Elections

It is frustrating to read and hear about too many Americans buying the distortions told by the Republican candidates.
The facts are: Any president who would have taken over the presidency 3 years ago would have had to add to the debt.  The people wanted help, from unemployment benefits, to States wanting assistance for their programs, to small and large businesses.  And any president would have had to give some of that help to avoid complete chaos. Such as a bankruptcy of the entire auto industry.  Even Ford was in debt, but they borrowed from banks. If the other companies had gone bankrupt, the banks would not have given any major loans to anyone, as they, too, would have suffered beyond the many bankruptcies that already occurred among them. The capitalists, who despise the government, they did not offer to pull anyone out of bankruptcy. On the contrary, many, up to this moment, were and are involved in schemes and cheating scandals because of wanting to make more and more money.
So, since the US was already in debt over her head, she had to add more to it.  It had nothing to do with who the president was.

As to Obama during his campaign, he stated he would have to add to debt, he at least knew it, even if the people could not grasp it, but he also said he would help the country to go uphill.  However, he warned that it would not be fast, that maybe within 3 years we could see improvements, but a total improvement would not be achievable for many years, a decade at least.  So it is wrong for anyone to say Obama would solve the financial crisis in three years.

His health plan is not socialistic. He prefers if enough companies offered plans for affordable health care. But he would help the low income people, if needed, toward their premiums. For any Republican to oppose health care plans for the average person who cannot afford present plans, is irresponsible.

As to this country's reputation world-wide, Obama has done much to infuse some trust in us again. Our one-sided, aggressive behavior of the past administration caused much fear overseas. We were seen as a bully.  And if any American thinks this did not matter, he is even blinder than I thought he was. After all, we cannot be a society totally insular and excluded from the rest of the world. Who would we be selling our products to, and how would we import the cheaper products the Americans want to buy over the more expensive American made products.  Again, we live in an illusion and dichotomy if we think we should have higher wages and salaries, but want cheaper prices, like those of the products from countries with "slave labor" wages.

In my opinion, the Americans, too many of them, are very self-centered and cannot or do not want to see the big picture and fairness for everyone.

The fact that Obama cannot get some of his programs through Congress is because of the determination of the Republicans, who said from the beginning of his term, that they would stop him in Congress.  They did not care if they hurt the people, all they wanted was revenge.  Not because, and this is my opinion, of his race, but because he was a democrat who was elected with such a fervor, and under the backlash of disgust with the previous republican president.  The republican ego was hurt.  They could not stand any democrat to be liked to the degree democrats were then liked, because it was meant a smudge on their own party and its malfunction under the previous administration.

Squirrels again

Well, they beat me after all.  The got to the bird feeder by pulling the flower pot rod, hooked over railing, slightly askew, so the bird feeder's side was closer to the railing, then the ate from that corner.

They also managed to bed the metal blade birds sit on, which shuts the feeder opening down, so it does not work anymore. Finally removed the feeder to the pole which stands in open and cannot be climbed.
But I cannot watch the birds there. So I put a simple feeder by the deck door on the post holding the roof over the deck door. So far the squirrels have not come to it.  Wonder when they will try.