Chapter 26. Assessing the Situation for the President

Respectfully submitted to the President:  a list of "whose ass to kick." 

1. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Iranian president and Holocaust denier who continues to move his country closer to nuclear weapons even under a whither hail of stern, stern UN warnings.
2. Hamas.  Recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, the EU, Japan and Canada; and looks to the obliteration of Israel.
3. Vice President Joe Biden.  Also known as Uncle Mouth and Joe Who??  Semi-covert politician who, similar to groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, emerges into public view once a year.  In the open, Biden either says something stupid, in which case he is immediately sent away; or says something completely incoherent and is allowed to continue explaining himself to reporters for six more weeks.
4. Kim Jong-il.  Supreme Leader of North Korea, another dictator looking to throw nuke weight around.  Routinely flaunts sanctions and threats; recently sank a South Korean warship while the world tsk-tsks and wonders why Someone doesn't Do Something.
5. Ken Salazar.  Secretary of the Interior who did little to correct Bush-era deficiencies in his own agency's governance and oversight of deepwater oil rigs, then fiddled and blustered for weeks after the disaster began.
6. James Cameron.  Legendary film maker and tease, got America thinking that taking pictures of the dead wreck of the Titanic, creating CGI avatars that fly, and stopping a several thousand psi oil leak a mile under the sea are all equally feasible.
7. Himself.  Because the buck always stops with him, not Tony Hayward.

Quotient out.

Chapter 25. Term Limits Au Naturel Part 2: Collecting the Data

Continuing from Chapter 22, this blog calls for a voter led action against any incumbent United States Senator who has completed three or more terms as a Senator or Representative.  Here is a list of the current Senators who qualify to be ousted.

The concept is simple:

1. Collect the information you need to take informed action
2. Do not elect any Senator to serve more than three terms at the national level
3. Vote your conscience, so do not pull the lever for any candidate that doesn't meet your moral criteria (i.e. devout Catholics should never vote pro-choice)
4. If all else fails, write in a candidate if necessary

For many, this action will be difficult.  But it is necessary to unravel the knot of corruption in our elected officials.

Quotient out.

Chapter 24. ...Same As The Old Boss.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton, a self-described loather of the military, did his presidential duty by giving a D-day speech to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Allied landing at Normandy, France.  The irony of a draft dodger who studied Russian while American boys were fighting the communists in Vietnam, was naturally lost on the press.  After the speech, Clinton strode Omaha Beach and suddenly stopped to "discover" several stones lying in the sand.  He then knelt and arranged them in a cross.  According to Maureen Dowd, Clinton's aides had preplanned the photo-op.

Fast forward 16 years.  A few days ago President Obama made his second foray down to the Gulf to help solve the crisis (his presidency, not the oil leak).  As usual he promised a lot without really promising anything:

"There are not going to be silver bullets or a lot of perfect answers for some of the challenges that we face, but we're going to keep at this every day... I'm here to tell you that you are not alone, you will not be abandoned, you will not be left behind.  The media may get tired of the story, but we will not. We will be on your side and we will see this through."

Uh, we??  Who exactly is the President talking about?  Well, as he left he did indicate that, "we've got the best minds working on it, and we're going to keep on at it."  But not before he took his own stroll along the beach, knelt down and picked at oily balls that had apparently washed onto the shore.

Like Clinton, President Obama is out of his element.  Clinton avoided the military and exploited D-day; Obama has managed to avoid working a day in his life at a job that requires profitable results, and now sanctimoniously chides the only knowledgeable corporate entity on the planet that has a direct vested interest in fixing this problem:  BP.

Louisiana shrimpers and fishermen need experienced engineers and drilling experts to keep trying potential solutions.  What they don't need are photo-ops and presidential visits or the soft, unspoiled hands of his Brain Trust whose orders amount to inspiring sage rejoinders like "just plug the damn hole."

Quotient out.