An American Success Story: My Two Cents on the Schooling of Obama

Spare Change | May 21.2008 | David J. Aland

[Natty Bumppo@frontier.net]

Obama hit the morning show couch to tell folks to lay off, but it’s time he woke up and smelled the coffee. As Rush Limbaugh put it: we can talk about Obama, but we can’t talk about his wife, his mother, his father, his grandmother, his preacher, his foreign policy, his race, his middle name, his lack of experience, his questionable friends, his religion, his clothing, or even his ears. Such discussions are disrespectful, says the candidate. “Low-class.” “Unacceptable.” What’s left?

Well, let’s talk about his schooling. No – not that tired old urban myth about Barry O’Bama having been indoctrinated in an Islamist madrassa – that’s not only passé, but clearly untrue. Why, even Hillary dismissed it, sort of.

But it’s worth talking about the schooling of this candidate because, so far as can be seen, he appears to be the perfect product of the modern American educational system. We should look closely at this American success story – and the work our schools are doing to similarly prepare other young men and women for lives of service. After all, we routinely hear President Bush being skewered for his verbal gaffes, so let’s take a look at how much better prepared his presumptive replacement is:

- Geography. He’s a hit in all 57 states. (This one would be easier to understand if it had come from John Heinz-Kerry…)

- Etiquette. The term “sweetie” is normally acceptable when addressing a woman in the press. (Pull that one with Helen Thomas…)

- Social Sciences. The hicks cling to their guns and religion out of bitterness. The San Francisco elitists think that’s funny stuff.

- Theology. It’s OK to talk smack from the pulpit, so long as you don’t do it at the National Press Club. (Funny how 20 minutes in DC can undo 20 years in a church.)

- Math. Everyone deserves a health care policy just like the gold-plated, heavily subsidized program each member of Congress has. Yet all of that would somehow be cheaper! Unless, of course, you pay taxes…

- Geopolitics. If we retreat from Iraq, and leave NATO holding a few more bags, the rest of the world will respect our “tough talk” better than they do today. When did our foreign policy revolve around making everyone else happy?

- Economics. Student loans are predatory, especially when you’re paying off your Harvard loans on only a million or so a year (and sending kids to piano lessons and ballet).

- Debate. Discuss the issues, but don’t rebut what I say, what my wife says, what my parents say, what my preacher says, or what my friends say. That’s just not nice.

In short, it appears that the only thing that Mr Obama carried away from his matriculative experiences in America was to get an “A+” in “Self Esteem Studies.” His wildly narcissistic slogan (“We are the change we’ve been waiting for.”) is not only grammatically incorrect, but a self-congratulatory tautology that tells us the only important thing the candidate learned in school is how to admire his own ideas.

When he puts his wife on the podium at a rally, we are supposed to ignore anything stupid that she says. Never mind that the revisionist fertilizer being spread by Bill Clinton is one of the best nutrients to the Obama campaign. Clinton’s spouse is fair game, but Obama’s spouse is an innocent victim.

If the President has anything to say in a speech that contradicts what Obama says, it’s obviously a personal attack. Never mind that George Bush was only the second American President to visit Israel in the last 60 days, and the previous one (Jimmy Carter) was spouting exactly the policies that Bush criticized. It’s not always about you, Barry.

But that’s the problem this year, not only with the Obama campaign, but with both Democrats in the race – it’s not about policy, or change, or hope, or anything other than two amateur power-brokers who want that Pennsylvania Ave brass ring. It’s about ego.

Being President is tough work. It not only requires good ideas, but the courage to see them through no matter what. About the only place where that work-ethic is apparently still taught must be cooking schools. They start by telling students that no-one who cannot take a little heat should work in the kitchen.

So toughen up, Barry. The best chefs know it takes more than attitude to serve up a masterpiece, and that you have to do more than pour out a little whine.

[mgist]

We are talking about the future of the United States of America here. Congress and the House are both in Democrats hands. Obama is a populist hust like Chavez in South America. If we don’t support McCain we are in for trouble. Americans have no idea what it is like to go into exile, but we may find ourselves in the same situation as immigrants that some despise. I may have somewhere to go. Where would you go if your country became unlivable?

[LOC1]

Texas is a whole ‘nother country.