Today’s Machining World Archive: May 2010 Vol. 6, Issue 04

I am fascinated by politics. I am also fascinated by baseball, business, psychology and a dozen other topics, all which help make me be a good writer—I hope. But it’s my interest in politics that seems to bug a lot of readers. Despite my love of politics I am not a strong partisan. I usually prefer gridlock because it makes life more predictable and easier to navigate financially. But sometimes you need movement, like during the latest financial crisis when the TARP money really helped stop the bleeding. On health care legislation I waffled, because it seemed so ridiculously complicated. But to my own surprise I was happy something passed that would bring more people into the system, and eventually eliminate the blackballing because of pre-existing conditions. When I mentioned this in a blog it was taken by some readers like an admission I had been a member of the Khmer Rouge. Forty people wrote comments on the blog, which was cool, even if most of them skewered me.I don’t want Today’s Machining World to be seen as my political soapbox, but I do think that politics are fair game occasionally because they affect our lives in so many ways. I don’t like being vilified, but I do get a kick out of awakening readers’ juices.We reviewed the terrific book, Game Change, in the April issue, which gave an insiders’ view of the 2008 election. I’m not afraid to say I gave money to John McCain but ended up voting for Barack Obama because McCain chose the hopelessly unprepared Sara Palin for his running partner.I’m going to talk about politics once in a while because it’s fun.
Just ask Tina Fey.

Lloyd Graff
Editor/Owner