64 Days and Confused

We are 64 days into this presidency and it's already getting nuts. I've spent the last couple of hours watching President Obama's speech and the Q and A that followed with the media plus follow up reaction by various news stations......by the way, am I the only person in America that finds it wierd that the big 4 TV stations would rather run the likes of NCIS, House, Dancing with the Stars and the Biggest Loser(no lie) than run response to our nation's leader discussing what's going on with our country right now?...I wonder if this indifference or should I call it arrogance, was typical during the Great Depression?

Regardless, this was a doozy. No one knows if this stimulus package or budget proposal will work. I know at least we have a President who is trying. So much so, he looked pretty wiped out from his first 64. He kind of looked like Joe Dumars after covering Michael Jordan for 4 quarters. I'm proud of the fact we have a guy in office who is putting everything he's got into helping our country out of this tailspin. Blame the Repulicans of the last 8 years or blame the Democrats of the 8 years before that, it just doesn't matter we are all in this together and he seems legit in his efforts.

A 47 year old is closer to being someone who is my friend and caring about my situation than a 72 year old who is more like my father and looks at my situation differently. I'd hate to see what McCain would look like today after his first 64 days in this situation.

Let's speak about the presser tonite. I am extremely cautious whenever I see a speaker or interview-ee call on his/her questioners to ask questions. My experience has always taught me that this usually means the speaker has been briefed on the questions the media personnel are going to ask.

Tonite, if you noticed, there was a woman reporter who's name escapes me, but she was called upon to ask a question and she seemed shocked. So much so, that the President even asked her if she was surprised. She said, "Well, yes I am." Almost to suggest she thought her predetermined question was too aggressive that he would never call on her. To the President's credit he fielded some tough questions from the media tonite. But if you noticed, when the media member would take it upon themselves to ask a follow up question, he would answer quite curtly and abruptly. You could see his calm and cool dimeanor stiffen slightly. Media people are good at knowing how to get ahead and compete with each other more than most people. After the first questioner got away with a follow up question, the following media personnel did the same and Obama was clearly not pleased.

These follow ups were the unrehearsed questions that I believe he was not prepped on. Hence his reply to why it took him 2 days to respond to the AIG bonuses and he said, "I like to know what I'm talking about before I talk about it." Granted this is my read on the situation but I have been in enough press conferences to know the tricks of the trade.

Once again, this is neither here nor there. I did come away with some extreme positives tonite.

President Obama is pissed about AIG. He wants to correct the wrong that is the health care situation in this country. This health care situation is an abomination and it needs to be taken care of immediately. Our best doctors should be helping people(my brother in law is the best at what he does and he has to fight for clients). The crummy ones should be shown the door. We as citizens should not have to pay astronomical fees to be medically treated. Our children should be able to receive decent health care without taking out a second mortgage. It's just not right.

We are an economy that lives off of the spending of consumers. If we consumers had more money to spend instead of paying for the ridiculous price of health care, we would spend it. Unlike these corporate CEO's who are just keeping the money for themselves and not putting it back into the economy, the middle class are the spenders. Give us the money and we'll spend it on our children, our family and ourselves. This is what capitalism is all about.

One of the other points I heard that hit home tonite was when Obama was asked about the race issue. He proudly said, "Not after the first day."

Way to go Prez. People don't care if you're purple, we need some decisions to get us out of this mess. Let me tell you personally, this mess sucks. We need help out here. I respect our president for never playing the race card(although the media may have...I'm not stupid). I do lose respect for people who think because he is a man of race, the victory has been completed. Believe me the racial lines we have severed because of his election will be rebuilt so fast if he fails. It's crucial to our country's well being he succeeds.

We all need this to succeed. Republicans and Democrats alike. Many of my family and friends live in Michigan. This area needs help and fast. Nothing will help more than money to put back into the economy.

I for one am rooting for this country to turn the luxury liner around. Quicker than the Poseidon against a tidal wave.

One reason is because I've been telling my father I can handle things my way for a long, long time and I don't want to let him down. I never have.