President Obama: Address to Congress

WOW. This was an amazing speech. President Obama touched on several issues including energy independence, tax cuts, the economy, the national debt, our armed forces, the Iraq war, terrorism/extremism, torture, education reform, healthcare reform, parental responsibility, stories of great American spirit, international cooperation, the bailout, and research funding.

This speech (if Obama does well in these times) will go down in history as one of the greatest by a President (yes, I said it). Let no one deny that Obama is a charismatic speaker. Let us hope that he will 'bring it' and keep the momentum going in order to help this nation. Ok, let's get to the speech.

I am going to hit on some points that I enjoyed during the speech, feel free to comment and add your thoughts because I will leave some stuff out.

Let's take a look at research funding first. I think that this issue will lead our nation into very important innovations that will keep us at the cutting edge. Our last leader CUT funding by over 35% and it showed in the research community. It made it much more difficult for researchers to keep very important research moving forward (specifically one of my projects and ACER at Oakwood College). If we commit to research funding we can cure diseases; and President Obama hopes to cure cancer in our lifetime. This leads to another very interesting topic.

Healthcare reform is LONG overdue in our nation. Some may disagree, but I think it is a crime to not allow children access to FREE healthcare. He pointed to several issues that we should tackle (affordability, a new plan/system, bipartisan ideas) and goals we could accomplish. I think the most telling statement was the idea to encourage preventative medicine. This type of medicine will reduce the overall cost of healthcare and should be the focus of this plan.

Another interesting statement was the tax plan that President Obama clarified. Finally (at least to Republicans). He said that only the top 2% of all Americans would experience a tax increase. However, if your family makes less than $250,000 per year, then you will not see a tax increase. AND if you are like the other 95% of working families, then you will receive a tax cut. So, basically this is a great plan...at least, we all hope so.

There were some really touching stories (a bank CEO giving his $60 million to employees and former employees) that reiterated the point that ordinary Americans are far from ordinary. A little girl (last name Bethea) was at her terrible school in South Carolina and wrote a letter to Congress pleading for a new school so that she and her classmates could grow up to be doctors, lawyers, and even President. And the one thing that little girl said that touched me (and Obama) is that they were not quitters! How great is that?

President Obama really brought it home in this speech. We thought that this nation was going down the tubes (and it may be), but Obama is issuing challenges to all Americans. Better yourselves. Turn off the TV. Be with your kids, teach them. Go further in the realm of education. Do these things and our nation will be back on top in all categories. Because, let's be honest, we are behind in education, which leads to being behind everywhere else.

President Obama, I salute you for putting it out there. Saluting our troops and preaching Iraq war responsibility. Getting Americans to commit to volunteer work. This is what we need in a President. CANDOR. HONESTY. MOTIVATION. AND REALISM.

NY Post Cartoon: My Thoughts

Image from NY Post

Ok. I get how everyone wants to react to this as a racist cartoon. I fully understand that sentiment. However, I feel that that is an overreaction. Why you ask? Because of this chimp actually being shot (in the news yesterday), my first reason. But the deeper issue is that the cop is referring to those that wrote and passed the stimulus bill, not President Obama. In my mind, they are saying Congress is a bunch of monkeys (or at least those that wrote the bill).

Having said that, I fully understand that historically (and currently) blacks are referred to as monkeys in hate speech. I get that. But I don't think the cartoon is using the chimp to equal President Obama. This means that no one is saying "kill our monkey president". Thus, we should be outraged by this. What should piss us off are the actual racist policies that continue to bring down this nation. We keep getting angry over what others put in cartoons or say on the radio instead of addressing the fact that the black family's decay is responsible (to a great degree at least) for the large number of blacks in prison or the poor house. Now, I agree that the criminal justice system holds a great responsibility in this as well, but let's stop getting in an uproar of these little things and really address the big problems. Please.

Michael Phelps

I hate this story. Who cares if Michael Phelps, Olympic Champion, smokes weed? I surely don't. And why does it matter? He is still a great swimmer, right? And all this business about criminal charges??? Really????? C'mon. Give me a break.

Let's look at this logically. He took a bong hit...a BONG hit. Did he hurt anyone (maybe himself)? Is he drug dealer? A lot of successful people smoke weed. Now, I'm not saying that doing drugs is okay (your government and medical community say that everyday), but must we vilify anyone who makes a mistake? The crime of 'doing drugs' does hurt the user (and their family to some degree), but is it something that should be punished with jail time? Non-violent offenders should not be imprisoned. What will it benefit them? It will turn them into hardened criminals and aid in the quest for more drugs. If we really wanted to help people, maybe rehab/drug counseling is the best answer.

One cop agrees that Phelps should not be prosecuted for a picture of him 'taking a bong hit'. I say, how can we know that there was weed in that bong? It could also be used to smoke tobacco (a legal drug). Hell, if you take a picture of me drinking alcohol (another widely used legal drug) and then driving, can I go to jail for a DUI?

This writer is for arresting Phelps. How dumb is that? No law enforcement official witnessed the crime. It is a tough sell in court to convict someone on a photo that DOES NOT contain evidence of marijuana. I am highly annoyed with this whole saga. I won't tell you how should think or call you silly for wanting Phelps head on a platter, but we have to remember that weed was only made illegal in 1936 (before that is was widely used) due to back from the oil, tobacco, and paper industries (at least their lobbyist). Therefore, let's have some perspective. And don't throw the "well slavery was legal once too" argument at me. That is ignorant. Slavery harmed an entire segment of people, while weed harms no one (in and of itself) to that degree.

Look, I am tired of those who have issues casting blame on everyone else (I include myself in this at times). We shouldn't judge each celebrity or athlete. Give them a break. They are human beings who make mistakes. If your buddies took a photo of you trying or smoking weed and posted it on Facebook it wouldn't be news at all. Cops wouldn't care or anything. But because Phelps is a "hero" we have to jump on his case. How does this make sense? Get over it America, our "heroes" make mistakes. It's like if we found out that Ben Carson had smoked weed. Does that make him less of a neurosurgeon? NO! He would still be a great doctor, the proof is in his work. Move on...