Inauguration a week later

Tomorrow we will be 1 week into Obama's administration. I have watched all of the Sunday pundit shows and now feel fully informed to share my views.

1. Dick Cheney was the spitting image of Mr. Potter from It's A Wonderful Life. Seriously. Creepy
   
   



2. Have low expectations and you will always be pleasantly surprised.
   
   Obama's ultimate downfall will be not meeting the expectation of his supporters. They are vocal, invested citizens. Obama is the one politician my generation has respect for. Those with the most have the most to loose. But we must realize 6 months ago when he was campaigning we lived in a different world. The best laid plans of mice and men...and all of that. But what can we do? That is what Kennedy asked and what Obama said is the only thing that will save us. We each have to be responsible for ourselves and our neighbors.
   
   The movie 600 comes to mind. The reason why they were so successful is because you protect the man on your left and the man on your right protects you. What if we incorporated this into our daily life? The only way this works is with trust. Do we trust each other? Do we trust the government? Do we trust ourselves to do the right thing?
   
3. Now is our time. Not to sit, but to work.
   We are all responsible for this moment in history and we should all celebrate it to the fullest. Without prior generations of fearless individuals taking stands (personally and publicly) Obama would not be our president today. But what will our generation stand for? What moments in history will we contribute to? We are reaping the benefits of so many, how can we continue the good work?

One week down and 207 to go. Lets roll up our selves and get to work.

Watching war (**edited**)

I do not know much about the Israeli/Palestine/Gaza history or conflict.

(**edited**)
From watching George on This week, I originally posted incorrect information regarding this conflict. I still do not know much about the conflict, but this is a somewhat more accurate account:

I think it has something to do about Palestine and Hamas (ruling party of Palestine?) not following the established peace treaty where Israel returned control of the Gaza Strip in exchange for peace between the countries approximately in 2005. Can anyone correct me or expand on this?

The specifics of the situation aside, this is a war/conflict that America did not start. Is this how the rest of the world looks at the Iraqi war? Yes, it is on a smaller scale. Casualties have be relatively low, Israel did not start the conflict, but they uped the stakes with the ground campaign . From what I have learned through PBS documentaries, the Iraqi causalities from the shock and awe of "strategic smart bombs" were much less than when boots hit the ground. Is this going to be true in Gaza?

And I don't think America is completely clean of responsibility in this military action. Politics and US finical support of Israel causes aside, American has set a precedence for overzealous military reactions and the minimization of diplomacy. Ms Rice can say what she likes about a need for a "swift and sustainable" cease fire but, as a "superpower" what are we doing. Shouldn't all cease fires be swift and sustainable? It seems to me that those who have tried to mediate don't have the street credit with either group for them to stick with it.

Major military campaigns are not drawn up as quickly as Israel reacted. If they don't believe that Palestine will keep their side of the cease fire mediated by Egypt of course they are going to prepare for action. If Palestine sees Israel prepping, of course they will build up as well.

It is a vicious circle of mistrust. So who can gain the trust of both parties? Who can gain, and more importantly keep, the trust of countries across the globe. Now those of you who only see the liberal in me are guessing I am going to say Obama. But I am not sure. My good friend Barack has a lot on his plate. He has a few wars (Iraqi and Afghanistan), domestic issues (healthcare, the economy, bankrupt states), and global issues such as the need for true environmental and financial reform.

As much as I support Obama, he is not the silver bullet for all of our problems. Who else is going to step up and say "Everybody! Stop it! Shut-up. Sit down and lets talk to each other like human beings." I know it isn't that simple. I know I am living in a fantasy world with rainbow stair cases and lollipops flowers. But my good friend Barack cannot do it on his own. We need someone else. We need everyone else. What am I going to do to help. What can you do?

What I should have said yesterday

Today is January 2. I am a day late and a dollar short on recapping 2008, making resolutions for 2009, and living my first day as a model for the rest of the year.

I really hope yesterday is not a forecast of what 2009 will be. I slept till 10am. Got up, took a shower, then went to the couch for a nap. I was there till about 12:30pm. Now this is not necessarily a bad morning. I caught up on sleep. I relaxed. I slowed down. I got to the grocery because I knew I didn't want to start 2009 out with ordering out - I was starting 2009 with a homemade healthy meal.

When I got home I returned to the couch. This time I turned on the TV and I got the goldmine. An Andy Griffin Show marathon. Yes, "staring Andy Griffin and little Ronny Howard." From 1 - 5ish I watched and napped through Andy Griffin episodes. Do you want to hear the sad thing? (Yes there is something sadder than 4 hours of Any Griffin.) I had seen some of the episodes before.

I don't know what draws me to Andy Griffin. His overly religious episodes and every episode ending with a full grin (those had to be caps) is against almost every grain of my nature. But when I hear that whistle, I am intoxicated. I am memorized by pie making Aunt Bea, the fishing pole carrying Opie, and the lovable, endearing, and usually unlawful stranger in town.

Today was the complete opposite. I got up, worked out, made a list of chores, did a bunch of them, and was pretty productive. I think a combination of the two for 2009 is a good balance.

My phrase was "Fine in '09". But now I decided I am going to be "Divine in '09". 09 will include lists, chores, and productivity. But I also hope it includes napping, relaxing and Griffin. Divine, so, so Divine.