Wishing the Mayans were right

The Red Ranger: 12/21/12 has come and gone and we are all still here.  Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing considering the mess we are in.  As the fiscal cliff nears both sides seem adamant in their positions and there seems like there is little hope of a meaningful agreement before we go over the cliff.  This has to be the worst batch of  elected officials ever assembled.  Their inability to compromise is frustrating but not unexpected given that many of them come from the extremes of both parties.

I know how much you love Obama but it is time for him to step up and be the leader he needs to be.  He needs to lay a deal on the table that takes from both sides (tax increases for those making over $250k, Congress to maintain ability to control debt ceiling, meaningful spending cuts even to the military, etc.) .  By the way whatever happened to the great influx of funds we were promised with the ending of the Iraq war.  It seems like whatever we saved in the war was just spent somewhere else.  Obama needs to stop thinking that any resistance to his proposal is because of him.  This just goes to reinforce the inflated opinion he has of himself.  The resistance is due to the chasm between the philosophies at play.

I wonder when we reach the point of no return in all of these battles.  I have to think we are pretty close at this point given the growing debt, shrinking labor force, increased global temperature, etc.  There may be no turning back now.

It was great to see you and your wonderful wife again.  She is a saint for putting up with you.

Nattering Naybob: I too enjoyed meeting, along with my wife, you and your wonderful wife and two boys on Sunday for lunch in one of the many New Jersey diners that The Red Ranger no doubt misses after heartlessly leaving in the dark of the night for Massachusetts about 10 years ago, I think (correct me if I am wrong about the chronology). Your departure for Massachusetts reminded me of Robert Irsay’s notorious exodus from Baltimore to Indianapolis with a bunch of loaded moving vans at 2:00 in the morning.

I was honored to have bequeathed most of my remaining circa 1974 baseball card collection to your two sons, who I am sure will give them the proper respect that I did not, having squirreled them away in a dank storage unit all these years. And if you think my wife is a saint (she is), your bride must certainly be… well, I don’t know what the next level is after saint, but whatever it is, that’s her. To hear the lengths that she went to learn how to play golf while withstanding your withering attacks and ridicule, was an inspiration to me. As misguided as The Red Ranger is on most political issues of the day, you are to be congratulated on your excellent matrimonial choice and the expert way in which you (and your wife) are raising your two terrific sons.

The comparatively upbeat mood you seemed to be in on Sunday has soured considerably, perhaps due to the harsh reality of having to go back to work after the Christmas holiday (I don’t blame you, if that is the case). Your plaintive plea for the Mayan end-of-days prediction contains a lot to “unpack”, as they say these days, so let me try and respond and close the year as I spent the previous 360 days, helping you understand how wrong you are.

President Obama HAS been compromising. In case you did not hear about this, he increased the threshold at which the higher tax rates kick in from $250,000 to $400,000. And his budgetary proposals HAVE made significant cuts to defense spending. Did you not hear Mitt Romney (remember him?) whine about how Obama was endangering our security by his proposed cuts to defense? Romney, by the way, had pledged to RAISE defense spending to a level higher than even our current defense planners were asking for.

The Republicans have to accept the fact that Obama won the election, quite comfortably in fact, and as such is entitled to benefit from the time-honored maxim that “elections have consequences”. Mitt Romney ran on a platform of continuing to slash taxes for the rich and destroying the social safety net, and that platform was soundly rejected by the American people, DESPITE four years of non-stop personal attacks on Obama by most all Republican office-holders and commentators (those who did not choose to engage in this personal character assassination quickly became persona non grata in the GOP… see “Crist, Charlie”, “Huntsman, Jon”.)

Call me a cockeyed optimist but I still think there will be a last-minute Franco Harris / Tom Dempsey-like miracle finish and we will avert the fiscal cliff scenario. However I do also think it will be yet another stop-gap measure that will lead us into another year of non-stop debt ceiling debates that may impede Obama’s second-term agenda, which I imagine you view as a good thing.

The Red Ranger: I think that my wife was as excited about the baseball cards as the boys were.  One of the boys had inadvertently left a card out of the box after looking at them last night and she was quick to scold him that they need to be appropriately stored at all times.  I think I need to purchase some of those plastic card protectors to ensure the longevity of the cards.

The Republicans won their elections to the house so that has consequences also.  Obama needs to grow a set of them and stop acting like every time someone disagrees with his policies it is a personal attack on him.  Look at all the withering attacks Bush had to put up with for eight years.  Did he constantly complain?  No, he went out and did his job.  How well is up for debate but at least he tried.

Yes, I do view control over the indiscriminate raising of the debt ceiling as a good thing.  When is the raising of the debt ceiling (which Obama called unpatriotic when he was in the Senate) going to stop.

Ichiro under the Christmas Tree

Nattering Naybob: Don’t worry about doing any last-minute shopping to get me a Christmas gift, Red Ranger. I got my gift this past week courtesy of Brian Cashman and the Bronx Family Steinbrenner when the Yankees broke their vow to sign free agents exclusively to 1-year contracts, and brought back Ichiro Suzuki to the Yankees for a 2-year contract that, barring injury, will see Ichiro get his 3,000th major league hit as a Yankee. I admit that I was never much of an Ichiro fan previously, but my mind was changed when he came over to the Yankees last year in mid-season. His work ethic and professionalism really impressed me, and word is that he and Derek Jeter struck up a fast friendship. If you get the Derek Jeter stamp of approval, that’s good enough for me.

Here is the classy statement Ichiro put out after news that the final details had been worked out and he was officially back with the Yankees:

“The Yankees are the kind of team that I always envisioned being a part of. Everyone in the world of competition has a strong desire to win, but the Yankees also have an atmosphere where losing is not an option. These two observations may sound similar, but I believe it is a rarity to find both coexisting in the same organization. I believe the Yankees organization appreciates that there is a difference between a 39-year-old who has played relying only on talent, and a 39-year-old who has prepared, practiced, and thought thoroughly through many experiences for their craft. I am very thankful, and I will do my best to deliver on their expectations.”

Check out this You Tube video of a very young-looking Ichiro actually pitching the final inning of the 1996 Japan League All-Star Game. The man can do it all. And notice that our old friend Hideki Matsui makes a cameo appearance….

Sandy Hook

The Red Ranger: Regarding the shootings at Sandy Hook….

I know the gun control crowd will be out in force and as I have said before I fully support stricter gun control measures but I truly wonder if something like this can really ever be prevented without having to send our kids to a fully locked down school on a daily basis to learn.

Nattering Naybob: Well it looks like we had to endure such events as Virginia Tech, Columbine, Aurora, and several other mass slaughters before we finally seemed to get the attention of the nation that this must end. My only hope is that these innocent young children and brave adults will not have died in vain, and that this latest tragedy will represent a true watershed event. That we will condemn the ideology and greed of those who promote the most extreme elements of the NRA and gun lobby, start to destigmatize the existence and treatment of people who suffer from mental health challenges, and reject the desensitization of the culture of violence that is ruining our country.

The Red Ranger: Hopefully this is the event that causes some meaningful change.  The timing of the event so close to Christmas will hopefully force it to remain fresh in everyone’s minds. While it is unlikely that these types of events can every truly be eliminated perhaps some changes can make them harder to carry out.

First off are tougher gun laws.  There are so many simple steps that can be taken that should be relatively painless for the gun control lobby to accept.  Perhaps a tax deduction for every gun turned in could be something Republicans can support.  Limits to the types of guns that people can own seem to be a no brainer.

Second is tougher care for people for mental health issues.  We have spent the last 20-30 years trying to mainstream people with mental health issues and this does not always seem to be the best approach.  I have a feeling that these people are not better off by being forced into situations that they cannot cope with.  I know that parents feel that their kid should have the chance to fit in and be treated like everyone else but that is just not practical in all situations.  As harsh as it sounds there may just be some people who cannot interact in a civilized society and alternatives that separate them may be necessary.

Thirdly, I do agree that the culture of violence needs to change.  While you and I both like a good Quentin Tarantino bloodfest or zombie apocalypse we are able to separate it from reality.  However, today with easy access to these movies, video games and vulgar music the line is blurred for most kids.  Luckily, my kids are not really into playing video games but there are some kids and even adults who play video games constantly.  Perhaps instead of banning 32 oz. sodas Mayor Bloomberg should limit the number of hours someone can play a video game in a given day.

Nayttering Naybob: I am encouraged that as we near the close of CY 2012 I find myself in agreement with The Red Ranger, maybe this is a good omen for the overall level of agreement that will be needed between Democrats and Republicans in the coming year and beyond. As horrific as the Sandy Hook massacre was, and even though I get choked up every time I see a snapshot of one of the children who were killed, I do find it a little disturbing that NOW everyone seems to be focusing on the issue of gun violence, and that similar massacres at Aurora, Tucson, et al, did not seem to have the same affect. If I were the families of those killed at those equally horrible past events, I might be asking myself whether national outrage over senseless gun violence was predicated over some sort of age requirement, or whether the victims had to like horses or took karate classes after school, or was a fan of Victor Cruz, to garner sympathy. Better late than never, I guess.