Democrats, Republicans and even Obama – I’m disappointed with all of them!
by Charlie Leck
Okay, look! I’ll be as unbiased as a guy can get. Since January 23, I’m disappointed with all of Washington – both parties and with our new President. It’s just not going right at all.
No one was more hopeful than I. No one believed as much as I that our President would prove to be a Giant in history. Oh, my!
The Democrats in the House are my biggest disappointment. They were asked to put together an emergency package that would get the nation working again. Instead they put together a spending package into which so many Congresspersons had thrown their own pet little projects. This was not the time to increase the supply of condoms for Planned Parenthood. Nor was it the time to improve the air-conditioning in their office building. Bridges and roads are called for. New transportation systems. New energy savings projects! Rebuild schools and parks! Get people all over America working and get the money flowing!
The President bent over backwards to get the Republicans in the House involved. They chose to criticize and not to pitch in and help in the construction of the bill. They took Rush Limbaugh’s approach to this whole thing and began acting as if they hoped it would fail so they could blame the Democrats and the new President and put themselves in good positions for the House elections that will come along in two years.
Damn the Democrats! Damn the Republicans! Damn both sides of the aisle in the House of Representatives! Damn Rush Limbaugh!
And, dog-gone it, Mr. President, what the hell are you doing in these first couple of weeks of your Presidency? Do you have an organization that doesn’t know how to vet your nominees for high positions? Around our farm, if a potential customer wants to buy a horse, they have him vetted (examined by a veterinarian) for any potential problems. If the vets around here were as sloppy as your team, they wouldn’t be able to find work anymore.
As we say in Minnesota: "What the heck, anyway?"
Mr. President, you aren’t knocking heads enough. Get the House of Representatives working on this legislation for the people. Tell them, for once, to keep their own ambitions and political interests out of the pie. If they keep screwing around, let them know you’re going to tell the American public about it and that you’re going to name names. You’ve got power now, sir! Use it!
Republicans and Democrats should show the people how they can really work for the interests of the people and the nation when the chips are down.
If they can’t do that, we’ll throw all the blokes out of office, including the young and exciting President, and we’ll bring on people from outside politics – outside of the political parties – and we’ll send them to Washington to do the people’s work.
For about two days the President looked pretty fantastic and then he started to fumble and bumble. He looked golden when he announced new ethics policies for his staff. He promised no more connections with big time lobbyists – that no one who had been lobbying in Washington for the past several years would be allowed to work in his White House. Two days later he made an exception and brought in a big time lobbyist to help in Defense. Way to go, Mr. President. Go sit in the corner and put on the dunce’s cap!
That was a big time fumble, Mr. President, and it caused the people out here – people like I – to giggle at your silliness.
This is no way to run any government – no less the government of the United States of America.
House, Senate, Executive Branch, let’s get to work on the concerns of the people – and let’s get to it now.
The only person out there who seems to be doing it right at the moment is the new First Lady. She keeps making a fabulous impression on everyone in the country. Now, Madam First Lady, knock that husband of yours upside-the-head, please, and tell him to stop being so stupid. At the moment, he’s looking like nothing more than a “king of fools” and a jerk among jerks.
It’s not too late. Turn it around and get it going the right way again. You promised us a change from the politics of old. You promised us a different approach. Sir, we’re waiting.
Then on top of all this, I hear him say in a press conference tonight: "No one is more committed than me!"by Charlie Leck
Okay, look! I’ll be as unbiased as a guy can get. Since January 23, I’m disappointed with all of Washington – both parties and with our new President. It’s just not going right at all.
No one was more hopeful than I. No one believed as much as I that our President would prove to be a Giant in history. Oh, my!
The Democrats in the House are my biggest disappointment. They were asked to put together an emergency package that would get the nation working again. Instead they put together a spending package into which so many Congresspersons had thrown their own pet little projects. This was not the time to increase the supply of condoms for Planned Parenthood. Nor was it the time to improve the air-conditioning in their office building. Bridges and roads are called for. New transportation systems. New energy savings projects! Rebuild schools and parks! Get people all over America working and get the money flowing!
The President bent over backwards to get the Republicans in the House involved. They chose to criticize and not to pitch in and help in the construction of the bill. They took Rush Limbaugh’s approach to this whole thing and began acting as if they hoped it would fail so they could blame the Democrats and the new President and put themselves in good positions for the House elections that will come along in two years.
Damn the Democrats! Damn the Republicans! Damn both sides of the aisle in the House of Representatives! Damn Rush Limbaugh!
And, dog-gone it, Mr. President, what the hell are you doing in these first couple of weeks of your Presidency? Do you have an organization that doesn’t know how to vet your nominees for high positions? Around our farm, if a potential customer wants to buy a horse, they have him vetted (examined by a veterinarian) for any potential problems. If the vets around here were as sloppy as your team, they wouldn’t be able to find work anymore.
As we say in Minnesota: "What the heck, anyway?"
Mr. President, you aren’t knocking heads enough. Get the House of Representatives working on this legislation for the people. Tell them, for once, to keep their own ambitions and political interests out of the pie. If they keep screwing around, let them know you’re going to tell the American public about it and that you’re going to name names. You’ve got power now, sir! Use it!
Republicans and Democrats should show the people how they can really work for the interests of the people and the nation when the chips are down.
If they can’t do that, we’ll throw all the blokes out of office, including the young and exciting President, and we’ll bring on people from outside politics – outside of the political parties – and we’ll send them to Washington to do the people’s work.
For about two days the President looked pretty fantastic and then he started to fumble and bumble. He looked golden when he announced new ethics policies for his staff. He promised no more connections with big time lobbyists – that no one who had been lobbying in Washington for the past several years would be allowed to work in his White House. Two days later he made an exception and brought in a big time lobbyist to help in Defense. Way to go, Mr. President. Go sit in the corner and put on the dunce’s cap!
That was a big time fumble, Mr. President, and it caused the people out here – people like I – to giggle at your silliness.
This is no way to run any government – no less the government of the United States of America.
House, Senate, Executive Branch, let’s get to work on the concerns of the people – and let’s get to it now.
The only person out there who seems to be doing it right at the moment is the new First Lady. She keeps making a fabulous impression on everyone in the country. Now, Madam First Lady, knock that husband of yours upside-the-head, please, and tell him to stop being so stupid. At the moment, he’s looking like nothing more than a “king of fools” and a jerk among jerks.
It’s not too late. Turn it around and get it going the right way again. You promised us a change from the politics of old. You promised us a different approach. Sir, we’re waiting.
Damn it Mr. President, it is "I."
Get it?
"No one is more committed than I am?" You wouldn't say "than me am." So it's: "No one is more committed than I."
Come on, man! Kids are listening to you.
I'm just bummed and almost everything out of Washington is upsetting me mightily.
As a friend of mine recently said to me, "Ah, da heck wit da United States. I tink I jest go back ta Minneso'ta."
Come on, man! Kids are listening to you.
I'm just bummed and almost everything out of Washington is upsetting me mightily.
As a friend of mine recently said to me, "Ah, da heck wit da United States. I tink I jest go back ta Minneso'ta."
Charlie, it's like you are reading my mind! I really have not wanted to say out loud that I have been disappointed in all of Washington including Pres. Obama for fear my major Republican family would hear and starts the "I told you so's".
ReplyDeleteBut I have been shocked at the divisive actions by the republicans and I feel some democrats also...think Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
I was taught when you are brought in to manage a team or department who is already dead set against you, that you have to at least "act" like your carrying your hat in your hand for the first couple of meetings, letting them know that you don't want things to be a fight from the start and that you will show them respect as a person, then you get down to the real business at hand, and if that means playing hardball respectfully fine.
I think Pelosi and Reid went in with the same "Hillary Clinton as a candidate" attitude like okay we are so done with anything remotely close to "gw's" policies and you guys didn't win so now your GOING to do what we say. I think some high ranking Dems shot the Pres. in the foot before he could court the Rep's to the Superbowl, etc. and I don't think he even really knew how badly they set him up...maybe not deliberately but set him up all the same.
I also totally agree with this vetting process! I mean I want to know who the hell is responsible for all the people they've put up and is that person working under the table for the Rep's?
Seriously, the Pres. couldn't have had a worse time for so many nominees to come up with so many issues (lest we forget they are almost all unpaid tax issues) and end up looking like and idiot! Even though I was surprised he went on national tv, to say he "screwed up" but that just made him look weak in the Rush Limbaugh followers eyes. However I will say you would NEVER see "gw" or Chaney ever admit to wrong doing on their part or on the part of their team...they don't have the charachter strength for that!
As for the Stimulus package, I was also surprised to hear some of the things that were in there. I was hoping if they came from the Pres. or the Dems that they were bargaining chips...throw in some small superficial things that you know you can throw out as bargaining with the fight mentality of the Reps. But in the end it sounded like Mr. Pres. may have listen a little to much to the old inside Washington advisors and ended up looking like a no-reform for Washington guy now.
One last thing...the grammar! I thought surely after "gw" we would have someone who had at least good grammar since as you pointed out our children and the rest of us are listening and taking cues from this Pres. but my pet peeve is the way he says "a" historic moment, etc. Am I losing my mind or did they not teach us in school certain grammatical exceptions, like using "an" before a word starting with an "H"...as in "an honor"....the thing that bugs me the worst is that NO ONE seems to have caught this and mentioned it to Pres. Obama, because he continues to say it...so why do you have advisors, speech writers,
(even though he writes many of his own) but someone PLEASE have the nerve to tell him he is butchering a couple of phrases of the English language. He is smart guy. I don't think he'd mind it, and I think he'd prefer to look more polished than "gw" so someone please tell him, before I lose my mind!!!!!!!!
Now after saying all this, I still want to say, I still have hope that Pres. Obama will realize he's being handled by his own non-Yes men before it is too late.
But I do still have hope!
Thanks for letting me vent, and thanks for the great blog.
Martha Brown (an Independent)
Dallas Texas