I love onions...and I love America, but I don't love them for the same reasons. Vidalia, Spanish, Yellow, White, Red, Purple, Green, raw, sauteed, fried (sound a little like Bubba from Forrest Gump, don't I?)...I don't care what kind of onion you serve up my way I like 'em, and I'll eat 'em (cook 'em up with some equally odorous garlic and I like 'em even more). But the harsh reality about onions is that when someone else is eating or has eaten them or not long after you have, the pungent, lingering smell of the onion is anything but a bouquet to the nose...it stinks, and the smell remains seemingly ubiquitous as long as the consumer is still in your vicinity.
America is a great nation, the greatest on earth and in human history. It is living testament to the idea that we are capable of governing ourselves. It offers a freedom that is unparalleled across cultures, places, generations, and time. Too many Americans are oblivious to this fact and are clueless to the blessing that we call "home". But the cold hard reality is that the good ol' US of A is rapidly becoming "messed up," really "messed up". After all, we are a nation in which one can fall into a fountain while trying to walk and text at the same time and then blame everyone else for your being the butt of their jokes. We live in a society where we don't keep score and where everyone gets a trophy, just for showing up. We live in a country where people who enter it illegally can get discounted, in-state tuition (not to mention free public education and health care), while a real U.S. citizen from a neighboring state gets charged as though he was an "alien" to the state next door. We live in a culture that blames the tragic mass murder of a U.S. congresswoman, a federal judge, an innocent nine year-old girl, and a few others on Wile E. Coyote (just kidding...but not really) and harsh political rhetoric (not mine, of course...the other guys). America the Strong, America the Beautiful is rapidly becoming a joke, a shadow of its former greatness, wallowing, if not drowning in its own politically correct, enabling mediocrity. Like the breath of an onion eater, the stench of our own averageness grows stronger and more offensive with the passage of time. America needs to brush its teeth, scrape its tongue, and take a big ol' swig of "Mean Listerine," none of that wimpy "zero" stuff...it just won't get this clean-up job done.
In a bit, the President will give his annual State of the Union address. Unless he really wears a big 'P' (for Pollyanna) on his chest underneath his shirt and tie, this guy is way smart enough to be able to smell America's rotting exceptionalism wafting in our midst. He's the man, the Big Cheese, the Top Dog, the Big Kahuna, the Fearless Leader, the Chosen One, the Last Air bender, if you will. He's arguably the greatest intellect to ever grace the oval office. I am waiting with baited breath to hear what he has to say, to hear his take on "the state of" things, to find out what he thinks is "up" (as I write this, I am listening to a story about proposals to ban texting while...that's right, while WALKING...next thing you know it will be walking while chewing gum that is prohibited...my big ol' butt). I'll finish this post after I've had a listen...later...
Okay, I've had almost two days to chew on the SOTU. On the surface, it was a good speech, long, but aesthetically pleasing. Let's face it....like him or no, liberal or conservative, the guy's a helluva an orator. He's smooth. I would characterize him as affably arrogant. He's a likable guy, and I think he likes him a whole lot, too. Much of his five pillars (not of Islam...but...were they?), the call for more innovation, boosting education, improving our infrastructure and developing our resources, was the fare that almost no one would argue against or criticize. However, underlying much of it was the call for, the requirement of massive spending, or "investment," as this administration is inclined to frame (or disguise) it. I like to refer to the lingo of this administration as "camouflage communication," using language that folks who aren't too smart will think means one thing when it really means something else far less pleasing if we called it what it is. It was also filled with a number of contradictions...we've put money back in the pockets of Americans to break the back of this recession once and for all in extending the Bush tax cuts, BUT we really think that rich people need to give their tax breaks back...we need to reduce the deficit, BUT in the mean time, we need to spend a lot more money...we are going to cut the corporate tax rate, BUT we are not helping those dastardly oil companies...we need to develop our own resources to reach energy independence, BUT we aren't talking about developing our own petroleum resources. And what is his infatuation with "green jobs" and high speed rail? What the hell is a "green job" anyway? Look, if you show me an affordable vehicle that runs on burning kudzu (my idea...you can grow your own fuel in the back yard OVERNIGHT) that doesn't have to stop every 100 miles, or less, for overnight re-charging, I will buy and drive that bad boy TODAY. But the fact of the matter is that, right this second, burning wood 'bout supplies as much of our energy resources as all of those other so-called "green" energy sources combine. And fast trains? Billions, maybe trillions for fast trains? You are kidding, right. Our air transport system is far from perfect, but less face it...I can get in my truck, drive three minutes up the street, get on a plane here on the Island, and connect from there to fly pretty much anywhere in the country, or the world for that matter, and we don't have to spend any money buying any right of way and building any tracks whatsoever!!! I just don't get it...does he have relatives who are banking on parlaying what I believe will be a another massive, mismanaged, money pit (in other words, a boondoggle) into a personal gold mine? On a positive note, the President was spot on when talking education. It does start at home, our culture is more centered upon the celebration of athletic achievement than it is upon academic achievement, as it should be, and No Child Left Behind, which, while noble in intent, is based on inflexible,unattainable goals, does need to be replaced. BUT, none of that is to say that we need more federal money (code for control) infused into improving this condition. Reforms and improvements in education should emanate from state and local forces for change, as local stakeholder have their fingers more on the pulse of what needs to be done and how it can be best achieved. The Constitution does not empower the federal government to micro-manage this critical area of our culture. And what about entitlements, where most of the non-defense budget is devoted? While the President did specifically call for the simplification of the tax code and did make brief and broad allusion to the reform of entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, I was surprised that he did not use the SOTU as a platform for advocating the immediate enactment of the recommendations made by his very own deficit commission. That he did not is exactly why people roll their eyes and sigh when politicians appoint "blue ribbon" commissions to study and suggest solutions for our nation's problems. In the end, most of them and their findings are ignored and forgotten, and they become, in the hindsight of history, big wastes of time and energy.
Last night I wrote a couple of what I called "stream of consciousness" reflections as statuses (stati?) on Facebook. I was amused that just a little while later an obvious Obama supporter that had recently friend requested me posted that unless people were offering solutions on political issues they needed to keep their mouths shut. I am struck at how "rabbit-eared" many Obama supporters are. I listened, without a whine or a whimper, to eight years of Bush bashing, but by golly, if you bash Barry's policies, not the man himself but his policies, you are somehow automatically a racist who needs to be silenced. I even saw one friend who criticized him as not really being liberal (left). Out of political necessity, the President, who is most certainly a full-fledged liberal, has had to tack to the center...or go down in flames in 2012, for certain. The President is a brilliant and personable man, one of many assets. He has in before him now an opportunity, an opportunity to be that post-racial, above-the-fray-of-partisanship president that he advertised himself to be on the campaign trail back in 2008. He is going to have to peddle a more moderate legislative agenda than he would have otherwise liked to, much the same as Clinton did as his presidency unfolded. Yes, it was a good-sounding speech full of pleasing platitudes and American staples, spiced with some progressive vision for the future. But leading isn't speaking...LBJ was a crappy speaker, boring as the day is long (but NOT Harry Reed boring, mind you), but like Clinton, he knew how to forge coalition and compromise to accomplish what he could of what he believed in. I'm not sure that BHO is up to that...he hasn't demonstrated much acumen or interest in being a "uniter and not a divider" to this point. I hope that he can. I really don't want him to fail. I want him to rise up and reach his potential. I just don't know if he can do it though. Unfortunately, he is president at a moment where we need a tough leader with thick skin who is willing to make the hard choices required to face the economic predicament that we find ourselves in at this moment in our history. We need someone who will "just say no" to more spending and more debt. If we do not reduce our debt, if we go in any deeper to the Chinese, we are going to wake up one day in the not so distant future and find that we are no longer the "big dawg." Instead, we will wake up Pekingese, little lap dogs of the world's new top dog, China. Yep, there is a growing stench in the air...a stench of a slowly decaying culture and nation, going down the road of the Greeks and Romans before them. I don't want America to smell like an onion sandwich that someone ate an hour ago. I hope that the President and this new Congress are up to the task of refreshing America. Time will tell, and I think we will know how it will all go down shortly.
America is a great nation, the greatest on earth and in human history. It is living testament to the idea that we are capable of governing ourselves. It offers a freedom that is unparalleled across cultures, places, generations, and time. Too many Americans are oblivious to this fact and are clueless to the blessing that we call "home". But the cold hard reality is that the good ol' US of A is rapidly becoming "messed up," really "messed up". After all, we are a nation in which one can fall into a fountain while trying to walk and text at the same time and then blame everyone else for your being the butt of their jokes. We live in a society where we don't keep score and where everyone gets a trophy, just for showing up. We live in a country where people who enter it illegally can get discounted, in-state tuition (not to mention free public education and health care), while a real U.S. citizen from a neighboring state gets charged as though he was an "alien" to the state next door. We live in a culture that blames the tragic mass murder of a U.S. congresswoman, a federal judge, an innocent nine year-old girl, and a few others on Wile E. Coyote (just kidding...but not really) and harsh political rhetoric (not mine, of course...the other guys). America the Strong, America the Beautiful is rapidly becoming a joke, a shadow of its former greatness, wallowing, if not drowning in its own politically correct, enabling mediocrity. Like the breath of an onion eater, the stench of our own averageness grows stronger and more offensive with the passage of time. America needs to brush its teeth, scrape its tongue, and take a big ol' swig of "Mean Listerine," none of that wimpy "zero" stuff...it just won't get this clean-up job done.
In a bit, the President will give his annual State of the Union address. Unless he really wears a big 'P' (for Pollyanna) on his chest underneath his shirt and tie, this guy is way smart enough to be able to smell America's rotting exceptionalism wafting in our midst. He's the man, the Big Cheese, the Top Dog, the Big Kahuna, the Fearless Leader, the Chosen One, the Last Air bender, if you will. He's arguably the greatest intellect to ever grace the oval office. I am waiting with baited breath to hear what he has to say, to hear his take on "the state of" things, to find out what he thinks is "up" (as I write this, I am listening to a story about proposals to ban texting while...that's right, while WALKING...next thing you know it will be walking while chewing gum that is prohibited...my big ol' butt). I'll finish this post after I've had a listen...later...
Okay, I've had almost two days to chew on the SOTU. On the surface, it was a good speech, long, but aesthetically pleasing. Let's face it....like him or no, liberal or conservative, the guy's a helluva an orator. He's smooth. I would characterize him as affably arrogant. He's a likable guy, and I think he likes him a whole lot, too. Much of his five pillars (not of Islam...but...were they?), the call for more innovation, boosting education, improving our infrastructure and developing our resources, was the fare that almost no one would argue against or criticize. However, underlying much of it was the call for, the requirement of massive spending, or "investment," as this administration is inclined to frame (or disguise) it. I like to refer to the lingo of this administration as "camouflage communication," using language that folks who aren't too smart will think means one thing when it really means something else far less pleasing if we called it what it is. It was also filled with a number of contradictions...we've put money back in the pockets of Americans to break the back of this recession once and for all in extending the Bush tax cuts, BUT we really think that rich people need to give their tax breaks back...we need to reduce the deficit, BUT in the mean time, we need to spend a lot more money...we are going to cut the corporate tax rate, BUT we are not helping those dastardly oil companies...we need to develop our own resources to reach energy independence, BUT we aren't talking about developing our own petroleum resources. And what is his infatuation with "green jobs" and high speed rail? What the hell is a "green job" anyway? Look, if you show me an affordable vehicle that runs on burning kudzu (my idea...you can grow your own fuel in the back yard OVERNIGHT) that doesn't have to stop every 100 miles, or less, for overnight re-charging, I will buy and drive that bad boy TODAY. But the fact of the matter is that, right this second, burning wood 'bout supplies as much of our energy resources as all of those other so-called "green" energy sources combine. And fast trains? Billions, maybe trillions for fast trains? You are kidding, right. Our air transport system is far from perfect, but less face it...I can get in my truck, drive three minutes up the street, get on a plane here on the Island, and connect from there to fly pretty much anywhere in the country, or the world for that matter, and we don't have to spend any money buying any right of way and building any tracks whatsoever!!! I just don't get it...does he have relatives who are banking on parlaying what I believe will be a another massive, mismanaged, money pit (in other words, a boondoggle) into a personal gold mine? On a positive note, the President was spot on when talking education. It does start at home, our culture is more centered upon the celebration of athletic achievement than it is upon academic achievement, as it should be, and No Child Left Behind, which, while noble in intent, is based on inflexible,unattainable goals, does need to be replaced. BUT, none of that is to say that we need more federal money (code for control) infused into improving this condition. Reforms and improvements in education should emanate from state and local forces for change, as local stakeholder have their fingers more on the pulse of what needs to be done and how it can be best achieved. The Constitution does not empower the federal government to micro-manage this critical area of our culture. And what about entitlements, where most of the non-defense budget is devoted? While the President did specifically call for the simplification of the tax code and did make brief and broad allusion to the reform of entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, I was surprised that he did not use the SOTU as a platform for advocating the immediate enactment of the recommendations made by his very own deficit commission. That he did not is exactly why people roll their eyes and sigh when politicians appoint "blue ribbon" commissions to study and suggest solutions for our nation's problems. In the end, most of them and their findings are ignored and forgotten, and they become, in the hindsight of history, big wastes of time and energy.
Last night I wrote a couple of what I called "stream of consciousness" reflections as statuses (stati?) on Facebook. I was amused that just a little while later an obvious Obama supporter that had recently friend requested me posted that unless people were offering solutions on political issues they needed to keep their mouths shut. I am struck at how "rabbit-eared" many Obama supporters are. I listened, without a whine or a whimper, to eight years of Bush bashing, but by golly, if you bash Barry's policies, not the man himself but his policies, you are somehow automatically a racist who needs to be silenced. I even saw one friend who criticized him as not really being liberal (left). Out of political necessity, the President, who is most certainly a full-fledged liberal, has had to tack to the center...or go down in flames in 2012, for certain. The President is a brilliant and personable man, one of many assets. He has in before him now an opportunity, an opportunity to be that post-racial, above-the-fray-of-partisanship president that he advertised himself to be on the campaign trail back in 2008. He is going to have to peddle a more moderate legislative agenda than he would have otherwise liked to, much the same as Clinton did as his presidency unfolded. Yes, it was a good-sounding speech full of pleasing platitudes and American staples, spiced with some progressive vision for the future. But leading isn't speaking...LBJ was a crappy speaker, boring as the day is long (but NOT Harry Reed boring, mind you), but like Clinton, he knew how to forge coalition and compromise to accomplish what he could of what he believed in. I'm not sure that BHO is up to that...he hasn't demonstrated much acumen or interest in being a "uniter and not a divider" to this point. I hope that he can. I really don't want him to fail. I want him to rise up and reach his potential. I just don't know if he can do it though. Unfortunately, he is president at a moment where we need a tough leader with thick skin who is willing to make the hard choices required to face the economic predicament that we find ourselves in at this moment in our history. We need someone who will "just say no" to more spending and more debt. If we do not reduce our debt, if we go in any deeper to the Chinese, we are going to wake up one day in the not so distant future and find that we are no longer the "big dawg." Instead, we will wake up Pekingese, little lap dogs of the world's new top dog, China. Yep, there is a growing stench in the air...a stench of a slowly decaying culture and nation, going down the road of the Greeks and Romans before them. I don't want America to smell like an onion sandwich that someone ate an hour ago. I hope that the President and this new Congress are up to the task of refreshing America. Time will tell, and I think we will know how it will all go down shortly.
No comments:
Post a Comment