The LuLac Edition #2471, July 13th, 2013
Our “13 Questions” logo.
13 QUESTIONS
1. What do you think is the weakest part of the Affordable Health Care Act?
The most dangerous part is that the President can’t get enabling legislation to make fixes in the bill. This Congress led by Republican obstructionists and people hell bent on screwing the middle class will not even allow the bill to be modified. Want proof of their behavior? The GOP Congress tried more than forty times to repeal the bill. A Bill passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court. If these guys were in charge when the Civil Rights Act was passed in ’65, there would still be separate bathrooms in some areas of this country. That s the weakest part.
2. How are doing in the heat?
I love it but I’m pretty cautious with any extreme.
3. Did you go to PNC Field to see Derek Jeter?
No, not this time. I saw him in the 90s when he played with Columbus. But that was before he became “The Captain”.
4. What is the hardest part about doing “Topic A” with Tarone?
Other than sometimes calming him down, nothing. Ever since they changed the set back to what it was, it is a real pleasure.
5. Any interesting summertime reading?
Yes. I’m in the middle of Robert Caro’s book about Lyndon Johnson called “The Passage of Power”. The volume takes us from 1958 when LBJ was thinking about running for the Presidency to the start of January 1964 when Johnson gave his State of the Union address. The book outlines how Johnson politically underestimated John Kennedy, gives new insight into the physical courage of the 35th President and also paints an awful portrait of Kennedy’s brother Bobby as a mean spirited, petty, rude person who constantly undermined LBJ. Loved Bobby but he was a real bastard to the Johnson family. Good reading.
6. Do you think you are less than a Catholic because you are for abortion?
No. And I’m not for abortion. I’m for choice. I am against abortion, late term abortion of any kind and abortion as birth control. Abortion should be an option used as a last resort. I am for adoption and contraception. You will see the Catholic Church come around on contraception because it is the larger lesser of two evils. The current Republican party is using Abortion as a wedge issue saying it is a make or break part of Catholic teachings. Yet if we look at Christian teachings regarding regard for human life, the last I looked that included feeding the poor, comforting the sick and helping your fellow man. For the Conservative movement to put its primary focus on only one tenant of Catholicism is insulting, jingoistic and irresponsible. The last Pro Choice Republican President was Gerald Ford. So the GOP has been doing this for over 35 years. It’s getting lame and boring.
As for my Catholicism and if there will be consequences for me in the afterlife, I think God will be more pissed about me thinking about 6 foot redheads in church than anything I ever believe on abortion.
7. Have you ever been to an All Star game and what were your most memorable All Star games as a kid?
No. Not been. Kind of look at it like I do the Super Bowl. You get a better view on TV. I remember the days when they played two All Star games. But in ’63 they went back to one game. Albie Pearson from the Angels, Juan Pizzaro from the White Sox. on the American League side. On the National League, there was Sandy Koufax, Willie Mays and Stan Musial playing his last game. But the one I remember is ’64 when Johnny Callison of the Phillies hit the game winning home run and was the game’s MVP. At that time I lived and died with those ’64 Phillies and was thrilled.
8. I came across your 590 FOREVER WARM blog, what is the hardest part of that activity of yours?
Getting information on WARM. I want to have 590 Mighty WARM memories. I’m in the low 400s now. I’m adding jingles, commercials, songs but if someone has a WARM photo or memory, I’ll use it. Here's the link: http://david-yonki.blogspot.com/
9. Former WNEP TV news anchor Paola Giangiacomo got her photo taken with Derek Jeter. I noticed that on LuLac archives you’ve met many celebrities. Your most memorable ones?
Three. The first is meeting Hubert Humphrey with my late uncle Timmy Pribula. He moved through a crowd with an intrepid spirit of a mountain climber. We got to meet Humphrey, got our pictures taken and he even had Humphrey check out his camera.
The next was in 1984 when King’s photographer Ned Rowan and I went to the Phillies reunion of their 1964 team. I had my photo taken with many of those stars. And of course 1985 when I met Vice President George Bush along with Kiwanis Wheelchair Club members through the good offices of Marc Holtzman and Rob Friedman of Freidman Electric. Those are the top three.
See number two below.
10. What was your first paying job?
Bagging groceries and getting carts at Detato’s Supermarket in Pittston. I made $1.60 an hour and made great friends there. Almost every kid who went to St. John’s, Pittston Area and Wyoming Area worked there in the late 60s and early 70s. The three brothers, Tony, Bobby and Billy were tough but fair. On Saturdays you won the lottery if you got to take the order for Mrs. Detato to her home on North Main Street. That killed at least an hour and she was a great lady.
11. America just celebrated its birthday. After all we’ve been through are we still a racist country?
Yes. As well as a sexist, homophobic and anti immigration country. We have a long way to go before we can be described as being tolerant.
12. I was in New York a few weeks back and found the people wonderful. Where is the place you encountered the rudest people?
Easy. For me, Massachusetts. I’ve been there four times in my life and while this is purely anecdotal and does not include everyone, here’s what I personally found. Also, I have cousins in that state and this does not include them. But you wanted an answer and here it is. Now, I know they suffered during that bombing and I know they were the pioneers of the American Revolution but I have encountered more bitter, rude, arrogant, bigoted, and just plain classless individuals in that state. And trust me, you never, ever want to get involved with a Bay State woman.
13. Do you think that the illegal drugs in Wilkes-Barre have somehow become aerosolized and airborne and all city officials are under the influence? Just trying to explain the Mayor's and city officials' statements.
Geez I hope not. I don’t think so, you’d see more people on their front porches doing deep breathing exercises. Crime stats can be read a lot of ways. City officials have quoted accurate statistics but they’ve been geared toward a specific category. The crime now is a combination of fearless arrogance that leads to violence. Wilkes Barre officials should start singing from the same song page. The Mayor did address the bail issues of previously charged criminals but I know what you mean.
posted by David Yonki @ 2:39 PM
19 comments
19 Comments:
Good afternoon, Students,
I must say that jet lag is quite a (as your generation would put it) “drag”; even if one does fly using a private jet. Nevertheless I am once again adapting to the ‘back home’ routine as quickly as possible. Last evening I enjoyed a wonderful time at my club. It was nice to see the boys again and I must say that the conversation and the bourbon amongst the ambiance of good cigars was exhilarating.
We discussed various subjects, the trivial and non-trivial. For instance, we debated the best short work of Edgar Allen Poe. I notice that some of you ingrates are looking towards me with a blank stare. Perhaps it is because of the fact that you never heard of Mr. Poe, or you are just coming down from the drugs you used last evening….or both. Do the class a favor, please stand up and leave this room!!!!!!!!!!!!
Returning to my story, my good friend Malcolm declared Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” to be amongst the best. Yet, I had to retort by reminding him and the others of the genius of “The Fall of the House of Usher”. I would ask the university’s literary department to make these two publications mandatory reading, but from what I hear they won’t go beyond “The Little Engine that Could”---and from what I hear even that one is a tough ride for most of you malcontents (you may laugh). But in the end, the conversation turned to what the entire country is mesmerized over and has been for the past several weeks, whether “Honey Boo Boo” gets canceled (again, you may laugh). Seriously, I speak of the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case.
I will say this here and now…….Mr. Zimmerman was brought to trial over pure media pressure, not because of the conclusion of a fair investigative process. MSNBC’s Al Sharpton (who seems to show up at every event involving so called persecution of minorities) waged an all-out campaign to lasso Mr. Zimmerman and bring him to trial. End of story. The pressure politically felt by the District Attorney’s office has no given us this Kangaroo Court.
In the process of a trial a jury must decide innocence/guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In other words, if a defendant has DNA evidence that proves he was a murderer then there is no reasonable doubt that he did it and he is found guilty. However, if circumstances are murky, acquittal is not only the right thing to do but the obligatory thing.
Unfortunately, it is a known fact that attorneys and prosecutors when picking prospective jurors always go for the most unintelligent people as they are the ones who can be ‘swayed’. I have been called for jury duty many times, and I have good friends who have also. None of us has ever been chosen. Simply because we can think for ourselves and our lives do not revolve around reality TV or rap music or soap operas. So, I have wonderful news for most of you in this room…….you are going to be chosen to serve on a jury someday.
NOW>>>>returning to the Zimmerman case. If the jury does the right thing then Mr. Zimmerman shall be acquitted. Does this mean that I hold malice for poor young Mr. Martin??? OF course not!!!!!!! The young man was apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time. And I am not completely excusing Mr. Zimmerman either. OF course he should have waited for the police to arrive but perhaps he felt Mr. Martin would escape and to be fair, he had no idea if Martin was a burglar (there were several in that neighborhood at that time). Let me put it this way, George Zimmerman would have a lot in common with most of you in this room and he would never be welcome in my club. So you cannot accuse me of being on his “side” but of being on the side of JUSTICE.
In the end, I pray that if the correct verdict is handed down that calm prevails. I remember all too well the riots of the 1960’s. And the Rodney King riots of 1993. Pray God the people respect the jury’s decision….whatever it be.
Something to think about this morning……
Class Dismissed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's the Republicans fault Obamacare is such an albatross? Of course, no one had read the bill and it passed with almost no Republican support.... but now it's the Republicans fault that there are problems? As I recall years ago everything was Bush's fault. Now nothing, absolutely nothing is ever Obama's fault. Even this chaotic mess called Obamacare.
Danger Will Robinson! Danger Will Robinson!! The world will end soon. Yonki called out a Kennedy for bad behavior!!!!!
I got into a fight in Bawwston wearing my Cubs jersey in 1999. I said, we're both sons of the same mother not winning the pennant in so many years. They were not amused.
Damn Prof, "the little engine that could"?!!! Good one because its true! Trayvon's girlfriend couldn't read cursive and was for the most part functionally illiterate and aggressively defensive about it. Sad.
Mr. Yonki's belief that we are still a racist country indicates how easily he is influenced. Wasn't the election of the first A-A to the presidency supposed to show we weren't?
BTW: wasn't it the Democrats who fought for NOT passing the civil rights bill in 65 or is my mind going?
There will always be racist people but those of us that aren't racist can usually win the day.
The Zimmerman fiasco was contrived "racist" by those who stand the most to gain from it. Playing the media who are too lazy and fearful of the racist label to apply any common sense to their reporting. It could have been prosecuted as an "act" had the police been allowed to do their job free of the political interference.
Remember Bernard Goetz?
Next thing you know that football player (Hernandez?) will be labeled a "white Hispanic" and charged with a racial crime for killing his black friend.
Let me repeat - we are not a racist country.
Now turn off the TV and some life.
The peculiarities of Obamcare keep piling up.
Wegmans, has decided to do something beneficial for its part-time employees, stop health care insurance.
The reason? Employers and employees alike are better off if the employer does not offer health-care benefits to part-time employees.
The grocer that has been applauded for providing health insurance to its part-time workers will no longer offer that benefit.
The company said the decision was related to changes brought about by the Affordable Care Act.
Part-time employees may actually benefit from Wegmans’ decision.
An employee that qualifies for subsidized coverage might be better off going with that than a limited part-time benefit.
That’s because subsidized coverage can have a lower out-of-pocket cost for the insured employee while also providing better benefits than an employer-paid plan.
Under the Affordable Care Act, part-time employees are not eligible for health insurance subsidies if their employer offers insurance.
It’s a win-win. The employee gets subsidized coverage, and the employer gets to lower costs.
Part-timers are better off with no company health-care offering than with one. Fancy that. Now just imagine the temptation for employers to reduce someone from 32 hours (considered part-time before Obamacare) to 29 hours or 25 hours because the Obamacare definition sets the definition of part-time at 30 hours.
That's pretty special too (Cue "Church Lady").
The Obamcare effect is real. The distortions are complicated, numerous, and not widely understood.
Pay attention.
A racist country elected a black man president.
A homophobic country is, according to most polls, accepting of same sex marriage.
An anti-immigration country has people of all races, colors, creeds, and nationalities beating down (and going around) the doors trying to get in.
You have to stop wishing that you are living in the 'bad old days'.
Things aren't perfect, but you lose a lot of credibility when you try to make everyone believe things aren't significantly better than they used to be on the above fronts.
How about 13 Reasons not to live in Florida?! The Zimmerman trial and the Not Guilty Verdict. 48 States with Texas and Florida gone...Texas, well its just Texas and provides crazed politicians and Florida where they cant count or recognize justice. If you've ever been to either state you know I am making sense.
Does your car get towed by a politically connected towing operator in Florida?
Does your teaching position application come with an envelope intended for a "finders fee" in Florida?
Does the local courthouse have a drive-thru window manned by a low-level civil service worker in Florida?
Are children sent to "correction facilities" owned by the judge who sentences them in Florida?
Are taxpayer funds used to "flip" a restoration project until millions are spent with no apparent result in Florida?
Is it impossible to get rid of an incompetent teacher in right-to-work state Florida?
Are residents forced to pay higher taxes for alcohol because of an antiquated state controlled outlet system in Florida?
Sorry 2:09 but you must be one of those folks the professor rants about. You are in bed in NEPA and will remember it in the morning.
Those of you from out of state who read this: we are not all like this.
good afternoon mr yonki
I love when you and torone are at your best my work shift just change do you have a site for wyln tv so I can catch up on your topics they are fun and interesting
Yo 9:48
Got bad news for ya, the Professer doesn't exist! An invented character, a cartoon and you quote him. Geez!
The guys got a good idea. What good ever came from Texas or Florida? Audie Murphy and Willie Nelson from Texas and nothing Zero from the Sunshine State!
I've lived in the Northeast, the Midwest and the South and I can tell you honestly in my experience the racism around here is worse than any of those other places. My Southern experience was in a very cosmopolitan capital city so perhaps that counts for something, but the racism around here is clueless and deep including my family.
Hey 1:04 read 11:01 July 11th.
You mat then return to "provincial Towers"
9:48
13 Tips That We Learned From Florida: to make you look like an “innocent child”.
1. Don’t have pictures on social media, or on your cell phone, of you holding guns like a gangsta. If you do take pictures with firearms, make certain the weapon is held properly, away from the camera, with your finger off the trigger and it does not give off the I'm-a-criminal-in-training vibe. Just a thought.
2. Don't have multiple pictures of you inhaling weed floating around on either social media or in your cell phone where the police can retrieve them and use them against you. This, too, hampers the "innocent child" motif.
3. Also, when you do flip off the camera, go with the one-hand F-you, rather than the double finger fongool. The double-finger F-you is too over the top. One F-you should suffice as it’ll show that you are a gentleman that has restraint and are an innocent soul, almost … child like.
Indeed, the one-finger F-you can easily be explained as innocuous, childhood banter between chums. For example, “Hi, do you want to play? No? Okay, F-you. Have a good day, talk to you later”. See?
The double F-you is harder to explain away as it gives more of an “F-off and die”, adultish message via the two foul hand gestures which definitely are not childlike. Just pray about it and see what Jesus says.
4. Don’t call a neighborhood-watch volunteer a “creepy-ass cracker” just before you assault him. If you do call someone this racist term, make certain you do not say it to your friend who’s going to rat you out during a future cross examination in court.
5. While we’re on the topic of friends, be careful to establish credible friendships with young men and young women who don’t talk smack in court to lawyers, appear horrid on television, who can read cursive and they’re not … uh … um … inconsistent in their testimony.
6. Try to limit how many times you say, “motherf’er” on Twitter as it looks un-childlike when it’s thrust into the court of public opinion.
7. Also, don’t say the N-word all the time in your tweets. It’s considered rude and it could cost you a future cooking show, especially if you’re a white devil.
8. Speaking of Twitter, don’t choose a handle like “NO_LIMIT_NIGGA” as it makes it difficult for the state’s attorneys in their prosecution, and for the media, to pawn you off as a mere lad that likes multi-colored, fruit flavored confectionaries and artificially flavored and sweetened canned teas.
9. Forgive me for harping on social media etiquette, but I would also not say you, “wanna experience a white girl”, or mention that a particular young girl is adept at fellatio. I would just stay away from all tweeting about fornication and violence.
10. While at school, try not to get suspended for spray painting the children’s lockers with “WTF”, especially if you have in your current possession stuff like twelve articles of stolen women’s jewelry and a big-ass screw driver used for breaking into homes.
11. Regarding cellular telephonic decorum, don’t take pictures of pot plants, illegal guns or talk about buying illicit .22 or .380 caliber handguns from your youthful mates. This, too, makes it hard for future defenders to explain away
12. While we’re on the topic of school, try not to bring your weed and weed pipe to school. If you do need to bring your hooch to school for your frequent panic attacks, or just to take the edge off the difficulties of the de rigueur of public education, try to conceal it better so you don’t get caught.
13. Also, as you go through your teens, you might want to think about not getting tattooed too much. In addition, I would forego the gold-capped teeth and get porcelain veneers if you are truly in need of cosmetic dental work.
Anyway, I hope this helps you should you ever end up in a predicament because of your poor choices and you’d like to have it blamed on others rather than you. Y’know, the media and race baiters can work miracles but the more you hide/alter your current, aberrant behaviors, the easier it will be to blame innocent people.
The sole Democrats who voted against the 64 civil rights bill were no doubt bigots and no doubt segregationists.
One, Florida's George Smathers was JFK's closest friend.
Prior to the Civil Rights act of 64 adn the Voting Rights Act of 65, no Republican had a prayer of winning the deep South. IN 1956, the professorial Adlai Stevenson, a liberal Democrat won the deep south over Gen.Pres. Iconic Dwight Eisenhower.
Why were the Dems so popular and Republicans so hated???
Becuase Lincoln Freed them....end of story.
Then, as a way to get out of being a minority party the GOP created the southern strategy and recruited all the Southern Dem defectors who left the party after the Civil Rights bill was passed.
So, the parties changed hands in the south and ideologies.
THe once racist Democrats became the equal rights dems and the once equal rights Republicans became the racists Republicans. Or at least most of them.
During the Kennedy administration, the Republican minority in Congress introduced many bills to protect the constitutional rights of blacks, including a comprehensive new civil rights bill. In February 1963, to head off a return by most blacks to the party of Lincoln, Kennedy abruptly decided to submit to Congress a new civil rights bill. Hastily drafted in a single all-nighter, the Kennedy bill fell well short of what our Party had introduced into Congress the month before. Over the next several months, Democrat racists in Congress geared up for a protracted filibuster against the civil rights bill. The bill was before a committee in the House of Representatives when John Kennedy was murdered in November 1963.
Invoking his slain predecessor, Lyndon Johnson made passage of the bill his top priority, and in his first speech to Congress he urged Representatives and Senators to do "more for civil rights than the last hundred sessions combined". Though he shared Johnson’s convictions on safeguarding the constitutional rights of blacks, if Nixon had been in the White House then instead, Democrats in favor of segregation and those unwilling to see a Republican achieve the victory would have blocked his legislative initiative in Congress.
The 1964 Civil Rights Act was an update of Republican Senator Charles Sumner’s 1875 Civil Rights Act. In striking down that law in 1883, the Supreme Court had ruled that the 14th amendment was not sufficient constitutional authorization, so the 1964 version had to be written in such a way as to rely instead on the interstate commerce clause for its constitutional underpinning.
Mindful of how Democrat opposition had forced the Republicans to weaken their 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts, President Johnson warned Democrats in Congress that this time it was all or nothing. To ensure support from Republicans, he had to promise them that he would not accept any weakening of the bill and also that he would publicly credit our Party for its role in securing congressional approval. Johnson played no direct role in the legislative fight, so that it would not be perceived as a partisan struggle. There was no doubt that the House of Representatives would pass the bill.
In the Senate, Minority Leader Everett Dirksen had little trouble rounding up the votes of most Republicans, and former presidential candidate Richard Nixon also lobbied hard for the bill. Senate Majority Leader Michael Mansfield and Senator Hubert Humphrey led the Democrat drive for passage, while the chief opponents were Democrat Senators Sam Ervin, of later Watergate fame, Albert Gore Sr., and Robert Byrd. Senator Byrd, a former Klansman whom Democrats still call "the conscience of the Senate", filibustered against the civil rights bill for fourteen straight hours before the final vote. The House of Representatives passed the bill by 289 to 126, a vote in which 79% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats voted yes. The Senate vote was 73 to 27, with 21 Democrats and only 6 Republicans voting no. President Johnson signed the new Civil Rights Act into law on July 2, 1964.
Overall, there was little overt resistance to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The struggle was not yet over, however, as most southern state governments remained under the control of segregationist Democrats. It was a Republican federal judge who was most responsible for desegregating the South’s public schools. Appointed by President Eisenhower in 1955, Frank Johnson had overturned Montgomery, Alabama’s infamous “blacks in the back of the bus” law in his very first decision. During the 1960s, Judge Johnson continued to advance civil rights despite opposition from George Wallace, Lester Maddox, and other Democrat Governors.
(raised hand)
Professor,
Edgar Allen Poe left a worthy body of work. My interest was piqued at the age of 10 with "The Tell-Tale Heart" and I was amazed when a local group put Poe to music. Loved The Glass Prism's "The Raven".
Poe's stormy relationship with his father, his life of squalor and his use/abuse of drugs parallel the lives of a lot of your "students".
If I may pose two questions, sir? How do you come to terms with the admonition of your students for the same behaviors that Poe engaged in yet, are still able to admire his works?
Does this allow you some degree of optimism?
5:59 PM
IN RESPONSE
JOHNSON WAS AMAZING. HE ACTUALLY GOT THE FIRST CIVIL RIGHTS BILL PASSED IN ’58. BUT WHEN JFK BECAME PRESIDENT, NO ONE LISTENED TO HIM ON HOW TO PASS LEGISLATION. HE TOLD THEM THAT IF THEY BEGAN WITH CIVIL RIGHTS, THEN THE OTHER THINGS THEY WANTED TO DO WOULD BE BLOCKED BY SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS WHO WANTED TO PRESERVE THE OLD SOUTH. WHEN KENNEDY DIED, A BILL TO SELL WHEAT TO RUSSIA TO HELP FARMERS WAS BEING STALLED BY SENATOR KARL MUNDT. THE TAX BILL WAS HELD UP BY SENATOR ROBERT BYRD OF VIRGINIA (NOT THE ONE WHO BECAME MAJORITY LEADER) BECAUSE HE WANTED CUTS FROM VARIOUS DEPARTMNENTS. AS JFK’S BODY LAY IN STATE, JOHNSON BEGAN WORKING THE SENATORS. AFTER JFK’S FUNERAL, HE HAD A MEETING WITH GOVERNORS WHO ATTENDED THE FUNERAL AND TOLD THEM THAT THE SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS AND MUNDT WERE TRYING TO SCREW THEIR FARMERS OUT OF MUCH NEEDED REVENUE. BY 1AM, HE HAD ENOUGH VOTES TO KILL THE BILL. BUT IT WASN’T ENOUGH. HE STAYED UP THROUGH THE NIGHT WITH HIS AIDES AND SAID TO SENATORS THAT IF THEY WANTED TO REPUDIATE THEIR PRESIDENT WHO JUST GOT HIS BRAINS BLOWN OUT, THAT WOULD BE ON THEM, NOT HIM (LBJ.) THE MEASURE WENT DOWN TO DEFEAT BY TWO TO ONE. JOHNSON SENT THE MESSAGE THAT HE NOT ONLY WANTED TO WIN, BUT CRUSH THOSE NOT PLAYING BALL.
THE TAX BILL CONSERVATIVES EMBRACE FROM JFK WAS STALLED TOO. JOHNSON WORKED THE MAIN OBSTACLE SENATOR BYRD AND GOT HIM TO AGREE THAT THERE WOULD bE NO SPENDING LARGER THAN 100 BILLION IN 1965. THE SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS WANTED TO STALL IT BUT JOHNSON INSISTED IT BE OUT OF COMMITTEE BY CHRISTMAS. HE TOLD BYRD THAT HISTORY WOULD LONG REMEMBER HIM (BYRD) AS THE PERSON WHO MADE THESE TAX CUTS. IT GOT II OUT OF COMMITTEE AND THE TAX REDUCTION ACT OF 1964 WAS SIGNED BY JOHNSON IN FEBRUARY.
JOHNSON KNEW HE HAD TO HAVE SUCCESSES AND MOMENTUM BEFORE HE GOT TO CIVIL RIGHTS BECAUSE HE KNEW OTHER SENATORS WOULD SAY, “YEAH WELL CIVIL RIGHTS IS IMPORTANT BUT LOOK AT ALL THIS OTHER STUFF FROM JFK WE HAVE TO PASS.”
IF ONLY OBAMA PAID A VISIT TO THE LBJ LIBRARY BEFORE HE STARTED WORKING WITH CONGRESS……..OR HE SHOULD HAVE CALLED ME!
Johnson's mastery was the product of years of service in DC. He is often regarded as the greatest Majority Leader in the Senate's history.
Obama's predicament is that he did not truly understand the workings of DC (as was Carter's before him) and failed (as Carter additionally did, but Reagan did)to appoint insiders who knew the system adn could work it.
For all the talk of Presidentail candidates who proclaim themselves outsiders, in the end it is best to have an insider President.
However, since the present Congress is a congress of no compromise on most issues I think any Democrat in the White House at this time (or in the last years since the GOP regained control in the House) would have his/her hands tied.
And unless by some miracle the Democrats win back the House in 14, along with the Senate, I doubt Obama will get anything of great significance through.
What would be great political theater is if a Conservative justice retires ( I would never wish death on any of them) to see the massive fight that would ensue over an Obama SCOTUS appointment. I am not certain if SCOTUS appts. must pass the Senate by plain majority or two thirds. IF it is two thirds we will have a real barn burner on our hands. What a fight that would be!!!!!!!
Bless YOU.
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