Basketball games and Leno

[Tobina+1]

Have you seen that our Pres is making many public appearances lately?  Things like going to a basketball game and appearing on Jay Leno (last night)!  I don't care if you like the guy or not, but the fact that he's actually still trying to have a life in the public and not stay holed up in his big white house says something to me.  I still don't agree with what he says and does, but I do think it's interesting that he's really changing the face and actions of being "president".  Kinda like saying, "hey, I'm just a normal guy.  I drink beer and watch basketball, and crack jokes at myself."

[Warph]

I understand where you are coming from, Tobina, but, do you have any idea what this "normal guy, who's a joke unto himself" and his CA trip is costing the Tax Payer.... it's estimated anywhere between $12 to $20 million just to do a couple of Townhall Meetings and appear on Leno.  This bugs me!

Here's a few things that have been rambling around in my head, that bug me as well, such as:

One, in the wake of all the bail-outs and stimulus programs, it seems to me that the feds must be running the printing presses at the Treasury 24 hours-a-day.  That being the case, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to start using the money in my old Monopoly game to start paying my bills the same way Uncle Sam is paying his.

Two, some people are upset that CEOs get paid so much money to run companies.  Especially when they run them into the ground.  It's not my way to complain about what other people get paid.  It might sound too much like sour grapes.  But even I have to wonder how it is that schmo's like Christopher Dodo and Elmer Fudd, who played such major roles in creating the financial mess in the first place, are still drawing salaries or how it is that a worm like Bernard Madoff, who destroyed so many lives, is still drawing a breath.

As for those CEOs, one of the problems I have with them is that I can't quite figure out what it is they do.  I mean, aside from selling off various divisions of the company, outsourcing jobs and factories to places they'd never go in a million years, gutting the workers'pension fund and going to resorts on corporate jets, what else is there on the job description?   My own theory is that once you somehow get to be a CEO, you then become one of a handful of people who ever gets considered for the job opening when some other CEO dies or goes to jail.

It works much the same way in major league baseball.  A manager may get fired from one team, but he'll soon be hired by another.  Take Gene Mauch, for instance.  Between 1960 and 1987, he managed the Phillies, the Expos, the Twins and the Angels.  As a result, there were only five managers in history who managed more games.  However, not only did he never win a World Series, but not once in those 28 seasons did his team even win a pennant!  The only way he ever got to see a World Series was to buy a ticket.

Three, when I saw George W. Bush and Barack Obama having their picture taken in the Oval Office with George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, I'm sure I'm not the only person who was reminded how far we've fallen from the days when a similar group photo would have included Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison and Monroe. 

By the way, did anyone else notice how much Carter has come to resemble Mr. Magoo?

Four, I recently read about an extremely wealthy man who had never gotten married because he was never certain whether a woman loved him for his money or himself.  I never met the guy, but I wanted to call him up and set his mind at ease: "Stop wondering! It's your money!"

Apparently, very rich people are often worried about this very thing.  I thought about taking out an ad in Forbes or Fortune offering my services.  Wealthy people could phone me at any hour of the day or night, and I'd say, "You are your money.  Do you think Brad Pitt lies awake wondering if women chase him because of his looks or his sense of humor?  You use what you've got.  Besides, if it's really tearing you up, I have a solution.  Give away all your dough.  But don't come whining to me when your trophy wife dumps you and you can't scrounge up a date for Saturday night."

And, finally, I was delighted to read that Marian Robinson, Barack Obama's mother-in-law, is coming to live in the White House.  The story is that it's only going to be for a short time, until everybody is settled in.  But if I were Barack, I wouldn't count on it.  Once Mrs. Robinson gets a taste of room service and those fancy state dinners with dignitaries and movie stars, I don't see her rushing back to Chicago any time soon. 

Speaking as a conservative who was not looking forward to an Obama administration, but who had loved "Amos 'n' Andy," the possibility that this could lead to some of the hilarious hijinks that used to revolve around the Kingfish, Sapphire and Sapphire's mama, makes me think that the next four years may not be as gloomy as I'd feared. 

[Varmit]

I just can't believe he would belittle the office of the United States Presidency by appearing on the leno show.  I thought before that he didn't have any class, this just confirms my suspisions.

[frawin]

Speaking as a conservative who was not looking forward to an Obama administration, but who had loved "Amos 'n' Andy," the possibility that this could lead to some of the hilarious hijinks that used to revolve around the Kingfish, Sapphire and Sapphire's mama, makes me think that the next four years may not be as gloomy as I'd feared. 

WARPH, you are a classic

[Diane Amberg]

Have you all forgotten that Pres. Nixon was on Laugh-In? I don't recall any outrage from the Conservatives over that. Did you see the Leno show? There were some good questions asked and answered, I thought.

[greatguns]

Diane,I'm with you.

[Wilma]

So am I.

[Delbert]

What would have George Bush done?

[Varmit]

It amazes me how anyone could be so blind as to see the type of person our so called president is after that show.  You know the one thing that stands out the most to me is how he compared his lousy bowling score to the special olympics.  What a complete (insert descriptive here)!!! 

[greatguns]

like no one in the real world hasn't made a statement like that.  Hunt for something worth griping about.