Bloviating Zeppelin

(in-ep-toc'-ra-cy) - a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

President For A Day

This post will be all about the results in the comment section, and I anticipate them eagerly.

The Scenario:
You are now President of the United States, George W. Bush. It is Thursday, 10-27-2005. Current events are precisely as they appear today.

The Challenge:
List the top five line items that you would address, by priority, to repair whatever damage you may perceive has been inflicted to the Bush Presidency.

If you believe the President is on track, list five other issues or areas that you think should be addressed during the remainder of the Bush term.

Be professional, be positive. This is not an exercise in complaints but an exercise in solutions. It is easy to complain; it is much more difficult to provide viable and innovative answers to global and national issues.

The ball is now in your court, and the White House is now in your hands. Go.

12 Comments:

Mahndisa S. Rigmaiden said...: 10 26 05

OK Blo Zep:
I will have to think of this all night before I can adequately respond. This is excellent! And you are right; when it ain't about griping, our mouths quickly shut!; Wed Oct 26, 03:49:00 PM PDT
Bloviating Zeppelin said...: I gotta admit: I can't wait to see this post comment board tomorrow. . .; Wed Oct 26, 03:58:00 PM PDT
Mahndisa S. Rigmaiden said...: 10 26 05

Hey Blo Zep:
I referenced your recent post in mine because it was relevant. You should be getting a few visitors maybe tmw or later tonight! Great idea BTW!; Wed Oct 26, 04:30:00 PM PDT
Anonymous said...: I'll give you just one... and it may not seem terribly important, but actually I think means a lot. And it wouldn't take a lot of time out of the president's schedule.

The president should issue a proclamation ordering United States flags to be flown at half staff in mourning for an American hero: Rosa Parks was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. We have traditions when an American hero passes away.

I personally think that Alabama's Governor Bob Riley did the right thing in
directing flags over Alabama's capitol and all state office buildings to be flown at half staff until sunset on the day of her funeral. At any rate, Mrs. Parks certainly deserves no less honor from the administration than Bob Hope received.

Perhaps it's just a symbolic gesture. But sometimes symbols are terribly important.; Wed Oct 26, 11:01:00 PM PDT
Bloviating Zeppelin said...: Anonymous: Good start and important idea!; Thu Oct 27, 05:02:00 AM PDT
Mahndisa S. Rigmaiden said...: 10 27 05

Hey Blo Zep:
I have given this some thought and world peace would be at the top of my agenda. The Iranians, North Koreans, Pakistanis and anyone else who has nuclear capabilities would be OBLIGATED to meet with me at a summit and basically we would threaten to wipe their countries off of the map UNLESS They gave up their nuclear programmes. We have been far too nice to them! The UN has proven to be ineffectual! Next, I would meet with the new Greenspan and have some forecasts about what the economy was doing and take all advice to remedy it. I would consult some at the John Locke, Adam Smith and Hoover Institutes to come up with a viable free market plan and then proceed to make cuts in some areas, and increase taxes in others (to balance it out) but the overall affect would be to strengthen the free markets. Hmm, I would be concerned about domestic terrorism whether internal or external and clamp down on our borders with the quickness. I would seal the borders and make sure everyone who even visited our country was screened for TB and any other pernicious little bug. Hmm what else? Lastly, I would meet with the granola eaters to figure a long term plan for conservation of our natural resources e.g. forests and rivers etc. I would ask them to meet with the Greenspan replacement to figure out how ecologically sustainable goods can contribute to the growth of our economy and come up with a structure to make that our new boom! Then, I would speak to the scientists about doing so...OK the list is long and I haven't even TOUCHED the surface!Quite a thought provoking post!; Thu Oct 27, 05:18:00 AM PDT
Intellectual Insurgent said...: 5 things he can do:

1. Stop arming extremist dictators such as the Saudi Royal Family and Parvez Musharraf. The problem with this, however, is that it hurts the stockholders of Northrop, Raytheon, Boeing, etc. World peace or capitalism? We know which has won until now.

2. Put the Israelis and Palestinians in a room the way Carter did with the Egyptians and Israelis and tell them no one is leaving until a real solution to the problem is worked out.

3. Focus on renewable energy sources. Instead of passing exemptions for cars over 6,000 (or was it 7,000) lbs. to encourage SUV purchases, dedicate more of this nation's resources and talent to harnessing the power of the sun and bio products. Oops - that will hurt the stockholders of the energy companies. Again, we know who has won that battle thus far.

4. Resume serious funding for the National Science Foundation, the Sandia Labs and other centers of innovation.

5. Emulate JFK's call to the nation to become scientists and engineers rather than a bunch of Britney Spears worshipping morons.; Thu Oct 27, 02:18:00 PM PDT
Anonymous said...: Heh,
1. Legalize it, don't critize it. Seriously. Tax marijuana, cigarettes, and alcohol equally, or require a license to purchase it without a tax. It would do two things: reduce our prison population and provide an additional source of revenue for the feds and/or states. The prison population can be reintroduced to society through rehabilitation programs (faith based AND non faith based) that emphasize working to improve the community, such as flower planting, trash pickup, and neighborhood renovation. They will be paid for their work and stay in the rehab or halfway house for a min of 3 months, provided they keep working. The reason behind the decriminalization of mary jane would be the federal government is prohibited from infringing on the right of the people and states to govern themselves, and the drug has been shown by the medical profession to be as harmless as alcohol and tobacco, thus people should be free to choose it.

At the same time, issue a declaration that the government will offer grants and tax exemptions to any demonstrably viable alternative energy source that is at least 80% as effective as petrol, and not only hydrogen fuel cells as is the current case, as I understand it. This will let the common man invent again. Now, the only players in the alt energy game are the big boys, for example corporations with huge payrolls. Let the common man find a simple solution that can benefit everyone instead of the current capitalistic, nepotistic method.

Next, take over all of the Americas. lol Seriously though, if we can get some kind of official union going with the rest of the Americas, like the EU, then the immigration problem will seem like a drop in the bucket.

Immigration. HA! Californian's complain about mexican immigration when the whole state used to belong to Mexico. It's like America is claiming squatter's right over there and in the SW.

Poverty will be next on my agenda. We need some mobilizing issue like a national monument. We can build an pyramid or something right in the middle of the country. It will all be manual labor, minimum wage, and all you need to get the job will be an id card. It would take decades to complete. A whole industry will spring up around the workers. It will unite the country, give national pride.

For the people who don't want to move or don't want to work, we can 'incent' them to move to some camp/area somewhere that the city/state can subsidize to some charity to monitor and take care of them. These people will truly be the people's burden.

I don't know, what else? Oh yeah, outlaw pretzels. You know, one almost got me (Bush)!; Thu Oct 27, 02:53:00 PM PDT
Mahndisa S. Rigmaiden said...: 10 27 05

Dave:
California used to belong to the Criollo California class of aristocratic Mexicans. The common Mestizo has no more claim to Mexico than you or I! Secondly, creating incentives for alternative energy markets is smart and I concur. But Dave, the illegal immigrant problem here is a BIG one. I don't know the last time you came to visit Ca, but in every major city there are street corners littered with them looking for work. The people that hire them should be fined SEVERELY enough to put them out of business and the illegals need to go back to Mexico. They need to file the proper papers to get a green card or whatever! Hey, what's wrong with capitalism? It far better than the commie utopia those dumb leftists love to speak of, where dissent is never tolerated and all individual thought gets subsumed for the greater good. Not where I wanna live!; Thu Oct 27, 04:15:00 PM PDT
Bloviating Zeppelin said...: Great comments, folks! Keep 'em coming!; Fri Oct 28, 05:10:00 AM PDT
Rae Ann said...: just a couple, real simple and quick:

build a wall all along the mexican border.

repeal the No Child Left Behind Act. It has done more damage than good to most schools and students.; Fri Oct 28, 06:01:00 AM PDT
Anonymous said...: Disa:

Commie utopia those dumb leftists...? My, me oh my. What do you think happened to earth in the Star Trek universe? Think about it, Capt Picard remarked to Q that 'we discarded our ancient notions of religion a long time ago', everyone apparently is enrolled in Star Fleet (military) or is a citizen, everyone works for the good of mankind, no money, et cetera ad infinitum. Capitalism is wonderful, in theory, however it suffers from a serious case of depotism, otherwise known as the good old boy system, and exploits others for profit. I agree we need to punish businesses who employ illegals, as if there is no money for illegals they won't remain illegal because there is no incentive.

Don't misunderstand me, I have benefited from depotism and actively look out for my friends, but depotism isn't fair or legal in many arenas. It is unfair to those new to the market and because of this, though this is not the only reason, the government has to step in to regulate the market. And then we get to corporate welfare and other hot button issues, and that is offtopic and won't go there, but you see where I am taking this.

Capitalism is wonderful. It offers oppurtunity for all who can afford to play the game. I don't dream of a 'commie utopia' where capitalism is burned in effigy, however I do dream of a culture that values human interests over money. If we focused on helping others instead of exploiting others for profit, I would be even more proud to be an American, where at least I know I am kinda freeeee!; Fri Oct 28, 12:52:00 PM PDT

Bloviating Zeppelin

: Name: Bloviating Zeppelin; Location: Sierra Nevada Mountains, Fornicalia, United States

A former Democrat in my tender and ignorant youth, I am now a Conservative first and, these days, quite a distant Republican with a dash of Libertarian mixed in for good measure. I believe in God, the strength of America, the brilliance of our Founding Fathers, the valor of our military, and the need for Leadership in all forms and on every level. I am not an advocate of censorship as I believe everyone on the Far Left has a God-given right to be painfully stupid -- as I have a right to expose said stupidity. UPDATED NOTE: Recent legal references mandate that I make clear that these writings are ONLY my written OPINIONS and those of no one else. FAIR USE NOTICE - This web site may contain copyrighted material, which may not always have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such images and excerpts are made available for the purpose of analysis and critique, as well as to advance understanding of social, political, media and cultural issues. We believe this constitutes 'fair use' as explained in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law. ADVERTISING: I do NOT, however, ask for nor display advertisements here.

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Bloviating Zeppelin

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

President For A Day

12 Comments:

Bloviating Zeppelin

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