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Democrats have no boondoggles???

Scott Ives — Tue, 9 Sep 2008 08:46:42 -0400

Have you heard of the Clinton Library? Will a President Obama be free of them? Or is possible progressives will just become silent, because after all he'll be your guy...right?

Will you record the amount of vacation time taken by your guy? Will your guy stop bonding debt with China? Pray for your guy and his energy plan because that's what he's doing...gotta find a breakthrough otherwise we're right where we are now. Stop with the deficit stuff your guys ran them up for nearly 30 years. If Obama gets his programs through congress you will continue to see them but it is likely you will continue to blame Bush, after all it's worked so well for so long.

Ken I like your humor and it is clear you have a strong intellect so lets cut to the chase. If we want to change the way we govern then the hate and the vitriol has to go!

Scott

Nothing personal

Ken Braiterman — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 20:02:19 -0400

The fact that Clinton lied on TV or under oath are not minor details. Nor are they national crises, as the Republicans tried to make them.

I'm not aware of personal attacks on George Bush, only on the way he conducted his office: spending the country into deficit on boodoggles for his corporate friends, screwing up post-war Iraq and the clean-up after Katrina, nominating Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court, gutting protections for workers. small investors, and consumers, and doing nothing about energy independence or climate change for eight years, and conducting a war with borrowed money from China.

Those are national crises, and there is not a personal attack in the whole list. A personal attack would be that he has spent more than 1 1/2 of his years in office on vacation. That's true, but it's not a national crisis, just a personal attack.

Thanks Ken...

Scott Ives — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 17:38:58 -0400

I appreciate your kind words! I would point out however that President Clinton lied under oath and more importantly he lied when he looked us in the eye through the lens of that camera and said"I never had sex with that woman." Perhaps you think these minor details, I do not. I am somewhat troubled by the creation of the standard "simply lying about sex" ...where does it end?

The current president has with quiet dignity suffered some of the most repugnant personal attacks. Politics is a tough sport but have we fallen so far into partisanship and hatred that we can no longer have some modicum of balanced thought on the subject? It is silly to try and lay the blame for all of America's problems at the feet of this president. If blaming Bush for all of the problems is the answer than I have a strong fear that we will never get around to asking the important questions we need to examine, to chart a course for the future.

Great Blog, Scott!

Jehardy — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:16:28 -0400

Keep them coming. There are many great blogs here - life has definitely been injected into this site.

I do wonder what history will have to say about this point in time, in 20 or 30 years. Some of us may not even be here to know, but don't you wonder?

Bill,

I also agree with Dog and Scott, Hodes then mad bikers. And keep up the good wit, Dog! You have me squealing with joy at the Monitor letters.

And Dog - We are SO glad you are C. dog e. doG, not Géorge Vreeland Hill

Hoping that computer virus doesn't land here.

Not only Republicans

Ken Braiterman — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 14:16:46 -0400

Nice job, Scott. Eisenhower was underestimated in his time. I was there and saw it myself. Reagan did have to overcome fear that he would be too quick with the nuclear trigger.

It was the only issue the failed Democratic Party could mount that year -- just as John McCain today is telling people Obama is an unsafe choice for president. It's all he has after eight years of George W. Bush.

Like Reagan said in 1980: "Are you better off than you were eight years ago?"

Neither was savaged like Bill Clinton was. He faced a special prosecutor with unlimited time, resources, and hatred for the Clintons. He leaked every damaging but unsubstantiated charge, and the media reported it. In the end, all the prosecutor could charge him with was that he lied about having oral sex with a consenting adult.

That prosecutor threatened people with jail unless they told him what he wanted to know. He did send one innocent Clinton friend to jail for 18 months.

Point to ponder...

Scott Ives — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 18:20:32 -0400

Hemlock for a hero that tells an inconvenient truth. Kool Aid for the modern day believers in an inconvenient truth. Thanks Dog!

Bill,

It is the season I agre with Dog, Hodes then mad bikers!

Scott

What to choose?

C. dog e. doG — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 09:50:09 -0400

Bill -

All good, timely topics. I suggest you go with whichever is generating the most heat on the Monitor comment fest when you're ready to pull the trigger. "I am not on vacation" Hodes may be best left to the run-up to the election, unless you're thinking of running two blogs on "I am Franking Hodes." Prayin' Palin may spark the most interest now, and maybe use the "Bikes and Trikes" topic as a second course to cleanse our political palettes.

- I am C. dog e. doG, not Géorge Vreeland Hill

Thanks for the memories ...

C. dog e. doG — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 09:34:22 -0400

Scott -
Glad to see you floggin' away at your own blog. I have enjoyed both your earnest postings and your ever so dry retorts when opportunity presents itself for either a topspin lob or a dastardly underhanded slice.

Regarding the old guys, I've always been fond of a few of my favorite founding fathers (Patrick Henry, General Stark, Thomas Paine - The Pamphleteer), then a big leap backward to Socrates. For his day, that guy could think, and think, and think. Thank god he had that human recorder nearby (Plato). To this day, his cave analogy so befits the human condition. When pondering politicks, I am often astounded how aptly the metaphor applies to various groups with their shared levels of thinking (or not) and behavior. Though he professed a profound affection for the philosopher king, it's more the way he chose to live his life as an avowed individual thinker-citizen against the push of the Athenian herd that I respect most. Too bad the reward for that is a cup of hemlock to go ... Reminiscent of Easy Rider, though the exit vehicle chosen by the group was a bit more violent.

I look forward to your next musings on man-not-so-kind, but sometimes is.
- C. dog e. doG

Glad you....

Bill Bunker — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 08:17:50 -0400

Glad you can keep the momentum going, Scott!

I have been very busy, very busy.

Three blogs are in process at this time but none are finished. I am debating which one to post. One is on Hodes, another on Palin and the third brings up the bicycle thing again.

Man, I have been taking note of bicyclist road behavior the last couple of weeks. I have been in Boston over the past several days and they are out of hand!!! Blocking traffic, running red lights, etc. I have taken several pictures and thought at some time I would prove my point on bicycles.

I have a couple of other topics too. Thanks for carrying the torch!!!!!

Different People...Different Times...

Scott Ives — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 22:10:10 -0400

Barbara, you sound like a woman who remembers when service wasn't really service. It was just the way you were expected to behave. It was what you were taught as a child. Be polite. Be respectful. Use your manners. Parents and grandparents set a high bar and their children may not have always reached the bar but they sure worked hard to touch it.

I remember having a note sent home to my father about talking in class while the teacher was trying to give lessons. That note weighed three thousand pounds in my pocket and I knew that the punishment my father would apply would be three times worse that anything the teacher could dream up. Today teachers don't get that type of support. Ask teachers today about manners...they just look at you in a puzzled way that indicates many of their students don't demonstrate any knowledge of them.Don't get me wrong there are a lot of good kids out there but the bad ones these days are over the top.

I work in Manchester, on my way to work I travel by one of the city's high schools. Kids walking to school routinely walk out in front of vehicles, as if to say, hit me I dare you.

In a time not to distant if you crossed against a light you ran. These kids slow down and just stand in the middle of the road if you try to go around you will be greeted with an obscene gesture and foul language. This I cannot blame on tip cups , but I believe it is a symbol of a society that no longer enforces its standards. We no longer have universal truths that all citizens believe. We have candidates tha are running for the highest office in the land that apologize in other lands for their countrymen. But I digress...Thanks to both Barbara and Terri for the interesting replies!

Scott

Thank you

Scott Ives — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 21:41:12 -0400

Just trying to live up to the high standards you all have set. I can't wait for our two friends to join us. Judy called the Sarah Palin thing dead on. I had my doubts but she told me I was going to be pleasantly surprised. I mumbled something in a curmudgeonly fashion. Now I have been using a ton of Ketchup so I can finish eating my hat!

But seriously...she is amazing! She adds a lustre to McCain that wasn't apparent before the convention. Cindy McCain didn't hurt him either!

Far Cry From Politics Today

Bill Bunker — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 21:30:21 -0400

We could use a little peace and quiet from the politicians.

Cal had the right idea. Politicians are like children; they should be seen but not heard.

Unfortunately, today, politics is a beauty pageant!

As usual, good and interesting history, Scott. Glad to have you on board.

Judy, you are next, followed by "dog"! Let's go!!!!!

to tip or not to tip

Terri Oberg — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 21:01:35 -0400

The difference is, are the tips a reward for great service, or is it viewed as something entitled regardless of the service?

There are places where there is great service, where there are warm greetings, smiles and people willing to go the extra mile (and can provide that service without the tip cups), but there are plenty of places that are less so. The majority of places I've seen tip cups are places like Dunkin Dounuts and ice cream places like Arnie's and Lang's. Not to say I always have poor service at these places, more often it's more like indifferent service. I don't drop my change in the cups for the most part because I don't often feel the service I'm receiving warrants even the small change I'd be dropping in. I also would rather tip the person I feel has given me the extra (s)mile of service, then to leave it to be divvied up "fairly" by everyone.

Bottom line, good, friendly service will get me to come back time and time again. Service that leaves me feeling more like I interrupted someone's day will mean I most likely won't be bringing my business there anymore. Simple as that. Tip or no tip.

Sorry Scott, maybe I should

barbara9999 — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 18:15:55 -0400

Sorry Scott, maybe I should have used the word perception instead of attitude. And I guess I was talking about all the responses to your blog about poor service. I remember working at Dunkin's when I was a kid - we weren't allowed to accept tips. And we had regular customers that were more like friends then customers. And they wanted to give us something. Now, I don't go anywhere regularly, so I don't even notice the tip cups when I do. If I went someplace everyday and got good service, and was waited on by people that made me feel a little better, I probably would want to throw in the extra. I don't think most tip cups add up to a whole lot of money, but showing someone who takes good care of you every day that you appreciate them helps them a lot. You shouldn't feel obligated, I really don't think they are meant for that.

Sure wish Market Basket let you tip -

You missed the point...

Scott Ives — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 08:17:26 -0400

I didn't claim service is universally bad. In fact I have written about good service a number of times. The point I was making about tip cups is they are a request for additional compensation when no extra or special service is provided. I am not sure if the remark about "some of it must be attitude" is a dig about personal behavior but if it is you make an assumption that is patently false. Tip cups are a peeve because they do not follow the tradition of allowing a customer to reward excellent service. It is a passive aggressive demand for compensation whether it is deserved or not.

Scott