This is going to be a close election on Tuesday. While I have avoided social media campaigning, below are several thoughts I wanted to share before the polls open.
"It's the economy, stupid." While this slogan made James Carville famous (and Bill Clinton president) in 1992, no one would pay for this insight today. It's a given.
Perhaps too much emphasis is being placed on the domestic economy. Perhaps too little attention is being paid to the responsibility the winner of this election will have for leading the United States through increasingly complex foreign policy decisions.
But back to my bank statements...
The US economy advances at a glacial pace. It can falter or collapse much more quickly.
There are few things a president can do to support economic growth, and they take years to take effect...usually more than four. Remember that the "good years" under Clinton didn't kick in until his second term, and the current administration inherited a much larger mess than he did.
There are even fewer things a president can do to prevent massive economic failures, and he/she must do them quickly. While the opposition claims to value the natural selective forces of the free market, do they really think we would be better of today by having let GM fail? Does anyone remember that the US industrial machine (and GM in particular) has been a vital element of US success in times of war?
What's my point? The current administration has made multiple decisions in the past four years that helped lessen the impact of fiscal issues that had been compounding for the better part of the prior decade. It has made multiple decisions designed to begin to stabilize the economy and improve the future. The tone of much of the challenger's messaging seems to say "The economy hasn't recovered. They didn't deliver." I find it offensive that they think that voters will buy this.
There are many other differences between the current administration and the challenger...and probably more than a few similarities. I just hope those factor more heavily into voters' Tuesday decisions than the challenger's positioning of the current administration's economic record.
-HammerHead
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Setting Pace in Brain Buckets
Will and Henry were setting pace on helmet usage at yesterday's block party. Does it make me a dork that I take pride in this? ...that my boys are growing up thinking that helmets are cool because their daddy started quoting USATriathlon rules* when they got their first tricycles?
It's a small victory but a sweet one. The overwhelming majority of toddler-centric dialogue inside our house focuses and responds to the fact that Will does NOT listen to much of what we ask him to do. So an outdoor, public display of a time that he does listen to us is worth celebrating, especially since Henry will copy his every move. -HammerHead
*USATriathlon helmet rule -> your helmet must be on and buckled before your leg crosses your bike's top tube. Period.
It's a small victory but a sweet one. The overwhelming majority of toddler-centric dialogue inside our house focuses and responds to the fact that Will does NOT listen to much of what we ask him to do. So an outdoor, public display of a time that he does listen to us is worth celebrating, especially since Henry will copy his every move. -HammerHead
*USATriathlon helmet rule -> your helmet must be on and buckled before your leg crosses your bike's top tube. Period.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Back in Business
It's been a while since I posted here. My absence has been a product of distraction, laziness and perfectionism. Basically I thought that if I didn't have time to write an honors-thesis-quality post, then it wasn't worth writing. I finally got over it, so here's to Daddy Blogging 2.0!
What is the smallest size that they make cycling jerseys in? Will already has matching helmet, strider bike and Oakley's. Well, technically he's borrowing the Oakley's, but he knows he can use them whenever he wants to.
I am seriously looking forward to pace-lining down Canada Road and Foothill Expressway when the boys are old enough to ride...and draft. Given how quickly Will has picked up balance on his strider, I'm thinking 10 could be the right age to put the hammer down with Dad.
Of course I know, intellectually, that if he doesn't like cycling when he's older, I need to be ok with that. Kind of like how my dad, who only recently retired from recreational baseball, had to accept that I quit his sport after my first season of tee ball. But Will certainly does love his bike. I wonder when he'll be able to convince me to buy him one with pedals. -HammerHead
What is the smallest size that they make cycling jerseys in? Will already has matching helmet, strider bike and Oakley's. Well, technically he's borrowing the Oakley's, but he knows he can use them whenever he wants to.
I am seriously looking forward to pace-lining down Canada Road and Foothill Expressway when the boys are old enough to ride...and draft. Given how quickly Will has picked up balance on his strider, I'm thinking 10 could be the right age to put the hammer down with Dad.
Of course I know, intellectually, that if he doesn't like cycling when he's older, I need to be ok with that. Kind of like how my dad, who only recently retired from recreational baseball, had to accept that I quit his sport after my first season of tee ball. But Will certainly does love his bike. I wonder when he'll be able to convince me to buy him one with pedals. -HammerHead
Location:Grand St,Redwood City,United States
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