I'm Smiling

A few days ago I wrote that President Obummer had a case of senioritis because he could not leave his Martha's Vineyard vacation to show the flag in flood-ravaged Louisiana ... see: No Fly Zone. So Donald Trump stepped into the void and, with his running mate, Mike Pence, is there today exhibiting his concern and acting presidential ... showing how he might behave if he were to win in November ... see: NOLA Article. And even Hellary outdid her former boss ... at least she (or Huma) picked up her smart phone and called the Democrat governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, to show whatever concern she could muster. The optics of this contrast has the Democrats tied in knots. Governor Bel Edwards has covered for Obummer ... saying that things would not be helped if the president came there (same that was told to George W. Bush in 2005) ... and added that Trump was grandstanding with his visit.

The sweet, sweet irony of this story has me smiling ... at least until the national media either ignores this story or regurgitates the DNC talking points on tonight's TV news ... making Trump and Pence look like political hacks ... and somehow spinning Obummer's lassitude into caring competence.

This just in: Obummer will visit Baton Rouge this coming Tuesday ... after his vacation is over four days from now. I strongly suspect the nightly news will cover this visit with great drama.

Leadership Vacuum

The United States's President is luxuriating in a Hawaiian vacation ... by my count his fourth escape from the cloak of leadership in the last 12 months.  Russia's Putin seems to spend most of his time showing the world how manly he is ... as opposed to solving his nation's problems.  Japan has had 6 Prime Ministers in the last 5 years.  The Middle East is shucking leaders like they were oysters at a seaside clambake.  And it's not like the world doesn't have problems to solve ... the Euro monetary crisis, Iranian belligerence, the meteoric rise of Islamic extremism, the aging populations throughout Europe, a festering worldwide energy crisis, the American government's crushing debt burden, etc., etc.

Too often it seems to me that poobahs around the world covet the benefits of leadership while avoiding the responsibilities therein.  And the $64,000 question is: why this leadership vacuum?  Perhaps it is the mindset that resulted from the ending of the Cold War, "problems solved, time to party?"  Perhaps it has been a hiatus in leadership examples to be emulated?  After all, the Reagan/Thatcher template occurred almost twenty-five years ago ... outside of the cognitive lifespan of much of the world's population.  And, in the interim, we have learned that it was just fine to receive sexual favors in the oval office from a White House intern.  Reality television has demonstrated that life is nothing but a charade wrapped around a lottery.  "Optics" have taken the place of substance in the role of government.  And, as we recently found out in the FICA tax reduction skirmish in the U.S. Congress, bad politics now always seems to trump good policy.

Must we devolve into another worldwide calamity to reawaken our leadership juices?  As we enter this New Year, I am afraid that my short prediction is "probably."

Juxtaposition XXVII




Bush/Katrina

 



Obama/Martha's Vineyard

  

Apparently this juxtaposition needs further explanation: It pained me to see the man I voted for, George W. Bush, act so cluelessly regarding Katrina. Just as I suspect it might pain someone, who voted for Barack Obama, to witness his flying above the many economic crises now in progress. The parallelism of these optics gave rise to this Juxtaposition blog post.

Optics

These days, television, in particular cable TV, seems to be increasingly able to shape public opinion. Be it the Israeli commandos rappelling down on a Turkish ship running the Gaza blockade … or a live shot of that broken British Petroleum “containment valve” one mile down spewing a cloud of evil oil into the pristine Gulf … or President Obama kneeling down on a Gulf of Mexico beach to examine a tar ball … it is all about the visuals that the news editors can effect on their viewing audience. The term that has gained current popularity for this phenomenon is “optics”. And, I don’t know about you, but I am getting a little tired of seeing that same ten yards of Gulf Coast wetlands with the BP oil slick lapping on its marsh reeds or those same Turkish militants (soon to be martyrs) wailing on the Israeli commandos. And now we are beginning to see oil coated pelicans (pelican?) consigned to bird heaven … covered in immoral BP petroleum.

These visuals can’t be the whole story by any stretch, but the gullible American public seems to be wedded to this form of information pabulum. I may be swimming against the tide here (so to speak), but 45 days into this BP drilling rig explosion, there seems to be remarkably little ecological damage (numerous pelicans die every day from shark attacks) relative to what we have been led to expect by the hysterical video and copy editors. (This morning on Morning Joe they graphically extrapolated the oil slick moving into the Atlantic and polluting shorelines all the way up to Cape Cod.) “A majority of Americans see the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico as a major environmental disaster.” (The Pew Research Center on May 11th)

These dire predictions may in fact transpire if this leak is not contained for months to come, but I for one am skeptical … particularly when I see the environmentalist and politicians expeditiously stepping in to take advantage of the publics’ angst. Viz: President Obama has shut down all drilling for oil in the Gulf for six months (a far bigger economic disaster) and the Democrats in Congress are smacking their lips about using this incident to push through their Cap and Trade (read carbon tax) legislation this summer.

May I suggest that famous Clintonista line? “Let’s all step back and take a deep breath.”