Cheeseburger in Paradise

Duffy had the experience of attending a Jimmy Buffett concert last night at the Amway Arena in lovely downtown Orlando. Now to start off with, Duffy doesn't attend too many concerts. In fact maybe two or three in his whole life. The last one was probably around 1980 in Atlanta when Duffy and spouse watched the (what was left of) the Kingston Trio. Duffy realizes that 98% of the people who read this blog don't have a clue who the Kingston Trio is but they were BIG back in 1962! He also saw Peter, Paul and Mary back in college. Maybe somebody else, he can't be sure. Anyway, Duffy's spouse wanted to see Jimmy Buffett so she bought outrageously priced tickets and got her friend and her husband to go along. Duffy has always like Jimmy Buffett's songs and style and knows that he has a loyal following (Parrotheads) that turn out in great droves to see him perform. Mr. Buffett has worked years to perfect his "brand" and like the Grateful Dead has a vast merchandising empire that includes restaurants, merchandise, concerts and CD's that embody all things "Parrothead Nation". He's probably almost as rich as his other namesake, Warren Buffett.

The concert was sold out which meant about 15,000 parrotheads many of whom had camped out hours before hand in 50 degree weather to tailgate. Many huge RV's in the parking lot and lots of grills, beer coolers and lawn chairs. Was this a concert or UCF football game? The first thing that Duffy noticed walking among the crowds is that there really is an obesity epidemic in this country. It was obvious that a lot of parrotheads had eaten too many cheeseburgers in their life. Many had sharkfin hats on, many of the rest wore straw cowboy type hats. In spite of the temperature a lot of the fans wore shorts and Hawaiian type shirts. True devotion requires some sacrifices.

Even though we didn't have the cheap tickets ("cheap" being a relative term) our seats were in the top level which our group got to by climbing a 80 degree slope up to our row at about 9,000 feet. Somewhere down below we could see the stage. The concert was supposed to start at 8 p.m. but when the appointed time arrived perhaps half the seats were filled. Promptly at 8:20 band members starting appearing and in about 3 minutes 8,000 more fans piled in the arena to their seats. Obviously many of them knew the drill. A few minutes later Duffy saw Joe Biden walk out on stage which set off wild clapping and cheering. Duffy thought, "why is eveybody cheering the vice president?". Duffy knew that he had never heard of Joe Biden going on tour with a band and so looking at the big screen hanging down to conveniently aid those of us in the clouds to actually see what the hell was happening down on stage, Duffy could see that it actually was Mr. Buffett who must have been separated from Mr. Biden at birth. And Mr. Biden wouldn't wear shorts, a T-shirt and no shoes.

Mr. Buffett had 11 muscians and two female singers in his group and one could tell they had all been together for some time. Several of the group looked as old Mr. Buffett, a man in his early 60's, who looked to be thoroughly enjoying himself. The group did all the old favorites including "cheeseburger in paradise", "Havana daydreaming", "changes in attitudes, changes in latitudes" and other songs of that genre. After a while Duffy got the impression that Mr. Duffy has gotten fabulously rich over the years basically singing the same song over and over again but changing the words and the tune a little bit. If one's idea of paradise is living like a bum in a tropical location then one can appreciate the appeal of Jimmy Buffett's songs. And in fact, ole' Duffy does see a lot of appeal in that lifestyle......

Mr. Buffett seem energized and focused in the first half of the set but after a short 10 minute intermission both the energy and focus seemed to Duffy at least, to have devolved into a "when can we get this concert over with?" attitude subconsciously emanating from Mr. Buffett. One supposes that after singing the same songs, telling the same jokes, year after year on the road, doing concert after concert can do that to you. However, it was obvious that Mr. Buffett and his band members were enjoying themselves probably because in their heads they were counting up the gate receipts of the sold out crowd.

Duffy's take on Parrothead Nation is that they seem to share many characteristics with NASCAR fans, i.e. slavish devotion to the whole Jimmy Buffett shtick which includes dressing up in funny outfits and getting drunk. Duffy remembered why he dosen't "do concerts" as he was reminded of sitting middle seat in a Delta MD-88 flying from LA to Orlando. The acoustics was a giant echo chamber and the constant jumping up and down of short, fat female fans wearing cowboy hats distorted his view of the (very) small Mr. Buffett appearing somewhere, way down below him. Nevertheless, the spouse had a good time as well as about 14,900 parrotheads who screamed, whistled, yelled, jumped up and down like Nancy Pelosi and otherwise appeared very drunk most of the time. Mr. Buffett has a good thing going. And he knows it.

Sarah's Tea Party

Hundreds, (more or less), of Duffy's readers have asked him what he thinks of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement. Well, for one thing Duffy likes looking at Sarah Palin. She is one good looking woman. When she compares to some of the females in the Democratic Party, Michelle Obama being a notable exception, there is no comparison. (think Hilary and Pelosi). That said, here is Duffy's take on Sarah. Two events in September 2008 transpired that sunk John McCain's election. The collapse of Lehman Brothers and the selection of Sarah Palin to be his running mate. The Lehman Brothers collapse was the tipping point that started the Great Economic Panic of 2008. Sarah Palin drove away moderate Republicans and Independents. They weren't ready to elect someone who looks like a typical 6 o'clock local newscaster. True, she energized the Far Right like no one else but the Republicans will never win a general election relying on the Far Right. In fact, one can say that Mr. McCain did the Republican Party no favors in bringing out of nowhere a woman totally unprepared to be Vice President much less President. Now don't get Duffy wrong. He has nothing against Sarah Palin. She is not dumb or stupid as the liberals try to paint her but she is ignorant in a lot of areas. Ignorance just means lack of knowledge. Mr. Obama is a very smart man but at his election woefully ignorant in several important areas, most notably foreign affairs and the military.

Sarah Palin will definitely have a large influence on the Republican Party and national politics in the years ahead. She is a classic populist appealing to the anger of the middle class. She's not going away as much as the main stream media and liberals try to demonize her. She is smart, hard working and determined to "spread a message." Duffy doesn't think she quite knows what her message is yet except to annoy and confound the liberals and the Obama agenda. Not a bad thing everything considered. She likes the adulation and needs the money.

Duffy still doesn't know quite what to make of the Tea Party movement. The TPM means more than "Taxed Enough Already!" Duffy thinks that the American people have finally reached a tipping point where there is a general consensus in the country that "enough is enough" when it comes to Big Government. Mr. Obama ran as a moderate centrist but quickly showed his true colors once in office as a far left ideologue. Duffy doesn't think his inner nature will allow him to pivot to the middle to appeal to moderates and independents in time to save his presidency. He will, like Jimmy Carter, be a one term president unless he has a total "conviction transplant" between now and November 2012. And he can't shake Nancy Pelosi.

The TPM, by itself, will not elect a Republican president in 2012 either. At some point as this is happening already, the TPM will become an structured organization with recognized leaders, a permanent funding source, office in Washington, the whole nine yards. The TPM will favor Republicans more than Democrats especially as long as Nancy Pelosi is running Congress. And she is, in fact, running Congress. Harry Reid is on his way out and pretty much a hack anyway. Again, the TPM is symbolic of a pervading sense sweeping across America that the total debt burden of this country is unsustainable, that Congress is pretty much worthless to fix anything and that bank bailouts, cap and trade, immigration "'reform", owning car companies, buying off the unions, is not America and shouldn't happen again. The Republicans, Duffy believes, should and must appeal to moderates, Independents and the people of America in the ideological center to elect a president in 2012. They can enlist the aid and energy of the TPM but can't depend on them to set their agenda or expect them to be the "core" that will boost their chances in 2012. Duffy thinks the TPM is a good thing for the country as a whole and the liberal Democrats, who don't understand it, have a right to be worried.

State of the Union: a new beginning?

Duffy has a confession to make. He did not watch the State of the Union address last week. He figures he sees enough of Obama nearly every day appearing on some news show, late night comedian show or as on Saturday both him and the Vice President, Joe Biden, taking in the Duke - Georgetown basketball game. I fully expect to see him on cable hawking the latest $19.95 wonder gadget soon. I guess when the economy is in serious trouble with unemployment at 10% the president and vice president can knock off from work and catch a basketball game. I'm sure the secret service just loves the Prez and Veep sitting together in a large public venue. Duffy wonders whether Obama is as big a narcissist as Bill Clinton. One hopes not.

Anyway, Duffy did read everything he could about the State of Union speech both pro and con and watched some clips on You Tube. The thing that struck ole' Duf is that on one hand he says Americans are angry with "Washington" which I assume he means mostly Congress but on the other hand the solution to the problems lies with........"Washington". The unstated premise seems to be that if the American people would just let the Democratic controlled Congress do their work, i.e. pass the Obama agenda, then everything would be alright eventually. But why the anger? Because the Republicans are fighting Obama and Pelosi tooth and nail against the Health Reform bill that would bring one sixth of the economy under federal control? The American people have already seen what happened with a $787 billion stimulus bill that hasn't exactly stimulated anything. The takeover of Chrysler and GM that bought off the UAW. The people looked hard at a "cap and trade" system that supposedly would increase costs on American business of over a $trillion and "solve" a global warming problem that many people don't think exists. The people are wary of proposed legislation on immigration that would enable 12 million illegal immigrants to become citizens without paying a price. You bet the American people are angry and wary of future Obama agenda items engineered by Pelosi Democrats from the Northeast and California. Finally to insult the Supreme Court when six of the members were seated in front of him is the rankest of bad manners. You can bet there will be even fewer or no Supreme Court judges next year at his State of the Union speech.

Obama went to a Republican conclave in Baltimore and agreed somewhat to "listen to their concerns" but I don't think he really meant it or that Republicans really believe him. If he doesn't listen to Republicans and Pelosi doesn't bring them into creating legislation then nothing will change and gridlock will continue.

Duffy now believes that Obama, who claims to be a pragmatist, is really a hard left ideologue that fully intends to move the federal government more into people's lives to solve "problems' that a lot of folks don't perceive to be problems at all. Moreover, he doesn't seem to be able to stand up to the Pelosi Democrats who are still scheming to jam a health reform bill through without Republican votes. Mr. Obama seems to do a good job of sounding tough, but rarely acts tough. He is seen more and more by the American people as a weak president who can't and won't stand up to the far left ideologues in his own party.

The Massachusetts election brought out in the open in the bluest of all states a massive repudiation of Obama policies most especially his health reform bill, and should be a clear and loud wake up call to Mr. Obama and Mrs. Pelosi that they have to change direction. Duffy doubts that Mrs. Pelosi, who seems to be living in a parallel universe, will "get it" while Obama will "get it" but will he do anything about it? We'll see.....