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That Is What We Do
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The Obama Watch
A Grand Old Party
The president tells Republicans they know where they can find him — at WhiteHouse.gov.
Granted, 38 long years have passed since I took Driver’s Ed as a full-fledged course of study. In the interim my main source of continuing education in this area has been the occasional helpful motorist rolling down his window to deliver an impassioned update on some particular rule of the road dear to his heart. Usually I speed away from the scene of the lecture with fresh gusto.
This sort of commitment to being open to the input of others is a critical facet of a mature, successful life. The education of our youth is not always adequate to the moment of today. Nor is wisdom inevitably generated from within; it must often be sought, absorbed, adopted, even borrowed. For a moment this week it looked like our young President had come to accept this truism. He went to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress from “the other side.”
Our ever ready journalist corps brought us inside reports of the exchanges between the potent POTUS and the coterie from COTUS. They reminded him about such pesky concerns as jobs (not enough of them), pipelines (not enough of them), White House tours (not enough of them), regulations (too many of them) and entitlements (too many of them.) The President responded to some degree, mostly in general noncommittal language.
The piece that got me, though, was his answer to a query when the White House’s budget proposal would be forthcoming. He said it should be along very soon, but no one should expect it to hold any surprises. It would include the general agenda outlined in his campaign and available on the website.
Wow! The website! Who knew it to be the repository of our nation’s great ideals and grand ambitions?
The possibilities here seem limitless. If indeed the Presidential vision for the future of the country can be laid out on a website, and members of Congress need only consult it to achieve satori or nirvana, perhaps we can look forward to a day when there will no longer be a physical President clanking around in a cavernous White House. The website of the Democratic Party can run against the website of the Republican Party in an election, and may the best machine win. Here is a government program we can support.
Kidding aside, the crassness on display here is astonishing. This meeting, along with the dinner dinners with 12 Republican Senators and lunch with Paul Ryan, was billed as the new rapprochement, heralding an era of governance by consensus, of people with open minds opening their eyes and their hearts. Instead the Republicans are left mostly with open mouths, their only opportunity for further enlightenment to be found on WhiteHouse.gov.
One Congressman put it pithily when he said the President was “using us as props.” This should hardly have been surprising, considering he typically uses them as straw men. The only film in which a straw man is a character and not a prop is The Wizard of Oz, which tells the story of a fellow who promises to fill everyone’s needs but ends up leaving them all feeling empty; surely that would not be a fitting metaphor for the Obama Presidency.
The truth is that Obama does not work particularly well with Democrats, so it seems ludicrous to imagine he would be fishing for chum in the Republican stream. He is a man who is all about himself, who relates well only to those who greet him with adulation. A man like that can lead a revolution, as witness Hugo Chavez. But America does not need a revolution, it needs a reawakening, a rededication, a revivification. That is not likely to come from someone whose idea of inspiring people to better their lives is to get them onto food stamps.
To be a great leader one must be prepared also to listen. King Solomon said that salvation lies in hearing a variety of advice; he also noted that a king who seeks the truth surrounds himself with people of character. With sadness I note the absence of such qualities in the White House today.
Again I find myself thinking back fondly upon all those who have offered me unsolicited guidance about my driving over the years. They are always unfailingly honest. Why, just the other day I asked a woman what the result would be if I took such-and-such a road to such-and-such a place. She predicted the outcome without hesitation: “Get lost!”
About the Author
Jay D. Homnick, commentator and humorist, is a frequent contributor to The American Spectator. He also writes for Human Events. Here he speaks at the Rally for Religious Freedom in Miami on June 8, 2012.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (22) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Jay D. Homnick
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Joellen| 3.15.13 @ 7:36AM
No such thing as a coincendence, I just made reference to King Solomon in Mark Tooley's column.
With the new Pope being selected this week, and the references made to Old Testament, maybe TLP should have a Bible theme weekend.
Anywho, Mr. Homnick, the TRUTH is obama doesnt wish to work well with any American who has the Constitution and the American Tax payer's best interest at heart. No use beating a dead horse deader.
As for the "woman" who told you to "get lost" I am most positive she said it with a distinct New York/New Jersey accent and possibly with a hand signal.
I'm just saying.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:36PM
Where are you, Joellen?
Contest at Monday's Wes Welker Story.
Let's go!
emma82w| 3.26.13 @ 12:59PM
No-doubt about it, this really is the most financially rewarding Ive ever done. Make money with Google. I’m a full time student. I actually started six months/ago and almost straight away got me at least $80 per hour. I work through this link,, http://tw.gs/YbVcey
AlanAnti-RoveCheneyBrooks | 3.15.13 @ 11:27PM
TLP,
you Southerners are more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
I still think Obama was a better choice than McCain and Romney; but what matters isn't the past--it is worrisome that in 2016 the GOP will run yet another Demoptam, another William Jennings Bryan. August of 2016 you might choose a pro-gay, anti-abortion candidate, who served in the Gulf War but became a pacifist. A pro-death penalty vegetarian quasi-libertarian.
Occam's Tool| 3.16.13 @ 2:56PM
What I'm saying is that the GOP needs to get the Bathhouse info and smear Obama with it. The man needs to have his administration crippled. He has never uttered a true word in his life.
mishal762| 3.16.13 @ 8:31PM
Its definitely the most-financially rewarding Ive ever done. Make money with Google. I started this five months/ago and immediately started making a cool at least $78 per-hour. And whats awesome is Im working from home so I get more time with my kids. I follow this great link
>> http://tw.gs/YbVcey
chuck| 3.15.13 @ 8:09AM
A Bible themed contest..........from TLP?
Tim is a man of many talents, but somehow I think not.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:38PM
He don't know me very well, do he? (Bugs Bunny)
You'd be Surprised.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:39PM
And, where the Hell are you, chuck?
Contest at Monday's Wes Welker Story.
R Martin| 3.15.13 @ 8:25AM
Mr. Homnick simply cites the bleedin' obvious, but in the amusing style of a skilled writer. Skilled writer, not skilled fisherman. One fishes with chum, not for chum.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:41PM
Are you coming back?
Use your Imagination.
We've got 100 Entries, so it's not Impossible.
And, if you can't think of anything?
Just think of it as a Chat Room.
fmm| 3.15.13 @ 9:32AM
The Big O tossed chum and members of the Grand Offal Party responded. Nothing more to see here.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 9:51AM
Obama made a big mistake here....he assumed many of the old GOP know how to use the internets and The Google.
BWAHHAHHAH!
Drunken Sailor| 3.15.13 @ 11:34AM
"use the internets and The Google."
There is more than one internet?
The Google, not just Google?
What are these strange beast you speak of?
And you make fun of the GOP, really? Nice Job.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 12:12PM
Why yes I am DS. It's called mocking.
Here's your favorite genius prez talking about the Google and the internets:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90DKubFKwVo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKTH6f1JfX8
I have to say one thing. W was an excellent inspiration for comedy. :-)
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:42PM
DRUNKEN SAILOR!
Contest at Monday's Wes Welker Story.
eloris| 3.15.13 @ 2:50PM
When you have to laugh at your own joke, it's a good tip that nobody else is.
Kwan| 3.15.13 @ 10:26AM
It's always a good idea to remember what you're dealing with when you're dealing with Obama. You're dealing with a continuation of the Weather Underground Marxist Revolution, only this time instead of blowing up buildings the plan is to bankrupt the country and somehow in the chaos that will develop Obama and the Commiecrats believe that they can convert the country from a Constitutional Republic into a Totalitarian Socialist State. Notice that this retarded, moronic plan is as retarded and moronic as Charlie Manson's Helter Skelter Plan.
Stephie| 3.15.13 @ 11:29AM
Troll alert ~
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:43PM
Kwan, Stephie.
Contest at Monday's Wes Welker Story.
We need ya.
RAM| 3.15.13 @ 1:26PM
Obama already is a virtual President---at best. All actions by the physical Obama are unrelated to his sworn duties as President.
Cats1cowboy| 3.17.13 @ 2:24PM
The president tells Republicans they know where they can find him — at the golf course...'