It’s about damn time. And none too soon, I might add.

President Barack Obama spent the first three years of his presidency as a seeker of compromise, a man willing to listen to all, attempting to fashion solutions to problems by taking into account all sides of an issue. But he’s been the only playah in D.C. in that mode.

He’s been swimming in the shark tank without protection. No more.

The not so loyal opposition doesn’t play nice. Republicans have proven themselves vipers, answering only to the ultra wealthy supporters who feed their campaign chests. They have come to disregard the presidency so much they don’t even wait for an Obama proposal before opposing it.

Finally, after a petulant John Boehner so disrespected the president and presidency by vetoing a date simply requested by Obama to address Congress, the president said, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.”

The GOP isn’t going to agree to anything proposed by the White House. Nothing. Ever.

Now that he realizes that, Obama is striking back. No debt reduction without increased taxes on the rich and powerful. (Thank you, Warren Buffet.) It’s time to even things out, make everyone, yes including hedge fund operators, to pay their fair share. And, I’ll veto anything legislation you send me without it.

Most important, it is the right thing to do. And right on. Right for the country, and a legit way to help reduce the budget deficit. And certainly will help the president politically.

Because, my friends, there are more of us than there are of them. Lots more. Despite their loud braying, the Tea Party remains a distinctively minority movement, though certainly not without influence . . . thus far anyway. Despite their financial clout, especially now that it’s open season on PACs, the Rich Republican Elite is an even smaller segment of the population.

While money, as always, doesn’t talk, it swears, there is a new paradigm of cyberegalitarianism. Given social networking, the speed of the internet, its ability to fashion opinion (for good and bad) and its insinuation in our lives, the public can be and is being swayed by all sorts of forces, many of which are underwritten on a dime.

In response to Obama’s new feistiness, Republicans have been predictably obstructionist, calling the president’s proposal, “class warfare.”

So it is, ye Fox-watching patricians. It’s Game On!

Best beware. Madame Defarge is knitting names as we speak.

Sitting at the next table, having an animated conversation with her computer was a lovely young lady. She was talking with a friend . . . in France.

Who among us, even as recently as a score of years ago, could conceptualize the Skyped, connected world we now live in? Future generations will laugh, when viewing pictures of electronic devices connected by wires and cables.

* * * * *

The evidence is anecdotal, but I must ask?

Now that it’s under the gun, what with Crit Luallen auditing and all, is MSD actually taking its job seriously? For the last month or so, it seems I’ve seen workers fixing sewer lines on every other block. And they actually seem to be working as opposed to taking a break.

Plus there are any number of sub-contractor trucks, doing sewer line tasks around town.

It’s about time. Compared to the other utilities around here, MSD has seemed defiantly inefficient through the years.

My anecdote. Several years ago, they did some serious repair work in my back alley, which required tearing it up. It was being done at the same time that L G & E’s efficient subs were replacing gas lines to each home. The latter came, got the job done, filled in the holes they needed to cut in the pavement and moved on.

The humongous hole MSD cut remained unpaved for a month. I started making calls. To no avail. So I resorted to my favorite tack. I called the administrative assistant to Bud Schardein, the head of MSD.

Bottom line, this lady yelled at me, the customer, over the phone, barking that I didn’t know what I was talking about, that MSD didn’t dig that hole. Even though she was in an office downtown, and I watched them dig.

Anyway, it’s nice to see them doing some work around town.

* * * * *

Barack Obama seems to be getting it from all sides. The GOPers and Tea Partyites, who hate him. The Donkeys who supported him. I’m not sure I understand.

Anyway, a pal shared this blogger’s observations of the situation. It contains this stunning video of FDR, and how he dealt with such attacks by his political enemies.

It’s going to be interesting to watch how Obama tries to get reelected. Will he come out swinging? Or will he remain trapped in a box, as I suggested in this previous blog?

Clear thinking, intelligent citizens of every political persuasion should be concerned, should hope this is not a harbinger.

I am not among those Democratic stalwarts, who desire that Ms. Bachmann nab the GOP nomination, based on the thinking that it would insure an Obama W. I care about my country. I believe it best to have two worthy candidates facing off to see who domiciles in the Oval Office.

Given that Obama’s support, at least for the moment, seems to be diminishing, even among his base, it is more important than ever that the Republican candidate be a man or woman of intelligence, compassion, vision, capable of viewing the nation’s issues from all perspectives. This is no time to elect a don’t-confuse-me-with-the-facts ostrich, a soccer parent who can field dress a moose or a religious zealot.

I am certainly not a social conservative, and I believe that federal government spending wisely done and within means is imperative for keeping the country’s economy afloat. But, were I of the elephant ilk, I would be very scared of a Michelle Bachmann candidacy — among others — and what it means about the state of the republic.

Now is the time for clarity and compromise. Not knee jerk polemics, based on whisper counsel of big money lobbyists and the diffuse philosophy of “we want our country back.”

Only time will tell if the 28,000 of voted yesterday in America’s Heartland accurately reflect the pulse beat of America.

I know this. It’s an event not to be ignored.

Coming off the ramp of the Gene Snyder onto National Turnpike, I saw a site I’ve never seen before in my town.

A convoy of sorts.

Three big military transport vehicles. Given their general dilapidated condition and the oil fumes they were spewing, I suspect Vietnam era issue.

They were ragged, but obviously a source of pride to those involved in . . . whatever. On one was a logo, reading “Ace of Spades.” On another, over a fire-breathing razorback, the moniker, “Wild Thing.” The third was designated, “Proud American.”

Trailing was an ancient Jeep, military issue also, designated “Wolfman.”

On the back of one of the trucks, somewhat explanatory, was a flapping sign reading, “We Support Vietnam Veterans.”

Riding in the bed of each of the trucks, like a ragtag guerilla outfit of some sort, were several guys, adults and young teens.

Mounted in each of the trucks were several machine guns.

I can not think like a black man thinks. Nor see the world as a black man sees the world.

I know this to be true from experience.

A score of years ago, two well-meaning, intellectually inquisitive groups of fellows — one black, one white — decided to meet monthly. To discuss politics. Culture. Sports. Society. And the racial aspects of all those subjects. One month we’d meet at a place one group chose, the next month at a spot chosen by the other. Thus we were all taken out of our comfort zones to areas of Louisville where we might not otherwise travel.

The meetings were always cordial, never acrimonious. The purpose was to foster understanding, bridge gaps. There were certainly differences of opinion, often the perspectives were far apart. We were always respectful, striving for a common understanding.

One night the subject of a local personality came up. Several of the men of color were absolutely positive the person was a racist. They gave reasons. I know this personality, have spent time in his/ her company. I had never considered for a moment that he/ she was racist.

During that discussion, it became obvious to us — at least to me, but I think others too — that our differences of viewpoint were so vast, so ingrained, that our purpose was the equivalent of Don Quixote tilting at windmills. (Actually that’s not totally true. The mere fact of our meetings and the dialog engendered was beneficial in and of itself.)

At any rate, it became patently obvious that, no matter how open we all were to differing opinions, the cultural differences, endemic of the color of our skin and the ramifications of that reality worked against full understanding of the others’ views of life.

Not long after that month’s discussion, our project fell apart. Peacefully. With a greater appreciation of the racial divide that sadly remains all too prevalent. With but the barest modicum of understanding.

* * * * *

President Barack Obama is not a popular man these days.

To say the least.

During and in the aftermath of the Debt Ceiling imbroglio, Obama’s objectors have gotten more virulent, less reverential of the office of the presidency and the man in that office. Obama has been called “that boy” and a “tar baby.” He has been passively referred to with more cunning racial slurs. Name another president referred to as “uppity?” The Speaker of the House huffed out of a meeting in the White House. It’s hard to imagine this happening to either of the Bushs, or Reagan, or Clinton,, no matter how contentious the dialog.

This disgusting phenomenon has become more overt. It is as if, with a presidential election gearing up, the gloves are off.

More disturbing has been the abandonment by Obama’s “supporters,” people taking bumper stickers off their cars, railing that the president showed no backbone in dealing with the Tea Party stalwarts, that he was so inclined to compromise he ended up giving away the ranch.

The latter trend to me, is as disturbing as the former. Though it is far less loathsome than the veiled racial intolerance espoused by many from the bully pulpit.

One guy’s opinion is that Obama is trapped.

I am stuck with the opinion offered by Fox News pundit Brit Hume on the night of Obama’s election. To paraphrase his commentary: “The Republicans tried to portray Obama as some dumb, off the charts, anti-American, unreasonable, incapable, irrational candidate . . . and Obama never did one thing during the campaign to substantiate the legitimacy of any of that.”

It is my belief that, because the President is a man of color, the first to hold the highest office in the land, he must maintain that aura of reticence, a lack of assertiveness. He must stay calm, avoid throwing down the gauntlet. He is not allowed to be “uppity.”

Thus, Barack Obama, to get to the lofty position he attained, has been forced to adopt a thick veneer of calm. When shouted down irresponsibly and disrespectfully during an address to Congress, he is not allowed the option of stern, finger-pointing reprimand used by Bill Clinton.

* * * * *

The sad truth for us who still believe Obama a man worthy of office, intelligent, thoughtful, well-meaning, with the good of the country and all of its citizens paramount in his goals, is that he may have rendered himself ineffectual by the very personality necessary to get elected.

That’s the Catch-22.

It is my sincere hope that Barack Obama is elected to a second term. It’s a long shot. Especially if the economy continues as it is, with people out of work and the markets shaky.

But, one guy’s opinion, if Obama does succeed in 2012, if the Fox News analysts self-destruct before our eyes on election night from apoplectic shock, if we are given the pleasure of that moment, that it will be a different, more confident, more assertive Barack Obama leading the nation.

Then those objectors will really see Uppity.

]]> http://www.culturemaven.com/blog/2011/08/07/is-obama-trapped-in-a-box/feed/ 2 http://www.culturemaven.com/blog/2011/07/29/open-letter-to-mitch-mcconnell-today-is-your-day-to-shine/ http://www.culturemaven.com/blog/2011/07/29/open-letter-to-mitch-mcconnell-today-is-your-day-to-shine/#comments Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:29:55 +0000 mail http://www.culturemaven.com/blog/?p=1485 Dear Mitch,

I know we don’t talk much anymore. Okay, we’ve never spoken before, but I did try to reach you via email the other day. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one. Your web site was down, I assume, from so much traffic of all those wanting your ear on the debt ceiling smackdown.

Anyway, we live in the same town, essentially the same neighborhood. I almost built a house several years back right up the hill from your condo. But still live within a jog just a couple neighborhoods over in the Highlands.

We root for the same team, Mitch. I’m talking about the U of L Cardinals we both love so much.

The Cardinal hoopsters haven’t done so well when it mattered the last couple of seasons, in the NCAA tourney. We’re both looking for big things from Rick Pitino and his charges this coming season, maybe even One Shining Moment.

That’s months away.

But your chance for a career defining One Shining Moment is right here and right now.

As I write this early Friday afternoon, it’s looking like your fellow Republicans in the House will pass some sort of debt ceiling continuance/ budget slashing/ balanced budget bill that hasn’t a shot at becoming law. It contains provisions you don’t agree with, that many of your fellow Republican members of the House and Senate don’t agree with, and that the vast majority of Democrats don’t agree with.

So my hope is that you — at this historically critical moment of your long career in governance — will opt to be the statesman you’ve always desired to be. That you will choose a path which will have future historians speaking of you as they have spoken of your predecessor, Henry Clay.

Mitch McConnell’s: The 21st Century’s Great Compromiser.

Has a nice ring to it, eh?

Some time later today, the ball’s going to be in your court. (To continue the basketball metaphor.) If Boehner’s bill does squeak through the House by a margin slim as a dry tea bag, you will have a choice. Actually, you’ll have a choice, even if it doesn’t pass.

Will you continue to bray against the Donkeys at every moment?

Or, will you carpe diem this incredible opportunity to be viewed as one of the great senators ever, one who put aside partisanship at a critical moment for the republic, who reached his hand across the aisle and brokered a resolution for the good of America?

I’ll be honest, Mitch, I haven’t had many kind words for you in the past. We have different outlooks about matters governmental. Yet, I promise this, if you do the right thing today and this weekend, I’ll never speak ill of you again. I know that isn’t much, but it’s all I’ve got.

Make Kentucky proud. Make the U.S. of A. proud.

Make me want to seek you out next April across the expanse of the Superdome to shake your hand, when we’re there to cheer our Cards in the Final Four.

Sincerely,

Your Constituent, c d kaplan

It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.

It is the most famous quote attributed to America’s quicksand involvement in the Vietnam War. AP correspondent Peter Arnett never revealed the identity of the member of the military who said it, other than that he was a U.S. Major.

I am reminded of the cruel irony of that statement, during this time of partisan turmoil in Washington — a smackdown that, if not resolved in the next few days, could crush the American economy.

Frankly, I’m not particularly fond of the smell of Naplam in the morning. But that’s the odor wafting through the air when I read the news that somebody or another wasn’t happy with the debt limit negotiating process, so they got up, huffed and puffed their chest . . . and walked.

There are elected representatives of Congress who, by their actions and statements so far, are apparently willing to sacrifice the well being of the nation for the advancement of their political agenda, or their political power. Not that it really matters what their reasoning may be.

And, given this scary state of affairs, we really wonder why people blow up government buildings with bombs or by flying planes into them. Or, put bombs full of shrapnel on benches to maim and kill innocent citizens to protest . . . what? Of course, there are people in the populace who don’t have all the connections correctly hooked up. But the frustration is real and runs deep, even among rational followers of governance.

It’s happening here. It’s happening in Norway.

It happened in the 16th century. It will happen in the future. (If some 14 year old hacker in Berzerkistan doesn’t fell world commerce first.)

So, I ask those in Congress we’ve elected to guide the ship of state to be just this: Reasonable.

Stand up for what you believe in. But, for the sake of the republic, respect that there are others who feel differently and that their beliefs also have merit.

Let’s hope, that within the next day or two, weary ladies and gentlemen from both sides of the aisle will greet the press and issue the most vanilla but resonant of proclamations, “We’ve reached a compromise to raise the debt limit, and made a first step toward getting our budget in order.”

Otherwise, there will soon be a Wikipedia entry about the most famous statement attributed to the Great Budget Calamity of 2011:

I want what I want when I want it.