September 11, 2001 - Never Forget!We the People Need to Remember 9/11

I'll never forget the events of 9/11.

I was staying at the W hotel in Chicago, where I had flown in for the band Soil's CD release party for the album Scars, one of several great records that was to be released that day.

My college roommate and his girlfriend had driven down from Milwaukee the night before and spent the night in the room, and our cellphones started ringing shortly after 7:45 am - and we ignored them. But Christian's mother is persistent. He finally answered, half asleep, and I heard, "yes mother, we'll turn on the news when we wake up..." He then mumbled something about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center, which we all assumed was a prop plane or twin engine... We commented on the tragedy, but weren't awake enough to really grasp the potential gravity of the situation.

Then my girlfriend called from Los Angeles, and considering it was barely sunrise there, I knew I had to answer - she told me to turn on CNN. At this point, it was about ten minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 had impacted the World Trade Center North Tower.

My college roommate and I were political nuts and news junkies - and we, like most Americans, never even thought to imagine that the first crash was a terrorist attack.

Then we watched United Airlines Flight 175 fly into the World Trade Center South Tower live.

How much have the events of that morning changed our lives? When we went to bed on September 10, 2011, we lived in a country where terrorism wasn't even a consideration. When we woke up the next morning, terrorism became the new assumption.

From the moment that second plane impacted the World Trade Center, every horrific act of the next decade has been a suspected act of terrorism until proven otherwise.

So there we sat for the next several hours, sitting in the hotel room glued to CNN in awe of the events unfolding before us.



For me it hit even closer to home - I'm New York at heart, and was raised an hour north of the city. I had moved from Manhattan to Los Angeles a few months earlier, and watching the chaos that enveloped what I still consider home, I felt paralyzed by despair and hopelessness.

Then the Pentagon was hit by American Airlines Flight 77, and the rumors started - the next plane is heading for the Capitol... The White House... The Sears Tower... The Sears Tower was located only a few blocks from our hotel in downtown Chicago, and our lobby became something of an evacuation hotbed.

Soil were flying home from Florida for the night's release party at the time of the attacks, and it took us the better part of the morning to confirm they were alive and well. We were lucky to even find out - it seemed like everyone I knew on the East Coast had a personal connection to the attacks, and very few people had answers.

Cell phones weren't working in Manhattan, and those who were safe had virtually no way to communicate with their loved ones. I had an acquaintance who, for three days, we thought died in one of the towers - it took him that long to start reaching out to people after the initial shock of the day's events had subsided and he'd finally been reunited with his wife and children in New Jersey.

Streets and highways were closed. Mass transit shut down. It was a war zone in lower Manhattan, and New York was bracing itself for any potential attacks that might come next.

In wake of the three successful attacks, when United Airlines Flight 93 did a nosedive into a desolate field near Shanksville, PA, instantly killing everyone on board, its passengers became instant heroes, sacrificing themselves to spare America yet another symbolic battle scar on the most horrific day of our young country's history.

Realizing that I wouldn't be returning to L.A. anytime soon, I drove back to Milwaukee with my roommate that afternoon on what was the emptiest I94 I've ever experienced. We went to grab a few drinks that night, and the feeling in the off-the-beaten-path Milwaukee bar couldn't be more somber.

New York was attacked, but America felt the pain. People who knew New York from little more than Friends and Seinfeld episodes felt united as a people. I'm not talking about me and my roommate, who had eaten in the World Trade Center Windows on the World restaurant a few years earlier with his grandmother - I'm talking about people who had never left a two hour radius of their Midwest home, but suddenly felt a patriotism like never before.

If there was good to come from the attacks, that was it - America was united in tragedy. We weren't Democrats and Republicans, we were Americans. We weren't an East Coast and West Coast looking down our noses at each other with superiority complexes, we were bookends of a great nation standing united, tall, proud and together. In the weeks that followed, all the political bullshit that tears our country apart was nothing but a hazy mist in our rear view mirror.

We were Americans, and we were one people. We believed in our government, and we believed in each other. We embraced the freedom that makes our country great, and we understood what that freedom meant to the rest of the world. We weren't afraid to be strong, because we had no other option.

For the first time, my generation had to be strong because my generation couldn't be weak. We were raised soft, but now we knew what it meant to live hard... Not as hard as our ancestors, but this was our test, and we would rise from the ashes.

Or so we thought.

In time, America forgot. Republicans returned to their role as boogeyman, and Democrats returned to their pulpits, preaching that the only way to be a country again is to change the very principals our nation was built upon.

Americans soon forgot what it was like to be one nation under God (whoever that God may be), because it is easier to be a nation divided. It is easier to blame the other side than it is to fight for change, and it is easier to live in the now than it is to learn from our past and build for a better future.

9/11 changed America - but we live in a country with Attention Deficit Disorder. We live in a land where it is easier to read the headline than it is to understand the story. And we live in a country where it is easier to make excuses than it is to hunker down and get the job done.

America changed, but it didn't take long for America to change back.

America forgot.

America needs to remember - and America needs to never forget what happened on September 11, 2001.

Jon Stewart, Donald Trump, Sarah Palin & pizza? This... This is some good stuff...

Every time Michael Vick gets hit,an angel dog earns its wings...

I believe that Michael Vick deserves a second chance in life, I just don't believe that he deserves a second chance to play in the National Football League.

He facilitated and expedited the rape of dogs, where females were bound to poles so that they could be forcefully and violently impregnated. The puppies were then raised and trained to be fighters and killers, neglected to sharpen their survival instincts, and tortured to instill a horrifying sense of fear and tolerance of pain.

Then the dogs were pitted against each other for Michael Vick and his crew's sadistic pleasure and gambling enjoyment.

If the losing dogs were lucky, they'd be killed in cold blood.

The dogs that weren't killed, were left alive to be tortured and abused more, only to fight another day.

This wasn't a momentary lapse in judgment on Michael Vick's part, and it wasn't an accident. It was premeditated, callously calculated, and carried out with painstaking attention to every heinous detail.

Over, and over, and over again.

This isn't about what Michael Vick allegedly did, this is about what he confessed to doing. There's no grey area in what may or may not have happened - it happened, and he's not denying a single bit of it.

According to a court of law, he served his legal debt to society. But what about his moral debt to society? The debt that can't be paid off by a donation to the Humane Society, or by visiting a handful of inner-city schools and trying to explain why what he did was wrong, despite the fact that he still makes excuses for his behavior.

Because, in the end, it didn't matter that what he did was wrong - when the time came to be held accountable for deciding to embrace being a thug instead of a professional athlete and role model, the Philadelphia Eagles welcomed him back with opened arms.

And when that opportunity turned into one of the most remarkable physical comebacks in the history of professional sports, Barack Obama - the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, and the man that hung his election on a mantra of hope - called the Eagles' owner to commend the team for giving Michael Vick a second chance.

Because everybody deserves a second chance.

Bullshit.

Michael Vick has been coddled since the day his opportunistic handlers realized he was a goldmine of athletic potential.

Money. Gifts. Attention. Excuses.

All in abundance. All without accountability.

He received a scholarship to Virginia Tech, and every opportunity in the world to advance his lot in life. To improve the world of those around him. And to be an example for others to emulate.

Instead, he chose to remain a thug. A thug who could tuck a football under his arm and run - a thug with carte blanche to take his miscreant ways off the street, and behind closed doors.

Should Michael Vick get a second chance? Of course he should - in life. Not in the National Football League.

America is a country in crisis, and our youth need role models to emulate, not a path of excuses defined by moral cop-outs.

Michael Vick was given every opportunity to rise above the culture he claims dictated his behavior and handling of dogs. Yet he chose to defy those opportunities, and mock the establishment that presented him with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to cash in a golden ticket.

Let his second chance at success be outside the National Football League. Let him use the college education that he got for free... What? He didn't graduate? Maybe he should have thought of that before he entered the NFL following his sophomore year of college.

He strapped his entire future to a professional sport that, even in failure, could make him enough money to last a lifetime. Yet he respected that sport so little that he needed to raise, train, torture and kill dogs for personal fulfillment.

It doesn't matter how many schools he speaks to, the real message to those students is loud and clear - you can make a grave, calculated, callous and criminal mistake so heinous that the end result would make anyone with a conscience's stomach curdle, and as long as you can blame your upbringing, even the President of the United States will have your back.

America needs to stop making excuses, and America needs to stop accepting excuses.

America needs to stand for something, or we'll fall for anything.

And right now, we're falling hard.

I've boycotted the Philadelphia Eagles all season long, refusing to watch or support any team that would give an opportunity to a man that epitomizes everything I think is wrong with America today.

I have also boycotted Nike since they announced that they would again endorse Michael Vick. If Nike choose to make him a face of their company, Nike are making a bold statement that they don't want me buying their clothing.

I am breaking my Philadelphia Eagles boycott to watch my Green Bay Packers make the trip to the City of Brotherly Thugs for the opening round of the playoffs.

Not because I want to watch Michael Vick, but because I want to watch the Green Bay Packers - a team I grew to love as a college student in Milwaukee, where they played half their home games. And a team I learned to love even more when I covered them for the Associated Press in the mid-'90s.

Make no mistake, the game is about more than football for me - it is a battle for control of America's moral compass. A compass that may be cracked, but a compass that can still be repaired.

I am not, and will not, end my boycott of Nike.

We need to stand for something, or we'll fall for anything.

And America needs to stop falling.

September 11, 2001 - Never Forget.

I remember where I was on the morning of September 11, 2001.

I remember being in the W Hotel in Chicago, in town to join the band Soil at their CD release party, scheduled for that night at the Cabaret Metro. I remember the phone ringing shortly before 8am our time, and my college roommate - who slept in my room with his girlfriend after driving down from Milwaukee to hang out the night before - wondering why his mother kept calling.

I remember when he finally answered his phone, his side of the conversation, and him hanging up. I remember him looking across the room at me with groggy eyes, and saying that his mom said someone flew a plane into the World Trade Center.

We assumed that it was a twin-engine, and turned on CNN to watch coverage of the accident. We watched as the first plane and tower burned, and learned that it wasn't, in fact, a twin-engine.

And we learned that it wasn't an accident.

We watched and listened in stunned silence as details emerged. And our hearts sunk as the second plane crashed into the second tower.

We watched people leap to their death from 100 stories in the air, trying to escape the hell that was unleashed around them.

We watched the towers fall, and felt connected to the countless souls wandering, ash covered, in the streets of lower Manhattan.

The emotion was nothing I'd ever felt - and nothing I'll ever forget.

My friends from Soil were in the air when it happened. I had another friend whose plane landed safely in New York, despite passing and witnessing the burning World Trade Center in their landing pattern.

I knew people who worked in the World Trade Center, and it took days to confirm that they had survived.

And I have a friend who lost a brother in the attack.

I will never forget how that felt - the horror, the loss, the anger, the helplessness, the frustration...

The terror, as the Sears Tower was evacuated as a possible target for the fourth plane, and the grim reality of the new era we were entering as our hotel became a gathering center for evacuees from the nearby landmark.

Nine years later, I reflect on that day at least a few times a week. I can't help it - it is part of my wiring. It has become part of who I am. The events of that day - and the months and years that followed - have helped shape the man that I am, my politics, my spiritual presence, and my cultural identity.

And today, on the ninth anniversary of one of the most horrifying attacks ever waged on American soil, my heart aches not only for the loss, but also for the way history attempts to revise and rewrite the events of September 11, 2001.

September 11 is a day to not only celebrate and mourn the lives of fellow Americans, but also the freedom that their loss represents.

Inherent in freedom, is tolerance - not a shiny, happy concept of tolerance, but living and breathing acts of tolerance that are rooted in respect, not entitlement. Acts that are reciprocal.

For every mention I've seen today of the lives lost in the events of 9/11, I've seen many more mentions of the controversial mosque being planned near the Ground Zero site, and the ensuing fallout - much of it ridiculous, racist and laden in fear.

I have no problem with building a mosque at Ground Zero. What I have an extreme problem with, is the intolerance of someone actually proposing and fighting to build a mosque at that location.

Tolerance isn't a blanket ideology, it is a work in progress that must be exercised with practicality and temperance, and coupled with humility and humanity.

There is something inhumane and self-absorbed about the mere proposal of building a mosque at Ground Zero. There is something intolerant and callous about the ongoing fight to keep it there.

Today, on the ninth anniversary of 9/11, I don't want to read about what this day represents to religious tolerance.

I don't want to hear about how we need to be bigger than the extremists that attacked us, and show them that we are a better people by letting a mosque be built near Ground Zero.

I want to remember Ground Zero. I want to remember the people that died there. I want to remember the horror that I felt, and revel in the awakening that the events offered me.

It wasn't an awakening of intolerance, it was an awakening of who we are as a country, and how we need to constantly establish that identity in the midst of people who want to strip it away.

An act of tolerance is nothing if not coupled with respect. And respect is earned, not granted.

I respect the nearly 3000 Americans that lost their lives on September 11, 2001, in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. I respect that their deaths are an unfortunate and horrific cost to pay for a country that is rooted in principles of freedom, liberty and tolerance.

Tolerance that, too often, is taken for granted.

On this day, don't just remember 9/11, respect the memory of 9/11 - the people that died, the loved ones that mourn them, and the country that was attacked.

Respect. Tolerance will follow.

Never forget.

The Last Week In Tweets

Selections from my last week on Twitter. Among items not included in the recap are the bacon kid's dance remix, a McDonalds value meal that you won't find on the menu, and week two of the NFL... Want to join the fun? Feel free to Twit along with me @PaulGargano.




Jackasses of the week:
Kanye West & Terry Moran





• Let's lock Kanye West and Michael Vick in a steel cage and make them fight to the death... Then kill the winner.
(2:10 AM Sep 14th from web)

• I am not offended by bold statements. I am offended that bold statements need be toned down for people who can't think boldy.
(7:08 AM Sep 14th from web, in response to a Facebook debate
over the literal translation of the above statement)

• Word of the day: Churlish. I encourage everyone to use it in a sentence today (for example, to describe Kanye West)...
(7:45 AM Sep 14th from web)

• Kanye strikes again, but this time it's personal: http://tinyurl.com/rc48sw (thanks to @AdamsWorldBlog for pointing it out)
(3:13 PM Sep 16th from web)

• Terry Moran Twittering President Obama's off-the-record calling of Kanye a "jackass" is completely unacceptable.
(8:45 AM Sep 15th from web)

• "Credible" journalism needs to start with the audience: Demand integrity, and stop supporting the tactics of TMZ and Perez.
(8:48 AM Sep 15th from web)




This week's TV theme?
Boobs on the tube...




• New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills are rocking the old-school uniforms tonight on Monday Night Football, I love it!
(3:51 PM Sep 14th from web)

• True Blood finale was a letdown. I felt distant from characters during season two, and wasn't left aching for season three.
(1:39 AM Sep 15th from web)

• Why are most of the guys on Survivor: Somoa wearing only underwear? Except for Russell, he's wearing underwear and a hat.
(10:03 PM Sep 17th from TwitterBerry)

• I probably shouldn't be eating brownies and ice cream and drinking wine while watching The Biggest Loser, right?
(10:20 PM Sep 17th from TwitterBerry)

• Hung season finale could have been better - Too much setup, not enough laughs. Great show though, can't wait for season two!
(10:34 PM Sep 18th from TwitterBerry)

• Gross! RT @AdamsWorldBlog Why not combine the two? RT @PaulGargano My wife wants to watch Golden Girls instead of Lingerie Football League.
(10:50 PM Sep 18th from TwitterBerry)

• Watching season premier of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" -
Shouldn't it be called "Curb Yo Enthusiasm"?
(10:42 PM Sep 20th from TwitterBerry)




RIP Patrick Swayze




• "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." Patrick Swayze dies after long battle with pancreatic cancer. RIP http://tinyurl.com/l2vb9d
(5:09 PM Sep 14th from web)

• Dance, dance dirty, play hockey, move a penny without touching it, rob banks, surf, bounce at bars #ThingsPatrickSwayzeDid
(12:42 AM Sep 20th from TwitterBerry)

• I knew I forgot something: Wong Fu! RT @maidenman664 Don't forget dressing like a woman too #ThingsPatrickSwayzeDid
(12:59 AM Sep 20th from web)









• Megadeth "Endgame" (released today) is AMAZING.
Dave Mustaine is razor sharp and guitarist Chris Broderick shreds.
Best lineup since '98.
(3:33 PM Sep 15th from web)

• If Metallica's 12th studio album is half as good as Megadeth's "Endgame" (their 12th), I'll eat my copy of "Re-Load."
(5:59 PM Sep 18th from web)

• Megadeth has 12 studio albums, and only 4 were recorded with same band! "Peace" "So What" & "Rust" = all different lineups!
(5:21 PM Sep 19th from web)




• President Jimmy Carter blames "You lie!" on racism... Can we blame Carter's statement on senility? http://tinyurl.com/qov6k4
(11:05 AM Sep 16th from web)




• Read article on new lava planet (http://tinyurl.com/otguyb) and started wondering how matter began.
Now I have a headache.
(11:30 AM Sep 16th from web)




• KITTIE "In The Black"
came out yesterday.
Best album yet from queens of metal, a churning blend of melodic, prog and death.
(4:29 PM Sep 16th from web)







The Metal Edge Years...






• It depends, there are many... As a fan? Journalist? Fun? RT @bigmillion of all your yrs @ Metal Edge, what's yer fav memory?
(11:43 AM Sep 19th from web)

• Fun: Seeing @SebastianBach on B'way w/ @IAmJericho, Adrian Smith & sig others RT @bigmillion what's yer fav Metal Edge mems?
(2:27 PM Sep 19th from web)

• Fan: Flying in twin-engine w/ Bruce Dickinson, friendship with Queensryce... RT @bigmillion what's yer fav Metal Edge mems?
(2:30 PM Sep 19th from web)

• Journalist: 9/11 tribute issue, Dimebag tribute, Megadeth Behind the Music... RT @bigmillion what's yer fav Metal Edge mems?
(2:33 PM Sep 19th from web)

• So many more, including KISS, Ozzy, Drowning Pool, @ZakkWyldeBLS, Poison...
RT @bigmillion what's yer fav Metal Edge mems?
(2:43 PM Sep 19th from web)

• Forgot HUGE one: Writing back cov of David Lee Roth's autobiog. DLR is my muse. RT @bigmillion what's yer fav Metal Edge mems?
(3:04 PM Sep 19th from web)




Want to be a music writer?





• Never stop writing, never stop growing, and never forget why you love music... RT @bigmillion advice to get in music media biz?
(3:14 PM Sep 19th from web)

• Blogs are the new magazines, start your own! Be unique, be yourself, make it an extension of you... (re @bigmillion advice?)
(3:22 PM Sep 19th from web)

• Writers 3 worst enemies: Complacency, bad grammar and not editing your work. Respect your audience! (re @bigmillion advice?)
(3:28 PM Sep 19th from web)












• I'm in checkout line behind a blind person - It's amazing the things we take for granted... Like being able to see and hear.
(6:47 PM Sep 19th from TwitterBerry)

• After watching the blind guy, I'm not going to get angry about the fact that after 15 min in line, I left my wallet at home.
(6:50 PM Sep 19th from TwitterBerry)

Follow Paul Gargano on Twitter: @PaulGargano

The Last Week In Tweets

Selections from my last week in the world of Twitter. Not included in these festivities are the kid who loves bacon, protecting your chicken from Dokken, and a lot of back-and-forth about vampires... Want to join the fun? Feel free to Twit along with me @PaulGargano.



• You think? That white
album idea seems dicey.
RT @BielerBros68 I think this Beatles thing might just catch on, not sure...
(9:34 AM Sep 9th from web)





President Obama's Congressional speech
on health care reform:




• "Build on what works and fix what doesn't"
-President Obama on Health Care Reform
(5:31 PM Sep 9th from web)

• We interrupt the President for this breaking news: RT @THR
Ellen DeGeneres joins 'Idol' as fourth judge http://bit.ly/bL4bL
(5:35 PM Sep 9th from web)

• "To my Progressive friends... And to my Republican friends..."
Did I miss the memo that all Democrats are now "Progressive"?
(5:45 PM Sep 9th from web)

• Why am I cynical? Because politics are just like grade school: Everybody claps when someone else gets bullied or picked on.
(5:55 PM Sep 9th from web)

• Ellen is new 'American Idol' judge after Rosie, Pat Buchanan,
Tracii Guns and the Indian from the Village People declined...
(12:18 AM Sep 10th from web)





Remembering 9/11:





• Remember how you felt on September 11, 2001? Never forget... #WTC RT @sportsguy33 My 9/14/01 column: http://bit.ly/xoZvo
(10:05 AM Sep 11th from web)

• Nobody who died on 9/11 got a second chance. Freedom is a privilege, not a right. Respect it. http://tinyurl.com/l2xzfv #WTC
(10:06 AM Sep 11th from web)

• RT @realbrookewhite 9/11 reminds me to keep perspective...
it prompted us to be better people,more grateful & respectful...
lets not forget
(10:41 AM Sep 11th from web)





Season premier of the
Melrose Place remake:




• The new Melrose Place is the worst show EVER...
And I can't stop watching.
(10:35 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry)

• Melrose Place just gets worse and worse, but the force field protecting the remote from me just gets stronger and stronger.
(10:42 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry)

• New strategy: Fast forward through Melrose Place and watch the commercials... I like the new Kohls campaign, good writing.
(10:49 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry)

• Warning: Don't move to Melrose Place, because everybody there is shady and can't be trusted. People tend to die there, too.
(11:10 PM Sep 11th from TwitterBerry)













• Just got my special edition @ZakkWyldeBLS Cabbage Patch Kid. Smells kinda funky, but it's fun to cuddle with...
(3:08 PM Sep 12th from web)

• Just messing around... RT @nikkinana so is there really a Zakk Wylde cabbage patch doll or were you just messing with us?
(8:01 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry)




• The US takes the concert experience for granted. Want proof? Watch the South American scenes in "Flight 666"
- Goosebumps.
(7:44 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry)









The vampire phenomenon:





• Finally all caught up with True Blood in time for Sunday's finale...
It was all believable until they made the vampires fly.
(12:38 AM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry)

• Do the "Vampire Diaries" writers think nobody else saw "The Crow"? Not only are some lines the same, there's also a crow...
(11:37 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry)

• Pop-culture vampire question: With all the women there are to prey on, why do they need to always fight over the same one?
(11:47 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry)





Opening weekend
of the NFL season:




• @TheRealTMR @EricStangel And what's the lesson that Vick, Burress, Stallworth, McNair, and Marshall are sending the kids?
(12:10 PM Sep 12th from TwitterBerry) in response to:
Brett Favre named captain. A lesson 4 you kids, You can show up late and still be rewarded over those who put their time in
(by @EricStangel, 11:00 AM Sep 12th from web )

• Close your eyes: Harry Connick Jr sounds just like Frank Sinatra. Now open your eyes... He looks like Morton Downey Jr...
(5:39 PM Sep 10th from web, during NBC pre-game kickoff)

• Al Michaels during Titans defense intros: "We'll start putting up sub-titles next week." WOW! (Cue up Rev Al Sharpton...)
(5:53 PM Sep 10th from web)

• Already sick of hearing "noise, intensity, nerves" a factor for @Mark_Sanchez this year - USC is akin to an NFL franchise!
(10:46 AM Sep 13th from TwitterBerry)

• Everytime Favre gets sacked, it'll be because he missed training camp? Please... When he made training camp, he threw INTs!
(11:32 AM Sep 13th from TwitterBerry)

• Donovan McNabb has a broken rib? Defenses are warming up for Michael Vick. I can't wait for justice to be served NFL style.
(2:39 PM Sep 13th from TwitterBerry)

• Frank Gore was so open on that 49ers touchdown, they should change his number to 7-11. Way to blow the coverage, Cardinals.
(4:13 PM Sep 13th from TwitterBerry)

Follow Paul Gargano on Twitter: @PaulGargano

Never Forget...

...the lives lost, sacrifices made, hardships fought and struggles overcome to assure our freedom in the face of adversity, and our strength in the wake of terror...


Always remember September 11, 2001.

Can an Apple a Day Keep Politicians at Bay?

In his speech to Congress yesterday, our President charted his course for health care reform, providing all the right soundbites to help convince the country that his initiatives are a vital step towards a greater America.

And in the grand scheme of things, he sounded quite convincing.

The problem is, while broad sweeping strokes sound good in prime time, it's the devil in the details that results in political deadlocks.

On Wednesday, that devil proved to be Representative Joe Wilson (pictured above), the South Carolina Republican who yelled, "You lie!" in the midst of President Obama's comments regarding illegal aliens and health care benefits.

While there is no denying that what Wilson said was unprofessional and out of line, there is also no denying that Democrats are guilty of the same behavior. Difference is, when more than half the chamber does it collectively, it's seen as acceptable. When one person does it on his own, it's an uncalled for voice of dissent.

Every time President Obama paid reference to our former President in a negative light, made any suggestion of partisan chicanery, or gestured any remotely conservative ideal with even a fleeting tone of sarcasm, every Democrat in the room leapt to their feet to voice their approval with a thunderous round of applause.

And every Republican sat in their seat and sulked.

It's like grade school all over again.

The bullies have the power, and it's a mob rules mentality. If you don't like getting picked on, get off the playground.

Problem is, these are grown men we're talking about, not adolescents starving for attention. Instead of pushing, shoving, tripping and punching, we have snide remarks cloaked in speeches, rapturous support of any mockery of the other side, and a generally uncomfortable feeling for those of us trying to educate ourselves while we watch from home.

Does a mention of health care reform really need to reference the war in Iraq? It's apples and oranges, and political bait-and-switch at its best.

How do we sway people to a cause that needs more support in public opinion polls? Remind them that it's not nearly as bad as the war the last President started... "You mean you can spend this much money on a war in Iraq, but you can't spend less money on health care?"

If only it was that simple.

In theory, I believe everything President Obama is saying about our country's need for health care reform. Problem is, I'm so turned off by the grand-standing mentality that is rampant in politics, I find it hard to truly get inspired to do more than be cynical.

A friend of mine who works for a prominent politician likened his allegiance to his party to my being a fan of the New York Yankees or Green Bay Packers. "This is my sports," he's told me on more than one occasion. "And I'm going to cheer for my side just like you cheer for your favorite team."

Not quite.

When I heard that the Packers might have been interested in signing convicted animal abuser and killer Michael Vick this summer, I swore on principal that I'd no longer be a fan of the team if management made the decision to bring the scumbag to Green Bay.

My friend, on the other hand, told me that - and I quote - "any Democratic initiative is better than any Republican initiative, regardless of what it accomplishes."

That's what being tied to a party is all about, he tells me.

And that is why I swear allegiance to no political party.

It's all a joke. It's a bunch of grade school bullies puffing their chests and playing the role of peacock, engaging in alpha-male posturing that makes them feel better about themselves, and leaves the American people to pay the tab.

There is no sound argument against the need for radical changes to our country's health care infrastructure. Yet rather than working together for the best interests of the people that elect them, our sworn leaders are nit-picking and playing Polly Anna as they hide behind Robert's Rules of Order.

The unfortunate reality is, too many of today's politicians are coming across as little more than rhetoric spewing mouthpieces who'd rather cloak their insecurities in partisan policy than work together towards a common goal.

We need a new health care system in this country. What we don't need, is the years of prolonged drama that it will take to get us there.

Unfortunately, it appears that we can't have one without the other.

Hey California, How's That Budget Coming?

I'll be the first to admit that I don't fully understand the intricacies of government spending. But that's alright, because clearly our own government doesn't, either.

I live in California, where Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of fiscal emergency. What does that mean? It means that the state is in dire financial straits, and our elected leaders have demonstrated nothing but an embarrassing inability to approve a budget that even hints at helping California emerge from its current financial doldrums.

How bad are things? California is operating under a deficit of more than $25.0 billion, a figure that is almost a quarter of the state's total operating funds. In simple terms, that means that the state of California has spent $125 for every $100 it has allocated for spending. When you're talking about a budget in the billions, that's a lot of dollars. And according to the BBC, that deficit could increase to over $30.0 billion by September.

What does this mean to you and I?

A friend of mine just got her tax refund in the mail - Instead of a check, she received an IOU.

That's right, that state of California issued her an IOU for the refund she was owed for money she had already paid in withholding.

How does that work? Theoretically, the IOU she received can be deposited in the bank, but the funds won't be paid by the state treasury until the state budget is approved. In other words, that IOU is worth less than that "I'll get you next time" that your friend promised when you picked up the tab at the bar the other night.

At least you can count on your friends.

Political rhetoric aside - because we all know that the other side is always to blame - this issue boils down to a simple fact: The people that we elect to do a job, are not doing their job. Period. End of story.

In the real world - meaning, everywhere but government - operations grind to a halt without an approved budget. And people lose their jobs when those budgets aren't established and adhered to.

When I worked as a department head at one of America's leading internet companies a few short years ago, I was told that my employee reviews couldn't be processed until a new budget was in place. A month after my proposed raises were submitted (and approved), my entire department was laid off - despite the fact that we were one of the most productive teams at the company. It was no doubt a hard choice by the higher-ups, and it had bitter ramifications, but even I can admit that it was a necessary choice given the site's fiscal concerns.

Hard times call for hard decisions, and nowhere is that more evident than in today's trying economic times.

But in the state of California, nobody seems willing to take responsibility for the necessary compromises and hard choices when it comes to our budget. Why? Because the decisions won't be popular, and nobody wants to look like they are rescinding promises that they made to attain their elected positions.

Unfortunately, it's too late to worry about public perception. It's time to get the job done, regardless of how it may be perceived by the media, and regardless of how it might effect one's chance at reelection.

Politicians aren't elected to their offices with the expectation that they'll be reelected, they are elected with the expectation that they will serve their term with the best interests of their constituents in mind... Reelection is their reward for a job well done.

Somebody needs to remind our politicians that their reelection is in the hands of cash-strapped Californians who are receiving IOUs instead of tax returns.

Michael Jackson Memorial: Paying The Bill

There's one simple rule that is the basis of financial responsibility: Don't spend money that you don't have.

Critics are up in arms over the $1.4 million in expenses that were incurred by the city of Los Angeles as a result of Tuesday morning's Michael Jackson memorial held at the Staples Center.

But how are these expenses any different than any other event that is held at the downtown arena? Whether it be the Grammy Awards, a Los Angeles Lakers game, hockey or a concert?

When you're one of the biggest metropolitan centers in the world, you incur operating expenses. And when you are the entertainment capital of the world, it is not unrealistic for those expenses to include police details for a memorial service for the world's most widely-recognized and celebrated entertainer.

To be clear, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, $1.1 million of that $1.4 million figure was overtime pay for the 4,173 police officers that secured the Staples Center, Forest Lawn cemetery, and other areas that attracted fans and media.

Let's break that down, shall we? There were 4,173 law enforcement and public safety officials hired to work overtime by the city of Los Angeles, at a total cost of $1.1 million. That amounts to an average of $263.20 per employee. More specifically, it's $32.95/hour for an eight-hour shift. If overtime is time-and-a-half, that means the law enforcement officials were paid at a base rate of $21.97/hour.

And we're supposed to feel sorry for the city of Los Angeles because they don't have the financial where-with-all to pay them? You couldn't pay me $210.97/hour to do a police officer's job in some parts of this city - I definitely don't begrudge them a day of overtime to maintain security at the most media-saturated event of the internet age.

There's no point in arguing that $1.4 million is a small price to pay for the publicity the city received for a live event that went off without a hitch before one of - if not the - biggest worldwide audiences in history. And it's also pointless to dwell on the estimated $4.0 million in income for local businesses in the form of food sales, parking, shopping, hotels and transportation, as speculated by Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

If you had told the city of Los Angeles beforehand that they could pay $1.1 million to guarantee an incident-free memorial, or roll the dice with crowd control and take their chances, don't you think they would have gladly paid the $1.1 million?

Of course they would have... If they had it.

Need we be reminded that the reason they don't have the money, is because they are incapable of balancing a budget, there are moratoriums on spending, and the city is mired in a fiscal black hole where more than one-in-ten of its citizens are unemployed?

Which brings us back to my initial statement: If you can't afford to spend money you don't have, DON'T SPEND IT!

The memorial wasn't planned overnight, and someone, somewhere, should have talked to organizers about the costs inherent in the event. Had that been done, properly, solutions could have been explored in advance.

For instance: More than 1.6 million fans registered for the opportunity to receive a pair of the 17,500 free tickets to the memorial. Had the organizers charged a $1 processing fee for each request (which would have been easy to do - tickets were issued by Ticketmaster, and they know a thing or two about service charges) that total would have covered all of the city's expenses... With money to spare.

A nominal fee might have also prevented people from registering for tickets if they weren't serious about going... So maybe you charge a $3 registration fee - if that vetted two thirds of the applicants, it still would have netted $1.5 million and covered the city's costs for the event... With money to spare.

I don't know any Michael Jackson fans that wouldn't have paid $3 for an opportunity to attend his memorial service.

You might argue that it's easy to come up with solutions after the fact. That may be true. But that doesn't change the fact that somebody didn't do their job in preventing the problem.

Had I been presented the situation in the days before the memorial, I know that I would have offered that solution in a matter of minutes. How many other solutions were never explored?

It's not rocket science, it's just common sense.

Unfortunately, common sense seems pretty hard to come by when it comes to fiscal planning and spending in the state of California.

PS: If the city of Los Angeles wants to cry that they can't afford to pay the 4,173 law enforcement officers they hired to maintain order, they might want to make sure all 4,173 were necessary. Judging from the urgency of his stance, I'm guessing this guy wasn't texting for back-up...

Can Hope Bring Progress?

I just watched "Right America: Feeling Wronged," an HBO documentary by Alexandra Pelosi. If the name sounds familiar, it should - she is the daughter of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a democrat from California.

The description of the program read, "A documentary filmmaker talks with social conservatives, many of whom were very much opposed to the election of Barack Obama as president, on their feelings about the future of our nation now that he has taken the oath of office."

What the description should have read was, "A documentary filmmaker talks with rednecks, racists, religious fanatics and the right wing fringe in an effort to further political stereotyping and create a more divisive gap within America's two party system."

In 2009, America is a country defined by two things: Our past and our hope for the future. And why not? Who in their right mind would want to be defined by our present? We are a nation divided at every front, and a nation where division is introduced at an early age, encouraged throughout our youth, and embraced in adulthood.

No? Introduce me to an elementary school where the pudgy kid with glasses is picked first in kickball. Where the awkward girl with braces gets as much positive attention from boys as her doe-eyed classmate. Where it doesn't matter what kind of clothes you wear, what holiday you celebrate, or what kind of house you live in.

Find me a high school where the football coach tells his players that they're no better than the math team, and where cheerleaders want to date the guys on the debate team. How about a city that isn't divided by color and nationality? A Boston Red Sox fan who doesn't hate the New York Yankees?

Or maybe a democrat that has a single productive thing to say about a republican. Or vice versa. Politics are just another sickening example that we are a country bred to divide.

And that's what's wrong with America today.

It used to be The Cold War. The United States of America verses the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Russia was the bad guy, and it was us against them.

Now we don't have a common foe. We have nobody to unite against, so we unite against each other, and fueled by politics we have become more divided than ever before. Sure, we rallied against terrorism for a while, but as soon as the memories of 9/11 faded away, so did our united spirit of patriotism.

We live in a nation where it's the democrats verses the republicans. Blue verses red. Right verses left. Us verses them. You have to choose a side, because anything else is a wasted vote.

It doesn't need to be that way, and it shouldn't be that way. The United States was never built to be a two-party system, but it evolved into that as the political machine realized that the fewer choices people had, the less power people had.

But the real question isn't how much power we have as a people, it's what power we have as a people. Right now, we have the power to stay focused on the task at hand: Making America a better place tomorrow than it is today.

If every American embraced that responsibility, it wouldn't matter that the bulk of our elected officials are more concerned with political biases than they are with what's best for our population. On Capitol Hill, it's about advancing agenda over advancing change. From our vantage point, we just have to cross our fingers that the agenda is working for us, not against us.

As a people, we have to be bigger than the politicians who are blinded by partisanship, and smarter than the public who think that being a democrat or a republican makes you right or wrong.

Before we can hope for progress, we need to have faith in ourselves. Because if we can't have faith in ourselves, who will?

My brain tells me that the recently approved economic recovery package is flawed, but my heart wants me to be believe that the spirit of the package can prevail.

I'm not one to attack a problem with touchy-feely sensibilities, but we're faced by a problem that needs more than legislation. We're faced by a country so torn and divided, we need to mend its core before we can build for the future.

Are more food stamps, increased unemployment benefits, freezing foreclosures and a few extra dollars in every working man's pocket going to fix the problems that are inherent in our infrastructure? No, this country needs more than a cosmetic touch-up. But if they give the average American hope to feel like they can matter in the scheme of change, we might actually be onto something.

And that will be one hell of an accomplishment, because progress has to start somewhere...

The Obama Years: Day 1

"With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

And so concluded the Inaugural Address of President Barack Obama. There hasn't been a more anticipated President in my lifetime, or a more embraced change of power. The 44th President of the United States is already being hailed as a hero, his image is already iconic and his place in history already cemented.

But what does this mean for America?

When I say America, I mean the people that constitute this great country we live in. The people who are (both figuratively and literally) dancing in the streets and singing at the top of their lungs, celebrating the new world ushered in little more than five hours ago. Are they excited to know that when the final piece of confetti falls and the streets of Washington D.C. return to business, they will be prepared to work harder than they've ever worked before to make President Obama's vision a reality? Or are they excited because they believe America has finally elected a President who will assure that they can increase their get from life, without having to increase what they give to life?

CNN interviewed a group of teenage students on the street, blocks from the inaugural parade. They were from a private school in the Bronx, NY, and their trip was funded by the New York Yankees and a local law firm that they had trouble remembering the name of. When the reporter asked them what they were looking forward to most in the coming years, one answered "President Obama's immigration reform." Two just giggled for the camera, saying that they didn't know and weren't sure. The reporter changed the subject, asking what had been the highlight of their trip to Washington D.C. for the inauguration. The responses were "I don't know," "nothing, really," and "singing." With the one exception, nobody said anything remotely intelligent, inspired, or inspiring.

I hope that the next person who criticizes the New York Yankees' off-season spending spree cites that video as evidence. It's unfortunate they couldn't find a more appreciative (or deserving) group of students to send to one of the most celebrated days in our country's recent history.

The historical relevance of President Obama being the first black President of the United States is massive, and deserves to be celebrated. But I can't help but cringe, just a little, when I see shirts that say "America the Black and Beautiful," "United States of Obama" and "Finally, OUR President." Does this mean that he's not my President, too? I hope not. I hope it means that after generations of strife, struggles and injustice, America can finally unite as one people, not a country divided by color, creed and ideological differences. I hope that is the case, because that needs to be the case. We, as a country, do not have another option.

Everyone will have a different highlight from President Obama's inaugural address earlier today. This is mine:

"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom."

I remain cautiously optimistic about our country's future with President Obama at the helm. Optimistic, because I agree that it is time for change, and I truly believe he has the vision to help America move in the right direction as a people. For that I am excited, and proud to be an American in these turbulent and uncertain times.

Why the caution? Because President Obama has been elected on the heels of a machine that has taken public-bred propaganda to all new heights. So many people voted for Obama not because they truly knew what he stood for, but rather, because they stood for who he wasn't. Or, even worse, because they glamorized what he was, indifferent to what it was that he stood for. People, justifiably, wanted to believe that their hope could still result in change. But are they prepared to do more than hope and actually work for change?

I hope so.

"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship."

Hope may have gotten us here, but now the real work begins. Change needs to be more than a slogan on a postcard, trampled underfoot by an inaugural parade. It needs to start at a grass roots level. Change needs to start with us.

We, the people...

Obama's Vision, America's Hope

--Hope, George Frederic Watts (1885)

The following is an excerpt from President elect Barack Obama's first book, "Dreams From My Father." The book was written in 1995, and the sermon he is writing about was, judging by the book's chronology, witnessed in early 1988. While the book leads us to believe that this Sunday morning service was a point of spiritual awakening for our next President, in hindsight we can see that it was much more. This passage was written before Obama would write his second book (which is named after the homily), and more than a decade before he would be elected President of the United States after running a campaign centered around Hope. While the Hope that Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr. preached of that day was one of prejudice between black and white America, Obama was elected on the shoulders of a Hope he preached to be colorblind. First the passage, then my observation:

The title of Reverend Wright's sermon that morning was "The Audacity of Hope." He began with a passage from the Book of Samuel-the story of Hannah, who, barren and taunted by her rivals, had wept and shaken in prayer before her God. The story reminded him, he said, of a sermon a fellow pastor had preached at a conference some years before, in which the pastor described going to a museum and being confronted by a painting titled Hope.

"The painting depicts a harpist," Reverent Wright explained, "a woman who at first glance appears to be sitting atop a great mountain. Until you take a closer look and see that the woman is bruised and bloodied, dressed in tattered rags, the harp reduced to a single string. Your eye is then drawn to the scene below, down to the valley below, where everywhere are the ravages of famine, the drumbeat of war, a world groaning under strife and deprivation.

"It is this world, a world where cruise ships throw away more food in a day than most residents of Port-au-Prince see in a year, where white folks' greed runs a world in need, apartheid in one hemisphere, apathy in another hemisphere... That's the world! On which hope sits!...

..."And yet consider once again the painting before us. Hope! Like Hannah, that harpist is looking upwards, a few faint notes floating towards the heavens. She dares to hope... She has the audacity...to make music...and praise God...on the one string...she has left!"

Reverend Wright spoke of the black man's place in a white man's world, a concept Obama struggled much of his life with, being raised by his white mother and white grandparents while trying to come to terms with his own ethnicity. It's a struggle that, regardless of one's political inclination, makes for a fascinating and insightful read. While the book is subtitled "A Story of Race and Inheritance," it lacks the racial grandstanding one might expect. In fact, it offers quite the contrary, Obama's immersion into black America providing jarring parallels to today's economic and social divide in our country.

What I find most profound, reading Obama's account of Wright's rousing sermon more than a decade later, is how the white man's world the preacher described has evolved into a world where economics have become as divisive a factor as color. With America's dire financial straights growing nothing but deeper, Obama's message of Hope is one that we all can cling to. Is it audacious of us, regardless of the color of our skin, to want to believe in a man whose vision of making the world a more balanced place has been constant for more than a decade?

While I still find a mantra of Hope a bit too nebulous to hang a campaign on, in this case, the ambiguity of the word is eclipsed by the singularity of Obama's vision. Politics is just that, politics. I do believe that Obama transcends the political realm that we're accustomed to. He wasn't born into money. He doesn't have vested interests in oil. He doesn't have a family legacy. He's forging his own legacy. Yes, he's still a politician. Yes, he still has outside interests that he needs to satisfy. But he's different. He plays the political game well, but plays the social and cultural game, as well.

Do I agree with his politics? No, not particularly. But politics is a game of give and take, and his early decisions have indicated that he's more willing to practice that than many of America's most recent leaders. Where have politics gotten us lately? In an economic free fall. I'm ready for a change. If it doesn't work, well, we address that fact in another four years. Eight tops. I will say this much, I have nothing but respect for the fact that he's not afraid to admit there's a problem, and he's even less afraid to tell America to pony up and prepare for things to get worse before they get better. I'll take a straight-shooter over an ostrich with their head in the sand any day of the week.

I don't need to believe in everything that is said or done, I just need to respect the vision and hopefully understand the thought process that helps lead us there. America needs a drastic change right now. An audacious change.

An audacity of hope that all of America can get behind, and a foundation we can Hope to build upon.

Chesley B. Sullenberger III

For all the negativity we hear about the airline industry these days, I don't know that there are enough accolades to shower upon the pilot who successfully splash-landed his US Airlines jetliner into the freezing waters of New York City's Hudson River yesterday. Not only did all 155 people on board survive, but the only significant injury at all was to a person who suffered two fractured legs.

Yes, pilot Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III was only doing his job, but if everyone in the world did their job that well, automakers wouldn't be in trouble, the economy wouldn't be in shambles, and the shower in my master bathroom would work.

Chesley's wife says that talk of her husband being a hero is "a little weird." Weird for her, maybe, but inspiring for others. He's the type of guy this country needs more of. He's not Jack Bauer, he's a real hero. He's the type of hero that makes a difference just by doing his job, and doing it well.

On Tuesday, President elect Obama is going to be sworn into office and his mantra of "hope" will become something America clings to with anxious anticipation. Before we can hope, however, this country needs pride. Sully had pride in himself and took pride in his job, and look where it got him. Look where it got the other 154 people on board his aircraft. And look what it got the families and friends of those people he saved.

Hope is little more than a word that might help us sleep at night, no more tangible than any other wish or dream. Why do, when you can hope? Accolades shouldn't stop with Sully. The crew did their part. As did the people sitting in the emergency exit rows. As did the rescue teams. And as did everyone on board, who ensured that calm was maintained as they evacuated the sinking plane.

It wasn't hope that saved 155 lives, it was the preparation of a pilot and the level-headed response of the crew and passengers. There was no time to hope, just time to pull together and make things happen.

Hope is nice, but so are puppies, kittens and rainbows. Pride? Now that is something that we can really build our future on.

Just ask anyone on US Airlines flight 1459.

The Great American Bailout

You may not be able to tell in the grocery store, where people routinely shun the off brands for their advertised brethren, but even if a lot of Americans don't truly understand a good value, they'll all agree that they appreciate one. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the auto industry.

Why are there so many foreign cars on the road? Because they offer value. Instead of text-messaging someone at your next red light, compare the ratio of domestic to imported cars at the intersection. I've been doing it a lot lately (then text-messaging), and the results show us why the auto industry is crying for a bailout.

The problem is, what will the bailout accomplish?

President Bush approved $17.4 billion in rescue loans to the automotive industry this morning, tipping the domino that led Treasure Secretary Henry Paulson to request that Congress release the second half of October's $700 billion bailout for financial institutions, claiming that the auto rescue exhausts the first half of those funds.

President-elect Barack Obama, only a month away from claiming the office, praised the move. "Today's actions are a necessary step to help avoid a collapse in our auto industry that would have devastating consequences for our economy and our workers," he said. "With the short-term assistance provided by this package, the auto companies must bring all their stakeholders together — including labor, dealers, creditors and suppliers — to make the hard choices necessary to achieve long-term viability."

It took me longer than most to jump the Obama bandwagon, and I'm still not completely sold, but I am cautiously optimistic, and the living embodiment of his mantra of "hope." That hope glistens when I read things like, "...the hard choices necessary to achieve long-term viability." The candor and bluntness of his tone reminds me of New York City's great Mayor Rudy Giuliani more than a decade ago, when he had the fire to make change, and that fire was largely untempered by popular politics. Maybe a bailout is necessary, but neither President Obama or President Bush are so blind as to hail it as the answer.

Because when you boil it all down, the only real question is this: How will the bailout result in my purchasing of an American automobile when my current lease expires? I know I'm buying this next go-round, and I know I want an SUV. It is no secret that, by and large, foreign cars are longer lasting, get better mileage, and all things considered, offer far better value. I've done my research and rented many different makes and models as a manner of on-the-road research, and it's going to take more than my patriotism to get me to buy American.

The bailout will inject money into the coffers of American automobile manufactures, but unless they change the way they approach their engineering and sales, it's only going to put a band-aid on the hole in the damn that is their current dilemma. People want as much from their car as they can afford (if not more), not an ad campaign that pays $20 million to license a Led Zeppelin song.

If I can get a fully-loaded Hyundai for $10,000 less than any of it's lesser-stocked American counterparts, and along with that purchase get better MPG, a longer warranty, and more bang for my proverbial buck, why shouldn't I? Because GM has better television commercials? Because my patriotism will be called into question? Talk to me about patriotism when you can tell me where your television, cell phone, stereo and DVR were made.

America is changing, and we see it in all walks of life. The medical field is upside down. Retail is fading so fast, we need to add more pegs to the bottom of the limbo bar. People don't know where, or how, to invest their meager savings. And where we spend our hard-earned dollar has become even more important.

For this bailout to be anything more than temporary, the American automobile industry needs to change the way they approach business. They need to create a product that can compete with the imports, and they need to market the value of that product, not sugar-coat something less with bells and whistles and a bow on top.

Plants are closing because cars aren't selling. Period. End of story. This bailout needs to address that simple fact. Instead, I'm afraid that it will do little more than guarantee that fat-cats at the top of the automotive food chain maintain their inflated salaries for at least a little while longer, safely tucking their savings away as they make the "hard decisions" necessary to reduce operating costs in these trying economic times. Yes, that means more starch for the white collar, and more wear and tear to blue collar overalls.

When that doesn't work? As a provision of this bailout, the government has the option of becoming a shareholder in the automotive industry, as was the case with the major banks. That's right, a nationalized automotive industry... Why not, that's what democratic capitalism is all about, right?