Wrong Is Wrong, But Wright Is Right

That abrasive jackass Jeremiah Wright is in the news again for spewing racist cant from the podium a week or two ago.

That's not surprising, of course, but the accuracy of one of his statements actually is.

Wright apparently said that the American education system is built to poorly educate black students "by malignant intent."

Well, he's half right. As everyone knows, the education system is built to poorly educate ALL students by malignant intent.

Washington: Stop Centralizing!

Joe Barton and Michele Bachmann both made excellent points during last week's Congressional shakedown of BP. Barton's forced apology was hollow and pointless. Washington is supremely incompetent, intrusive, and deleteriously antagonistic toward private business and the free market, and the Feds have no business administering a $20 billion escrow fund for the victims of the oil spill. The fund, as Bill O'Reilly and Laura Ingraham noted, should be overseen by the state governments directly involved, including Louisiana and Florida.

The Obama Administration always jumps at the chance to move in on the private sector, sacking the free market and saddling it with choking regulation and bureaucratic red tape, whether it's banks, investment firms, health insurance companies, or family-owned small businesses.

The last thing the oil spill disaster needs, now or ever, is an escrow fund "czar." Hundreds of fishing and tourism businesses in the Gulf have complained, practically in tears, about the interference that results when their requests for aid have to be cleared through dozens of federal agencies, each with its endless rules and forms. The federal government had the same problems getting decisions made quickly and aid sent on time during the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

So back off, Obama & Co., and let the locals deal directly with BP without having to obtain clearance from the EPA or other federal agencies first.

Movie of the Week: 'Iris'

Getting old ain't fun. In addition to the physical changes that come about for even the most ardent exercisers, there's always the worry about the mind going, Alzheimer's settling in. The dreaded disease is the theme for "Iris," which is based on the life of British writer Iris Murdoch and stars Judy Dench and Kate Winslet.

Iris was a free spirit, bedding numerous men in the Oxford area of England. She wrote more than 20 novels with the theme being sexual discovery and relationships. As she aged, maybe in her late 60s, she had what she thought was writer's block. Of course, it was the early signs of Alzheimer's. Neither she nor her husband, professor John Bayley, put any importance on cleanliness and organization when she was well. As the disease set in, their house became a shambles with garbage and collections of all types building up around them.

My grandmother had Alzheimer's, and I believe the movie captures the hell both the victim and those who love them go through as the days and years become grayer, more fearful and less connected for the ill one. I recommend "Iris" for anyone who likes good acting and substance in a movie.

Catching Up

First, it was my rotator cuff out of whack. Second, it was my husband's surgery. And third, it was my baby cat's illness after her dental surgery. All good reasons why I haven't posted anything for so long. So here goes with a few short thoughts.

1. Why would anyone marry Rush Limbaugh, he of Viagra and Oxycontin abuse? Oh, right, the bucks. She will earn them.

2. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill continues and the animals and birds keep dying. Obama says he has ordered 17,000 National Guard troops to the Gulf. Where are they? Where is the oversight of Big Oil? Republicans, Libertarians and, yes, Democrats have gutted regulations in recent years, regulations being a big, bad word much like liberal. Speaking of big and bad, where is Dick Cheney these days? He's usually out in front of cameras bashing Obama. Like his slick, slimy, fellow politico Sarah Palin, he looks like a complete fool and traitor when he has chosen to side with Big Oil over America's interests. Does he hate America? Does Palin hate America?

3. It didn't take long for those who hate big government to come running for handouts, did it? Folks like little Bobby Jindal, for example. And even run-at-the-mouth Michele Bachmann has asked where the government is down in Louisiana, why didn't Obama commandeer boats to help with the spill. Commandeer boats? Well, isn't that government takeover? Whose boats would she commandeer? Another loony who speaks before she thinks. Oh, yes, I forgot. She can't think.

4. Why are so many men puffing up their military history? One guy running in Connecticut, another in Illinois, both of whom were actually in the service but didn't do what they said they did. No doubt they're trying to draw in the fruit loop voters who never served but who promote veterans as heroes so they can keep wars going for nefarious reasons. Those of us who had loved ones in the service -- many in my immediate family -- know that they did their duty because they were forced to by the draft. They never considered themselves to be heroes and wanted to get the hell out as fast as they could. They don't hate those lying these days about their military service. They hate those who lie to get us into wars and those who never served but call for more wars.

5. What's with idiot Rand Paul? He had it made, winning the primary in Kentucky. He had the teapot crowd backing him and all he had to do is sit back and win in November. He may win in November -- it is the south, after all -- but now everyone knows what he really thinks. In a way I feel like a fool because I agreed with about 80 percent of what Libertarians espoused. Now I know they're just racists, bigots and haters like the Limbaughs, Becks and others. Paul never saw the time when someone couldn't get a sandwich at a lunch counter because they were born with a certain skin color. The Whites and Colored drinking fountains at county fairs and parks. He never saw the time when a black man and his wife couldn't get a room at a motel for the night. Paul doesn't care about those times. He cares only about businesses and what they want, no matter how discriminatory all of it might be. I hope he loses, but as I said, it's the south.

Enough for now. Time to get back to the book I'm reading, "The End of the Free Market" by Ian Bremmer. I usually have my nose in an English mystery, but this one caught my eye because of the way world economies are crumbling. Will let you know how it ends.