The debate last night in Oxford, Mississippi, between John McCain and Barack Obama, sounded more like a bickering session than a debate, a rehashing and squabbling over the same things we have been listening to for the past 18 months.
It was a repetition of the same abysmal mediocrity we have been hearing. McCain in his dull monotone voice, repeating the same ole rhetoric was very boring. Obama, more spiritedly energetic, kept rudely interrupting McCain and acted like he wanted to lunge at him, as Obama kept repeating the same old socialist line of taxing the rich to take care of the poor. I did not listen to entire program, but turned it off before they finished. I was so tired of listening to the same old stuff.
This is the title of an old country music song I used to hear while listening to the Grand Ole Opry radio show. Having been born and reared in the deep south, way back then during and after the Great Depression, many country music songs reflected the tempo of the people and that time period. Boiled cabbage with a hot pone of cornbread was a staple of noon time lunch. Most everyone had a garden with cabbage in it, and if they didn’t, cabbage was one of the cheapest food items you could buy. It’s a very nutritious food, but a far cry from filet mignon.
With food cost rising and talk of some scarcity, we might be hearing a revival of that song “boil em cabbage down boys.” I, for one, love boiled cabbage and the broth from it called “pot liquor.” When eaten with cornbread, it is very tasty and inexpensive.
If after this week’s news you are feeling a bit conflicted, confused, worried and apprehensive, prepare yourself a good Southern style “soul food” meal and chow down. Think about what an earlier generation experienced during times “that try men’s souls.” Then read my two articles earlier this week about what life was like for me during the Great Depression of the thirties. I do not recall the lyrics to the song, but think the second line said “the only thing they knew to do was boil em cabbage down.”
This is a preview of
“Boil Em Cabbage Down Boys, Boil Em Cabbage Down” (Issue 86)
.
Read the full post (595 words, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)
Attention on the Intentions of the Rescue Plan
Here it is early in the morning of Friday, September 26, 2008. Wow, what a week this has been for news, as Congress and the media worked around the clock to stir the pot, to stir the nettle of the American people. The $700 billion bailout has been the centerpiece of the frenzy, to be voted on later today by Congress.
I have listened to so many politicians and pundits this week pitching their ideas on what is happening by prefacing their remarks with, “here’s the real problem.” And yet I have heard no one express what the real problem is.
In the middle of the week, on Wednesday, September 24, I wrote a post titled, “Out of Gas, Out of Money, Out of Patience.” In that article, in one small paragraph, I explained why the bailout package would not pass. Now this morning, all the news centers around “bailout breakdown.”
This is a preview of
Congress Did Not Intend Passing First Bailout Package (Issue 85)
.
Read the full post (935 words, estimated 3:44 mins reading time)
Because most Americans are not dishonest con artists, we do not always remember political government is a con game.
I for one have to stop and remind myself of this fact on a regular basis as I hear and read what is going on in Washington and with the political candidates running for President.
The con game is simple—keep your eye on this ball while we are doing something else.
This is a preview of
Global Poverty Act, Costing Americans $845 Billion (Issue 52)
.
Read the full post (713 words, estimated 2:51 mins reading time)
