What do Obama and Gob Bluth Have in Common?

  During season two of Arrested Development, Gob Bluth begins “courting” a woman many years his senior, Lucille Austero.  Following an awkward meal at their country club, the following dialogue occurs:

Lucille Austero: Today at lunch, you were ashamed to be with me.

Gob Bluth: No. I was ashamed to be seen with you. I like being with you.

I would imagine if you replaced “Lucille Austero” with “Dalai Lama,” and “Gob Bluth” with “President Obama,” you would get a fairly accurate picture of today’s meeting at the White House.  It’s true that Obama met with the Daila Lama today, but he did so in an auxiliary room to the Oval Office.  In addition, no press was allowed to cover the event, nor take pictures (although the White House later released a picture of their own).

Today’s events seem to be a microcosm of the Obama Administration thus far, full of compromised stances and weak values.  In a recent interview, Obama said that he would “rather be a great one-term President than a mediocre two-term President.” If he continues along this trajectory, though, he’ll end up being a mediocre one-term President.

No President, or for that matter any prominent figure or leader, has risen to greatness by espousing a litany of half-hearted objectives.  Further, Obama’s program of Radical Noncommitment is just tinder for the even-worse Republicans sitting across the aisle.  They know now that Obama will not flex his political muscle past the point of exertion, and so they just wait him out. 

Until Obama starts taking some pride in his beliefs, sticking to them, and seeing the through, he is destined to be like that kid in high school who tried so hard to get everyone to like him that in the end, no one liked him.  Obama needs a Leo McGarry, not a Josh Lyman’s real-life inspiration, to get Obama to take some risks, pass some effective legislation, and “Let Obama Be Obama.”


[Note: I would still vote for Obama again over any of the ass-clowns on the other side of the aisle.]

Blog 2.0

I realize I haven't updated this blog much. While I'd like to believe I will in the near future, I've also taken up a different line. My new blog, "Because The Onion Isn't Hiring," kicks off with this week with the article Ousted Leader Brett Favre Denied Re-entry Into Territory of Packers Clan.

Why I Hate Fireworks

"And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,..." - "Star Spangled Banner"

Each 4th of July, at dusk, we crane our necks skyward, and oo and ahh at the pyrotechnic marvels above. And they are indeed marvelous and fantastic. But fireworks, in their essence, are nothing more than glorified explosions. The "bombs bursting in air" in the Star Spangled Banner killed people; lots of people.

Without sounding too much like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, I think it's important to remember today what it is we're watching and recollecting. When Francis Scott Key penned his famous words, it was only after numerous casualties and sacrafices. Countries, not only America, are founded through violence, which then becomes myth, which is then glorified.

So when watching those burst of light and color tonight, have a Bud, sit back, and enjoy yourself. But while fireworks are beautiful, I think it's important to keep in mind that there are still myriad places in the world where a flash of bright light a deafening boom and explosion are not comforting or beautiful stimuli.