FDR - A Man for All Times

On October 31, 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt gave a campaign speech at Madison Square Garden where he famously proclaimed, "I welcome their hatred."  He was not speaking about foreign enemies, but his domestic enemies.  He spoke about the influence of money (read: lobbyists, corporations, etc.) on politicians and our government.

Money as political influence is nothing new in this country.  It has always had, and always will have, the biggest influence on what does and does not become the law of the land.  Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the same First Amendment rights as individual citizens.   The narrow view of the decision is that the McCain-Feingold Act, which was created to limit broadcast electioneering by corporations and labor unions during the run-up to elections, was struck down.  However, in the long run, the justices may have opened Pandora's Box with this decision.

Mitt Romney famously declared, "Corporations are people, my friend."  He was speaking about taxes at the time, but his declaration highlights an ever growing divide in this country between the haves and the have-nots.  The poor and middle classes will always have a measurable amount of envy of the rich.  That has been the way of the world, and it always will be. Unfortunately, I don't see how giving corporations, unions (though their numbers have declined at a high rate for years), lobbyists, think-tanks, etc. the same rights as U.S. citizens will help this country in the long run.  I believe it will lead to an even greater amount of rage from people from all sides of the political spectrum.  Thus, we will see even more gridlock, shouting, and possibly violence.

Who ultimately loses from all of this?  We all do.  FDR is spinning in his grave.  Money truly is the root of all evil.

The Two-Party System Is Obsolete

Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia

Tonight (9/12) CNN is televising the Tea Party Republican Debate.  Think about that for a second.  The Tea Party is having a Republican Party debate.  Tea Party members claim that they are a conservative-libertarian group.  The Republican Party is or was a center-right (conservative) group.  One could argue that Tea Party members are the far (to extreme) right wing of the Republican party.  No matter what you think about them, they are a force to contend with in American politics.  Their rise to power is yet another example of the futility that is the two-party system.

Where does the libertarian shift of the Republican party leave members who are centrist in nature?  If the recent theatrics in Congress have shown us anything, compromise is not an option to be considered by many Tea Party supporting members. Republican members who have not signed on to the Tea Party platform have been left without a voice.  More and more Republicans have been told to "shit or get off the pot."  Centrists have been successfully "primaried" by Tea Party candidates.  The U.S. House of Representatives looks like it will continue to be dominated by conservatives after next year's elections.

The Democratic Party is even more splintered than their counterparts.  The Democrats have become infamous for their circular firing squads.  New England and California (with the exception of New Hampshire) are the liberal epicenter of the party.  The South, with the few Democrats that it still has, is the conservative base of the party.  Democrats from other parts of the country usually fall in the middle.  That adds up to a single party with many diverging political and social views.  The Republicans, even before the Tea Party, have appeared to have solidarity, while the Democrats have squabbled with each other.

In the end, voters are the ones are who end up having to choose between, what South Park so eloquently phrased, "a giant douche and a turd sandwich." We are usually left with choosing between the lesser of two evils.  Just look at the field of Republican candidates this year.  There may be two or three viable candidates, but voters will only be able to vote for one of them during the primary and general elections.  The Solution?  Create more viable political parties.  The Republicans could easily branch of into two or three new parties.  The Democrats could branch into three, four, or even five parties.  The Result?  Voters having more choices in general elections. Many good candidates have lost in the primaries, never to be heard from again.  The two-party system is just too vague and incomplete for today's diverse society.  Many other countries have multiple-party systems, each with varying degrees of success.

One major obstacle is obtaining a majority in the House and in the Senate with a multi-party system.  You need not look any further than our allies in England.  When no English political party wins a majority of seats in parliament, parties ally themselves with other parties to form a majority.  This is what happened after general election of 2010.  In a weird twist, the Conservatives (who won the most amount of seats), led by David Cameron, allied with the Liberal Democrats to form a majority government.  Thus, David Cameron is now Prime Minister.  Our system is somewhat different than England's, what with them having a Monarch, a Prime Minister, bad food, etc.  However, the idea can be used in Congress to form majorities.  It may occasionally result in gridlock (shocking, I know), but could it be any worse than what we have now?

Fast Food Nation and My Own Hypocrisy

Famous TV personality and former chef Anthony Bourdain (of whom I am a fan) got into a recent imbroglio with Paula Deen after he called her "the worst most dangerous person in America..." Bourdain has a particular disdain for the Food Network and many of its stars.  See: Ray, Rachel  He has a valid argument this time, however crass and over the top it may be.  


Paula Deen uses butter in every single recipe.  And not just a little butter: A LOT of butter.  She is possibly the most famous TV cook in America.  In addition to her own shows, she also has her own line of cookware, and she is a national spokesman for Smithfield (which is also one of the countries worst polluters).  People know and love Paula Deen.  So, it's not a stretch to say that people are using her recipes in every day life.  What's wrong with that?  Well, by the middle of the century over half the citizens of the United States will be classified as obese or morbidly obese.  In other words, we are a nation of fat fucks. Obviously, the whole situation can't be blamed on Paula, but she contributes to it.


The rise of fast food restaurants over the past 60 or so years has had a major impact on our diets.  It wasn't until recently that some of them finally succumbed to the pressure and started to offer healthy alternatives on their menus.  On the other side of the spectrum, Denny's recently came out with a 1,690 calorie sandwich.   Think about that.  The recommended daily intake of calories is 2,000.  You can basically have the sandwich, drink three cokes, and you would only have 10 calories to spare.  However, fast food restaurants aren't fully to blame either.  No, most of the blame should fall on parents and on schools.  Parents need to feed their kids healthy meals and teach them about fat, carbs, cholesterol, etc. when they are young.  Admittidly,  I was a porker between the ages of 6 and 12.  Then one day, as I was devouring a tray of Old-Forge-style pizza, my mother had a talk with me.  I can't really remember the details (I've probably blocked them from my memory), but the gist of it was that I was a fat bastard and needed to eat better.  I did eat better (though not much), and, luckily, I had a growth spurt.  Today, I'm having the same conversation with myself.  Eat better, get some exercise, go to bed at a decent hour.  Will it happen?  I hope so.

As for schools, they need to start serving healthier meals that kids will actually eat.  Soda machines need to be taken out, and they need to be replaced with water fountains.  Health classes need to aggressively reinforce healthy eating habits, and kids need to actually participate in gym class.  No more showing up and sitting around.  Actually, that should be everyone's new motto.








Note: This is not me.