Bits of Tid

Lou Dobbs’s act has become tired. He is old and irrelevant. His tirades against Mexico and Mexican immigrants became so insidious that the CNN brass had to rein him in. He then moved to China (not literally, though that would have made me happy). He attacks and attacks, foaming at the mouth as the next hate-filled idea ferments in his head. He is what is wrong with the news media. We have the ideologues in Olbermann and O’Reilly, the extremists in Limbaugh and Maher, but what about the unbiased middle? Dobbs claims he is exactly that, except he spends 70% of his air time requesting Obama’s birth certificate. Obama has released his birth certificate, but not the long version that Dobbs is looking for. He believes that questioning Obama’s citizenship is the most important news story in the world, apparently.

Has he even watched CNN? Is he not aware of all the other more pressing and realistic issues going on? Dissect Obama’s views, his policies, his stance on abortion. Do something that is worthy of your position as journalistic arbiter. Some claim that our society has become jaded and disinterested in relevant news, which may certainly be valid, but even the most devoted news junkies would be turned off by the frivolous crap that our “news” organizations churn out. If Walter Cronkite was the embodiment of “journalistic integrity” and “unbiased reporting,” then Lou Dobbs is the diametric opposite, a roadblock diverting viewers from accessing any relevant insight into current events.

Using the nom de guerre Adam Tait, a 17-year-old autistic boy from Yorkshire, England convinced airline execs that he was a multimillionaire airline tycoon in his twenties with a fleet of jets and a team of associates. His shockingly accurate memory of every arrival and departure at all the major airports in the U.S. and U.K. gave credence to his claims. The 17-year-old not only played the part of Tait, but also fellow execs David Rich and Anita Dash; great fake names by the way. British aviation executives wanted to form a partnership with Tait geared towards servicing most of Europe with his low-cost/high-quality fleet of jets. Airliner World finally figured out the ruse and contacted police when the 17-year-old was looking over the 93-seater jet he was in the process of leasing. The police are not pressing charges and Tait’s real name is not being released. I am extremely pleased that he is not getting into any serious trouble, but I am hoping that somehow his incredible skills are harnessed for the greater good. He could take over for another conman like the U.S. car czar and actually help the dying industry. Better yet, he could become the Detroit Lion’s GM, tricking good players to move to Detroit. Or he could take over for Lou Dobbs on CNN. The possibilities are endless for this kid. He could accomplish so much more than the ephemeral success he earned with this prank, but he’ll probably just end up in an Oasis cover band regaling groupies with tales about the time he took over the airline industry.

Do we really need all the legal posturing that is for sure to come with Philip and Nancy Garrido trial? I am torn on the morality of the death penalty. A murderer sentenced to death is not the only murderer in that court room. It is easy to go on and on about the morality of the death penalty when you are so far removed from the subject matter that it appears blurry. That being said, I would completely support the death penalty if someone close to me were victimized. Admittedly, my stance has a hypocritical hue. However, there are some cases so horrific that no amount of separation could ever arouse compassion. There are some cases that should immediately supersede a state’s standing on the death penalty. Philip and Nancy Garrido shouldn’t be allowed to spend a night in jail. They should be put to rest before I can summon enough anger to write this 201-word paragraph. Who would be against this? I don’t want these people interviewed. I don’t want any television specials about their motives or their lives. I want justice for the victim and her family. I don’t think that is too much to ask.

Cash for Clunkers is a better version of the Bush rebate checks. The Bush checks were cut with the hope that people would spend them on goods and services leading to a stimulated economy. That stimulation would then raise consumer confidence in the market and the economic torpor we were stuck in would slowly disappear. The problem was that the checks were either saved by the recipients because of the lack of market confidence or spent to pay off existing debt. In other words, zero stimulation. The Cash for Clunkers program is the upgraded version of Bush’s rebate checks. It was a resounding success in Germany, and if we learned anything from Vince Offer (of ShamWow fame); it’s that the Germans are pretty innovative. People had the opportunity to cash in as much as $4,500 dollars towards a purchase of a new car. This money can only be used towards a good – a new car. This stimulus program picks up where Bush’s failed. The money is geared to stimulate the struggling automakers by providing financial incentives for new car purchasers and in turn improving the current state of the economy. Regardless of your position on government attempts to stimulate the economy, the juxtaposition of the Cash for Clunkers program and the tax rebates shows the hypocrisy of our government. Republicans that currently bemoan the program praised the Bush rebates, even though the only difference was the party affiliation of the head honcho. The Dems did the same thing, except in reverse. They support Obama’s plan but derided Bush’s. If we look behind the curtain a bit we can see that not many political officials actually officiate, they just politic.