Wednesday, May 23, 2012
It could be said a narcissist’s best friend is the
reflection he sees of himself in the mirror. No other relationship comes close
-- unless the narcissist has the unique opportunity to meet another version of
himself, which happened last week, during the recent Group of Eight (G-8)
summit at Camp David.
“President Obama, this is new French president Francois
Hollande. President Hollande, c’est le president americain Barack Obama.”
“Tweedledum meet Tweedledee.”
If, as they say, a picture paints a thousand words, then
it is obvious it was amour at first sight for Obama and Hollande -- ahem -- as
compared to snapshots taken of Obama with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu which Obama’s body language expressed he’d be more comfortable
sitting next to a rattle snake.
It isn’t every day an American president hits it off so
jovially with a staunch socialist leader, but these are strange days we are
living in. Ignoring the obvious is supposed to be the norm.
Obama and Hollande share much in common including the way
each coasted to victory riding on the winds of social unrest and economic
uncertainty while using slogans promising change. Obama used “Hope and Change”
and Hollande, “Change is now.” Does it actually matter? Not really. Except for
the fact that both cases show us how people are willing to compromise core
beliefs when times get tough.
At the G-8 summit last week, both leaders left German
Chancellor Angela Merkel as the lone voice promoting the common sense approach
to fixing Europe’s economy by living within one’s means. Instead, the not-so-dynamic
duo promoted a plan for “growth.” The same kind of “growth” America experienced
after implementing the stupid stimulus bill which grew the deficit instead of
“shovel ready” jobs.
The type of “growth” Hollande and Obama espouse
translated into layman’s terms means: The government has license to steal money
from job creators so it can spend like hell.
Obama calls it “paying your fair share.” Hollande calls
it “socialism.” Simintics, semantics.
Obama later joked about his failure saying, “Shovel-ready
was not as shovel-ready as we expected,” which was about as funny as Obama
admitting he’s in over his head. Rather than admit failure, Obama whitewashed
over his “Hope and Change” slogan and replaced it with the word “Forward.”
Despite obvious failure, Obama wants us to proceed forward, in lemming like
lockstep, over the cliff.
Thanks to a tip from a reader named Ted, I discovered the
“forward” shtick has a dark side. According to Russian immigrant Svetlana Kunin
who writes for Investor’s Business Daily, Obama’s new slogan, “Forward,” is the
same motto (when translated) used by a Russian anti-capitalist left movement
founded in 2005 which merged with the “Socialist Resistance” in 2011. You can
see her enlightening article online at: http://news.investors.com/article/611578/201205151852/obamas-slogan-forward-is-socialist-slogan-too.htm?p=full.
To the unaware, Hollande’s plan for “growth” includes
raising taxes on job creators from 41 percent up to 75 percent. Lord knows what
will happen here, should Obama be entrusted with a second term.
In the meantime, we’re already hearing talk about the
need for additional stimulus spending to fix those rickety roads and wobbly
bridges the first stimulus bill failed to repair. Just like an addict promising
that one more hit will be his last, it’s time to admit Washington has a
spending habit that cannot be fixed with another fix.
Once upon a time, personal responsibility ruled the day
and living within one’s means was honorable. Purchases extended on credit were
the exception to the rule, and saving for a rainy day ensured personal
“bailouts” in cases of emergency.
But that was then. We’re not in Kansas anymore, and it
will take more than clicking a pair of ruby shoes together to get us home.
Blindly proceeding forward into the unknown is a dumb idea when you know you’ve
lost your way. The best thing you can do is go back to a point of familiarity
and then proceed with caution.
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