On Tuesday Obama gave a speech about the deficit and budget. Liberal commentators who I follow seem to have all liked the speech and claim it represented Obama's pushing back against the Republican assault on American institutions. And maybe the commentators are right. Maybe Obama expressed a vision for the equitable and just America, like what I heard him describe in his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention at Mile High Stadium in 2008. But I don't know for sure because I didn't listen to the speech, and I only glanced at the commentaries. If Obama actually called out Republicans on their right-wing moves, that's great, but it's also too little and too late.

I needed to hear Obama stand up to Republicans back in December, when the Bush tax cuts got extended. I needed to hear Obama stand up to Republicans in January, when state workers across the county found their collective bargaining rights attacked. I needed to hear Obama stand up to Republicans in February, when NPR and Planned Parenthood found themselves savaged. And I won't even talk about Obama's complicity in the barbarous treatment of Bradley Manning.

Obama assumes I'll vote for him in 2012. But I'm thinking it'll take me until then before I get a hold of Not Shakespeare's recordings from the 1980s – And listening to modern rock strikes me like a better plan for spending Tuesday evening, November 6, 2012 than anything else I can think of right now.

George Wade posted the above quote to his Facebook page. The quote sums up how I feel, even though it doesn't mention Obama's spineless inaction. Regardless, that's George in the photo, on the left, at the mic – the front man for Not Shakespeare.

Not Shakespeare was a band from Blacksburg, Virginia. They played the east coast, the central US and maybe beyond that in the 80s and into the 90s. When I was in Blacksburg, finishing writing my thesis, I'd drive home to where I was living in Elliot Valley and listen to their cassette. Driving in in the morning and driving back at night – they're what I listened to. I don't know why I didn't get more music or turn on the radio, but I got to know that cassette real well. The music was poppy; the writing smart; and the band had its eye on a bead of rock n roll glory.

Before that, they had played at a party in our basement on Progress Street. It's when the photo above was taken. In addition to George in the photo, you see Todd and Mike. I remember we collected a cover charge at the door, but then one of the roommates took the money and bought more beer. At the end of the night George wanted the money. I told him someone else had the door, and I'd get back to him... At dawn – or thereabouts – after Not Shakespeare had packed up and everyone had gone home, the roommate who'd bought the beer handed me the last can and said he'd saved it for me, which I thought was pretty nice.

But, Not Shakespeare never got paid for the gig. Do I still owe them? It's the same question Obama should be asking.

War on the middle class ― Blacksburg, Virginia