I live in a mid-sized suburban New Jersey community about 15 miles west of New York City. It's pretty typical of many of the small towns in the immediate NYC metro region, filled with Starbucks and Gaps, gas grills and pretty gardens, SUVs in almost every driveway (though of course the only off-roading most NJ drivers ever experience is when they have difficulty navigating their driveways and end up in the flower bed because in fact they're really not comfortable driving those things), and large, old houses on relative small properties.

Our street is very small, and one of the nice things about it is that we're the new kids on the block--and we've been living there six years. Our neighbor to the right has been there 33 years, to our left for over 40. Of the other ten or twelve houses on our block, most folks have been there over 20 years. It's nice, it's real quiet, and it's pretty.

Now, none of the above has anything whatsoever to do with the point of this post. I'm just sort of setting up the scene. That's a literary technique called...uh..."setting up the scene."

Anyway, our neighbors across the street are very cool. Jay and Lisa, he's a photographer, she's a painter (who actually sells her work!!), and their kids, Alex, 17, a whiz-kid who's either gonna discover a cure for cancer or blow up the world, and Sammy, 11, who's a big Yankee fan.

Like us, they have their newspapers delivered to them. Like us, the delivery guy every morning throws their papers on their front lawn. Like us, they have a very small front lawn--like a 10th of an acre.

And here's the thing. Now, on weekdays, Soo and I leave our house around 5.30 in the morning, because we go to the gym before we go to work. So we're not always around when our neighbors across the street rise. But we are there on weekends, and also spend more time at home than lots of other workers--I get 6 weeks vacation/year, Soo gets 5, and with sick day, telecommuting, etc., we probably spend about a quarter of regular working time at home.

And every morning I'm home, I see Lisa--usually around 7.30-ish or so--come out of the house to get those newspapers, and she always--ALWAYS--brings her cup of coffee with her. She comes out of the front door, sometimes in pajamas and bathrobe--sorry, nothing exposed, totally modest and proper--sometimes in regular clothes, carries her cup of coffee the fifteen or so steps to get the papers, walks the fifteen steps back and goes in and begins her day.

Why does she take the coffee with her? She doesn't drink it. She doesn't stop on her front porch and read the paper--she goes right back inside.

And always carrying the cup of coffee (or it could be tea, or it could be--and this is one of the things I like most about Lisa--kool-aid laced with acid) but she never drinks it! There's no time!! Even a parapalegic could make that trip in under half a minute. Why take the coffee cup with you? Why not just leave it on the table, go get the paper and come back inside?

I don't know.

But I do know I have to find more meaningful ways to spend my time this morning.

OK--I'm very new to this whole blogging thing, and, frankly, I'm not crazy about the idea. I'm worried that this segment of the internet is going to spark yet another surge in American self-indulgence--let's face it, we do tend to be the weepiest, wear-it-all-on-the-sleeve people on earth. And we all know that most of what gets into pages such as this very one is..well...crap. I mean, if it weren't, we'd be reading these entries in newspapers and magazines, right?

Well, that covers all of you. My views, feelings, sensibilities, are of course worthy of everyone's time and attention, and I expect that it won't be long until all of you are rushing to your computers first thing in the morning to check on the possibility that I might have made another incredibly perceptive observation while you slept.

So I just want to introduce myself now. I'm 45, married, a commercial banker in NYC with a fairly successful career, passionate about music of many types, particularly at this phase of my life jazz (mainly be-bop) and classical, but also very into blues and blues-oriented rock, trying to hone my passions for art and literature, and making a feeble attempt at learning a little about sculpture, architecture, etc. My wife, Soo, and I live in northern New Jersey, just outside New York City where we both work. We have two dogs--Emma, a 1 1/2 year-old terror of an Airedale, and the most amazing animal I have ever known 9and I've owned 21 dogs in my life)--a 1 1/4 year-old, 31-inches at the withers, 80 pound Labradoodle called Mojo, for whom this blog is named. We do lots of cooking, enjoy immensely beer and wine, like traveling. I have a very keen interest in international affairs, economics and global security. I'm going to use this space to share with you my thoughts and feelings about lots of different topics, but will most likely focus on politics. I'm a democrat...a pretty disgusted one, at that, and am anxious to hear your views about my views and to "mix it up" in a friendly, respectfuly manner to the extent we can.

So thanks for checking in--I'm looking forward to checking out your blogs and making some great new friends here.

Best regards,

Seth

Here’s what today’s republicans have taught me:

If a person loses a good career because their employer had to layoff large numbers of workers in order to maintain profitability, and replaces that career by working two jobs that offer less potential for advancement and fulfillment, that is called “job creation.”

Today’s republicans have taught me that if the government keeps saying inflation is under control, then it is under control. No matter if the box of cherries you bought at Costco for $5.99 in 2003, and $7.49 in 2004, cost $10.49 in 2005. Inflation is under control—the Bush administration says so.

Today’s republicans have taught me a three-part lesson: the best way to address out-of-control personal debt is first to pretend the problem does not exist, and then, when that becomes impossible, to make it more difficult for people to file for personal bankruptcy. The second part of this lesson is that it would be unpatriotic to curtail irresponsible lending practices on the part of financial institutions. The third part of this lesson is to simply brush aside statements by major banks, like Citigroup’s with regard to its 2005 4th quarter results, that profitability is being negatively impacted by delinquencies of credit card holders. After all, Citigroup can always lay off several thousand more people to improve those bottom lines.

In a related lesson, today’s republicans have taught me that the idea of home ownership is one that really tugs at the nation’s heart strings. Don’t discourage new-fangled mortgage offerings now advertised by nearly every “financial institution.” After all, what’s the problem if a family of four with an annual income of $60,000.00 is buying $750,000 houses with “nothing down?” You know what that leads to, right? Record home ownership! The president loves that—loves to trumpet “record home ownership” under his watch. And what to do with the fact that under his watch we’ve seen record home foreclosures? Don’t address it—and it goes away.

Today’s republicans have taught me that an economy can be driven by tax cuts that encourage corporate aristocracy to allocate more funds to the bonus pool than to the R&D pool.

Today’s republicans have taught me two very powerful words—“moral clarity.” Just keep saying them over and over—it’ll work for you. Don’t worry about Abramoff or DeLay…just keep repeating “moral clarity”, and maybe once in a while spice it up with “family values.” And if you really want to get the message through, add on a little “Hillary Clinton”—remember the real scandal—Travelgate—thank God those days are over. Follow this procedure with vigor, and you can even out a spy in an act of political revenge, it won’t matter.

Worry not that the U.S. has seen its global competitiveness deteriorate steadily under the Bush administration. That some nations most Americans have never even heard of are now outpacing us in internet and cell phone technology is not what’s important; what’s important is that if there are those among us who express concern about our slide, we take every opportunity to label them cowards and unpatriotic. They probably don’t realize it, but they’re aiding the enemy. That’s a darned important lesson today’s republicans have taught us.

Here’s a complicated lesson, you’re going to need to stay with me on this one. The best way to attack the looming social security crisis is—well—first, you’ve got to very convincingly pretend there is a looming social security crisis. One good way to do this, today’s republicans have taught us, is to use financial projections out to…uh…well…infinity. Yes, that’s right—don’t worry, people will focus on the collapse of the fund, not the fact that we’re using numbers that stretch out further than a Texas dust field. Then you’ve got to make your case that the best way to address this crisis that doesn’t exist is to let our boys on the street handle it for us—Wall Street. Because they’ve always got our best interests at heart. If anyone says otherwise, remember the two words: “moral clarity.” Then “family values.” Then “Hillary Clinton.”

Today’s republicans have taught us that attacking a village in Pakistan, or wherever, and killing a bunch of citizens, can be handled quite efficiently by noting that among the dead were three or four senior Al Qaeda officers. Were they Al Qaeda? Were they senior? Does it matter? If we say they were, the folks on the tv news will be more than happy to repeat it—over and over and over again.

Another good lesson brought to us courtesy of today’s republicans: it’s fine to rely in our war on terror on a nation whose population is possibly one of the most anti-American on earth, because they also happen to be an important member of the “coalition of the willing.” Who cares if most of them are willing, even eager, to rant in their streets their favorite mantra--“death to America?” Maybe God will punish them with another earthquake soon.

And the most important lesson generously offered by today’s republicans? God is on our side—the real God, that is, and the real “our side”—the right-wing conservative moral clarity crowd. Remember, there are enemies everywhere—enemies to the proper way of life, enemies to our safety, enemies to our children, enemies to our enemies who are allies in our war on terror. Fight ‘em with everything you’ve got: distraction, spin, piety, insinuation…you get the idea. A fine example of this is how we’ve handled our budget deficits—yes, they’re larger than the human mind can even conceive and we’ve done virtually nothing to lower them, but remember, WE are the fiscal conservatives, WE are the ones that want to reduce the size and expenditures of the federal government. Our Eh-Nuh-Mees want to tax and spend, tax and spend and then tax and spend some more. Remember, attack the credibility of your opponents, your critics, your Eh-Nuh-Mees—let’s face it, if they don’t agree with us, they’re dangerous to the nation—and just don’t stop, keep hammering away. The message will get through, because it’s the message of patriotism. It’s the message of America.

Come to think of it, I guess the most resonant lesson today’s republicans have taught me is that it’s really frustrating to be a democrat, to belong to a party so lame and impotent that we find ourselves constantly losing elections and, worse, the battle for the soul of our nation. I guess I just have to remember two words: “Hillary Clinton.” Yeah. That should do it.

An angry, ignorant citizenry convinced by corrupt and incompetent leadership that their very existence is threatened, and sedated into a state of trancelike compliance and indifference by a media that is unmotivated to challenge the powerful elite, will go out on election day and make bad, even dangerous choices.

Yeah, I guess I could be talking about Hamas's stunning victories in yesterday's Palestinian legislative elections, but who are we to worry about that?

Didn't we elect and then re-elect George W Bush??

The scam in Iraq will soon prove to be among the most collosal mistakes ever made by a US administration. As Paul Bremer's recent book makes clear, little attention was paid by our "war president" or the filth that report to him to such details as how to win the "war" in Iraq and more importantly how to win and maintain the peace. A militant insurgency, the creation of a breeding ground for terrorists amongst a people whose daily lives were thrown into shambles, a desire on the part of those same people to have a regular flow of water and electricity were all little issues that went unaddressed in the "planning" of this mis-adventure.

And Iraq was the good news. Afghanistan has once again become overrun by warlords, drug dealers and Taliban.

But why focus on problems so far away.

I'm hoping to find one person in the near future who will tell me GWB's overhaul of medicaid has been in the remotest sense of the word a success--and it won't count if that person is the chief executive of a drug conglomerate.

I want to hear from the religious right about how this administration's outing of a spy in an act of political revenge or domestic wiretapping programs conform with their beliefs. Well, I'm still waiting to hear how they found it acceptable to support a president who benefited from the smearing of a decorated war hero, when he in fact cut and ran as fast and as far away from Vietnam as his rich, powerful daddy could get him.

I want to hear from an economist how we as a nation benefit from the administration's successfully enacted legislation that makes it more difficult to file for personal bankruptcy, but does nothing to curtail irresponsible lending practices on the part of "financial institutions."

What this administration needs is a good, old-fashioned natural disaster to show it can meet a crisis with determination and competence, and--'cause you have to think of the politics, too--to deflect the constant criticism of its massive ineptitude.

Oh....wait a minute....