The Adventures of Jim...

Introducing a new blog: Jim!Rants

In a previous post, I mentioned that I planned to introduce a new category of posts to this blog:  Miscellaneous Rants.  I've been known to have an opinion or two on various things ranging from sports to politics to pop culture, etc.  What can I tell you...things occasionally get under my skin.  When they do, I was going to use that category as the forum on which to opine about those things.

I've decided to go a different route, and have created an entirely new blog:  Jim!Rants.  On that blog, I'll share my HSOs (you'll have to read the first post for the definition of that term), rants, and soapbox moments, for your rumination and entertainment.

I'll post on both blogs regularly, and I invite you to tune in to both.  You will be glad you did!

It's all about the timing...

It's interesting to see how, in politics, a new leader deals with the conditions that were essentially created by their predecessor.  They subsequently either get the blame or take the credit.  I saw that on multiple occasions when I lived in Louisiana.  Edwin Edwards was governor of the state for four different terms, only two of which were consecutive.  Each of his successors had caught flack from the fallout of what he had put into place.  (Edwards was such an upstanding citizen that he now resides in prison.)

What made me think of this?  Well, everyone knows that the US economy has hit a rough spot as of late.  When gas prices started rising 2 or 3 years ago, people starting feeling the pinch in their wallets to greater and greater degrees.  Thankfully, prices have been falling for the last month or so.

Today, on the way back from Arkansas, I filled up my tank for $1.95 per gallon.  Granted, we saw prices ranging from that to $2.29, and the prices near our house are currently around $2.06.  The bottom line is that prices are dropping, and will hopefully continue to do so.

Here's my (not so) bold prediction:  If prices on gas stay at a reasonable level, other prices will dip and consumer confidence will begin to rise.  Then, at about the mid-way point of 2009, we'll begin to see a turnaround in the economy.  Not a major overnight shift, but evidence of the beginnings of recovery.  The new President, be he Obama or McCain, will then be heralded as the economic savior, even though neither will have been in office long enough to have a significant affect on it.  And when he runs for re-election in 2012, we'll hear false claims of "the economy was in the crapper when I took office (insert miscellaneous blaming of George Bush here).  It was under MY leadership that things got fixed."  All a bunch of BS.

Don't get me wrong; I'll be happy to pay lower prices for gas and...well...everything else.  It just to show how dumb luck and timing (being in the right place at the right time) can have an impact.

Whence truth? Whence ethical behavior?

The chances that there is something in this post which will offend some people are very high.  If you want to read a nice, touchy-feely, warm-fuzzy blog posting, you would be best advised to stop reading this post.  Now.

If you're still reading and you get offended, I don't want to hear about it.  You have only yourself to blame...

Politics in America is out of control, and most politicians make me sick.  The posturing, the rush to get in front of cameras and twist statistics, reports, and rumors in order to gain a little advantage...Enough is enough.

The latest thing that has me set off is the whole hub-bub over Rush Limbaugh.  Yes, the vitriolic arguments about what he said or what he didn't say is one thing.  I did a little research, however, and found somthing called the Federal Tort Claims Act.  If I read/understand correctly, it is a law which the legislature passed, which give them protection from being sued for actions related to their official duties.  That's right, they all voted to protect themselves.  And it's been determined that this includes any remarks they make in the Senate chambers, press conferences, regardless of their truthfullness. (I don't know whether or not it includes interviews, but that wouldn't surprise me.)

Yes, I know that they they need some sort of protection, or they would face an endless stream of frivious lawsuits from a host of idiots which would render them unable to do the job they were elected to do.  (Of course, in my opinion, most of them aren't doing the jobs they were elected to do, anyway.)

My problem, and it is a MAJOR problem, is with the potential for abuse that this introduces.  If a senator can make false statements about your opinions or views, and be completely protected from libel and slander, SOMETHING IS WRONG.  I know that the following example is an extreme (probably inflammatory) example, but imagine this:  Senator X goes onto the Senate floor and says "<insert your name here> has said that there should be nothing wrong with giving drugs to children and have sex with them.  "<insert your name here> should be censured and condemned".

If such statements weren't true, should they be allowed to get away with that?  Should they not have to face consequences?  Especially if there is no clear evidence that the person made those statements...

When did we become so willing to wink at and accept half-truths or outright lies without consequences?  Well, I'm not.  Wrong is wrong, regardless of which political party perpetrates it or how long the legislator in question has been in office.

The fact that most of the legislators in the United States are referred to as "The Honorable" So-and-So is laughable.  While a few of them likely live up to that title, most of them wouldn't know 'honorable' if it ran up and bit them in the butt.

I'm just sayin'...