Crushing Your Enemies, Seeing Them Driven Before You, and Hearing the Lamentations of the Executives

So, during my thrice daily online news roundup (Drudge Report, the Huffington Post, International Herald Tribune, BBC, heck sometimes Al Jazera) I came upon an article that piqued my interest.

Much of the these initial stages of the Obama Administration have been spent just cleaning up the mess of the last eight years. That is, getting the government back to work I suppose, not to mention the vast majority of time spent hiring and firing and deliberating on who works for the government, who works for the people, and who had an agenda contrary to democracy. Gotta love those slow creaky gears of the republic eh? You can practically hear Rahm Emanuel spreading grease.

But, many think (myself included at times), that Barack Obama will end up being less of a progressive, than the moderate-if not somewhat comprising, figure...closer to Clinton the triangulator than say FDR or even Eisenhower (come on, he really defended the New Deal from his own Party).

For instance, Obama reduced the real life issue of revisiting the country's Marajuana Laws to a joke, a jest, a media friendly chuckle. In this case the question was worded poorly. It asked, in part, that wouldn't the legalization of marajuana be a an economic boon to the lagging U.S. economy.

First, the step needed to correct the long lost War on Drugs is decriminalization. This question also overlooks the obvious. How much money has been and continues to be wasted on the loosing war? How much is spent criminalizing whole swathes of the American public and incarcerating them? How much money can be spent to protect people from a plant? Whatever, I am getting too far from the article.

So, my concern is that Barack Obama is too much a moderate, unwilling or unable to correct the multitudes of errors made this past century. Daunting task? You betcha. But then i read this article, linked via the Huffington Post.

Ok, so what if Obama doesn't posture like the macho cowboy or bang his fist on the bully pulpit. The real deal of politics is what goes on behind the scenes. If this is
any indication, we have a lot to look forward to.

Petition for Sainthood: Studs Terkel

Studs Terkel died October 31, 2008 at the ripe age of 96. In my mind he is more relevant now than ever. The man lived out his days in Chicago, he was not just a man, writer, radio-personality, the occasional actor (8 Men Out anyone?)--he was a man in the neighborhood.

Every time I heard the man speak, he sounded like a neighbor. When politicians speak of "Wise Old Men"--they should be talking about human beings like Studs Terkel. His wit and humor were surpassed by his humanity, his sympathy for the common person.

Although he was kind, he was a no-bullshit kind of guy. The kind of old-time Chicago man who had seen corruption, violence, & exploitation in every form--from the government, organized crime, business, and the bully.

Studs was infinitely quotable, as are the best of humans. Here is some of his wisdom from the interweb.

Chicago is not the most corrupt American city. It's the most theatrically corrupt.

I hope for peace and sanity - it's the same thing.

I want people to talk to one another no matter what their difference of opinion might be.

People are ready to say, 'Yes, we are ready for single-payer health insurance.' We are the only industrialized country in the world that does not have national health insurance. We are the richest in wealth and the poorest in health of all the industrial nations.

With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, 'Studs, you're an optimist.' I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what's the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven.

***my personal favorite***

You happen to be talking to an agnostic. You know what an agnostic is? A cowardly atheist.

damn right. i hope the wisdom of st. terkel will help guide our new president, mr. barack obama.

let us give it up, raise it in the memory of studs terkel.
to the kindest of rabble rousers! to us, the giddy multitude!
also, here is the link to his website

also, for your enjoyment, the man himself.