Topic du Jour

Think of it as sitting down in a restaurant and the wait person stops by to take your drink order and tell you what the special(s) of the day are – could be a favorite of the owner/chef; could be something they got a good buy on; could be something left over from yesterday and they want to move it; could be something that a favorite customer who is coming in today always wants available.

More than likely us regular restaurant patrons didn’t have a lot of input in determining the specials on this day.  The agenda; the menu, was decided by others and we really don’t know how or why.

When it comes to politics and media attention a similar process is at play.  There is an agenda and it is determined for reasons determinable and not so readily determinable.

Today the agenda item is gun control.  Or "are the Brits ready for a sporting event?"

Last week it was Obama’s comments on who is responsible for business success – the business person or the government that build the roads.

Before that it was Romney’s overseas investments/banking accounts/job outsourcing and tax records/payments.

You get the idea.  Someone is deciding what goes on the menu and it changes every week or so.  Next week it may be Syria/middle east/Iran/Israel or it could be Europe and their impending implosion; recession; depression.

Could be the value of the Chinese currency or the LIBOR interest rate (no, that was last month wasn’t it?)

What won’t it be?

Debt – Deficits – Destruction.

What else won’t it be?

Military industrial complex.  Wars.  CIA spending.  Drones in the homeland skies.  NSA eavesdropping, in the homeland skies.  Troops in Korea, Japan, Europe.

Speaking of drones – what has killed more innocents – American drones or nut jobs in theatres?  Also, speaking of drones, we were wondering about the inevitable but, of course, accidental meeting of a drone and a commercial airliner in our skies.  Will that be mass murder or just homeland security collateral damage?   Do you get the impression that we are now making up things just to keep the bureaucrat PR machine busy?  Don’t worry, that’s not on the agenda either.

What else won’t be on the agenda?

Bubbles in government spending/health care/education.  Bernanke’s odyssey.  Print money to keep the bubbles going.

Medicare costs.  Medicaid costs. 

Debt ceiling.  Debt repayment.  Debt anything.  No one wants to touch debt.  Debt is off the menu; just like foie gras in California.

The topic du jour is going to be anything but what the topic du jour should be.   One group of politicians won’t touch it because they want to keep it (DEBT) going.  The other group won’t touch it (DEBT) because they are afraid to not keep it going.

So why not talk about guns and soda drinks; small private companies and their investment policies; statues of false gods and candidate tax records?   Aren’t you more interested in LIBOR and Dodd – Frank than stopping the spending and the $4 billion of debt added each day while we wring our hands over a Pennsylvania pervert?

Hey, maybe next week we can talk about melting icebergs?  Sure hope they put that on the menu.  May have to wait another week or so because the chicken restaurant guy exercising his freedom of speech is now the topic du jour.