God bless America. On January 21st, the Supreme Court of the United States finally brought justice to a long oppressed minority: Citigroup – and the other Fortune 500 companies which have for too long been ignored in our Democracy. I for one could not be more proud to be an American than I am right now. Yes, in a stunning landmark ruling that overturned more than 100 years of misguided legal precedent, the Supreme Court courageously broke down one of the longest-running barriers that enslaved our corporations and barred them from one of the fundamental rights every other citizen has long enjoyed: The right to free speech.
It’s time for my annual gaze into my crystal ball to see what the year ahead has in store for us. If you happen to be Arnold Felderman of Waukesha, Wisconsin, I would just pack up now and head for a cave. For you, it’s going to be a really bad year. Sorry to be the one to tell you.
As for the rest of us, the future is a bit more hopeful. Oh sure, some politicians will stumble, some new war will likely break out between two minor countries our teenage kids have never heard of, like India and Pakistan, and some Hollywood celebrity will come out of the closet to confess he’s Republican. And no doubt some sports star will forever tarnish his legacy when it is discovered that he has illegally high traces of high fiber cereal in his urine. (more…)
Most of you know that I am widely considered to be among the most serious journalists in my house. So this week, as I have done every year for the past 30 years, I take stock in the people and events that shaped our world over the past 365 days in the much anticipated View From the Bleachers Year in Review, or as I like to call it VFTBYIR, for short.
My, what a crazy year it’s been. Here are just a few of the highlights (and low lights):
January: As further evidence that racial discrimination is alive and well in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President, once again giving a black man the worst job in the entire nation. After a honeymoon that lasts almost two weeks, he quickly is attacked as a Black Hitler, a communist, a terrorist, and a really bad bowler.
Thank goodness that annoying “Recession” is behind us. I can hardly even see it in my sideview mirror. It’s been a little over a year since the floor dropped out of the economy. and institutions once considered too big to fail, like Lehman Brothers, did just that.
In the midst of the near collapse of our financial system, there was a lot of finger pointing. Politicians and Economists argued lax oversight and inadequate regulations of many financial instruments (like sub-prime mortgages and Credit Default Swaps) were to blame. (more…)
What is all this fuss about global warming? Oooh, look at the lonely polar bear swimming in open Arctic waters so far from land. How will it eat? Isn’t that soooo sad. That heart-breaking polar bear was undoubtedly filmed in a back lot at Universal Studios. Two minutes later they probably fed him a nice Caribou and a baby narwhal for dessert.
This just in, “And the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize goes to….. Barack Hussein Obama?” Huh?
I know, it sounds like an episode of Punked. An Internet prank, right? After all, he has been our president for less than nine months. The Nobel Award Committee actually closed the nominations in early February, roughly three weeks after Obama’s inauguration. Obama beat out 171 other individuals and 33 organizations – including a dude from Ethiopia, who freed 2,000 slaves from the Sudan, carried them on his back, one at a time 300 miles through the 120 degree Saharan Desert heat and then fed them cookies – Oatmeal cookies, I believe. How did that guy not win? (more…)
God bless America. On January 21st, the Supreme Court of the United States finally brought justice to a long oppressed minority: Citigroup – and the other Fortune 500 companies which have for too long been ignored in our Democracy. I for one could not be more proud to be an American than I am right now. Yes, in a stunning landmark ruling that overturned more than 100 years of misguided legal precedent, the Supreme Court courageously broke down one of the longest-running barriers that enslaved our corporations and barred them from one of the fundamental rights every other citizen has long enjoyed: The right to free speech.
It’s time for my annual gaze into my crystal ball to see what the year ahead has in store for us. If you happen to be Arnold Felderman of Waukesha, Wisconsin, I would just pack up now and head for a cave. For you, it’s going to be a really bad year. Sorry to be the one to tell you.
