Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Has Obama failed?

Economist magazine is conducting an online debate on whether Obama has failed. The poll as of now is 46% yes and 54% no. I voted no and added the following material. I could have written a lot more but those points have been made by many others.

---------------What I sbumiited =====================================
Of course, Obama has not failed. Look at the shallowness of the criticism against him: he tried to do too much; he is following Bush's policies. Bush had policies! If Bush did, Obama would not be forced to fix things on many fronts. Now,Obama gets blamed for trying too many things. Let me try to make my point by using an analogy. A house in on fire - the fire is on the roof, on the sides, on the windows, doors. To save the house you have to extinguish the fire at every place almost simultaneously. That's what Obama tried to do. But it was not one man's job. Sadly, the onlookers (Congress, Senate) instead of helping him tried to stop him. No wonder, the house is still burning. The health debate is not about doing what is right or wrong, but it simply demonstrates the lack of political power of poor once the election is over.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Tiger Woods: How can he redeem?

My reaction to the news in Forbes that Tiger Woods, in spite of his recent fall from
grace, is still the top athlete brand was kind of curious. I was not surprised. I have been his great admirer,if not one of his greatest. I just fell in love with his game the first time I watched him play in the Collegiate Tournament. He was benind by a quite a few shots and not many holes were left. He pulled himself together and won. Over the years since, I have seen him do this many times. No matter how far back he is on the scoreboard, you can never count him out. And, that's what made me watch him play. I loved his devotion to his father. I cried with him every time he hugged his father after winning a championship. I did not mind his course antics of showing his frustration, even though I did not like them.

My initial reactions to his indiscretions was one of anger and disappointment. But, when I heard that so many women were involved, I started feeling sorry for him. It had to be some kind of sickness, addiction. He needs help. As a fan, I was hoping that he can put all this behind and get back to Golf. I was not ready to lose him from the game. It would be such a shame and a loss to the sport world.

So, how can Tinger redeem himself? First of all, he should come out with his mother and wife by his side, and publically apologize to both women for his behavior. He should apologize to his father who is in heaven now. Then, he should apologize to public. Without going into any details, all he should say - he was sorry, his behavior was shameful and he would never do it again. He should not take any questions from reporters. After doing this, he should return to golf and win tournaments. Now on, his life should be an open book. What he does and where he goes,etc. should be known. This might be the hardest part. But he has do it if he wants to regain his lost glory.

Ram Misra February 5, 2010