, either. And while his plane still idled at a nearby Ohio airport, President Obama visited a few blue-collar factories and met with some ordinary folk.
He talked with students at the Loraine County Community College and even made an impromptu stop at a local diner.
He got a little angry too. Obama invoked the word "fight" at least twenty times during his speech to the job-stricken townspeople of Elyria, Ohio. I "will never stop fighting," said Obama.
The 'Transparency' was - well, obvious.
Senator-Elect Scott Brown had only four days earlier, put the Democratic Party, and Obama specifically, on notice. Obama quickly understood, even before Martha Coakley conceded to Brown, that Massachusetts did not buy his message.
Instead of the 'Audacity of Hope,' Obama had the audacity to pejoratively diss Scott Brown's pick-up truck.
Obama should of learned a lesson from some of the 'other' Rust Belt types. The same way Wagoner, Nardelli and Mulally surely learned their valuable lesson after being questioned during Congressional hearings on their respective management styles. Imagine Obama driving an old Ford F-150 into town - with 'SEIU' and 'Yes We Can' stickers emblazoned on the rear cabin glass.
Fox News and the rest of the media would have eaten him alive for such a stunt. Of course, save for the 'rest of the media,' Fox News already eats Obama alive.
No, the Obama Administration's "It's the Economy, Stupid," and "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs," came out of their anemic political playbook. A playbook that looks about as good as the Washington Redskins' playbook looked this season. The fans knew that Jim Zorn's strategy was way off after the first few games of the season. Similarly, the voters knew, especially those without employment, that Obamacare would never lead them to the Super Bowl - or at least away from the local unemployment line.
Now, Mr Obama is enlisting his Brett Favre back onto the field. Axelrod, Emanuel and Jarrett have been temporarily benched - or at least put on injured reserve. David Plouffe, his former campaign manager, will be taking the snaps from center now.
And that is where the administration will be headed - to the center - much like former President Clinton had to do early in his first term. Obama will spare no expense for Mr. Plouffe. The Obama team may even get creative and align themselves with the 'netroots' crowd and other anti-Washington types.
After all, President Obama and his administration will have to worry about a lot more than filibusters and cloture votes. They will have to worry about a 1994 mid-term election repeat. And David Plouffe will be Obama's main don't-want-a-'94-repeat-strategist-in-chief while he works the politics behind the scenes of the Democratic National Committee.
It is yet to be seen if Plouffe and his team can indoctrinate the DNC with Rovian magic, or if Obama himself will force some of his closest advisers out of his inner circle.
One thing is for sure. He should listen to the people outside of Washington for advice. And he should finally acknowledge the 800-pound gorilla that's been camping out in the Oval Office over the last twelve months.
He need not retrench himself back into the very partisan dogma for which he has here-to-fore perfunctorily dismissed earlier in his presidency.
Contrition goes a long way, in fact.
In 2008, the electorate voted for the anti-Bush candidate, to pull troops out of Iraq and to bring a new leadership back into Washington. Health care reform was never a mandate - it was a long-held personal ideological goal that Obama had and thus pushed upon Congress, the media and the citizenry. Obama, Congress and the left-leaning media pushed so hard that Populists, Independents and the Tea Party gang shook their collective heads and forged a grass-roots coalition against what they felt was a kamikaze-like arrogance that Team Obama had perpetrated.
In his Jan. 24, 2010 Op-Ed piece in the Washington Post, Plouffe's main point failed the smell test. He claims that the health care reform bill will bring jobs. "We own the bill and the health-care votes," says Plouffe. He also calls it "a good plan that's become a demonized caricature."
More problematic for Plouffe and Obama is that a Nor'easter that developed along the Virginia coast and turned into Hurricane Mitch, sweeping unapologetically through New Jersey and making landfall in the Bay State. The political winds had shifted and the administration seems tone deaf to political reality.
David Plouffe needs the political will to confront White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel if he is to avoid a Pyrrhic victory. Plouffe must stop the ridiculousness of the administration's current trajectory and reorient his bosses' strategy if they are to end the harbinger that awaits in the 2010 mid-terms in November.
Plouffe's task is way more than "getting back on message," or refocusing the president's talking points. Obama must come clean with the American people, streamline his rhetoric about the denizens of Wall Street and avoid platitudes, arguments ad-metum and his ubiquitous populistic approach for which he is headed.
Someone needs to tell the president to put down his pitchfork and invite the Republicans to a seat at the table.
Because his current offense desperately needs some first downs before it can make its way to the playoffs.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Auto Bailout and 'Free' Advertising
PRESIDENT OBAMA: I propose a tax on all 'Cadillac' health insurance plans.
Toyota, Honda, Porsche and even Volkswagen are none too happy. Barack Obama, Congress and countless other pundits are quick to mention or quip about the so-called "Cadillac' health care plans that many citizens have, notwithstanding Congress and Unions alike.
Why not call them 'Lexus' plans...'Acura' plans...or 'Porsche' plans. Heck, even Hyundai has a segment-winning luxury car named 'Genesis.' Why not Hyundai?
So, for all of the UAW, SEIU and other labor-loving groups out there - you're getting some darn good free advertising.
I think the 'Cadillac' moniker was a political gift from the earlier pro 'Card-Check' gang for giving up on some of the possible benefits from the Employee Free Choice Act bill - H.R. 1409 and S. 560.
Toyota, Honda, Porsche and even Volkswagen are none too happy. Barack Obama, Congress and countless other pundits are quick to mention or quip about the so-called "Cadillac' health care plans that many citizens have, notwithstanding Congress and Unions alike.
Why not call them 'Lexus' plans...'Acura' plans...or 'Porsche' plans. Heck, even Hyundai has a segment-winning luxury car named 'Genesis.' Why not Hyundai?
So, for all of the UAW, SEIU and other labor-loving groups out there - you're getting some darn good free advertising.
I think the 'Cadillac' moniker was a political gift from the earlier pro 'Card-Check' gang for giving up on some of the possible benefits from the Employee Free Choice Act bill - H.R. 1409 and S. 560.
The Oracle of Yemen
There once was a quiet and reserved young man of Muslim faith. He was born, ironically, in the United States, less than 300 miles away from where some of the infamous Manhattan Project scientists helped develop the world's first atomic bomb.
His parents hail from Yemen.
He was born in Las Cruces, N.M. in 1971. His father, a highly educated scholar who studied in the United States, later went on to become the president of a Yemeni University.
His name is Anwar al-Awlaki. He has a B.S. in civil engineering from Colorado State University, an M.A. in Educational Leadership from San Diego State University and was pursuing post graduate studies in Education and Human Development from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. before he decided to pursue 'other' endeavors.
His looks are deceiving. He is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs a mere 160 pounds. He wears Harry Potter glasses and, like hundreds-of-millions of other religious men, he sports the ubiquitous muslim beard. Awlaki has taught in holy Mosques in San Diego, Northern Virginia, Colorado and London. He's also very smart - he uses FaceBook, e-mail, videos and other social media tools to foment radical Islamic fundamentalism - exclusively directed to the western world - specifically - the US.
He's also been a close compatriot of "the blind sheik," Omar Abdel Rahman, who is in prison for the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. He has been a practicing Imam in at least four Muslim Mosques known for radical fundamentalism.
He has basically written the Islamic fundamentalist's book for 'lone-wolf-terrorists.' He reaches out seductively online through web sites and other media. He espouses 'higher-jihad.' And makes those lost or confused in their Islamic faith think about their true mission for Allah. He becomes their spiritual leader (aka - terrorist advisor).
Two 9/11 hijackers prayed and privately met with Awlaki in San Diego and Virginia prior to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Additionally, Awlaki had meaningful e-mail communications with Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. Finally, Awlaki has been implicated to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab - who is blamed for the 2009 Christmas Day terrorist attempt on Northwest Airlines flight 253 to Detroit, Mich.
Why hasn't these connections resulted in Awlaki being arrested, hunted down or killed?
In October of 2002, the FBI had an arrest warrant out for Awlaki for a low-level passport fraud. He'd already been linked to numerous web sites as a serious Al-Qaeda recruiter. He's highly educated in both engineering, theory and education; moreover, he's fluent in English and he uses his religious speeches as a recruiting tool for any wannabe Jihadist.
Yet, his 2002 arrest warrant was dropped by the FBI on a "technicality."
Awlaki has also been very influential in the United Kingdom within radicalized sects of young Muslims. He has been banned from the UK since around 2004 after having numerous ties to al-Qaeda and other radicals.
He is currently in Yemen and believed to have survived a recent attack from US-backed Yemeni forces. If he indeed survived, what better place than Yemen to continue his focus on recruitment and even operational terrorism.
Yemen has been dealing with political unrest and civil war for over a decade now. It is a very poor nation - a nation where approximately 60 percent of its population is under the age of twenty. Talk about a recruitment bonanza!
Yemen's government, like many portions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, lacks control of portions of its nation. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his Cabinet are trying to unite this religiously polarized nation - a nation that has been ripe for terrorist activities since before the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.
Yemen is afraid of too much US involvement, especially any military presence. The leadership fears the US military will enliven al-Qaeda and other radical fundamentalist groups. Yet the Yemeni government needs outside help.
Like many Middle Eastern countries that are poor and struggle to control its population, Yemen needs assistance. The country's geography is rough, much like Afghanistan's. They need helicopters to be able to traverse the mountainous terrain to track terrorist training camps that are in at least two southern provinces.
Yemen is one of a handful of places around the globe that has become fertile ground for continued hatred and terror for the US and other western countries where, according to fundamentalist propaganda, 'infidels' rein.
More troubling is the fact that he's become the de-facto leader on the Arabian Peninsula where he has reinvigorated the terrorist group 'Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula' - or AQAP. This new terrorist training outpost has become a magnet for non-middle eastern youth. These sometimes disaffected youth come to learn the Arabic language and study the Koran, but end up being pawns in an ever-growing chessboard of strategic jihad.
Awlaki must be stopped. He should be categorized as the No. 3 target of al-Qaeda for the CIA.
His parents hail from Yemen.
He was born in Las Cruces, N.M. in 1971. His father, a highly educated scholar who studied in the United States, later went on to become the president of a Yemeni University.
His name is Anwar al-Awlaki. He has a B.S. in civil engineering from Colorado State University, an M.A. in Educational Leadership from San Diego State University and was pursuing post graduate studies in Education and Human Development from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. before he decided to pursue 'other' endeavors.
His looks are deceiving. He is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs a mere 160 pounds. He wears Harry Potter glasses and, like hundreds-of-millions of other religious men, he sports the ubiquitous muslim beard. Awlaki has taught in holy Mosques in San Diego, Northern Virginia, Colorado and London. He's also very smart - he uses FaceBook, e-mail, videos and other social media tools to foment radical Islamic fundamentalism - exclusively directed to the western world - specifically - the US.
He's also been a close compatriot of "the blind sheik," Omar Abdel Rahman, who is in prison for the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. He has been a practicing Imam in at least four Muslim Mosques known for radical fundamentalism.
He has basically written the Islamic fundamentalist's book for 'lone-wolf-terrorists.' He reaches out seductively online through web sites and other media. He espouses 'higher-jihad.' And makes those lost or confused in their Islamic faith think about their true mission for Allah. He becomes their spiritual leader (aka - terrorist advisor).
Two 9/11 hijackers prayed and privately met with Awlaki in San Diego and Virginia prior to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Additionally, Awlaki had meaningful e-mail communications with Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. Finally, Awlaki has been implicated to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab - who is blamed for the 2009 Christmas Day terrorist attempt on Northwest Airlines flight 253 to Detroit, Mich.
Why hasn't these connections resulted in Awlaki being arrested, hunted down or killed?
In October of 2002, the FBI had an arrest warrant out for Awlaki for a low-level passport fraud. He'd already been linked to numerous web sites as a serious Al-Qaeda recruiter. He's highly educated in both engineering, theory and education; moreover, he's fluent in English and he uses his religious speeches as a recruiting tool for any wannabe Jihadist.
Yet, his 2002 arrest warrant was dropped by the FBI on a "technicality."
Awlaki has also been very influential in the United Kingdom within radicalized sects of young Muslims. He has been banned from the UK since around 2004 after having numerous ties to al-Qaeda and other radicals.
He is currently in Yemen and believed to have survived a recent attack from US-backed Yemeni forces. If he indeed survived, what better place than Yemen to continue his focus on recruitment and even operational terrorism.
Yemen has been dealing with political unrest and civil war for over a decade now. It is a very poor nation - a nation where approximately 60 percent of its population is under the age of twenty. Talk about a recruitment bonanza!
Yemen's government, like many portions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, lacks control of portions of its nation. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his Cabinet are trying to unite this religiously polarized nation - a nation that has been ripe for terrorist activities since before the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.
Yemen is afraid of too much US involvement, especially any military presence. The leadership fears the US military will enliven al-Qaeda and other radical fundamentalist groups. Yet the Yemeni government needs outside help.
Like many Middle Eastern countries that are poor and struggle to control its population, Yemen needs assistance. The country's geography is rough, much like Afghanistan's. They need helicopters to be able to traverse the mountainous terrain to track terrorist training camps that are in at least two southern provinces.
Yemen is one of a handful of places around the globe that has become fertile ground for continued hatred and terror for the US and other western countries where, according to fundamentalist propaganda, 'infidels' rein.
More troubling is the fact that he's become the de-facto leader on the Arabian Peninsula where he has reinvigorated the terrorist group 'Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula' - or AQAP. This new terrorist training outpost has become a magnet for non-middle eastern youth. These sometimes disaffected youth come to learn the Arabic language and study the Koran, but end up being pawns in an ever-growing chessboard of strategic jihad.
Awlaki must be stopped. He should be categorized as the No. 3 target of al-Qaeda for the CIA.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
I Hucked Up!
Mr. Huckabee is a likable fella.
He has transitioned smoothly from the heavy hitting arena of state and national politics to snagging that all-too desirable gig as a television talking head on Fox's cable news channel.
He's easy to talk to and has the calming effect of a erudite psychologist; his southern Baptist charm and sensibilities reveal Huckabee's small-town cache...music stars, Hollywood moguls, John Q. Public and of course...politicos of every stripe and persuasion open up to him. However, Mike Huckabee has a problem that makes Tiger's (on-again-off-again semi-scandal) look provincial.
And, of course, the mainstream media haven't really focused on Mr. Huckabee's Willie Horton problem.
Make no mistake - Huckabee will be vilified if he chooses to run again for president in 2012. He did have the courage to man-up and appear on Bill O'Reilly Monday night and tell his side of the story regarding a certain convicted - then jailed, commuted, paroled and convicted again subject.
That subject - Maurice Clemmons - turned out to be a ruthless, evil cop killer.
Mike Huckabee was once even sued while Governor of Arkansas by then Circuit Judge Robert Herzfeld for allowing too many criminals out of prison. Yet, as he stated on O'Reilly's program Nov. 30, 2009:
MIKE HUCKABEE, FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: Well, Bill, first of all, I think the tragedy of this — if I could have known nine years ago this guy was capable of something of this magnitude, obviously, I would never have granted a commutation. It's sickening. The two people in this country that I value the most are soldiers and police officers, because they're the only thing standing between our freedom and total anarchy. And in the case of this particular individual, he was sentenced to 108 years for two crimes when he was 16. The post-prison transfer board, the process, and I'll be very brief about this, but to understand they recommended to me as governor for his commutation, which didn't release him, it simply cut his sentence to 47 years. That would give him parole eligibility. That was the commutation. I'm responsible for that, and it's not something I'm happy about at this particular moment, in light of that."if I would of known what the future held for this man, I would of never allowed his commutation to go forward."
O'Reilly, feeling some sorrow and compassion for a colleague, interrupted Huckabee during his contrite apology on national television by downplaying Mr. Huckabee's unfortunate decision to commute Clemmons in 2000.
The fact is, most Governor's parole, commute and otherwise free dozens of convicted felons at the end of their terms in office. In fact, I was surprised to hear that Huckabee actually read the dossier on Clemmons before he was processed. Most Governor's simply take the word of many judges, prosecutors and parole administrators, when deciding on clemency matters.
However, when the dust clears, and the pictures, videos and soundbites surrounding the tragic deaths of the four Lakewood, Wash. police officers are queued and the grieving family, friends and colleagues are seen mourning for their loss - Huckabee will die a slow and tortuous death.
I can picture a fellow primary candidate now, during a GOP debate, bring up the matter when the debate moderator asks the question: 'how will you handle the growing problem of prison overcrowding if you are elected president?' A few seconds later, we hear a smug Newt Gingrich rip into Huckabee before a national audience, much like Cheney ripped into his campaign-contributing hunting buddy with his 12-guage shotgun at a friend's south Texas ranch during the Bush-Cheney years.
And then...
Campaign slogans pop up at political rallies professing 'We like Mike' and 'Huck's our Guy' juxtaposed next to banners exclaiming - 'Pardon Me! I Hucked Up!'
Yeah, he's a nice guy...apparently too nice.
He has transitioned smoothly from the heavy hitting arena of state and national politics to snagging that all-too desirable gig as a television talking head on Fox's cable news channel.
He's easy to talk to and has the calming effect of a erudite psychologist; his southern Baptist charm and sensibilities reveal Huckabee's small-town cache...music stars, Hollywood moguls, John Q. Public and of course...politicos of every stripe and persuasion open up to him. However, Mike Huckabee has a problem that makes Tiger's (on-again-off-again semi-scandal) look provincial.
And, of course, the mainstream media haven't really focused on Mr. Huckabee's Willie Horton problem.
Make no mistake - Huckabee will be vilified if he chooses to run again for president in 2012. He did have the courage to man-up and appear on Bill O'Reilly Monday night and tell his side of the story regarding a certain convicted - then jailed, commuted, paroled and convicted again subject.
That subject - Maurice Clemmons - turned out to be a ruthless, evil cop killer.
Mike Huckabee was once even sued while Governor of Arkansas by then Circuit Judge Robert Herzfeld for allowing too many criminals out of prison. Yet, as he stated on O'Reilly's program Nov. 30, 2009:
MIKE HUCKABEE, FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: Well, Bill, first of all, I think the tragedy of this — if I could have known nine years ago this guy was capable of something of this magnitude, obviously, I would never have granted a commutation. It's sickening. The two people in this country that I value the most are soldiers and police officers, because they're the only thing standing between our freedom and total anarchy. And in the case of this particular individual, he was sentenced to 108 years for two crimes when he was 16. The post-prison transfer board, the process, and I'll be very brief about this, but to understand they recommended to me as governor for his commutation, which didn't release him, it simply cut his sentence to 47 years. That would give him parole eligibility. That was the commutation. I'm responsible for that, and it's not something I'm happy about at this particular moment, in light of that."if I would of known what the future held for this man, I would of never allowed his commutation to go forward."
O'Reilly, feeling some sorrow and compassion for a colleague, interrupted Huckabee during his contrite apology on national television by downplaying Mr. Huckabee's unfortunate decision to commute Clemmons in 2000.
The fact is, most Governor's parole, commute and otherwise free dozens of convicted felons at the end of their terms in office. In fact, I was surprised to hear that Huckabee actually read the dossier on Clemmons before he was processed. Most Governor's simply take the word of many judges, prosecutors and parole administrators, when deciding on clemency matters.
However, when the dust clears, and the pictures, videos and soundbites surrounding the tragic deaths of the four Lakewood, Wash. police officers are queued and the grieving family, friends and colleagues are seen mourning for their loss - Huckabee will die a slow and tortuous death.
I can picture a fellow primary candidate now, during a GOP debate, bring up the matter when the debate moderator asks the question: 'how will you handle the growing problem of prison overcrowding if you are elected president?' A few seconds later, we hear a smug Newt Gingrich rip into Huckabee before a national audience, much like Cheney ripped into his campaign-contributing hunting buddy with his 12-guage shotgun at a friend's south Texas ranch during the Bush-Cheney years.
And then...
Campaign slogans pop up at political rallies professing 'We like Mike' and 'Huck's our Guy' juxtaposed next to banners exclaiming - 'Pardon Me! I Hucked Up!'
Yeah, he's a nice guy...apparently too nice.
TOP TEN Reasons Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Scoffs at the US
10. Bush couldn't even find WMDs in Iraq.
9. Obama is the NEW Jimmy Carter!
8. We lobby the UN better than the AMA and the AARP lobbies Congress.
7. Obama isn't a REAL Muslim.
6. Cheney and his gang are out of office!
5. Hugo Chavez bet me $5 that I wouldn't piss off Bill's wife!
4. I cheated the Election process and nobody called me on it!
3. I'm trying to get my own reality TV show before Blago gets his.
2. I really didn't want my son to go to Columbia University anyway.
1. Allah Akbar! did you see that Uber bow Obama bestowed upon the Japanese Emperor?
9. Obama is the NEW Jimmy Carter!
8. We lobby the UN better than the AMA and the AARP lobbies Congress.
7. Obama isn't a REAL Muslim.
6. Cheney and his gang are out of office!
5. Hugo Chavez bet me $5 that I wouldn't piss off Bill's wife!
4. I cheated the Election process and nobody called me on it!
3. I'm trying to get my own reality TV show before Blago gets his.
2. I really didn't want my son to go to Columbia University anyway.
1. Allah Akbar! did you see that Uber bow Obama bestowed upon the Japanese Emperor?
TOP TEN Excuses Given by WH Dinner Crashers to the Secret Service
10. It's raining out and P.F. Chang's is packed!
9. My husband has an Indian-Sounding name.
8. We've been lobbying Oliver Stone to do a new JFK movie where the Secret Service are the heroes.
7. Is this where the free Thanksgiving Dinners are?
6. Katie Couric and I are both ex-Redskin cheerleaders.
5. We're originally from Scranton, PA and Wilmington, DE and Joe said it'd be alright.
4. We are the God Parents of 'Balloon Boy'
3. Dick Cheney dared us!
2. Rahm Emanuel decided to drop Blagojevich and invited us instead.
1. We donated a Crap Load of money to that SEIU president guy!
9. My husband has an Indian-Sounding name.
8. We've been lobbying Oliver Stone to do a new JFK movie where the Secret Service are the heroes.
7. Is this where the free Thanksgiving Dinners are?
6. Katie Couric and I are both ex-Redskin cheerleaders.
5. We're originally from Scranton, PA and Wilmington, DE and Joe said it'd be alright.
4. We are the God Parents of 'Balloon Boy'
3. Dick Cheney dared us!
2. Rahm Emanuel decided to drop Blagojevich and invited us instead.
1. We donated a Crap Load of money to that SEIU president guy!
Deep in the Rough, Tiger Metes out his own Punishment
TIGER: Steve, what do we got?
STEVE (Tiger's Caddie): Well...it looks like you have a flyer lie and the ball's sitting down a bit.
TIGER: Nine?
STEVE: [throwing up a few blades of grass] Left-to-right cross wind...the pin is back right and you have 160 to clear the left-side bunker.
TIGER: I'm a bit pumped after that eagle [on the last hole].
STEVE: I'm thinking your 47 degree wedge will be the one...if you catch the flyer, you can use that crowned tier in the back middle of the green to spin your ball back towards the hole.
TIGER: Let's go with that, then.
Tiger woods is precise. And his caddie, Steve Williams, is his on-course PR guy, confidant, friend and bouncer (the Tiger Woods of crowd control guys).
Wherever Tiger goes on or off the course during a tournament, so goes 'Stevie.' This six-foot, four inch Kiwi is one of the best things that ever happened to Tiger.
But with Tiger stuck in eight-inch US Open rough - at Winged Foot no less - Stevie is not around to help Tiger extract himself from the dicey situation in which he finds himself.
Tiger Woods, the undisputed best golfer on the planet, has just snap-hooked his driver, er, [Escalade], hard to the left. What's most fascinating is that, like the impossible golf shots that he's made over the years, under the immense pressure of a major, Tiger is not in control of his next shot.
Always has a Game Plan
You see, even before Tiger became a Golf Pro in 1996 (Hello World!), he's always consulted with the best of the best. Jack Nicklaus and Arnorld Palmer have answered countless questions from Tiger regarding life outside of a 72-hole tournament. You see, Tiger wanted to know the secret to keeping focused with the media, dealing with travel, which tournaments to go to, which agents to deal with and which so-called business people to avoid.
When Michael Jordan retired from the Bulls, and fulfilled his need to coach an NBA team, Tiger consulted Michael on dealing with sponsors (Nike became Tiger's first big sponsor) and other esoteric life matters.
You see, Tiger was mapping out his game plan early on. Of course his father Earl was the most influential person in his life (teaching his young cub mental toughness, laser-like focus and how to handle adversity). After all, Tiger was nick-named in honor of a good buddy of Earl's from Vietnam - an Army Lieutenant. Tiger's given name was Eldrick. He officially and wisely changed his name to Tiger after turning pro.
However, regardless of the buzz created from the National Enquirer article, the fact that his wife Elin (pronounced E-lynn) went 'Judge Smails' on Tiger and allegedly smashed out the rear glass of his SUV, and the fact that it was about 2:30 am when he lost control of his vehicle just seconds from his driveway, makes little difference.
Tiger has always been a control freak. He is a control freak in a good sense; and that it allows him to navigate through his 24-7 life of public scrutiny. You see, Tiger may have gotten some bad advice from his agent, his newly retained lawyer or someone else when it came time to inform the authorities (and the very curious public) of the details regarding such a minor traffic accident.
But that was the club that Tiger chose.
Inconsistencies are Transparent
Let's look at some of the facts that have slowly trickled out:
1. Tiger's other four doors on his SUV looked to be perfectly suitable to open without the drama of smashing the rear glass with a golf club.
2. Apparently, there wasn't any blood found on the steering wheel or in the dashboard area.
3. My 12-year-old son would have difficulty exiting from the driver's seat over three rows of seats and out the back of the vehicle, let alone Elin pulling her 6' 1" 190 pound husband out.
4. Tiger said that he was unable to play in one of his favorite golf tournaments this week (Chevron World Challenge) because of his injuries from the accident. Really? Didn't Tiger play 90 holes during the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines with a damaged meniscus and a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his Knee? Now he cannot play because of a fat lip and some soreness 6 days after a "minor" accident?
The reality is that one of the things that Tiger Woods will look back on during his eventual storied career will be the Tiger Woods Foundation that he created.
You see, he loves doing anything related to this life-long dream. Being the host of this tournament means big donations and lots of personal thank-you's. However, it means a lot more than that.
No, it will be a very long time before Tiger gets over the fact that he let himself down. His TWF won't suffer per se, but just the mere thought in this great athlete's mind that - well - It was his fault, will be enough punishment for anyone who has a controlling bone in his body.
Tiger will be forever incredulous about the situation that he finds himself in. He cannot merely take out his stock 3-wood and fire off one of his patented stingers down the middle.
You see, he has to find his way out of the US Open rough somehow, without Stevie, and by using his best club - his putter. But this shot does not call for the putter.
TIGER: Steve?
TIGER: Steve-o?
TIGER: Stevie? Steeeeevie?
STEVE (Tiger's Caddie): Well...it looks like you have a flyer lie and the ball's sitting down a bit.
TIGER: Nine?
STEVE: [throwing up a few blades of grass] Left-to-right cross wind...the pin is back right and you have 160 to clear the left-side bunker.
TIGER: I'm a bit pumped after that eagle [on the last hole].
STEVE: I'm thinking your 47 degree wedge will be the one...if you catch the flyer, you can use that crowned tier in the back middle of the green to spin your ball back towards the hole.
TIGER: Let's go with that, then.
Tiger woods is precise. And his caddie, Steve Williams, is his on-course PR guy, confidant, friend and bouncer (the Tiger Woods of crowd control guys).
Wherever Tiger goes on or off the course during a tournament, so goes 'Stevie.' This six-foot, four inch Kiwi is one of the best things that ever happened to Tiger.
But with Tiger stuck in eight-inch US Open rough - at Winged Foot no less - Stevie is not around to help Tiger extract himself from the dicey situation in which he finds himself.
Tiger Woods, the undisputed best golfer on the planet, has just snap-hooked his driver, er, [Escalade], hard to the left. What's most fascinating is that, like the impossible golf shots that he's made over the years, under the immense pressure of a major, Tiger is not in control of his next shot.
Always has a Game Plan
You see, even before Tiger became a Golf Pro in 1996 (Hello World!), he's always consulted with the best of the best. Jack Nicklaus and Arnorld Palmer have answered countless questions from Tiger regarding life outside of a 72-hole tournament. You see, Tiger wanted to know the secret to keeping focused with the media, dealing with travel, which tournaments to go to, which agents to deal with and which so-called business people to avoid.
When Michael Jordan retired from the Bulls, and fulfilled his need to coach an NBA team, Tiger consulted Michael on dealing with sponsors (Nike became Tiger's first big sponsor) and other esoteric life matters.
You see, Tiger was mapping out his game plan early on. Of course his father Earl was the most influential person in his life (teaching his young cub mental toughness, laser-like focus and how to handle adversity). After all, Tiger was nick-named in honor of a good buddy of Earl's from Vietnam - an Army Lieutenant. Tiger's given name was Eldrick. He officially and wisely changed his name to Tiger after turning pro.
However, regardless of the buzz created from the National Enquirer article, the fact that his wife Elin (pronounced E-lynn) went 'Judge Smails' on Tiger and allegedly smashed out the rear glass of his SUV, and the fact that it was about 2:30 am when he lost control of his vehicle just seconds from his driveway, makes little difference.
Tiger has always been a control freak. He is a control freak in a good sense; and that it allows him to navigate through his 24-7 life of public scrutiny. You see, Tiger may have gotten some bad advice from his agent, his newly retained lawyer or someone else when it came time to inform the authorities (and the very curious public) of the details regarding such a minor traffic accident.
But that was the club that Tiger chose.
Inconsistencies are Transparent
Let's look at some of the facts that have slowly trickled out:
1. Tiger's other four doors on his SUV looked to be perfectly suitable to open without the drama of smashing the rear glass with a golf club.
2. Apparently, there wasn't any blood found on the steering wheel or in the dashboard area.
3. My 12-year-old son would have difficulty exiting from the driver's seat over three rows of seats and out the back of the vehicle, let alone Elin pulling her 6' 1" 190 pound husband out.
4. Tiger said that he was unable to play in one of his favorite golf tournaments this week (Chevron World Challenge) because of his injuries from the accident. Really? Didn't Tiger play 90 holes during the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines with a damaged meniscus and a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his Knee? Now he cannot play because of a fat lip and some soreness 6 days after a "minor" accident?
The reality is that one of the things that Tiger Woods will look back on during his eventual storied career will be the Tiger Woods Foundation that he created.
You see, he loves doing anything related to this life-long dream. Being the host of this tournament means big donations and lots of personal thank-you's. However, it means a lot more than that.
No, it will be a very long time before Tiger gets over the fact that he let himself down. His TWF won't suffer per se, but just the mere thought in this great athlete's mind that - well - It was his fault, will be enough punishment for anyone who has a controlling bone in his body.
Tiger will be forever incredulous about the situation that he finds himself in. He cannot merely take out his stock 3-wood and fire off one of his patented stingers down the middle.
You see, he has to find his way out of the US Open rough somehow, without Stevie, and by using his best club - his putter. But this shot does not call for the putter.
TIGER: Steve?
TIGER: Steve-o?
TIGER: Stevie? Steeeeevie?
Monday, November 23, 2009
It's the (Lack of Jobs), Stupid!
The Job Summit in which the Obama administration proposed a few weeks ago is about as timely as FEMA's response to Hurricane Katrina.
Job Summit...really?
Of course the White House communications team had to formulate their own counter punch to the two Republican gubernatorial victories in Virginia and New Jersey. Remember, those were the victories that both Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) both chalked up to "big wins" for the Democratic party. There's spin and then there's spin.
Pelosi and Cummings made Bill O'Reilly's oft-coined 'The Spin Stops Here' mantra look, well - bold and fresh.
Ironically, the administration's hyper-focus on health care reform has placed millions of jobless Americans in harm's way. Despite obvious employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and stark evidence, both anecdotal and scientific, from economists of all stripes, the Obama team (Vice-President Joe Biden, notwithstanding), has jeopardized millions of people.
The Answer isn't Complicated
For decades, small business has been the incubator for jobs in America. It is that simple. Yet, despite nearly every expert, from billionaire Warren Buffett to Moody's Chief Economist Mark Zandi, small business has been left out in the cold.
To make matters worse, CIT, one of the largest lending groups in the US, filed for chapter 11 in October. CIT is to small business as the American Dream is to the 'Little Engine that Could.' Certainly, CIT is worthy of some Treasury department assistance - Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and AIG received help. Now, the companies that need it the most and would certainly have immediate positive impact on the jobs situation, are left at the door, much like Lehman Brothers was curiously left out.
To be sure, the job market is bleak and the unemployment level is at a mark not seen since 1982 - 1983. Reagan and his team back then jump-started the economy by realizing where jobs came from (hint: it's not from government). Not until entrepreneurs are given opportunity and "too big to fail" financial institutions actually "lend" money (money that the government doled out to them to lend), will the economy start to rebound from its anemic state.
For Rich and Poor
As of October, 2009, the unemployment numbers for African-American (15.7%), Hispanics (13.1%) and Teenagers (27.6%) are unsettling. Yet, it is also unsettling to visit a local unemployment office and see the number of people with Bachelor's and Master's degrees looking for a job.
According to the Labor Department, there are six people looking for work for each available job. This ratio is untenable.
A Job Summit sounds nice, however, it won't be helpful if it doesn't go beyond the ubiquitous invites of say: Bill Gates, the SEIU, CEOs of juggernaut companies such as Google and Apple and the Rolodex of economists that the White House will probably hand out RSVPs to.
The number one problem in the US is jobs. Hopefully, the administration, using a broad, bi-partisan approach, will think about tax credits for business, loans to small and medium-sizes businesses and an understanding that the TARP and stimulus money should be used to re-focus our energy on job growth.
Job Summit...really?
Of course the White House communications team had to formulate their own counter punch to the two Republican gubernatorial victories in Virginia and New Jersey. Remember, those were the victories that both Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) both chalked up to "big wins" for the Democratic party. There's spin and then there's spin.
Pelosi and Cummings made Bill O'Reilly's oft-coined 'The Spin Stops Here' mantra look, well - bold and fresh.
Ironically, the administration's hyper-focus on health care reform has placed millions of jobless Americans in harm's way. Despite obvious employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and stark evidence, both anecdotal and scientific, from economists of all stripes, the Obama team (Vice-President Joe Biden, notwithstanding), has jeopardized millions of people.
The Answer isn't Complicated
For decades, small business has been the incubator for jobs in America. It is that simple. Yet, despite nearly every expert, from billionaire Warren Buffett to Moody's Chief Economist Mark Zandi, small business has been left out in the cold.
To make matters worse, CIT, one of the largest lending groups in the US, filed for chapter 11 in October. CIT is to small business as the American Dream is to the 'Little Engine that Could.' Certainly, CIT is worthy of some Treasury department assistance - Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and AIG received help. Now, the companies that need it the most and would certainly have immediate positive impact on the jobs situation, are left at the door, much like Lehman Brothers was curiously left out.
To be sure, the job market is bleak and the unemployment level is at a mark not seen since 1982 - 1983. Reagan and his team back then jump-started the economy by realizing where jobs came from (hint: it's not from government). Not until entrepreneurs are given opportunity and "too big to fail" financial institutions actually "lend" money (money that the government doled out to them to lend), will the economy start to rebound from its anemic state.
For Rich and Poor
As of October, 2009, the unemployment numbers for African-American (15.7%), Hispanics (13.1%) and Teenagers (27.6%) are unsettling. Yet, it is also unsettling to visit a local unemployment office and see the number of people with Bachelor's and Master's degrees looking for a job.
According to the Labor Department, there are six people looking for work for each available job. This ratio is untenable.
A Job Summit sounds nice, however, it won't be helpful if it doesn't go beyond the ubiquitous invites of say: Bill Gates, the SEIU, CEOs of juggernaut companies such as Google and Apple and the Rolodex of economists that the White House will probably hand out RSVPs to.
The number one problem in the US is jobs. Hopefully, the administration, using a broad, bi-partisan approach, will think about tax credits for business, loans to small and medium-sizes businesses and an understanding that the TARP and stimulus money should be used to re-focus our energy on job growth.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Digital Diss - PDA Etiquette in Public
Remember the Seinfeld episode where George is at a funeral, but he's starving of hunger? So he finds the best moment to escape the funeral home proceedings to indulge in the culinary delights of the ubiquitous post-funeral buffet.
These are moments that, well, only George would find himself in. George is quickly admonished for his gastronomically-induced bad etiquette.
It is no surprise, then, that the behavior of today's users of Personal Digital Assistants - PDAs - is not too dissimilar to George's indiscretion. How many of us either use or work around BlackBerry addicts who have no sense of etiquette?
During one recent management meeting, my boss pecked away at his qwerty keyboard - while his own boss was delivering a highly important and confidential presentation to his staff. More disturbing was the fact that I knew what his e-mails were about. He was playing text tag with his mother who was supplying his ADDHD son up-to-the-minute correspondence about a flash flood back home.
Now, most reasonable people would agree that there are rare instances where BlackBerry contact is urgent; however, it is a general rule to notify the meeting's presenter beforehand because you "may have to use your BlackBerry" due to an ongoing crisis. Off course if that situation presented itself, one would exit the room and then conduct their alleged crisis communications in private.
So, let's take a look at situations where it is probably not a good idea to use your PDA.
These are moments that, well, only George would find himself in. George is quickly admonished for his gastronomically-induced bad etiquette.
It is no surprise, then, that the behavior of today's users of Personal Digital Assistants - PDAs - is not too dissimilar to George's indiscretion. How many of us either use or work around BlackBerry addicts who have no sense of etiquette?
During one recent management meeting, my boss pecked away at his qwerty keyboard - while his own boss was delivering a highly important and confidential presentation to his staff. More disturbing was the fact that I knew what his e-mails were about. He was playing text tag with his mother who was supplying his ADDHD son up-to-the-minute correspondence about a flash flood back home.
Now, most reasonable people would agree that there are rare instances where BlackBerry contact is urgent; however, it is a general rule to notify the meeting's presenter beforehand because you "may have to use your BlackBerry" due to an ongoing crisis. Off course if that situation presented itself, one would exit the room and then conduct their alleged crisis communications in private.
So, let's take a look at situations where it is probably not a good idea to use your PDA.
- Never text or use a PDA on a first date.
- Never use a PDA during a job interview.
- Never use a PDA at a funeral.
- Never use a PDA when a waiter or waitress is taking your order.
- Never use a PDA while you are steering a ferry, trolley, train or other public transportation vehicle.
- Never us a PDA during intercourse with your significant other.
- Never, ever use a PDA while in the presence of a Judge during your DUI hearing.
- Never use a PDA while taking the LSAT exam - or any similarly important test.
- Never use a PDA while you are in a confessional at your place of worship (the priest will invariably see the glow of your LED screen through the dividing screen).
- Finally, never, ever, ever use a PDA while you are engaged in a fire-fight with the enemy during a military ambush.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Less-Than-Presidential
The office of the President has always held a certain cache' - a level of reverence, integrity and professionalism - especially when presidents opine on subjects posed by journalists. From the ridiculous to the sublime, the "leader of the free world" must wisely parse his words.
Yet with inexplicable rhetoric, President Barack Obama has not only unwisely chosen his words, he delivers responses that far too often, smack of condescension and downright unprofessionalism.
This ongoing plight concerns me.
Surely, with all his handlers surrounding him and a cadre of speechwriters and other White House advisers in tow, President Obama can make it through one month without making statements that belong more in Chicago's political machine than belong to someone speaking from Pennsylvania Avenue.
Which statements am I referring to?
President Obama's skin seems to be thinner than he let on during his presidential campaign. When asked about the arrest of Henry L. Gates, Jr., Obama pre-judged an unfortunate incident that had only transpired less than twenty-four hours earlier by saying that since HLG is my friend, I believe he could not have done anything wrong. In fact, he even ridiculed the local Cambrigde, MA police force without any objective evidence whatsoever.
More problematic was the length of time it took Obama to apologize for his "rush to judgment." And when the apology finally came, Obama still did not give the arresting police officer the full benefit of the doubt - in fact Obama waited a few days and then proposed his infamous "Beer Summit" on the East Lawn of the White House. The Officer was put on the spot. Thus, Obama spun the incident to deflect further criticism.
Take two: When asked about the apparent fallout from the surreptitious Acorn videos and the subsequent firestorm, Obama opined in an interview during one of the Sunday political talk shows that "[I] haven't really followed the story closely...and I don't know that much about Acorn."
Really?
Didn't Obama work for Acorn as a community activist, providing legal advice as a young lawyer fresh out of Yale law school?
Of course there are other political faux-paus by president Obama (remember how Joe the Plumber was patted on the head when asking about the possibility of taxes being raised on small business and the middle class?) Obama treated the now-renowned plumber like the Grinch did to little Cindy Who from Whoville. Ironically, Joe the Plumber was vetted far more thouroughly than Van Jones or some of the other Obama Aministration's Czar picks were.
The point. Please act presidential at all costs - humor is good, self deprication is good, but please Mr. President, don't get cute; at least don't get cute until you've been in the office for more than one year.
Yet with inexplicable rhetoric, President Barack Obama has not only unwisely chosen his words, he delivers responses that far too often, smack of condescension and downright unprofessionalism.
This ongoing plight concerns me.
Surely, with all his handlers surrounding him and a cadre of speechwriters and other White House advisers in tow, President Obama can make it through one month without making statements that belong more in Chicago's political machine than belong to someone speaking from Pennsylvania Avenue.
Which statements am I referring to?
President Obama's skin seems to be thinner than he let on during his presidential campaign. When asked about the arrest of Henry L. Gates, Jr., Obama pre-judged an unfortunate incident that had only transpired less than twenty-four hours earlier by saying that since HLG is my friend, I believe he could not have done anything wrong. In fact, he even ridiculed the local Cambrigde, MA police force without any objective evidence whatsoever.
More problematic was the length of time it took Obama to apologize for his "rush to judgment." And when the apology finally came, Obama still did not give the arresting police officer the full benefit of the doubt - in fact Obama waited a few days and then proposed his infamous "Beer Summit" on the East Lawn of the White House. The Officer was put on the spot. Thus, Obama spun the incident to deflect further criticism.
Take two: When asked about the apparent fallout from the surreptitious Acorn videos and the subsequent firestorm, Obama opined in an interview during one of the Sunday political talk shows that "[I] haven't really followed the story closely...and I don't know that much about Acorn."
Really?
Didn't Obama work for Acorn as a community activist, providing legal advice as a young lawyer fresh out of Yale law school?
Of course there are other political faux-paus by president Obama (remember how Joe the Plumber was patted on the head when asking about the possibility of taxes being raised on small business and the middle class?) Obama treated the now-renowned plumber like the Grinch did to little Cindy Who from Whoville. Ironically, Joe the Plumber was vetted far more thouroughly than Van Jones or some of the other Obama Aministration's Czar picks were.
The point. Please act presidential at all costs - humor is good, self deprication is good, but please Mr. President, don't get cute; at least don't get cute until you've been in the office for more than one year.
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