Presidental report card

A few days ago I watched as President Obama graded the performance of his first year in the oval office in an interview with Oprah. A solid B plus was his assessment.

I couldn't help but to wonder what he based that evaluation on. His accomplishments alone don't really Merritt that high a mark. No one could deny that he has run into obstacles at every turn so far.

The economy itself hasn't made any noticeable improvements to the casual observer or participant. Health care reform doesn't appear to be any closer to resolve than it has ever been. And we are still sending troops over to fight a seemingly endless war on terrorism. If you were to look at his actual accomplishments, they fall far short of even a passing grade.

The thing is though, that it seems highly unreasonable to expect that he (or any one else) could fix in one year what took the previous administration eight long years to screw up.

We must all take (at least) some responsibility for our own financial situations as well. Who among us hasn't lived above our means on easy credit? We will all continue to struggle until we can pay down the debt that was made so easy to get under the previous administration.

Upon his departure from the oval office, George W. Bush left (among plenty of other things) one hell of a credit card bill on the desk for Barack Obama to work out. And like our own credit cards, this one will also take a while to get a grip on.

We should all be happy though, that this job is in the hands of someone who is at least trying to work in the right direction. The alternative would surely have continued along the same path as his predecessor. A B plus may be a bit of a stretch for now, but lets look again near the end of this term, and hopefully his next as well, before we can really make an accurate assessment of his performance.

A Tiger defeated...

You have no doubt seen plenty of air time on Tiger Woods these past few weeks. It seems that every time I turn around there is more information coming to light or simply a repeat of what has already been uncovered.

It is truly troubling to think that the general public actually thinks this is any of their business. Tiger Woods has made it to where he is today not because of, or in spite of his sexual desire and activity, but rather because of his incredible talent and skill in playing the age old game of golf.

In spite of his alleged indiscretions, he still remains the best golfer the world has ever seen. It would truly be a loss to the sport and its spectators if he were to retire and disappear as a result of the pressure generated by an overly fixated media.

It is a sad time in which we live when actual news stories get bumped from the evening news and replaced with speculation and gossip, the likes of what we read in a tabloid paper at the grocery store.

Perhaps its time we curtailed our voyeuristic tendencies and concentrated instead on making our selves better people.

Let us remember that the people we come to idolize, are just people. Being good enough at something to become recognizable for it, doesn't mean that we at the same time become saintly. So stop being so shocked when famous people give in to temptation, (or are accused of it) and remember that it happens everywhere and every day to regular people too.