Guns A'blazin.

When Fox News says that President Obama is "Reagen-esque", you know something has to be working.

What didn't work was Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, delivering the Republican rebuttal to Obama's impressively clear and concise speech. Wasn't it refreshing to be able to listen to our President and actually understand what he was talking about? How long has it been since the general American public has anticipated, nay, been excited about the President addressing Congress? Prior to President Obama entering the hall, I almost wanted them to dim the lights, bring on the noise AND the funk, turn on the strobe, and replace "Hail to the Chief" with the theme from "Remember the Titans" (which the Democrats already used effectively when Obama accepted the Democrat Nomination at Invesco Field). No, wait...how about our new anthem..."Jai Ho". It would have made for a better eventual segue from the President to, *sigh* Jindal. In fact, I probably would not have started laughing immediately if the Gov had started with "Many congratulations to "Slumdog Millionaire" rather then "Happy Mardi Gras!" which was a little attempt at seeming hip and aware.

What if the Republicans had hired Hugh Jackman? Rather then their address being half spoken/half sung (and not in a suave Rex Harrison manner), Jackman would have gone all out with clever props and costumes to re-enact the stories Jindal so painfully droned on with. It was a very obvious set up for a possible 2012 run for the Presidency. He compared his unique "only in America" story directly to Obama's. He is probably thanking his lucky stars that he won't have to run against his own party, for surely they would use his background to claim that he couldn't possibly be really born in the United States and also that he, by default, must be a Hindu, and will therefore make it his personal mission to turn the entire country into a Hindu nation. I can only imagine the tag lines (again this is if Jindal was a Democrat running against the GOP): "Hitler actually reincarnated?", "Piyush...more like Piyuck", "Kiss your Big Macs good bye, America!" Luckily for him, Jindal won't have to face such childishness because Democrats rarely sink into that type of irrationality.

What made this required speech so disappointing is that Gov Jindal is a very smart and well educated man. He is supposed to be the new star of the GOP and the one who will revive the party after Bush and Co. did everything in their power to destroy the brand. I expected far more from him. In fact, I was actually looking forward to what he had to say since there has been so much political buzz surrounding his name as of late. Alas, the speech lacked relevance and didn't say anything that we have not already heard from the Republican machine of "no". Seriously, we couldn't watch American Idol because of this? Oh, I digress.

Well while I'm digressing, I feel the need to be honest and say that I rarely write from an un-biased standpoint. Yes, I am registered a Democrat but originally I was going to file myself under the label of Independent. I only decieded to join the Blue Party because I knew it would irk my father who would have named one of my siblings Rush, had my mother allowed it. However, if I had been able to vote in the 2000 election, I would have voted for W (I would have happily voted for McCain). In 2004 I did vote for Kerry but it was more of a vote against W rather then a vote for Kerry. This past election I was a very proud supporter of Obama and yes, I teared up on Election night.

I think the Academy got it absolutely right when it gave the Best Picture Oscar to "Crash" over "Brokeback Mountain". Jennifer Hudson should have lots of Grammy awards but not an Oscar. Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet should be able to pick out their favorite seats at the Kodak Theatre and have the seats reserved for them always. Renee Zelwegger should never be invited (although I will say she was the perfect Bridget Jones). "Wicked" is a fantastic book and a terrible musical. Jeremy Piven is undeserving of David Mamet. Kate DiCamillo and Mo Willems are the best out there when it comes to children's literature. Non-fiction can't always be trusted so fiction is always better. "Twilight"...I don't get it. 30 Rock is the best show on TV and I hope Norman/Nick makes it to the Top 12 on American Idol because I think he is hilarious. I am also not a big fan of oreo cookies but I love Thin Mints. I hope this gives you a general idea of where my thoughts will stem from.

This is the art of the possible. We'll dive into politics, movies, television, film, books, people who are making the world a better place, people who are not, and the general theme of inventiveness and creativity.

Let's end with something we can all agree on: this is the end of the first post.