Saturday, June 13, 2009

We're Not Out of the Woods Yet

This Blog tries to keep out of politics mainly because both sides think that the other side is the problem. When you think about it, without the other party being there, you have no one to blame the mistakes on.

Every four years we elect a president. About half of the voters get their choice of who gets the office. After elected, the President gives a couple of speeches and then settles down to the job of running the country. Then after about two years in office the press usually starts whining that there haven’t been enough Presidential news conferences.

This President’s plans may or may not work; only time will tell. But there is one thing that is very irritating; this guy will not stop talking. He has a solution for everything. Most probably, if he were to stop explaining what is being done, we might interpret things for ourselves and come to the “wrong” conclusions.

Can you imagine getting on an airliner for a cross country flight and have the pilot on the intercom talking to the passengers for the whole flight? Even if there was nothing wrong, you might question the pilot's mental state.

Presidential speeches use to be rare enough to where you would take the time to listen to at least part of it. Does President Obama think he has a captive audience and can talk his way out of this mess? Haven’t we had one too many press conferences? Is this going to be one never ending pep rally? He reminds me of the construction worker who leans on his shovel when he talks.

I'd really like to turn on the TV and not get a Presidential briefing on how great the economy is doing (he'd be playing golf if that was true). It’s illuminating to hear the President say, “We aren’t out of the woods yet.” It sets my mind at ease to know, it's not a train tunnel that we're in.

19 comments:

Sackerson said...

"He reminds me of the construction worker who leans on his shovel when he talks."

Lovely way to put it. And aren't most of them like that?

dearieme said...

In immediate postwar Britain there were headlines "Shortage of Shovels". A government minister said "Tell the men to lean on each other".

Anonymous said...

Obama is very likable. Every twenty years, or so, we get one of these charismatic guys as president.

One of the reasons that Obama was elected as president was that he seemed to like running arround the country giving speaches and talking to the press. That has not changed.

I like Obama. However, I am getting a bit sick-n-tired of seeing him on TV. I wish he would stay put for awhile and slow down his appearances on TV.

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi Sack

It does make you wonder. It's only a casual observation on my part. In todays world the politician that does nothing, usually gets re elected. Your actions haven't irritated the voter.

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi Derieme

Here I thought I had something original. I was hesitant to use it, figuring that no one would know what I was referring to.

Your quote to "tell the men to lean on each other" lends even more humor to the allusion.

Thank you for the tid bit.

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi Anon 9:51

I agree, I am use to the President setting foreign policy and taking care of world issues along with his regular duties. Each occasional appearance meant something was seriously wrong and was going to be acted on and we were being advised.

Here we have a guy on TV day after day. From my point of view, if he has that much time to talk and lecture, why don't we phase out the office and save some money? We need less jive and more action.

His charisma is a big positive for the country, but his daily missives seem like some sort of snow job. I don't buy all the talk, it is too smooth to be real.

Anonymous said...

Are you suggesting you are not interested in the fact he eats at Five Guys? Surely not!

Violation of the Commerce Clause, indefinite detention for you!

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi Anon 3:32

With a wife like his, I'd rather go home for lunch and call it a day. Who needs Five Guys?

Anonymous said...

Jim,

I'm a little dense on your "With a wife like his, I'd rather go home for lunch and call it a day." comment. Please explain the angle. Also, here is an insightful quick read (link) about the two closest women to Obama from an article in Asia Times over a year ago.

Quote from the wife... "I have some difficulty reconciling the two images I have of Barack Obama. There's Barack Obama the phenomenon. He's an amazing orator, Harvard Law Review, or whatever it was, law professor, best-selling author, Grammy winner. Pretty amazing, right? And then there's the Barack Obama that lives with me in my house, and that guy's a little less impressive."

"She added that the TV version of Barack Obama sounded really interesting and that she'd like to meet him sometime."

If the wife is having trouble figuring this guy out, where does that leave us?

With a country as diverse as the United States, how can any elected president please every citizen? I guess that's why they 'normally' appear to do nothing. Governors have more a responsibility to keep the folks happy since states tend to contain folks of similar beliefs and backgrounds. The POTUS should primarily stick to foreign policy and leave the dividing issues alone.

Whats that? Were not out of the woods yet… He can’t see the forest for the trees.

ATP

Anonymous said...

I'm a happily married, straight female. With a wife like his, I'd probably go home for a nooner. Oh, wait, except his mother? mother-in-law? lives with them. I'd be a workaholic, calling press conferences daily to "prove" I was too busy to go home. j/k

I'd like to see truth-in-advertising on the ballot next election cycle. I'll vote for "the guy who doesn't do anything." I'm convinced that some of these crazy proposals are done just so the candidate can go back to the voters and say "look what I made!" My rep sends out a newsletter telling us what laws he's fought or effectively blocked. I honestly can't remember him ever submitting a bill. I vote him back in every time.

So to Mr. "let's put the $600 hammer folks in charge of health care!" I say: more talk, less action (and what he does on his own time ain't my concern).

Anonymous said...

Jim,

After 8 years of Where's George and Undisclosed Location Cheney...you simply forgot what a normal duty is a Commander in Chief.

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi Anon 7:38

I disagree. Quiet people tend to be confident. I have no time for someone who wants to preach or lecture me on a daily basis.

If you read between the lines, his message is, "Stay calm, don't panic, we have everything under control."

The State of California will be bankrupt in 50 days, it doesn't look like things are getting better. Look for longer lectures; we will be harder to convince.

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi Anon 1:55

I don't think we will ever see truth in advertising for Politicians. There would be no one qualified to run for office.

Doing nothing is probably the best solution, but that won't garner any votes. We will get to where we are going either way. This way will just cost a little more.

Tyrone said...

Jim,
Quiet people tend to be confident. I have no time for someone who wants to preach or lecture me on a daily basis.

From Lao-tzu...
He who knows does not speak.
He who speaks does not know.


People that won't shut up and have strong opinions and "know everything" scare the sh*t out of me.

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi ATP

There is the concept of "Going home for a Nooner," You're not going home for food but rather for sex. She's a real knock out, so figure that it's going to take half a day and then some.

I had no political statement. Nor anything to say about his wife, except for her being very cute. Humor was my intended destination.

I try to tie an article together with some sort of relevance to the title, and Obama did say "We are not out of the woods yet."

When you write, you try to include a little humor, that was why I dragged in the train tunnel reference.

I have no problem with the POTUS. My suggestion was that if he has so much time to talk to us, we ought to phase out the position.

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi Tyrone

Nice quote.

Another thing to consider, the people with all of the solutions are usually part of the problem.

Jeff said...

Change in consumer confidence is the only way the US will pull itself out of this mess (in the short term) and the only way to do that is to convince the American populous that everything is OK and getting better. It is all about perceived reality.

Gone Soon said...

I am currently in the woods, and chit chatting with the US economy. We have a lot to talk about, over 1001 nights to go, so it will be a while before both of us are out of here.

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi Jeff

Consumer confidence and perceived reality are key terms. A lot of that is dependent on your age and the amount of retirement saving on hand.

I think that the major thought process for a lot of us, is "If you think things are bad now, just wait 6 months!"

I see a general lack of confidence--daily Presidential speeches could be part of the reason.

I do think that the perceived reality of the present situation doesn't reflect the true values. They are a lot worse than than anyone wants to admit.