Even though it is Friday, I am having a tough time getting excited for the weekend today. Some of it is because of the fact that I know it is not going to be a restful weekend. Some of it is that the weight of the world getting me down, again. Hahaha. #1. I was reading this interview that Carl Rove gave recently. Man, talk about a bleak outlook for the political future of this country/world. It is tough not to buy into some of it (especially when you are already leaning in that direction). The difference is, he thinks that McCain is great. I do not share that comfort with Rove. #2. Then, there is the whole Sean Bell verdict this morning. I try to tell myself that there was no good ‘ol boy shady stuff behind it. But I don’t really know if I believe myself when I am telling me that. Instead, what this incident does, is remind me of the gross inequities that exist in American society. My brother-in-law Nathan published a post this week addressing the fact that southern states get the bad rap, as far as racism goes, even though it exists in all regions, historically and currently. It is pretty hard to convince yourself that you live in a progressive society on days like today. I feel like all parties involved in the Sean Bell shooting incident handled it poorly. But I was hoping that the judicial system would take into account the fact that police officers should be held to a little bit of a higher standard, as trained public servants, when they exercise poor judgment. I guess that the flipside to that argument is that, if they aren’t allowed a broad margin of error, then the red tape, or fear of red tape will impinge on their ability to make quick decisions in volitile situations. Take away that ability, and public safety will suffer as a result. So where is the middle ground? Isn’t that what the courts are supposed to be looking for? Justice? Equity? Also, why would you have a bench trial, instead of a jury. Aren’t these exactly the kinds of situations that should be left in the hands of a jury of piers, not an elected judge who get’s his paycheck from the same place as the people being tried? I would like to pause momentarily in this stream of pessimism and complaining, to apologize for having such a generally depressing blog lately. I will try to shape it up starting Monday. Which brings me to #3. The first headline in Commercial Mortgage Alert today is “Credit Suisse Holds 3rd Big round of Layoffs.” Make it stop. Dubya, are you really going to sit up there in the White House and try to deny that the current state of the economy meets the definition of recession? Do you really think that your little $600 rebate is going to fix anything? It is almost as ridiculous as the time Al Gore released however many millions of barrels of oil from the national petro reserve to quell the heating oil crisis (the amount released was equivalent to the amount that Americans consume in half a day). I’m not saying that he should come up with a better solution. To me there is no solution, as far as the federal government is concerned. I think that they should keep their hands totally out of the mix (with the exception of the Fed tinkering with interest rates). But dude, don’t act like your constituents are a bunch of retards and like you can dismiss this economic slump as anything less than a recession. I really enjoyed the editor’s article in this month’s GQ. He suggested that the mercy rule be applied to the office of US President in cases like the one that Bush is currently battling. The same as in baseball, if the other team is winning by so many runs that it is just embarrassing to continue the game, the losing team can concede and call the game. Dubya, as much as I enjoyed hearing your important message the other night during American Idol, I think that Jim Nelson may have been onto something. For everyone’s sake, look into it.
Ok, now some positive items:
1. Reagan is Le Best (“the best” for those to don’t speak French).
2. Piper is bloody cute and amazing.
3. I have a job.
And one more thing, that way this post it more positive than negative.
4. The weather has been fantastic this week.