The Concept of Capitalism

I find a weird kind of wisdom in the electorate’s rejection of President Obama’s agenda.  However, I also think it’s important not to make wild conclusions about what it meant.  President Bush still couldn’t run for dog-catcher in Massachusetts.   Looking back at the 2008 Presidential campaign, the electorate did truly desire change.  Once candidate Obama won the Democratic nomination, he did what every candidate does, he ran to the middle.  This is how he obtained his majority.  Aided by Wall Street’s face plant, he was able to convince enough voters that he was a better agent of change than Senator McCain.  Unfortunately for the country, Mr. Obama’s “new” ideas really amount to warmed-up New Deal dreams, and he seems to be more concerned with ideology than effective management.

Healthcare’s High Noon

Ted Kennedy & Barack Obama

By now, everybody should know the results of the Massachusetts special election, which is being held to replace former Senator Edward “Teddy” Kennedy (at the time of writing polls had not yet closed).  The plot and twists of this saga are worthy of the bard himself, or perhaps some tragic opera.

For my generation, and probably others, nobody embodied the “New Deal” philosophy better than Mr. Kennedy.  For those of us who did not ascribe to this philosophy, this is not a complement.  Nothing against Mr. Kennedy personally, but he was never able to capture the nation’s imagination like his brothers.  Each Kennedy seemed to get progressively more liberal, and Teddy never seemed to have the right stuff.  Perhaps it was because of the unfortunate “Chappaquiddick incident,” or maybe he lacked the Kennedy charisma, or, perhaps, his views were just too extreme for the nation.

Google as Patriot

Too often we focus on what’s wrong with the world.  Politicians and the media tend to concentrate on the negative.  We struggle to make sense of all depressing news modern living forces upon us.  It seems to come from everywhere:  our jobs, our schools, the Internet, even our friends and neighbors.  All of this contributes to the anxiety we feel during our day.  So when something good comes along, it should be shouted from the rooftops.  Unfortunately, it is too easily buried by the big stories of the day.