Musical Chairs And The State Of Our Union

Tonight, President Obama will fulfill one of the constitutional obligations of his office, as nearly every President before him has, and as he has already done once before. [Yes, we know he gave an address in 2009, but that was not TECHNICALLY a "State of the Union" address.]

We could simply tell you what we'd like to hear the President say, or what we think he shouldn't. All kinds of other pundits and commentators have done the same thing already, so why join the ranks of the copycats? Some folks are even claiming that President Obama's State of the Union address tonight previews the 2012 Presidential race - although the facts say that no matter his talking points tonight, most Americans are already firmly dug in on their opinions of the state of the nation.

To us, that's one of the most telling facts of all about the current condition of our country - the unwillingness to change our minds, or more importantly work together with those who don't agree with us.

The problems that we find our collective selves in don't just affect the left or the right. Job insecurity isn't just for the poor, and unemployment has affected Americans at all economic levels. The continued breakdown of our infrastructure affects us all, as do the increasingly odd weather patterns we're all experiencing. The needs of our educational system affect not just those of us with kids, but every person who has to deal with another American who has gone through our current public schools, for better or for worse.

We are most certainly all in this boat together, as one nation - succeeding or failing without regard to party or partisanship.

With that in mind, we at The Daily Felltoon are usually among the first to applaud genuine bipartisanship. We deal with it all the time amongst ourselves - and we do pretty well.

Democrats clean off the cars of Republicans. Republicans share their dessert with Democrats.

In the hyper-partisan culture we have to endure these days, little things like those gestures sometimes seem beyond us. Thus, you might think that we support the show of bipartisanship that our Congresspersons and Senators will be showing tonight as they mix up their seating arrangements.

To a limited degree, we do.

But only to a degree.

This display tonight reeks to high heaven of just that - a show. Everywhere else, Republicans are already threatening to throw legislative temper tantrums if they aren't allowed to shove THEIR agendas down the throats of Democrats, like they believe the Democrats did to them. Democrats, of course, are responding in a like manner.

Bipartisanship doesn't mean, "You hit me first, so now I'm going to hit you back." Bipartisanship in our system of government means putting aside all the childish games to offer up to the nation solutions that work, regardless of which side of the aisle they came from.

When and if we see that kind of working arrangement in Washington - and elsewhere around the country - we'll applaud this little change in seating arrangements as more than just popcorn theatre.

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow; Media, Ethics, and False Equivalency

While we're well aware that yesterday and today are considered by some to be the most depressing days of the year, the blues and the chill that some of you feel likely had nothing to do with the season.

In case you hadn't heard, Keith Olbermann, the most well-known left-leaning media figure on television, abruptly left his position at MSNBC last Friday night. While there were some in the right-wing media who were jumping up and down in unmasked glee, there were also a number of conservative commentators who have generally kept their mouths shut and their keyboards silent over this issue - for good reason.

The sudden and mostly unexpected departure of Olbermann isn't a petty issue over internal corporate policies, as was Mr. Olbermann's temporary suspension last autumn. This time, it was not a straw, but the impending corporate yoke that broke the commentator's back.

Last week, the FCC and the Justice Department lowered the final regulatory hurdles to allow giant cable and internet provider Comcast to complete its purchase of NBC/Universal, one of the largest television and movie corporations in America. As multiple sources have confirmed, it was made clear, on more than one occasion by Comcast corporate executives, that when Comcast took ownership of NBCU, they would (and will) meddle in the content of programming on NBC, MSNBC, or pretty much any program or any channel they choose.

In short, Comcast corporate executives seem to see no problem with corporate censorship - not so that their corporation remains in compliance with laws regarding broadcasting and free speech, but so that corporate executives can censor, limit, and eliminate the opinions of those employees who disagree with the opinions of management.

Simply put, Mr. Olbermann refused to bow to such offensive censorship rules - so he left before Comcast legally took the MSNBC reins this week, as a knowledgable colleague confirmed Sunday morning on a different network.

If the topic of censorship in the media seems to ring a bell with you, it wouldn't surprise us.

After the attempted assassination in Arizona a few weeks ago, many people in right-wing media attempted to claim - falsely - that calls for civility, even from those on their own political side, were simply attempts to silence their First Amendment rights. We highly doubt many of these same organizations or individuals will be calling for the reinstatement of Mr. Olbermann's First Amendment rights any time soon.

Censorship - whether it comes from the government, as those on the right fear, or from corporations who have a stranglehold on the media, as those on the left fear - has the same effect on our society, regardless of the origins of such constraints.

Just as gun owners do not have a right to do anything they wish with firearms wherever they choose, corporations have no right to limit the free speech of their employees in the manner that drove Mr. Olbermann out.

Mr. Olbermann's departure should also make it blindingly clear to those who've claimed there is some kind of equivalency between the extremely right-wing Fox News Channel and Mr. Olbermann's now-former employer MSNBC that no such parallel exists in America.

Our concern over Comcast owning NBCU was not just that of corporate censorship, or of net neutrality issues, but also of a severe chilling of the members of the media from being able to do their jobs, whatever their political proclivities might be.

While it may be different for you, the chill in the air we began feeling this weekend most assuredly had little to do with the season.

Friday Funday: Ready For Spring?

So far this winter, the entire Daily Felltoon staff thought things hadn't been overly bad.

Sure, we'd seen a bit of snow, both in the Midwest and on the East Coast. But it wasn't like what we'd seen last year, so we were OK with it being just a bit colder. Some of us and our families got new snow gear and we were ready, if not itching, to try it out.

We'd been eating healthy - even through the holiday season - keeping active, and taking our vitamins. None of us had been truly, deeply ill yet, and we were hoping maybe we could make it all the way through January without being visited by the "Ick Fairy."

Now, though, we are SO ready for spring.

Everyone has had at least a cold by now, if not something worse. We've discovered that one of our doctors seems to think "The Creeping Crud" is more of an official diagnosis, and less of a name for a modern rock band.

We are now completely past the desire to spend the whole day lying in bed. We've grown tired of the taste of NyQuil, even if it isn't in the notorious "green death" flavor. And we're almost to the point where we don't care if there's enough snow to use that new pink snowsuit.

It's not that we don't appreciate what winter has to offer.

Family members coming to our place for a winter weekend visit is nice - even if getting parking tickets in the snow is not.

It's just that we've begun to feel that inevitable feeling, that comes over many people who dwell in temperate climate zones about this time of year.

We're sick of being sick. We're sick of shoveling snow. We miss not being able to see much sunlight after five in the afternoon. We could really stand to go a whole 'nother year without having to scrape ice off of our car windows. And if we forget our gloves, or hats, or scarves, or other winter paraphernalia one more time, we may have to get the adult version of the kiddie safety strings - for everything!

We miss the warm breeze of a spring day, the blue skies, and soft scents of all kinds of plants blooming in the sun. We long for there to be more than 15 minutes of daylight after 5 PM. And frankly, we've been successfully watching our figures this winter, so it would be nice not to have to hide ourselves under four extra layers of clothes.

Yes, we're aware… spring is coming sooner than we realize, and summer after that as well. Before long, we'll be complaining right along with most people that the temperatures are too hot, as we long for the crisp breezes of autumn.

So we'll enjoy winter this weekend, while it's still with us.

Probably by watching the snow fall from inside, while we drink some hot tea, and hunker down, wrapped in a fluffy blanket.