An Inauspicious Beginning
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After watching the President’s speech last night, and seeing him score so well with the nation at large, it was especially entertaining to see the Republican reply by Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal.
If the man was trying to put forth the Republican views, as held by the intractable members of the Congress from the area around his state, he certainly nailed it. He sounded as silly as the senators and representatives from the South, whose combined lament is that government spending is a bad thing, in all cases. This tune is dissonant to the one of the last eight years, where it seems that the GOP had no love for education, infrastructure, or social programs, but was fully on board with a needless war and no-bid contracts to those that would help them line their pockets.
Where it started to go completely astray is when he started speaking about the recovery of his state after Katrina, dismissing the help of the government (both state and federal) as insignificant. Everyone knows how FEMA screwed the pooch, but to say there was insignificant help to this day, from the government, sounded very hollow, and insincere. The help was late and not enough, but certainly not worthy of total dismissal.
Though the speech was carefully crafted, it was necessary, because any less care and the audience would have plainly spotted much of it as half-truths and lies. The rest of the sad refrain offering cooperation with the President is so much lip service, meant to appease those of little cognitive ability, and lack of deep thought. The time for cooperation was before the passing of the stimulus, it is a ridiculous offer now.
The delivery was certainly good, so the GOP doesn’t have to worry, if this man becomes the voice of the party in 4 years, about the possibility of incessant gaffes like the previous head of the GOP. Still, he needs a different tune, one that has not been heard before, or at least lately. The tune from last night was one of discord and incongruity, as the least capable thinkers could plainly see that the problem being dealt with was caused by what this man offers as a solution.
To paraphrase Jack Nicholson, ‘Go sell crazy somewhere else, we’re all stocked up here, and have been for the last eight years.’
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3 Comments
the oracle
February 25th, 2009
at 3:39pm
Jeff, I think you’re the one that has missed the point. The money never was there - that is the root of the problem.
Bush spent money that wasn’t there, on a problem that wasn’t there, during a presidency that shouldn’t have been.
The stock market is a sham, using other people’s money to prop up inflated estimates of wealth.
All that is going to be done is what has always been done - they print more. That’s why we (technically) don’t have money, we have currency. Money went away when Tricky Dick took us off the gold standard.
Also, I don’t believe the President has ever uttered anything about spending to get out of debt. The spending is supposed to restore everyone’s desire to spend, and those who invest, put the money back into the market.
leftystrat
February 25th, 2009
at 7:29pm
“Bush spent money that wasn’t there, on a problem that wasn’t there, during a presidency that shouldn’t have been. ”
Regardless of persuasion, that’s pure poetry, Oracle.
The Republican response was just part of the necessary dance. This president wants to use (your) fiat money for his chosen `charities’, while the last president had different charities. In either case, it’s our money (that doesn’t exist) and our descendants that are going to foot the bill.
Sometimes I wonder if we (collectively) are ever going to wake up. When I hear people talking about Dancing with the Stars, I realize that we don’t need to wake up; I need to go to sleep.
Jeff Pittenger
February 25th, 2009
at 11:06pm
Obama is a master speech maker. Too bad what he plan s to do won’t work. Use IRS figures and do that math. The money is not there. Bush was not a true conservative. I laugh at the idea that to get out of debt we need to spend more money. This from a man who has never run anything, never had to make payroll, etc. Oh wait, he was a community organizer. Well, that changes everything.