It's Two Roads Diverge Up Ahead Thing

Dear America,

oh wow.

that speech!  that remarkable speech!

oh my -- I'm so inspired I am changing sides.

not.

can you say, same old same old, same same blah blah blah?

oh but he had me at:

"At stake is not simply a choice between two candidates or two political parties, but between two paths for our country.  And while there are many things to discuss in this campaign, nothing is more important than an honest debate about where these two paths would lead us."

oh yeah baby. damn straight.

and then quickly he makes a stunning admission:

"Long before the economic crisis of 2008, the basic bargain at the heart of this country had begun to erode."

"The basic bargain... at the heart of this country...had begun to erode?"

seriously?

"THE BASIC BARGAIN?"

you are basically going to lead, Mr. President, with revealing to the American people how you really feel about the very free market foundation this country was made -- about how capitalism basically ruins everything?

Bearing in mind that up until the minute before this speech begun, the stop in Ohio was to be credited for re-framing his economic policies moving forward into his second term. It was fully intended to reposition his strengths and diminish his weaknesses to the American people.  And yet, this speech amounted to nothing more than another revolution on the class warfare merry-go-round.

Nothing new was said here.

While contradictions great and small abound. 

For a full read -- go here.

But if short on time or patience, let me elaborate on a couple --

"In other words, this was not your normal recession.  Throughout history, it has typically taken countries up to 10 years to recover from financial crises of this magnitude.  Today, the economies of many European countries still aren’t growing.  And their unemployment rate averages around 11 percent. 

But here in the United States, Americans showed their grit and showed their determination.  We acted fast.  Our economy started growing again six months after I took office and it has continued to grow for the last three years."  (Applause.)

So, in other words, typically it takes up to ten years for countries to recover after such financial catastrophe...but thanks to ME, I did it in six months.

oh is this what democracy looks like --  is this what recovery feels like?

just moments later -- came this little number:

"So the debate in this election is not about whether we need to grow faster, or whether we need to create more jobs, or whether we need to pay down our debt.  Of course the economy isn’t where it needs to be.  Of course we have a lot more work to do.  Everybody knows that.  The debate in this election is about how we grow faster, and how we create more jobs, and how we pay down our debt.  (Applause.)  That’s the question facing the American voter.  And in this election, you have two very different visions to choose from."

 so it's in the how?

so if it's in the how....

so far that looking like a Trillion Dollar Stimulus -- which clearly didn't work -- with the shovel-ready jobs being not so shovel-ready (and even the president making a joke out of it to boot); with the cash for clunkers and auto bailouts and Chevy Volt's totaling more fizzle than shizzle; with government loans totaling a half a billion to Solyndra highlighting the green energy/government fusion with catastrophic results; with Obamacare posing as such formidable threat to small business and corporations alike, that 70% of the American people no longer want it, in whole or in part; and still, after all of that, choosing to double down on his same old agenda -- education, "transformative" teachers, taxing the rich, building bridges to nowhere and high speed rail?

And for all intents and purposes, fundamentally transforming America from a free market built upon the strength of the individual to a market place fully controlled and operated from the "top down" -- BIG GOVERNMENT -- with the bigger the better.

Yes, Mr. President.  You nailed it.  "At stake", two widely different paths.

Moving forward in the speech a wee bit, we get this:

"Now, I want to be very fair here.  I want to be clear.  They haven’t specified exactly where the knife would fall.  But here’s some of what would happen if that cut that they’ve proposed was spread evenly across the budget:  10 million college students would lose an average of $1,000 each in financial aid; 200,000 children would lose the chance to get an early education in the Head Start program.  There would be 1,600 fewer medical research grants for things like Alzheimer’s and cancer and AIDS; 4,000 fewer scientific research grants, eliminating support for 48,000 researchers, students and teachers."

oh okay -- be clear with the fact "they haven't specified exactly" but feel free to elaborate on so-called specifications pulled out of thin air -- and then, Mr. President,  say it all over again --

"Now, again, they have not specified which of these cuts they choose from.  But if they want to make smaller cuts to areas like science or medical research, then they’d have to cut things like financial aid or education even further.  But either way, the cuts to this part of the budget would be deeper than anything we’ve ever seen in modern times."

This is classic Obama.  This is what he does for all his speeches.  This is Alinsky rules for radicals 2.0.

and it just gets better...

after continuing a swift pace of demagoguery and ridicule,  he makes a dramatic stop, and speaks directly to the audience screaming 'no' in unison:

"You should take them at their word, and they will take America down this path.  And Mr. Romney is qualified to deliver on that plan.  (Laughter and applause.)  No, he is.  (Applause.)  I’m giving you an honest presentation of what he’s proposing."

nice touch, indeed.  

but did you catch that?

"Mr. Romney is qualified to deliver on that plan."

can I get an amen?

oh but never mind, for his plan is simple:

"I don’t believe that giving someone like Mr. Romney another huge tax cut is worth ending the guarantee of basic security we’ve always provided the elderly, and the sick, and those who are actively looking for work."  (Applause.) 

over and over again, the return to some form of class warfare and government dependency becomes the platform for an incumbency...something totally incongruent to the "basic bargain" made between government and the individual...the very agreement made between two parties, of all parties, that just so happens to have founded and preserved this country for over two hundred years unconditionally.

As the big economic vision speech comes slowly to an end, he adds:

 "From now until then [November], both sides will spend tons of money on TV ads.  The other side will spend over a billion dollars on ads that tell you the economy is bad, that it’s all my fault -- (applause) -- that I can’t fix it because I think government is always the answer, or because I didn’t make a lot of money in the private sector and don't understand it, or because I’m in over my head, or because I think everything and everybody is doing just fine.  (Laughter.)  That’s what the scary voice in the ads will say.  (Laughter.)  That’s what Mr. Romney will say.  That’s what the Republicans in Congress will say..."

"...Governor Romney and the Republicans who run Congress believe that if you simply take away regulations and cut taxes by trillions of dollars, the market will solve all of our problems on its own.  If you agree with that, you should vote for them.  And I promise you they will take us in that direction. 

I believe we need a plan for better education and training -- (applause) -- and for energy independence, and for new research and innovation; for rebuilding our infrastructure; for a tax code that creates jobs in America and pays down our debt in a way that’s balanced.  I have that plan.  They don’t.  (Applause.)  

And if you agree with me -- if you believe this economy grows best when everybody gets a fair shot, and everybody does their fair share, and everybody plays by the same set of rules  -- then I ask you to stand with me for a second term as President".  (Applause.)

the thing is -- watching him speak is one thing; he is animated and strong and full of passion; he makes the perfect pauses, and emphasizes his strengths in full roar, capitalizing on the energy from the audience every time.

And yet when reading the transcript -- without all the hoopla -- we basically witness the sweeping circles he makes in and around saying virtually the same thing, over and over again, but in multiple dimensions. Talk about transparent, the shell of a presidency, the basic man becomes naked.  We see too much.

After blasting America for not being good enough in so many ways --  needing to make our teachers better and paid more, needing more kids to go into science and technology, needing more manufacturers and small business to get more and do more, needing less rich and more middle class all the way around, needing more bridges and railway, needing more regulations and less freedom -- after most of speech telling us what we are without, he has the audacity to finish with this:

"We remain the wealthiest nation on Earth.  We have the best workers and entrepreneurs, the best scientists and researchers, the best colleges and universities.  We are a young country with the greatest diversity of talent and ingenuity drawn from every corner of the globe.  So, yes, reforming our schools, rebuilding our infrastructure will take time.  Yes, paying down our debt will require some tough choices and shared sacrifice.  But it can be done.  And we’ll be stronger for it.  (Applause.)  

And what’s lacking is not the capacity to meet our challenges.  What is lacking is our politics.  And that’s something entirely within your power to solve.  So this November, you can remind the world how a strong economy is built -- not from the top down, but from a growing, thriving middle class.  (Applause.) 

This November, you can remind the world how it is that we’ve traveled this far as a country -- not by telling everybody to fend for themselves, but by coming together as one American family, all of us pitching in, all of us pulling our own weight.  (Applause.)  

This November, you can provide a mandate for the change we need right now.  You can move this nation forward.  And you can remind the world once again why the United States of America is still the greatest nation on Earth.  (Applause.)  

Thank you.  God bless you.  God bless the United States of America.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

The problem is, Mr. President, you can't run the second time around like you did on the first.

"What is lacking is our politics?"

What does that even mean?

You ARE the incumbent, dear sir.  It is YOUR economic policies that ARE showing.  And it is simply those policies that have not done enough according to the real world in the How, in the now.  It is now proven; it is you who does not have the right stuff to be qualified as president, even after a presidency (of course, you never really did).

You can try to wrap it all up in sweet sentiment, emphasizing all the things that make America great all you want.  The American people have watched you, listened to you, have entrusted you with our care for long enough.  We've heard it all before.  And like Romney said, "talk is cheap."

It is as simple as that.

And the very reason Romney -- a perfectly "qualified" businessman, with a proven track record -- has a better chance of turning this country around, the next time around.

but you're exactly right, Mr. President.
Clearly, two roads diverge.

and round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows ...
until November.

Make it a Good Day, G

but really great speech
...let's hear it all again some time again real soon.


oh and to count the number of "I's" and "My's" -- towards the end, it becomes obscene.
But really, if you think about it, it affirms that we are under HIS plan as we speak.
AND HIS plan has not worked. 
Since day one, it has been ...My Plan, I will, I am, I intend, I promise, I, I, I, my, my, my.  Every speech, every time -- and so much so, a host of conservative press and bloggers poke fun at it each and every time.  Go ahead; go back through the speech from yesterday and make note of it.