I watched with amazement on the TV news this morning as a caravan of people led by ACORN, most of whom also live in Connecticut, visited the homes of two AIG executives who were to receive large bonus payments.   These two homes are located in Fairfield.  The town I have adopted as my home town. 

What amazed me was that I was watching a witch hunt take place right in my own neighborhood. To be clear, there were no torches and pitchforks.   But there was plenty of hate to go around. Make no mistake about it-- this is Financial McCarthyism happening before our eyes.

Do these AIG bonuses seem excessive?  Based on what we know, most likely.   But does that give our government the right to disclose the personnel and compensation records of its citizens?   Does it have the right to break private contracts between two parties simply because it does not like the deal?  Whether you like the AIG bonuses or not, the real problem is the lead the government is showing the rest of us.   What they are showing us is what my mom always warned me against while I was growing up-- "two wrongs don't make a right."

As it turns out, one of my Senators, Christopher Dodd, had put language into the Bailout Bill (the same one that is financially supporting AIG) protecting these bonuses and contracts.  This was the same Bailout Bill that both houses of Congress unanimously passed but apparently never read.   And now the government is shocked.  Shocked to find that gambling has been going on in the very casino that they have been frequenting all these years.   And the angry mobs commence there anger upon the rich and successful.   The same way they commenced their anger upon atheists and agnostics in Salem, Massachusetts.  The same way they conducted lynchings because people made the mistake of having a different pigmentation than they did.

Now the government, to cover up their prior mistake, wants to tax these type of bailout bonuses 90%.   Taxation will set you free.

To make this whole debacle even more outrageous is the fact that both of these men HAD RETURNED THEIR BONUSES!   No good deed goes unpunished.   Trying telling that to an angry mob who is blinded over by hate and disappointment in their own lives that they cannot see how wrong their own actions are.   What do you think the chances are that these angry mobsters would give back a bonus from their employer that let's say is the size of the value of their home?   Not a chance.  So what's next for the angry mobsters? Are they going to follow the children of these executives to their grammar schools and call them names and carry signs saying "Give Back Your Bonuses You Spoiled Little Rich Brats?   

The government's actions have led to this lynch mob mentality.  After 9/11 we were shocked to see that we lost some personal freedoms when the Patriot Act was passed.   Bush governed by fear.   Now we risk losing our privacy and the ability to freely enter into contracts without the government interfering.  And all because we're jealous that a few of our fellow citizens make more money than us.   Seems like our new government wants to govern by spite and envy.

My mother was right.  Two wrongs don't make a right.

Today is a day of firsts. This is my first post to my first blog. To further develop this concept of firsts, I have decided to use my first post to announce the publication of my first book. The book, titled Welcome To Pottersville, will be out in June and will be available first at internet bookseller Lulu.com and then at Amazon.com, Borders.com, and Barnesandnoble.com.

The book is about baseball. The book centers around New York's two famous baseball teams, the Mets and Yankees, and their fans. Welcome To Pottersville is also about how something as simple as the baseball team you root for can influence your whole life. It's also about the one constant in our lives, change, and how it can affect things we have known our whole lives. It's part autobiographical, part satire, and part historical. It's about the underdog that's in each and every one of us. And, like baseball, it's about going home.

This blog will be my creative home. In it I will be presenting my viewpoints on a lot of diverse subjects. I will update you on The Welcome To Pottersville project as well as my other creative endeavors. I will write about baseball. More specifically, the New York Mets. Most importantly, I will write about life and the three most important things in mine- my wife, my family and friends. If you are reading my blog, you fall into that last category. Thank you for visiting my friends. We'll talk soon.