About six months ago, the only ceiling anybody ever talked about was the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at The Vatican in Rome. Now, when the word ceiling is uttered, a whole new mental image appears.
Sadly, when it comes to ceilings we don't think of the iconic hand of God giving life to Adam in Michelangelo's 16th Century ceiling masterpiece any longer but rather to a cartoonish image, pick your own, depicting the current feebleness of our governmental leadership (see above)in dealing with the "debt ceiling" of our great country. From the sublime to the ridiculous in 500 hundred years for the evolution or "de-evolution" of one word: ceiling. And who can we thank for this new paradigm of "ceiling"? Guess. Us. For we voted into office this current cast of misfits. So blame us. And shame on us for we knew who we thought they were and did it anyway. Oh Brother!
The biggest misfit in this sorry cast of hundreds is President Barack Obama. After two and half years of his governance, it's time to face the facts. This community organizer, Obama, from the cesspool of city politics called Chicago, was entrusted by the majority of voters to govern over the world's largest economy and right the good ship "America." What has he done? Spent alot of our money for dubious, loser and purely political causes, you know them by name: Stimulus, Obamacare, Bailouts, Too Big to Fail, Cash for Clunkers, Fannie and Freddie, GE earmarks, Libya, Pakistan, and many others. And what do we have to show for his leadership? 9.1% Unemployment. Anemic GDP of 1% last quarter similar to Spain's growth. Spain? Divisive government. Public mistrust. Corporate hoarding of cash in the trillions. Still in Iraq. Still in Afghanistan. Still in Gitmo. Sputnick references. Solar shingles. Beer therapy sessions. Public education catastrophe. Gays in the military. TSA body vision screening. Unbridled abortions. Facing a debt downgrade by Standard and Poors. More than half the 50 states challenging in courts Obamacare. Rising inflation. And a working, hopefully, middle class that is overworked, underpaid, overtaxed and on life support. As casino magnate, Steve Wynn, said, "this current government is the biggest wet blanket to American business in its HISTORY." Heh Barack, "tanks for nuttin."
Is this the "change" platform on which Obama so persuasively campaigned? Remember "yes we can." What was all about? Lately even his most ardent supporters are turning on him. The king of calypso and liberal gadfly, Harry Belafonte said, "When Barack Obama said, 'Yes, we can', it was politically clever but he never defined what it is that we can do. So we filled in those spaces with whatever which set up 2 and a half years of disappointment...His mission has failed because it lacked a certain kind of moral courage, a kind of moral vision, a kind of courage we are in need of."
And what is Obama's response to all this fallout? He blames others and events beyond his control, even acts of God. Cast fault away from the mirror, it's less personal that way. It's Bush. It's Cheney. It's the tsunami. It's Europe. It's the Arabs. It's Fox News. It's the Tea Party. It's Elvis. It's mercury retrograde. Yadda-yadda-yadda. It's absurd...that's what it is and everybody in the room knows it. As Harry Truman said of the Oval Office and the incumbent role of the sitting President, with a sign on his desk that said, "The buck stops here." Instead, Obama's sign on his desk surely declares, "I need all your bucks now, particularly, from you rich folks!"
So the ceiling debate rages onward. Obama blames the Congress. Congress blames Obama. Some half-baked compromise will settle things down for awhile. But one thing is unmistakeably certain in this country today. Because of this debt ceiling brinkmanship under Obama's watch, America has lost it's moral way in the world. Former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright said of this stalemate, "It weakens our position as a moral example to the rest of the world." And that bespeaks of moral turpitude instigated and engineered willingly by Obama. And Obama can't run away from or blame away that!
And, if America can't lead, who will? Iran. Scary thought indeed.
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