In a business, the CEO is interested in turning a profit for the shareholders. Period.

In government, the elected leader is to make sure that the essential social covenant between voters and the general public is full filled.

These two are not the same.

The skills to run a business are not at all related to the skills needed to oversee a governmental entity.

That is all,

Well that is the slogan. But what does it really mean, a global force for good.

Perhaps the commercial is claiming that these aircraft carriers bring goodwill to the ports of the world.

Perhaps they are claiming that the US Navy, funded by the future earnings of American taxpayers, makes sure that it is safe for the massive container ships moving about the oceans laden with all those cheap imports to the US as well as oil to the US and other markets around the world.

In other words, we, the American taxpayers, are subsidizing the undermining of the US economy.

You see if we weren't borrowing so much money just to keep those shipping lanes open, the balance of trade would be much much lower.

That means the dollar would be worth more and could actually improve the chances of things being made here again in the good old US of A

Also, who are we keeping those trade lanes open for anyway.

Well there is that oil But it really is to keep all those trinkets and other doo dads that we need to feel like we are worth something.

A little esoteric for a friday night but pain killers and cough medicine brings about a certain kind of clarity that should not be stifled.

Anyway, think about it the next time you see that commercial for the US Navy. Makes you feel proud, or does it make you feel uncomfortable about subsidizing the free traders of the world who are doing their best to undermine the way of life for millions of Americans.

Of course Mitt and his "hard" line cronies get real excited when they see that commercial because they know that there is another mile driven between those pesky downtrodden masses and the enclaves their wealth has built has erected in the in between.

Or maybe it just makes you feel great that we have more aircraft carriers than the rest of the world combined.

They cost about $4.5 billion to make and at least half that much to keep out at sea. And remember, that doesn't cover the cost of the aircrafts that must tally up in the billions because they are specialty aircrafts.

The question we should all be asking is "Do we really need more aircraft carriers and the support ships that travel with, than all the rest of the world combined?"

China enjoys the safe transit of all those goods to the US for practically nothing as we supply the safety. Now I wouldn't mind if we were getting a little something for the effort, you know....

Don't get me completely wrong, I do find pride when the US is the first responders to natural disasters all over the world, in that sense we are a force for good...

Well it's late, the pain is creeping back so I want to fall asleep before it gets too much to sleep.

Just look at the demographics.

The people who still watch the network news are 50 plus while the cable news channel skew the same.

Just look at what they advertise and you will get a real good idea of who watches this crap.

Is it any wonder that the market dictates the message? Give the watchers what they want.

So many people 40 and younger have never watched a evening news broadcast that the powers that be know this could very well be the last stand of the white male elite.

not one banker is spending any time in jail...

These guys who look the other way when the vets come home are the same who look away at the monetary cataclysm these bankers inflicted on our economy...

Forgot the most important word in the title...

everything in our culture....

Think about it, once a profit motive is introduced into an activity that should be result based regardless of profit, the outcome will be skewed from what is good for the people involved to what is in the best interests of those who invested in the scheme...

At last count I have been in the hospital for a total of 125 days, give or take a couple of hours for drunken wounds and childhood mishaps...

I am amazed at how much stuff has changed.

I remember being able to smoke in the stairwells back in the 70's.

Tonight I have my computer with wifi at real great speed. I also have cable with a couple pay stations for free.

There is great competition amongst the different hospital systems here in Cleveland, Ohio. It seems we are a sick bunch of people. But the world famous Cleveland Clinic, I am at a satellite hospital right now, is always flying in big shots from all over the world to get worked on.

The one thing I can abide though is how bland the food has gotten over the years.

MrsWCGreen was kind enough to bring me granola bars, vitamin waters and crackers and peanut butter to get through the crappy food.

I remember when I was in the hospital in Columbus I would order pizzas to be delivered to my room that I shared with another bed, sometimes full, sometimes empty.

Last night I watched the second episode of The Hatfield's and McCoys off the history channel website. Good headphones I brought in and it shuts down the din that ebbs and flows through the day...

Called Irish Americans...

Shouldn't they be called American's of Irish Decent.

Same with all the different nationalities.

Under the current way of identifying myself I would consider myself a Polish-Irish-German-Welsh-Russian American...

Or, as I prefer, an American of Polish - Irish - German - Welsh - Russian Decent.

But what I really am is an American who is a product of and enjoys the rich cultural diversity that we all here in this country are lucky enough to born into...

All those soldiers that fought and died under the American Flag that we will remember this coming Monday took to the battle field as Americans. Whether we agree or disagree with all the wars that were fought in our name and on our behave, make no mistake about it, it was American soldiers fighting together under the Stars and Stripes.

After two hundred and thirty odd years on, the United States of America is as much an idea as it is a country, a state of being, a conglomeration of many cultures and many beliefs that somehow works together toward a shared experience.

No other country in the world is quite like we are.

I just wanted to throw some of my thoughts about this country before Memorial Day passes on and gives way to the summer...

This is the next guy the GOP elites want to put out there.

He is a popular republican in a swing state, Ohio. He is a, relatively speaking, "moderate" who supposedly isn't threatening to independents.

He does have the baggage of being a part of the Bush financial brain trust, as if that isn't an oxymoron of epic purport.

And he can afford to lose while garnering national exposure with Mitt.

He is a stiff, though, not all that natural in front of non known crowds. But that shouldn't hurt him in this age of carefully staged spontaneous events.

He will win reelection in 2014 just because the Ohio Democratic Party is in a habit of picking the worst candidates possible. This isn't the candidates fault, although they are certainly collaborates in this whole mess, but rather the feeling that someone is owed a shot while good solid candidates are banished forever to the wilderness of state agencies or better still, move out of state as soon as possible.

Ohio is a swing state only because there are a whole bunch of democrats scattered around in the states large urban areas. But it's getting harder and harder to field a well funded slate of candidates which is another huge problem for the Democrats here in the Buckeye states.

I know I am taking a while to get to the point but I have to take my mind off of taxes for a minute or I would be going insane. (I prepare tax returns, in case you didn't know.)

Anyway, Rob Portman is going to be one of the serious contenders to run for president in 2016. He will be the first viable presidential candidate, I know I know, but Kucinich never really had a chance, from Ohio since Bob Taft back in the 50's.

He can win the state. He trounced Lee Fisher, the darling of the Cleveland money men. Because of that, I am afraid that these reliable sources of money are going to cry poverty now that Fisher is finally off the stage.

Portman is the prototypical republican candidate. He is principled, for a republican, and he has never wavered on key issues important to the base like straw man extraordinaire, Mitt Romney.

I am saying this here right now: Rob Portman will be the presidential nominee for the republicans in 2016.

The only person I think who is on the scene right now that can beat him is Hillary Clinton.

Have at it, DU....

Adios, back to the task at hand, getting refunds for working folks...

at the same time we have to listen to his ilk telling us that government is too big, big government is incompetent, big government is the paper version of the Anti-Christ...

Seriously.

I guess this is just another example of, to borrow the DU phrase of the day, white privilege.

Boone hates government that extends a hand to poor minorities but wants to make it easier for the overwhelmingly number of Golden Age white people who can take advantage of the Reverse Mortgage.

I know it's a stretch, but it's not any more of a stretch than what the Right Wing trots out each and every day,.

it was cobbled together is only valid if you view the situation in a vacuum.

Consider this, the economy was falling apart. There was a general idea that we could be slipping into a depression like situation if any one of a number of problems exploded.

There was also the stimulus bills that were being debated that needed to be passed asap or the world economy could have imploded into god only knows what.

Plus all the hearings about new cabinet members.

All of that whirling around while Fox News was already organizing and promoting the tea banging crowd which emboldened the GOP in congress to dig in the heels and say FUCK YOU to president Obama and the democrats in congress knowing full well that the race card was gonna be played hard and often.

We were lucky to get what we were able to get.

That anything positive happened during that time in our history is a testament to the democratic leadership in congress and the personal steady as she goes demeanor of president Obama.

So I say to all the people who are gripping about the bill as it heads to the Supreme Court, we should take a minute to reflect on all those brave democrats who stood by the president and the American people and voted for the good of the country.

It isn’t all that often that any congress members put the needs of the country over their personal political careers.

It was a hard vote for many to make and it wasn’t what we all wanted. But the main thing we should take away is that if this survives the Supreme Court, the country will be on its way to a functional national health care system.

Afterall, we can fill in the blanks as we go.