Era of Shallowness

For the last few years my friends have been lamenting the fall of America. “It’s over,” they say resignedly as if we should all lay down our pin numbers for the masses invading our southern border and plead  for mercy from the new progressive elitists who seem firmly entrenched in the new power structure.

Our mesmerizing president, well still mesmerizing now to only a handful of stalwarts, has lulled our country into a quiescent unconsciousness. The Middle East is in chaos yet  President Obama found time last weekend to play golf and attend a few fundraisers; our  economy , the nuts and bolts of it anyway, is disintegrating before our eyes. Food and fuel prices continue  to rise unabated. Yet, because the moneychangers on Wall Street are propping up the stock market with help from the Federal Reserve  we are being sold a bill of goods about a faux recovery.

Everything  it seems has a shiny veneer . But when you look closer you can see the peeling paint. The same façade exists in the world of show business. Instead of any type of entertainment with intrinsic value like the mini-series, “Roots,” or “Shogun, “ or “Lonesome Dove,” of yesteryear, we are being fed the pablum of reality television or being tortured with the constant bombardment  of hype about J Lo or Kim Kardashian. This fits in well in the Obama era.

An older friend, long gone, used to say we always had the right president for the times. Prescient thinking. Our president , like the aforementioned divas of de-evolution, has a pretty face and little else. He is the right president for this time. This being the Era of Shallowness. He is  a man who constantly stumbles and mumbles and bungles; whose initiatives always miss the mark; he always never knows what’s happening around him or just out and out lies. He should  be censured by  Republicans and  clear-conscious Democrats alike. They should be talking about impeachment for abuse of power. And lack of leadership.

Yes, old friend we do have the right president  for the times. As an added bonus we also have the right Congress to match.

 

Hard Choices Indeed

The liberal media is awash  praising Hillary Clinton for her service  as secretary of state  To anyone who has outgrown crayolas and coloring books one might be a bit put off  by such approbation. From the moment her staff sought to “reset” with the Russians early in 2009, and bungled  the translation it set  in motion one of the most lackluster forays in world diplomacy.

But according to an editorial that appeared in the Sunday New York Times  by Nicholas Kristof, a frequent Hillary cheerleader, she was a “trailblazing diplomat.” According to Kristof, some politicians have trouble articulating all the wonderful things they’ve  accomplished. This was basically a defense of her tepid response when asked this past April about her legacy at the State Department. It reminded me of the same inarticulate,  sputtering Ted Kennedy when he was asked in 1980 why he wanted to president. Red-faced and flustered, he hemmed and hawed at this softball  question but couldn’t come up with a valid reason.

Thankfully for Hillary her sycophants will fill in the blanks for her. That is if she decides to run. So far she is following the paradigm of a presidential candidate two years in advance of an election. Her book, “Hard Choices,” due out soon, will reveal little, keeping any controversies at bay. One, though, bound to be scrutinized is her choice for the title of her memoirs “Hard Choices.” This was the title of Cyrus Vance’s  book; Vance served as President Carter’s secretary of state. One can’t help but draw parallels to the challenges they both faced in the Middle East . Vance had to deal with the Iranian hostage crisis. Hillary was the architect of the Arab spring and was taking kudos for it until this wonderful, regional, democratic revolution took a turn southward in a massive blood bath.

But back to Kristof.  Unlike  James Baker, “she didn’t craft a coalition of allies”; “didn’t seal a landmark peace agreement.” “No her legacy is different.” Indeed it is steeped in  esoterica like addressing poverty, the enviroment, education and family planning. Important,? Sure hardly earth shattering concepts. And, oh yeah, and she also noted, like millions of others, the importance of using social media.

“But give her credit,” according to Kristof.“She expanded the diplomatic agenda and adopted new tools to promote it – a truly important legacy.”  Or is it?

The Strange Case of Bowe Bergdahl

“We have met the enemy and he is us,” so said a Pogo cartoon of some years ago. It couldn’t be more true today than it was for the Roman empire a millennium and a half ago. Are we really celebrating the heroism of this man.  The puzzling aspect of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s release is disturbing when one takes into account the revelations emerging from this incident and what, if anything, it has to do with obfuscating the VA scandal of last week.

First there’s  questions of how he was captured. Some of the members of his platoon have said he deserted his post. Six GI’s were killed trying to rescue him. Five Taliban savages were released from Guantanamo to secure his release. They’ll soon be back in the jijad looking to separate infidels from their heads.

Bergdahl’s father inexplicably spoke to him in Arabic welcoming him back to freedom. Outgoing press secretary, Jay Carney, spoke in the platitudes he has become infamous for, about the  release. He was quoted, as was President Obama saying Americans never leave anyone behind. It’s a great ideal to adhere to but hardly etched in stone; and is usually reserved for the most elite military personnel who take on the most dangerous missions. Never thought it would be applied to a soldier with questionable character who may have deserted. Right now there’s a marine being held in a Mexican jail by our friends south of the border. Why hasn’t his release been secured.

It was reported that Bergdahl was a private when he disappeared but he returns as a sergeant? How was he promoted leaving his post, endangering his American brothers and sisters. There’s more twists and turns in this story than there is in a Rubik’s cube. But can we depend on the feckless media to dig into this story? Or the VA scandal for that matter?

Every Obama bungle ( and they’re getting too numerous to count) gets swept under the rug with the rapidity of a hobo on a ham sandwich. Any media person who questions any administration proclamations is figuratively tarred and feathered as a right wing extremist.

If the president thought this prisoner exchange would make the VA scandal disappear he is wrong like so many other times. Every effort he makes to mitigate the coming fallout in the upcoming fall elections results in more separation with mainstream America.