“I don’t think one should let the perfect be the enemy of the good here,”
~Stanford University economist Lawrence Goulder
We are living in a time of schizophrenic government and a schizophrenic American public. President Barack Obama after his first 100 days in office must be shaking his head in bewilderment during this time of damned if you do-damned if you don’t public opinion.
The truth is- the American government and the American people don’t know what they want.
Not six-months ago when Barack Obama campaigned for the office of the presidency, most of his supporters, all anti-Bush advocates called for the closing of Camp Gitmo, the US base at Guantanamo Bay where the detainees from the two-week Iraq war have now been detained for eight-years. Obama as one of his campaign promises, vowed to close Gitmo and upon his second day as Commander-in-Chief gave said order.
This week, the American media was in an uproar as Obama actually tried to make good on his campaign promise and close Gitmo. Fear-mongers like Rush Limbaugh and others stir up the American public by broadcasting fears that Obama is going to release what is left of some 200 detainees into American society. Suddenly, Americans who demanded closure of Gitmo and denounced waterboarding and other means of torture used by the Bush administration are demanding that Camp Gitmo remain open. A US Federal Judge ruled government properly holding two Guantanamo detainees
Just today, as Obama unveiled his new energy policies for Detroit to manufacture vehicles that can achieve 35 mpg by the year 2012, already the media is quoting anonymous economists who say that Obama’s plan is disastrous for the economy, that Americans will keep their gas guzzling hogs longer and that the new vehicles are unsafe. Obama just announced his plan today. Don’t you think we should at least give his plan a chance to work before denouncing it? A week? Six months? A year? Don’t you think it would be a good idea to actually manufacture said vehicles first before denouncing them as unsafe?And who are these anonymous economists that the media espouse? What are their credentials, if any, if these sources even exist. Give the names of these economists. Give their credentials, list their experience before lambasting a president who is trying to make good on his campaign promises?
Economists say a gasoline tax, though politically unpalatable, would be far more cost-effective in slashing gas use and global-warming pollution.Perhaps Obama knows Americans do not want any more tax increases- on anything. If the so called economists are the experts that they are quoted to be by USA TODAY, gee; you’d think they’d know that as well. The tax rates are so high in Chicago that major corporations are moving out of Chicago and Illinois to neighboring states. The taxes in Cook County are killing them. So they move out, lay everyone off. Which is why Chicago is #2 in the nation in unemployment right now. But according to USA TODAY anonymous economy experts- lets impose yet another “gas tax” to slash gas consumption. Horse-hockey!
The schizophrenic media, the schizophrenic American public and even Obama’s own schizophrenic Democratic party have created an impossible situation for Obama. With their schizophrenia, their wishy washiness, they have created a damn if you do – damned if you don’t environment in Washington that must have the young president wringing his hands asking, “What is it you want America?
“You want me to close Camp Gitmo- fine! I’ll close Camp Gitmo. Oh, now you don’t want me to close Camp Gitmo. You want me to bring the troops home from Irag- fine! I’ll bring the troops home from Iraq. Oh, now you don;t want me to bring the troops home. You want me to create a cleaner, greener environment, force Detroit to actually make cars that get good gas mileage and cars that the American public actually want to buy? Fine! I’ll do that. Oh, now you don’t want that.You want me to close our borders tp prevent illegal immigrants from over-running America. Fine! I’ll put National Guard on the Mexican border. Oh, now you don;t want me to do that.”
Just what is it you want America?”
When several of the most powerful financial institutions in the world offered several explanations for paying high salaries to their employees — and, by extension, to themselves. [...] President Barack Obama wasn’t in a mood to hear them out … “My administration,” the president added, “is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.” The very next week an Obama administration engineered new bailout initiatives in a way that it believes will allow firms benefiting from the programs to avoid restrictions imposed by Congress, including limits on lavish executive pay, according to government officials.
WHAT???
During the presidential campaign, right-wing attacks on Obama accused him of not only leading the country down the road to “socialism” and “economic Marxism” but also of a nefarious plan to sabotage the U.S. dollar. Obama’s bleak analysis of Chrysler and G.M.’s prospects for survival this week was seen by many as a betrayal o
f the unionized autoworker and further proof that the White House may have changed occupants, but still pledges undying fealty to Wall Street. Does Obama swear fealty to Ayn Rand or Vladimir Lenin? Because it can’t be both, right? Or is it further proof of a schizophrenic administration kowtowing to a schizophrenic American public who are fueled by a schizophrenic oput-of-control American news media?
Because both can be right.Barack Obama is obviously one of the smartest political strategists in modern U.S. history. (Do you really think an inexperienced, 47-year-old liberal African-American with little personal wealth won the White House without significant reserves of political cunning?) Brack Obama got himself elected as the 44th President of the United States because of the clarity and strengthth of his better vision for the United States in the 21st century. So what has happened to Obama’s superior vision to that of fuddy-duddy McCain and Moose-shooting, hockey-mom Palin who had no vision for America other than doing parodies of themselves on SNL?
Americans can be an oddly schizophrenic lot. Even before President-elect Obama took office, Americans seemed indirectly determined to cripple him via our deprecating second-guessing. Many liberals savor believing that they hold their politicians to a higher, purer, superior standard of behavior and belief than conservatives. And then, they lament miserably when their neutered candidates lose time and time again. Think Al Gore and John Kerry.
On Thursday, speaking from The National Archives, President Obama addressed a group of lawyers to particularly address the closing of Camp Gitmo, National Security and the return to Amnerica being a nation of laws, accountability and he touched on the fearmongering being done in the media by loud-mouthed blowhards like Rush Limbo, Hannity, Coulter and other’s. President Obama will attempt today to answer critics of his dismantling of Bush-era policies on detention and interrogation, in a speech reminding Americans that strong national security and adherence to laws and national values are not mutually exclusive.
Here are some of the talking points:
“I recognize that many still have a strong desire to focus on the past. When it comes to the actions of the last eight years, some Americans are angry; others want to re-fight debates that have been settled, most clearly at the ballot box in November,” Obama said. “We see that, above all, in how the recent debate has been obscured by two opposite and absolutist ends. On one side of the spectrum, there are those who make little allowance for the unique challenges posed by terrorism, and who would almost never put national security over transparency. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who embrace a view that can be summarized in two words: “anything goes.” Their arguments suggest that the ends of fighting terrorism can be used to justify any means, and that the President should have blanket authority to do whatever he wants – provided that it is a President with whom they agree. (referring to blowhards like Rush Limbaugh)
“We will be ill-served by the fear-mongering that emerges whenever we discuss this issue,” he declared.
Fear mongering (or scaremongering) is the use of fear to influence the opinions and actions of others towards some specific end. The feared object or subject is sometimes exaggerated, and the pattern of fear mongering is usually one of repetition, in order to continuously reinforce the intended effects of this tactic, sometimes in the form of a vicious circle.
“Both sides may be sincere in their views, but neither side is right.,” Obama said. “The American people are not absolutist, and they don’t elect us to impose a rigid ideology on our problems. They know that we need not sacrifice our security for our values, nor sacrifice our values for our security, so long as we approach difficult questions with honesty, and care, and a dose of common sense. That, after all, is the unique genius of America. That is the challenge laid down by our Constitution. That has been the source of our strength through the ages. That is what makes the United States of America different as a nation.
It’s time for Americans and the American news media to grow up and act like responsible adults, not schizophrenic victims.
It’s time to let Obama be Obama.
Americans elected Barack Obama for good reasons. It’s time for Americans to get out of our own way and to let our leader lead and not put our president in a damned if you do-damned if you don’t position.. It’s time to do more trusting and truly following our chosen leader, and less carping critically at every decision, no matter how minuscule. Why even bother to come up with a plan if you’re not going ti give that plan an adequate amount of time to work or fail on its own merits?It’s time to shut-down the fear-mongering like Rush Limbaugh and others whose recent statements come close to sedition. If we are a nation of laws as Obama declares, let the government make a case against Rush Limbaugh for sedition and treason, for inciting fear and working and planning against the government. Let Hush Bimbo take his chances in a court of law in front of a jury of his “peers.”Balancing the values of an open society with the need to gather, analyze and occasionally act on clandestine information is one of the great challenges a democracy faces. The ‘who said what, when’ public cat-fight is not the forum to confront such challenges and fear-mongering, the likes of which Rush Limbaugh does is sedition and treason that former WW2 administrations would not have put up with. FDR would have arrested a Limbaugh as he did the Rosenbergs.
Like Stanford University economist Lawrence Goulder said:
“I don’t think one should let the perfect be the enemy of the good here” and that’s what the schizophrenic media and the schizophrenic America
n public are doing. They’re so afraid of making a mistake that Americans would rather see us do nothing at all than try to do something, even if that fails.”
To my uneducated ears, the perfect is the enemy of the good means that when something essential needs to be done, you can’t wait for the perfect solution, you go with what’s good enough and you should never put off doing what needs to be done by doing nothing because you are waiting a perfect situation. Right?
Perhaps the American voter wasn’t listening during the campaign when Obama said, “Yes we can.”
Note to Americans: Yes we can … if we give up this schizophrenic behavior when it comes to our government and concentrate on the things that can be done, and give up the fear and fear-mongering, the finger pointing and playing the “Blame game.” If we cannot move beyond this schizophrenic behavior when it comes to our president and administration, if we cannot come up with a plan, give that plan an adequate amount of time to become successful, then Americans will stop taking risks, live in an atmosphere of fear and every four years the American voter will be manipulated by fear-mongerers like Dick Cheney, Rush Limbau g, and elect idiot presidents like John McCain who will lie to us and make us feel “safe” when actually the opposite will be true. President Obama is correct, America went off course.
KH
The extremes in American society want Armageddon. They have placed themselves in a position where no amount of reform or correction will ever be enough. The system has been portrayed as impossibly flawed for so long, that it has become an article of faith that the only thing to be done is destroy it, and rely upon the cleansing powers of violence and chaos to create a newer, better nation. Having fatuously decided the rest of our fates for us (with the media’s complicity, as chaos and bloodshed means ratings) extremists on both sides have decided to gum up the works and impatiently await the coming conflagaration. May they be the first to burn.