By LAMAR THAMES

I am not sure whether the health-care protesters are all dealing with a full deck, but make sure of this: The Obama administration would be wise not to ignore them.

The protesters carry with them  the greatest threat to the status quo of the present administration — distrust. If Barack Obama wishes to carry the legacy of his presidency into the next election and beyond, he must face up to the fact that people are unhappy, scared and just plain angry about the state of the nation. And I don’t blame them.

Distrust is one of the worst enemies a political party can face, even if the distrust is founded on disinformation. Obama must share in the blame for not having more specifics in his health care proposals. All that did was leave a vacuum for naysayers to fill in the blanks, which you knew they would. Read the rest of this entry »

Lamar Thames

I frequently get asked how I am enjoying retirement.

I’m usually taken aback by the question because I don’t consider myself retired.  It is true that I don’t have a job, that I am 65, that I receive a Social Security check every month and that I have not gotten a job interview since I was laid off by the Florida Times-Union in November 2008. Still for the life of me, I can’t come to grips with the idea that I am retired. Let’s just say I’m between jobs.

Of course, I really don’t expect anyone to hire me at this stage of my life, especially considering the state of the economy these days. A lot of people who are younger and more educated than I am are in the same situation in that they can’t find jobs either. That makes my chances of returning to the workforce even more unlikely. Still, I persevere.

I currently have applications in for two positions I feel I would like and am qualified to handle. And there are a couple Read the rest of this entry »