Monday Musings: April 25, 2011
Happy Easter everyone! Or perhaps Joyous Passover, Wondrous Equinox, or Merry Earth Day! After a weekend with family, this is just another Monday here at the Pigeon Post. Another Monday means the beginning to another week of political tomfoolery, television trickery, and sports unspectaculars. The powers that be have never been know for creativity (unless it be creative ways to take more of your money and spend it stimulating their economy); this spring is no different.
Politics
Case in point; conservatives spent two years telling us that Obamacare was going to destroy Medicare. Less than six months into the GOP control of the House, and the very same self-appointed “Medicare Angels” have passed a bill dismantling the system. To be fair, the bill will give us a voucher to purchase insurance (about $8,000 per year…how much do you pay now?). The catch, of course, is that the vouchers will be indexed to the CPI (we call it inflation).
That may sound “fiscally responsible” and “fair”, but as Medicare costs have been rising at a rate 4 or 5 times higher than the CPI for more than a decade, the vouchers won’t cover much for long. What do you call it when a commodity necessary for survival is put on a fixed schedule regardless of need? The term commonly used is rationing…ironic isn’t it, given the labels affixed by conservatives to Obamacare.
Television
Branding is everything in consumer products, just ask Donald Trump. Daddy gave him lots and lots of cash, and he did a reasonable job turning it into more cash. Then, “The Donald” screwed the pooch on a number of ventures before realizing that, if you act like you know what you’re doing, people will believe it.
Donald Trump makes money now on a bad tabloid train-wreck of a TV show, and sells his name to real estate ventures worldwide. Yogi Berra might say that he is 50% branding, 50% bullcrap, and 20% bad hair. The Apprentice is just one of a multitude of terrible shows that we watch for the same reasons that we watched daytime soaps in another era; we like rich and famous people who look dumber than us. Currently, “The Donald” is parlaying his false “Presidential bid” into more publicity for his bad television…he is also laughing at the American people all the way to the bank.
Sports
These are dark days for the sports fan; the endless postseasons of the NBA and NHL are in full swing. The NFL Draft used to be a welcome diversion from the cornucopia of meaningless games, but now it is a bought and paid for production of the NFL Network (otherwise known as “The Scam”), and The Worldwide Misleader of Sports (formerly known as ESPN…thank you Jason Whitlock).
To make things even worse, nobody knows if the NFL will even play this season, although I think I will find something else to do with my time and money. The question Demaurice Smith and Roger Goodell need to ask themselves is, what would they do without my time and money flowing in their direction. Lets remind those two of that question, sportsfans. Enough is enough already.
See you next Monday, Working Class America!
