Maybe Its Time To Move On

Obama is in a tricky spot....as usual. His inspiring words swept him into the White House. The question now becomes, how much does he have to do to live up to them?

It's a tightrope Obama needs to find his balance on quickly. He promised efforts at bi-partisanship and transperancy.

He has done both.

Unfortunately, the early results are less than stellar. Cabinet picks that would have been with little resistence in other administrations are being held up. The stimulus plan is floundering.

There is nothing he can do about the failed appointments. I was glad to see everyone just step down rather than drag things out.

The stimulus is a whole 'nother subject.

At this point, Obama has made more than enough efforts to reach across the aisle. It is time to get this stimulus package on the books and move on to healthcare. Obama has to accept the fact that the GOP simply does not want him to succeed. The future of their party is in flux. Their brand of politics is in danger.

There is no quicker way to turn things around than by notching a few victories over Obama.

I know the President is aware of this but I think he is torn by a legitimate desire to work with both parties. I understand that, but at a certain point you have to adjust your gameplan and move on.

Now is that time. Let's get this stimulus package on the books.

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50 Cent - Hip Hop's Greatest Villain?

50 Cent. Just the mention of the name polarizes hip hop fans. Some would argue he is one of the best. Others would say he can't even rap. I'm torn....as usual.

Like many, I liked 50 and the G-Unit a lot initially, but that has greatly waned. Personally, I feel like 50's debut was so good he couldn't live up to it. Each subsequent album was him trying to find the magic again. I, unlike a lot of others, didn't think his other CDs were bad at all. Just not Get Rich. But I think if most hip hoppers are honest, the problems with 50 have little to do with his music and everything to do with him.

50 constantly seems to be at war with someone and a lot of people got tired of it. It really never bothered me. That's just part of his thing.

It doesn't hurt that he does it pretty well.

50 has battled more crews than I can think of including battles with several better lyricists. Yet, for the most part, he has either prevailed or held his own in every encounter. Some will say that statement gives him too much credit, but I don't think he gets enough for a couple of reasons.

1. He really did destroy Ja Rule. That doesn't seem like a big deal now, but think about how big Rule was at the time. Murder Inc was rolling at full strength during that time and Ja was all over the radio. Given his popularity, he should have been able to easily handle 50. We all know how that turned out.

2. He withstood an attack from Jay-Z. I must admit, I was never clear on who started this one. One thing is sure, Jay was again in the position of power and 50 held his own. There are only a couple of other rappers who can say that.

I highlight those two because they came before 50 blew up. Since then he has had conflicts with damn near every rapper you can think of, but still he manages to take on all comers. His crew isn't as popular as it was, but I honestly think that's more a result of changing times and tastes than a rapper truly besting him. Again pretty remarkable given how much beef he has been in.

As a result, I was pretty stunned that Rick Ross decided to start something with him. Has he never heard the saying "let sleeping dogs lie?". Ross had just gotten over his own controversy. Why start this?

See, 50 is like the Joker of hip hop in my eyes. Always up to something and way smarter than he is given credit for. Most important, there is truly no limit to where he will take a conflict.

Rick Ross wasn't happy with 50 replying to his diss and gave him "48 hours" to come up with something better. So 50 went out, interviewed Ross' "baby mama," took her shopping, dissed his mother, made a cartoon of him, and put it all on YouTube.

Over the top? Yes.
Out of bounds? Yes.
Just plain wrong? Yes.

Classic 50? Absolutely.

I honestly don't know if a lyrical response is even close to being enough to come back from all that. Going and getting the mother of his child is just plain disrespectful. I just have no clue what Ross can do to respond that doesn't involve violence.

The villain strikes again.

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Stick With Your Position

Socialism.

Just the mention of the word riles people up. Few concepts anger people more than socialism....

...unless its for their benefit of course.

This NY Times article highlights the view on Wall Street with respect to their bonuses. To the surprise of noone, they think they are worth every penny and any attempts by Obama to curb their big checks would be.....socialism of course.

And you know what, they may actually have a point. Capping how much people can make reeks of socialism.

Problem is, so do government bailouts.

Wall Street workers feel like they deserve a piece of the pie when they bring in 30 million or so worth of business. Fine by me as long as you take some of the hit when you lose 30 million or so.

Unlike some of my friends, I honestly have no problems with people earning a lot of money in and of itself. That's a part of capitalism. But, don't come on the corner with your change cup when you screw everything up either.

The fact is that when your bank goes belly-up and/or needs 300 billion or so of government help, you have not earned a damn bonus. What could any of those people have possibly done to earn a bonus given the current state of their industry?

Give me a break.
Obama and every taxpayer in America is absolutely right to question bonuses paid out to anyone at a bank that received bailout money. And any one of them who doesn't like that because it is socialist should immediately return the bailout money they received.

Stick with your position folks.

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