It's Hard Work!

I believe I have alluded to this in the past and it again occurs to me that due to the profoundly strenuous nature of Presidential Campaigns in this country, by the time the winning candidate is finally sworn in, he is likely so depleted that his capabilities for decision making are diminished to the degree that many important decisions are conferred upon other cabinet members and staff, who may or may not share the same agenda the president had set forth throughout his campaign. 

 

The office of the Presidency is one that makes it almost impossible for the Executive to truly focus on all the myriad occurrences that transpire throughout the country.  I was listening to old clips of myriad Republicans denouncing the administration for ‘Mirandizing’ the Christmas Day Bomber, as if Obama himself actually had a say in the matter at the exact time the would-be terrorist was taken into custody: 

 

“Mr. President, sorry to bother you on Christmas Day.  You’ve probably already heard about this underwear bomber we’ve apprehended…  Yeah, I know-can’t make this shit up.  In any event, we thought we should go straight to the top on this one and ask you if we should read Mr. Fruit of the Boom his Miranda Rights.  Yeah?  But won’t the GOP (and Lieberman) go absolutely apeshit?  Do it anyway?  Yes sir.  And Merry Christmas, sir!”

 

That is undoubtedly how it all went down.  All the same, Obama (as most presidents do) has quite a bit on his proverbial plate and I know from my own experience that if one is overwhelmed and has the option of handing off a task or responsibility to a subordinate here or there, chances are he will do just that.  This is especially so regarding matters the President perhaps feels are outside his comfort zone, say matters of finance and the economy.   This obviously brings us to the circumstances surrounding Elizabeth Warren, her proposed and now codified Financial Protection Agency and the fact that she will likely not end up being the head of it because Geithner, Sommers, etc. know she’ll actually enforce regulations.

 

A somewhat disparate point that still draws upon the aforementioned principle is Obama’s lauded LBJ-esque legislative record.  One pundit made the point that the proficiency of congress to churn out bills for the President sign demonstrates efficiency more than effectiveness.  That is, just because a bill has been signed into law does not necessarily mean that it will achieve what it is designed to accomplish.  It’s illustrative of the national mentality of kudos for mere participation that George Carlin and yes, even Glenn Beck have excoriated.  Despite what Woody Allen has famously (and slightly tongue-in-cheek) pronounced, oftentimes it is not enough in life to just show up, especially not when you are POTUS.  Thus when the President, or anyone else for that matter, is continually told by his staff what can and can’t be done, he will likely just show up and not actually fight for truly effective legislation.

GOAAAAAL!!!

Right then. I know everyone is so fucking gung-ho right now about the good old U-S-of-A futbol victory in the Copa del Mundo (including, apparently, Bubba). I dig that. I was going to say that we got lucky against England, but we were also quite unlucky against Slovenia and even had another goal disallowed against Algeria before the clock struck USA. I know I shouldn't be raining on the parade of what is truly an amazing and historic victory, and the sideshows that are sporting events are dependably good thought-taker-offers, but the fact remains that the aforementioned U-S-of-A is in a terribly bad place right about now and even if we were to shock the world and "win the whole fucking thing" (thanks be to 'Major League') our collective situation would still be about as good as Greece's (who were not as fortunate as US).

This fallout with McChrystal is huge, even though the White House will do everything possible to demonstrate otherwise. This, on top of the oil spill debacle, to go along with the debacle that will surely be the so-called financial reform bill, simply begs the question: what in god's name can Obama possibly do at this point in time to divert attention from just how entirely fucked we are, aside from praying to Allah we win the World Cup? Sorry to be the harbinger of bad news, but even that won't save us.

I would have a considerable amount more empathy for Obama if he had actually followed through with the whole 'change' campaign schpiel. I mean, I know that's the kind of thing one must regurgitate ad nauseum until the cows come home, but change is not continuing and (in one out of two instances) escalating the wars of the previous President, who couldn't have done more to catapult Obama into the White House if he tried (I guess escalation technically is change, just not the kind I can believe in).

The instances of such failure to be the 'change we can believe in' are excruciatingly many and not at all far between, and while I continue to hold out, at this point in time, an extremely dim 'hope' that perhaps Obama will come around and possibly do the right thing on any number of different issues, it will continue to be mere hope, for to borrow the campaign song of a certain also-ran in 2000: "[we] ain't [really] seen nothing yet."