"But I Used to Be..."

Did you ever hear the one about a spouse who went to the partner's company party, shot their mouth off, embarrassed the spouse, and that spouse was never promoted and finally left the company in disgrace?

How about the better half who refused to leave the party, kept going on and on about their spouse's contributions to the company, how great they were, how that spouse should be promoted above everyone else?

And then there was the one who told waited until the spouse was away on a business trip before running their mouth off, telling the company leader what he should be doing, and demanding that the leader follow their rules instead of the leader's own instincts and policies?

It's interesting when the shoe is on the other foot and its no longer a high heel but a wingtip. Someone needs to tell him to leave the stage gracefully. It's someone else's turn.

"If I Had Been in Office..."

It must be great being Bill Clinton. He gets up in the morning. Scratches himself... as all men do. Or perhaps not. Perhaps he's not a mere mortal man.

He says he's been advising our new President, Barack Obama on some "nuts and bolts" about the office. He wouldn't get specific on what his advice was and I'm not going to take the obvious shots here. We'll just move on quickly.

But this one I can't resist. Did you see where he said where the recession would not have occurred under his watch? That's okay if you didn't catch it. I've clipped a snippet from a web article about it. Hang on to your hat. This is some mighty wind a-blowin.' Here we go:

Asked his perspective on how the country fell into such economic hard times, Clinton responded in an NBC "Today" show interview by asking rhetorically: "Did any of them seriously believe that if I had been president and my economic team had been in place the last eight years, that this would be taking place."

Nevermind that some believe the economic policies enacted and signed into law by him directly led to the sales of mortgages to untold numbers of now very frustrated and angry Americans who couldn't afford them and stand to lose everything.

Nevermind that in the past, he's admitted that his policies and Congressional Democrats greatly added to those very problems. (It's on this blog, but apparently the 42nd President with the legendary memory has apparently forgotten his own words.)

Nevermind that experts tell us the economy is a cyclical thing. In fact, the theory of economic cycles would call for a Depression approximately every 70 to 80 years. If you do the math, you'll understand why that's got some folks shaking in their shoes.

Nevermind that he thought he could help out in his wife's Presidential campaign. We all saw how that worked out.

Nevermind that Bill Clinton is generally ranked in the mid-section of American Presidents. Yes, he did just move up to the ranking of 15th among our 44 leaders. Last week, he was ranked 23rd (technically, the lower half) but now he's 15. And this makes him King?

It's good to be King. Let's just don't anybody let it slip to the former president that his throne is now in the bleachers. Kings and gods don't usually sit in the cheap seats.

Obama: The Leader for Change

He's stopped prosecuting accused terrorists. He closed Guantanamo Bay. He's keeping his Blackberry. He wants Capitol Hill democrats to move on the bailout plan. He's all about change.

I mean, hey, he campaigned on the idea that he would change things, right? And he's started already. Except look who he's got working for him.

Former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke has now been appointed as Obama's envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to deal with the resurgence there of al-Qaeda and the radical Taliban movement. Holbrooke is a former Clinton administration appointee, well known in diplomatic circles. (Also well known in journalism circles for marrying one of Peter Jennings wronged ex-wives.)

And over at the Justice Department, Eric Holder, may become the first black Attorney General. He also was there before, during the Clinton Presidency.

Of course, we all know who the Secretary of State is; someone who has to have her husband clean up his business dealings so they don't become an embarrassing conflict of interest as former Senator Mrs. Hillary Clinton represents the United States on various diplomatic stages around the world.

Also on the job again, the former President's personal secretary, Betty Currie. She's now answering phones for John Podesta, a former Clinton administration bigwig, who is heading the Obama transition team. (Another member of the team? Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich... Clinton-era.)

And back at the helm, steering the new President through these difficult legally challenging times, Greg Craig, who was Clinton's personal attorney during those very trying times that ahhhh, lots of people don't like to talk about.

So... he's got a lot of help that already have their standing lunch orders in at the White House cafeteria, right?

Does that seem odd to anyone else that someone who campaigned on change apparently didn't mean "change" as much as he may have meant "change back?"

Hmmm. Maybe it's just me.

"A Gift from the World to Us in so many Ways!"

Are you one of those poor down-trodden right-thinking Americans who believes the candidates aren't being covered equally? Turns out you're right. At least according to Brian Williams, anchor of NBC Nightly News. But it turns out, there's a reason why.

Williams says that newscasters in the United States are giving more airtime to the Democratic candidate because of the historic significance of his campaign, and because he was a new face in comparison to Mr McCain.

(The difference in coverage has prompted the McCain campaign to put together a video entitled "Obama Love", which pokes fun at the media's "bizarre fascination with Barack Obama."

Here it is, just in case you missed this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6CSix3Dy04. Doesn't it sorta remind you of something the MRC would put together?)

Williams said: "He (Obama) is the newcomer. His uniqueness in several areas, beyond just the physical, is obvious. So....as the young fresh-to-the-scene candidate, as a man who would be revolutionary in terms of our past presidents, he is getting the lion's share of the coverage.

"Senator McCain has run before and is a well-known figure to Americans, and in name and recognition terms is far and away in front of Obama."

I thought as journalists, we were supposed to rise above the "newness factor" in favor of fairness, particularly in election years. In fact, I would have sworn there were laws requiring us to do exactly that. Sure, we have a little ADHD, but couldn't we hide it better during working hours.

And historic significance? Uniqueness? I bet Hillary Clinton is locked in a closet somewhere screaming with her head spinning 360 degrees every .5 seconds.

Are you one of those poor down-trodden right-thinking Americans who believes the candidates aren't being covered equally?

(Editor's Note: Someday, when I learn to properly work with this site, I will be able to give photographic equal time to candidates. Until then, it's one photo per posting. Apologies to any offended.)