It's an Incredible Shrinking Presidency Thing

Dear America,

anticipations and expectations are at an all time high just in case you have been living under a rock.

of course, we have been here before.

so much was riding on the Team of Hope and Change...

and now, even close friends, loyalists, and fellow community organizers and associations can feel the pangs of fundamental transformation gone awry if not entirely wrong.

This is a stunning realization:

“He has sort of lost the sense of power and mystique of the presidency,” says longtime Obama ally Andy Stern, former president of the powerful Service Employees International Union. “There’s also a sense that people aren’t scared of him. That’s very dangerous.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/62773.html#ixzz1X26GvK2t

The article, The Incredible Shrinking Obama, opens with bar graphs dripping from the headline, almost like big giant tear drops, showing the stark and dismal perceptions of a presidency are slimming to all time lows.  But just listen to the language of Stern..."there's also a sense that people aren't scared of him.  that's very dangerous."

really?  the office of the presidency and the lucky one who sits in the Oval Office is supposed to hold such power over the little people that we should be afraid?  Sounds kind of marxist/communist/dictatorship/tyrannical/and insultingly oppressive if you ask me...and you?

And who said mystique is what we want or need in a president anyway?

I, for one, am more comfortable in a camp where mystique no longer lives; I. for two, wish to leave the ritualistic bowing to a leader to the indigenous villages of the great outback -- or giving a collegiate nod to being back at school --  seems more appropriate to the opening festivities of a typical rush week.  Power, mystique and scaring the living daylights out of the populace seems a wee bit old world if not beholden to the likes of a Greek tragedy.

For Andy Stern, he believes it is more dangerous when the people are no longer scared -- what the hell is that?

While another staunch supporter of Obama, Maureen Dowd -- quoted in the same POLITICO post -- adds to the toxic level in mystical proportions of the Left's Lament, saying:

“Obama is still suffering from the Speech Illusion,” New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote last weekend. “The idea that he can come down from the mountain, read from a Teleprompter, cast a magic spell with his words and climb back up the mountain, while we scurry around and do what he proclaimed.”

 And dare I say, Obama knows this.

The joint session address -- normally only associated with the most serious of occasions...like responding to an act of war, promoting brand new Trillion Dollar Entitlement reforms, and the like (otherwise, after awhile, the perception slides into some rendition of the boy who cried wolf...just sayin') -- is scheduled for 7 pm eastern time.  This would be four o'clock pacific time, and clearly, timed to air before anybody can get through rush hour to watch it.  What's the hurry Mr. President?

Oh right...

...you were afraid of your audience conflicting with the opener of the NFL.

The Saints and Packers game was simply just too much of a threat to the "incredible shrinking Obama."

I have said it before, and I'm sure to say it again -- this girl loves her football.  And today, I couldn't be more proud.  oh the power of sacking a president without even touching the guy.  and it has nothing to do with not liking the man -- he seems cool ...you know, without all the pesky details of his policies.  AND a whopping 74% of the people agree with me on that (see article) And looky there, now stacked up in the making of another salient point made by POLITICO and kinda lookin' like a pig pile formation... but I digress.

Anticipation and expectations are making this president squirm; leveraging his dwindling mystique into an uncharacteristic and insignificant media hour at four in the afternoon, power washing his economic policies across the board with generalities and chock full of promises to be outlined at a later date, and completely sandwiched in-between a GOP Debate (tonight...making the official Rick Perry unveiling...yippie skippy) and the NFL twenty four hours later. Who's ready for some tall-tale-gate now?

In reality, after all the hype, he really doesn't want a lot of attention for this presidential address at all.-- he has thought about it -- he has pondered the politics of it -- respective of the risks versus the rewards -- and now realizes that his incredible shrinking presidency is going to be all on the line.  Whether that line is dug in on the Offensive or Defensive side we will just have to wait and see.

...breeding even more anticipating
...more expecting
...ushering in an era of the highest shrinking confidence levels that this country has ever known, now settled into the deep-seated thoughts and minds of nearly eighty percent of us (POLITICO notes that only 19% of Americans believe we are headed in the right direction).

And now, given that I have officially got football on the brain, it begs the question, does Obama even know which goal post is ours? Who's team is he on anyway?  For he is apparently running in one direction while the rest of the team is going the other way.  Just which one is not like the others?  It's just a fair question paired with a live ball.

and let's bring in the cheerleaders for a moment before I go -- many thanks and raucous pom pom bursts go to Glenn Thrush and Carrie Budoff Brown for a great article breaking down the thrill of the current political game afoot. you two are number one (for today anyway).

Make it a Good Day, G

It's a How Do We Do No Harm Thing

Dear America,

so we are in a peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, kind of pause today --

--  the debt ceiling debate will not hit the floor for a vote, at least for today, for the battle of wills is alive and well.  We have a president who believes it is time to "eat our peas," but at the same time, doesn't believe we need a constitutional amendment to enforce balancing the budget.  And more or less telling us,  at least take a bite of those peas; if you don't like them, spit them out...you don't need to finish...at least you tried them. 

...peas porridge in the pot, nine days old.

Anyone else remember this nursery rhyme?

I am feeling relieved that, for the moment, our Congress has done no harm.  So, we will wait. Peas may get cold, but we will wait.


So, for this morning, we will move into an entirely different direction -- and no, if you have followed me this week, you would know I have been meaning to get to a discussion on Shared Sacrifice vs. Shared Prosperity...and that isn't going to happen either.


Some of you may remember that I have been without a working television, now going on the last two weeks.  My news then, comes via the internet, the radio, and conversation. In an odd way, I feel like I have drifted into the forties, hanging around the radio out on the family farm in Kansas -- as if it was my only contact to the outside world.

So anyway, there I was, hanging my laundry (via my handy dandy stack-able Maytag washer & dryer), listening to local talk radio yesterday afternoon, until I was stopped dead in my tracks and began to cry.


I cried  -- everything from big crocodile tears to teeny tiny whimpers -- for probably close to an hour; I couldn't stop.  And still! in this moment... I am doing it again... as I struggle to see the screen, beginning to get drowned out in a wet cloud between blinks.



But perhaps for all of you, this is old news; maybe you are all way ahead of me...being that I am stuck in the mainstream media boonies.  But it was yesterday when I first heard the story of little Leiby Kletsky.

The details of the life of this young boy -- a life lost way too soon -- just hit me.  It hit me hard.  It was as if the air was knocked out of me and I couldn't move.

Leiby (pronounced Lye-bee) was eight, and a week away from his ninth birthday.  The family -- settled into a close knit Hasidic Jewish community, in the Borough Park area of Brooklyn, NY -- discovered that their little Leiby was missing on Monday, late afternoon.

But here I am, listening to this story unfold for the first time, only just yesterday.

And remember now -- picture G just folding laundry, minding my own business, listening to local talk radio -- which, for the afternoon, a public conversation monopolized by the debt ceiling debate.  For the most part really -- the truth is -- only every once in awhile my ears would perk up and listen in; I was busy, busting out the chores around the house. 

Perfectly harmless, right?

And to that end, during the news breaks, I tend to turn my attention off -- I spin into the kitchen for a coke, or, it becomes a moment to powder my nose, wipe a handkerchief across my brow (...living large, deep into the 1940's, I am, I am) -- but this time, was different. It began like a news bulletin -- marked by a few beeps and everything -- and quickly, my attention was no longer all mine.

We learned right away, that Leiby had practiced walking home from  a Summer Day Camp with his parents for days leading up to Monday afternoon; we learned he was autistic -- leaving his parents deeply concerned whether or not he could handle the walk home, of seven blocks, on his own.  It was a big decision for everyone.  Leiby insisted he was ready.

It was the very first day -- Leiby began his walk home and got disoriented.  He stopped and asked a man for help.  The man said he would help him; and as the story goes into details you can read for yourself through the link above -- let me just say, he did no such thing.  He did harm.

Leiby's beautiful little life was taken from him.

The news, however, went into detail. Of course, that is kinda what a radio has to do, right?  There are no pictures to follow along; the imagination just has to follow along with whatever we hear... through the radio.   Another vivid detail totally unexpected for this girl.

The child -- Leiby -- was kidnapped, suffocated and dismembered into teeny tiny pieces -- with parts found in the refrigerator, and whatever else this guy could find, to hide his sick and twisted crime.

I don't know about you,
but how does one continue folding the towels?

I responded immediately with every sensation rising to the surface -- as if Leiby were my own son. And I just couldn't stop crying.
...how fascinating the human spirit can be, isn't it?  one minute we could be singing nursery rhymes to our self, with the next, we are punching the pillow in a rage of disgust, anguish, in total despair, just like that.

Leiby got a little lost on the very first day he walked home alone.

And the sudden impact of Leiby's injustice was simply too much for me.

It is still too much for me.

It makes me weep for all of us; swept into a whirlwind of questioning our indignities,  just where are we going? what are we doing to each other? how can this happen?

How does a civil society find peace and security when we share a neighborhood, a community, a collective with, clearly, the broken souls? 

You know, our president loves telling stories to us -- just a matter of record over the last couple of years; this week, in the midst of these idiotic debt ceiling bickerings, he should have stopped us, as a nation.

I wish he had.  Stopped us. And made a few remarks about Leiby --

I wish he had taken to the airwaves, and reminded us, that we can do better than this; I wish he had addressed Leiby's parents directly --  looking them right into the camera -- and extended a heartfelt apology for their loss, while offering his unwavering commitment of the Department of Justice to re-double their efforts to meet the needs of communities far and wide, of battling pure evil against our sons and daughters.

But what do I know, maybe he did -- without a television, how would I know, right.  You tell me: did our president address this horrific crime upon an innocent child?  Did he bring us together, similar to how he addressed a nation, after the Gabby Giffords attack?  Sure, one was a bigger story than another -- it's not like he could address every child taken in broad daylight and had their little life snuffed out within hours, like a young nine year old Christina, from the very same day in Tucson.  He would be telling us stories all the live long day, now wouldn't he?

The thing is, I just believe, that every once in awhile,  we could all use a little gathering around the radio.

We need to be reminded why we are here, what we are good for, and all the ways possible that we can change, as a people,  to make the world a little bit better.

If we are not reminded how to be good - - the easier it is for society to become lost, that's all.

What, who, when, where.. how are we given direction to grow the good? Do we get it from school?  not really, not any more.  Do we get it from church?  for some perhaps, for some, not any more.  Do we get it from our community, at the corner five and dime?  not without the horror of being labeled extremists, crazy nut cases.

How do we really learn to do no harm? It's a good question. 

So, the last thing for today has to be this:

...the debt ceiling is meaningless, if we, as a society, grow to become lousy, selfish, corrupted, dishonest, good for nothing people too scared to simply do the right thing, and the right thing only, as much as we possibly can -- while encouraging others to do the same, of course; it's totally meaningless.

And to Leiby's parents, my solemn prayer for you both, is to find peace.  I honestly don't know how you do that, but it is my wish anyway.   Your son has left a hand print on my heart, if not my entire world.

Make it a Good Day, G

Dear America,

"Real leadership 

creates the conditions and coalitions 

for others to step up as well; 

to work with allies and partners 

so that they bear their share 

of the burden and pay their share of the costs; 

and to see that the principles 

of justice and human dignity are upheld by all."

President Obama

okay.  so let me be clear, we are in the presence of a REAL leader...

And just in case you are not convinced, perhaps throwing in twenty-three I's and all about me's, as president, will make it so; yes, roughly one every minute of his time.  And the "let me be clear's" -- and there were some real winners -- quite of few; while many of those were fittingly commingled with the I's. Before long, wouldn't you know it, we've got one great big pot of stone soup fit for a king.

"I ordered warships into the Mediterranean." 

...even though this is not a war, per se...

"I refused to let that happen...

and so I authorized [kinetic] military action."

...it would have been really funny if he actually said 'kinetic'...

"And tonight, 

I can report 

that we have stopped Gadhafi's deadly [kinetic] advance."

"I made it clear, 

that Gadhafi had lost the confidence of his people...

and I said that he needed to step down from power."

"As president, 

I refused to wait for images of slaughter 

and mass graves before taking [kinetic] military action."

"The task that I assigned our [kinetic] forces

to protect the Libyan people from immediate [kinetic] danger, 

and to establish a [kinetic] No Fly Zone – 

carries with it a UN mandate and international support. 

It is also what the Libyan opposition asked us to do...."

...but stops way short, kinetically speaking,  

of including Gadhafi's absolute departure...

"I have made it clear that I will never hesitate 

to use our [kinetic] military 

swiftly, decisively, and unilaterally 

when necessary 

to defend our people, 

our homeland, 

our allies, 

and our core interests."

...that would be the oil...

"It should be clear to those

around Gadhafi, and to every Libyan,

that history is not on his side."

...because, let me be clear, history is on my side...

for I am, you know, the president of

 the United States of America...

"so for those who doubted, 

let me be clear, the United States of America

has done what we said we would do."

"Thank you, God Bless you, 

and may God Bless the United States of America."

...as he pauses at the podium for applause,

exits stage left,

brushing his hands off as if, good,

that's done.

oh, and I almost forgot, one of my favorite moments came close to the start, when the president offered up a few kind words from the streets of Libya:

"for the first time, we finally have hope" 

-- being nearly brought to tears as he said it... O' pied piper of hope and change. Yes, and it is all because of you, Mr. President -- none of this would be happening without you.

And given America will officially be passing off the torch come Thursday, let us pray.

yes, yes, indeed, cuz you know:

"[while] Some nations may be able
to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries
[care to name names and take no prisoners].
The United States of America is different." 

yes, yes, indeed, we are exceptional like that.

Now, speaking of hope and change, Bill O'Reilly's thoughts on the evening's presidential address, gave the Commander-in-Chief patriot points, saying he was actually showing signs of [kinetically] coming from the center -- highlighting the fact that after residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for some time now, he now realizes just how crazy things are in the real world.

huh?  are you kidding me, O'Reilly? Is this what happens after a Super Bowl Sunday Interview with the guy, you get all soft?  are you kidding me?

Please, review Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, if you will, and make a tactical [kinetic even] correction in the next few days.  honestly, are you for real playa?

The Obama Doctrine, just in case you forgot [but let me be clear here, only addressing O'Reilly] is this --

Never, Never, NEVER let a crisis go to waste --
the [kinetic] intention is to re-invent and reform America one crisis at a time, for as long as it takes, in order to fundamentally transform every facet of our lives, because...

"Real leadership 

creates the conditions and coalitions 

for others to step up as well; 

to work with allies and partners 

so that they bear their share 

of the burden and pay their share of the costs; 

and to see that the principles 

of justice and human dignity are upheld by all."

Redistribution of wealth,
Social Justice reforms,
Means to an end,
Breaking the value of the dollar,
Moratoriums on creating our own energy supply,
Bankrupting our Federal Government,
Creating absurd, unconstitutional, regulations and legislation,
Equating Radical Islamic Extremism to "man caused disasters" --

while calling World War III ...."kinetic military action."

This is what we do in America, according to our fearless leader; and you fake it, til you make it, if you have to.

You, my dear sir, are a real [kinetic] leader -- you do the things you do so well, honestly, I gotta admit, it is awfully hard to keep up sometimes.

Make it a Good Day, G

But before I go, given you were speaking at the National Defense University last night -- and given MY topic of conversation, just yesterday, when G (ME!) highlighted the [always kinetic] Final Four stats -- I have to ask -- you do realize they don't have a team in the hunt, right?

oops, maybe I AM not done; you know, having just celebrated a quintessential mid-life birthday, your continuing emphasis on the brilliance of young people, marked by making waves world wide, is starting to wear kinetically thin...perhaps if OUR young people held a certain reverence to our founders, a bunch of old guys, and the age old wisdom nestled deep within our inherent birthright and duty, individually and collectively, our "kids" might then, not only be doing better in math and science, but may also be the first in line protesting every fundamental change you keep dishing out...we -- meaning me G -- might have to [kinetically, of course] shift our conversation over there in the coming days.

and don't you just love a good  "Day After"  -- popping an Advil now.
the entire transcript on THE PRESIDENTIAL Afternoon Address is here