Obama Banking on Failure?

As the Obama team prepares to take on the shit sandwich handed to them by the most inept President of our time, there seems to be a bit of eye rolling and finger pointing from the peanut gallery in Washington regarding his picks for top posts in the new White House.

President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday defended his decision to choose veterans of the Clinton administration for positions in the West Wing, in his cabinet and across the administration, saying Americans would be rightly “troubled” if he overlooked experience merely to create the perception of change.

Mr. Obama, who created his presidential campaign around a message of bringing a fresh outlook to the problems of Washington, said he would be careless if he didn’t enlist people who had counseled former presidents. He grew animated as he tried to brush aside suggestions “that there’s a recycling of people who were in the Clinton administration.”

What I think people fail to remember is that we lived pretty good during the Clinton years. Now, many would have you believe that Reagan policies implemented years before Clinton ever dreamed of chasing Monica Lewinsky around the Oval would have as much to do with Clinton’s economy as he did. And there may very well be some truth to that, but as we have seen with Bush 43 it doesn’t take long to ruin a country, so I have to give most of the credit to Clinton. But there’s something else that makes the Obama picks worthwhile, and it might even be the very reason that everyone is complaining about.

Failure!

If I were elected President and wanted to implement change, I would absolutely bring on people that have made their bones in previous administrations by failing. Not in the Peter Principle kind of way, but by knowing through experience that sometimes the only winning move is not to play. That kind of experience can’t be taught, it can only be learned and I would much rather have had school in session during someone else’s presidency.

Obama is a smart guy and he knows what he is doing. He is going to give the Clintons enough rope to hang each other, not him. As far as the rest of the team, the President-elect has yet to come across as the guy that couldn’t make up his mind. If anyone on his team doesn’t serve at the pleasure of this President then they will have shorter careers than that Pope that got poisoned!

Torture Bad for Politics and Careers

John O. Brennan, a C.I.A. veteran who many considered would be the next director of the agency withdrew his name on Tuesday from consideration for a top job in the Obama presidency amidst fears he was closely associated to controversial C.I.A. programs approved by President Bush.

In a letter to President-elect Barack Obama, Mr. Brennan said he didn’t want these concerns to be a “distraction” for the incoming administration. At the same time, he vigorously defended his C.I.A. record and called himself a “strong opponent” of the brutal interrogation techniques the agency has employed in recent years, including water boarding.

Torture-Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him information or a confession.

Seems so nice and neat doesn’t it? Reading the definition doesn’t come anywhere near describing the pain and suffering felt by the unfortunate soul who happens to be tethered to a box spring stripped of its padding so that the metal skeleton provides for a better flow of electricity from the twelve volt car battery that is attached by jumper cables nearby does it?

These are the types of things that don’t get talked about at inauguration dinners but they are real, and they happen every day. And if you think the U.S. doesn’t participate either actively or passively in the practice of torture, you are just kidding yourself.

But torture serves a purpose

Here is where I differ from my liberal brethren. Torture in and of itself is horrible but necessary, but if you think for a second that additional terrorist attacks here in the United States haven’t been thwarted because someone was water boarded in some other part of the world then you are just dreaming while awake.

But I am willing to learn

Most liberals oppose torture and I am willing to drink the Kool-Aid too, but you have to show me how drawing a line from someone being tortured to preventing my children from being blown up while on their way to school isn’t a good thing. Please, I am willing to listen!

But wait, before you go offering up the even one life is too many to lose routine, I say this: there isn’t a mother, husband, son or daughter that wouldn’t trade the information gained through torture to bring back a loved one from 9/11, and if there is, God bless them because there isn’t a thing I wouldn’t do to someone to protect my family.

Barack Obama on in 60 Minutes!

Right off the bat, the Barack Obama interview on 60 Minutes shows you that the President-elect still has a sense of humor, that while being a bit grayer on top he looks fresh and ready for bear,  but more than anything he appeared to really know what he wants to do when he takes office which is refreshing considering the giant boob we have now struggles just getting out a complete friggin’ sentence.

He sounded presidential but I can’t help but wonder if President-elect Obama is over-whelemed by the shear volume of crap piling up outside his door or if he is looking forward to crossing completed tasks off of the massive checklist in front of him.If he is going to be worth his salt he should be chomping at the bit to tackle the issues.

He is for the only time in his presidency in the enviable position of not owning any the current problems on hand. Sure he will have his share of shit sandwiches to deal with, but all he can do now is come out at least like he tried hard, at best like a fantastic choice for leader of the free world.

As a couple, the Obama pair seemed to be ready for what lies ahead on a personal level as well. Picking up the kids and moving them to the most famous address in the world is no easy feat, it cost the Obama’s a puppy at least. There also has to be a bit of a bitter sweat thing going with Barack being elected President then knowing your Mother-in-Law was moving in with you. I mean, if you ask one hundred guys if they could be president but they would have to live with their Mother-in-Laws I bet many would pass!

Overall, the brand that is Obama came off well tonight and I for one am going to have fun watching them during their time in the White House if for no other reason than thanking my own personal God that I don’t have to slog through four years of McCain and Palin!

Obama Win Renews Feeling of Camelot

If having your picture taken is any indication of how good of a president you are going to be then President-elect Obama is going to be a rock star! I realize shaking hands and kissing babies is what campaigns are all about, but this guy has been in front of more cameras than Britney Spears.

If you search Google images for “Barack Obama” you come up with get this, 17 million images! Compare that to just 2.2 million for President Bush. I even gave the current Prez help by including the search “President Bush”, which only garnered another 1.8 million images. There is no doubt the President-elect likes his picture taken and will have plenty of opportunity to be in front of the cameras during what I hope is two tours of duty as the Commander in chief.

But at some point the honeymoon will be over right? All the cameras and all the swooning will give way to getting down to the matter at hand; repairing this country and putting into action the plans of which half of this country disagreed.

But until the gloves come off enjoy the moment America, you have earned it. From hanging chads to the misery that is 9/11. From the war on terror to the wholesale abandonment of the American spirit and the nuclear holocaust that is the current U.S. economy, the United States needed this win and we needed a feel good story to raise us up by our bootstraps, to prove that with hard work, sweat, and determination anything is possible…literally anything!

There is a feeling that the Obama presidency has all the markings of being the Camelot of this century. This has to be how it must have felt during the Kennedy days. A young, vibrant, attractive couple taking their hard-fought place in the White House, the kids running through the halls of the West Wing, it all seems so surreal. It is a good feeling and I for one am going to enjoy it!

Italy’s Prime Minister Makes Racial Remark Towards Obama

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s gaffe-prone Prime Minister, today found himself accused of racism after calling Barack Obama “suntanned”.

Speaking in Moscow at a joint news conference with President Medvedev, Mr Berlusconi said Mr Obama’s election had been “hailed by world public opinion as the arrival of a Messiah”.

He added: “I will try to help relations between Russia and the United States, where a new generation has come to power. I don’t see problems for Medvedev in establishing good relations with Obama, who is also handsome, young and suntanned”.

Mr Berlusconi said he had intended the remark as a compliment and those who failed to understand this were “imbeciles”.

Here we go, it took less than 24 hours for someone to poke fun at our guy, and the best part is that we are imbeciles if we don’t understand! But maybe we shouldn’t make too much out of it. I mean how many governments has Italy had in the last 50 years?

But this does bring up a point to ponder. Will Obama have a hard time negotiating with some of these Prime Ministers and other world leaders who prefer their presidents fat, old, and white? Would Hilary have just as much of a hurdle had she been elected?

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