My life as a chauffer.

So it's been a while, faithful reader(s). It's not that I have nothing to say, I mean American terrorists are killing our soldiers, the State of Illinois and especially the City of Chicago are in the worst financial crisis in a generation, we still can't figure out how to insure the population, cheesehead drivers are pissing me off, yada, yada, yada. No, I have no time for anything but eating, sleeping, working, cooking, and watching the Bears, Bulls, and Hawks. And its all because of basketball.

In one week, I/the wife ferried the kids to 14 practices, watched 4 games, and drove 25 miles to lessons twice. Dinner doesn't exist during basketball season. It's more like snacks on the go, power bars and apples. And when you finally do get time to eat, it's like 9:30, and who wants to get all full that late? And eating together? Forget it. I've had nights where I've made four different thing at four different times. So much for conversation.

Now my son lives and breathes basketball and plays on his high school team in winter, a travel team in spring, and an in house league in the fall. Spread out, and not too bad. But my daughter is in 8th grade and plays for her middle school team, made the high school feeder team this year, and still plays park district ball that I coach. All at the same time. So we are part of 4 teams right now and the driving really makes me yearn for February 1, the day my son gets his drivers license and I can say "Here, go pick up you sister."

Don't get me wrong, I love every minute of the games. All the driving around is worth it when you are sitting there, and they make a basket and look right up at you, just to make sure you were watching when they did.

Has Obama become just another politician?

It is becoming obvious that The Guitarman is starting to get a little too political for his own britches. That being said, I have to stay on topic for one more day.

There is an old saying that goes something like: There would be no politics without politicians. OK, I just thought of it. It is entirely possible that it has been said before so it could be an old saying, but it begs the question, ? As POCA rolls onward, the Permanent Obama Campaign Apparatus (with a nod to Steve Huntley for coining the phrase), complete with events scheduled around the country to celebrate his first year in office, maybe the question should be, was he ever anything else but?

On the radio this morning, I heard The Presidents press secretary doing the usual post election tap dance in response to the Republicans gaining the controls of New Jersey and Virginia. He said something to the tune of Obama "...not being a factor in the race." But I'll bet had the Dem's took those two gubernatorial races, the horns would be blowing from the tallest ivory towers in the White House. Maybe he was a factor indeed, for the other guys.

But the thing that really got me going was a comment The Prez made on the whole health care thingy. He made it clear that passing health care reform was urgent, and it needed to be done before the end of the year. Now is Obama doing this in the best interest of the country? Or in the best interest of his party? After all, 2010 is a critical election year for the senate, and no doubt most senators will vote whichever way will get them the most votes toward re-election, Democrats and Republicans alike. But is The President pushing hard for reform now so that it doesn't become a campaign issue next year? We need to get it right, which he has said in the past. We don't need the country's top politician playing politics on such a delicate issue. Even Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "We're not going to be bound by any time lines."

After Clinton's first 2 years in office, the country spoke, and gave the Senate majority to the Republicans. The White House is scrambling to try and keep this from becoming a repeat of 1994. But the country works better with checks and balances. Giving too much power to any one party can be hazardous to the country's health. In 2012 he will run for re-election, and in my eyes that is a good thing, mostly in that it will keep Hillary off the ticket for 4 more years. But what decisions will be made in the coming years that will be influenced by this? Please, Mr. President, can you just do what is in our best interests, elections be damned?


Side note: The Guitarman would like to thank shky69 for becoming his third follower. This entitles you to a free ice cream cone at the McDonald's of your choice. Just send me the bill.