Larry Bradley's Weekly Ezine #196 Another F-Word
1. ‘Tis the Season
2. Another F-Word
1. ‘Tis the Season
The last few years the first week in December has been marked by a snow fall and (where I live) we seem to keep snow on the ground until March. I am the kind of person who would much rather sweat than shiver, so this is not good news. Still, I can be philosophical about it. We will soon arrive at the winter solstice. Over the next 75 days, the days will get longer, the temperatures will begin to moderate and spring will present the promise of a new year.
Similarly, the next 75 days will be significant politically. With the electoral selection events in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada (among others) leading up to the Super Tuesday set of primaries in February, the Republican field will narrow. The extensive number of contenders you have today will shrink to the final two and the die will then soon be cast for November’s general election.
Should you expect a respite from March to September? Probably not, for two reasons:
First, we have had an intensive civics lesson over the last 3 years regarding the importance of the members of the Congress. Electing a President with the policies you endorse without electing the members of Congress who support similar policies is like conducting an attack as pure infantry without the support of armor and artillery. You might succeed, but your chances of success are much smaller.
Second, the Citizens United Supreme Court decision has opened the flood gates of money being used to generate ads by organizations other than the political parties. Expect a constant drumbeat of negative ads keeping you agitated about the candidates on both sides.
I am not an investment adviser, and this is not investment advice, but the thought does occur to me now might be the time to invest in radio and television networks. They’re going to make a boat load of money from all the ads they’re going to sell in 2012.
2. Another F-Word
Occasionally, the process of offering you something insightful and educational about American politics reminds me of what Lewis Grizzard once said. Lewis said of writing a daily column for The Atlanta Constitution that the obligation was, “like being married to a nymphomaniac. The first week is fun.”
Instead of fun, I have another f-word is mind this week—frustrating. Frustrating is a word used when you don’t see progress towards a goal. Instead what you see are false starts and continuation towards gridlock. Nor am I alone in this feeling.
David Brooks wrote recently about political parties and how in politics, just as in the solar system, the sun rises as the day begins and the moon rises during the night. Political parties are like the sun and moon. Usually one is in ascendency while the other is in decline. Now we seem to be stuck in a situation where neither of the two major parties are either ascending or descending and so we are stuck with two moons. Further, no impetus seems to exist to force the system to move. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/opinion/brooks-the-two-moons.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212
One of the keys to military success is to be able to make decisions faster than your adversary. This is called getting inside your opponents’ decision cycle. By making and implementing your decision first, you force your enemy to react to you. Meanwhile your enemy is still trying to decide what to do about the existing set of circumstances. Imagine what happens to your enemy when you confront them with a second decision, and then a third while the enemy is still trying to react to the first decision.
Like it or not, we are in a global economy. While we are in political gridlock, we are not making decisions, but our competitors can and will. How can this be good for our nation?
Adding to the frustration is . . .
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Categories: Weekly Ezine
Tags: Lewis Grizzard Citizens United David Brooks Republican Candidates Winter Solstice F-Word
The electorate voted for Obama in 2008 because the unpopularity of George Bush, the financial crisis, and the absence of a stark contrast in candidates paved the way for one of the least experienced candidates in presidential election history to win the presidency. America thought they elected a uniter who would bring the country together. Instead, we got a three year campaign. The first two years, following the unpopularity of Health Care and the failure of the stimulus to create the jobs it was said to produce, were riddled with snipes and jabs at "the previous administration." The electorate quickly tired of Obama's blaming his shortcomings on President Bush. A clue that people seemed to miss was the fact that Obama did not significantly alter anything about Bush's policies on terrorism, despite frequently critisizing them while campaigning. Enhanced interrogation can be brought back at any time, it was not codifed or put into statute. Rendition still exists, and Gitmo is still open. And this is the one area where Obama is having the most success. Two near misses and the Fort Hood shooting may have contributed to the realization that Bush and Cheney actually did keep us safe, otherwise, why the USA PATRIOT Act not only extended, but also enhanced by the Obama Administration? Obama's domestic policies, the Tea Party, and resurgence of conservatism have all contributed to the American voter quickly realizing the mistake made in 2008. Do Americans actually believe that Republicans want kids with down syndrome to fend for themselves or for Americans to drink dirty water? Americans are not naive and President Obama has not realized that the independent voter is not a liberal.
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Amusing, but not really related to the content of this week's Ezine. You're not a subscriber, so you didn't read the complete content, that's probably why your remarks are like they are.
Also amusing is your repetition of the assertion Obama's difficulties are the result of his lack of qualification for the Presidency. The two people Obama and Biden replaced had, on paper at least, the most complete qualifications you could have short of actually having done the job. One had been a business executive and a governor of one of our largest states both geographically and population wise. The other had been Secretary of Defense and CEO of a major defense contractor. Yet they managed to FUBAR the country in a way sure to take years, possibly even decades to overcome.
So, maybe one of the key ingredients to look for is not simply executive experience, but rather the underlying philosophy the candidate intends to govern with, as well as the intelligence and intellectual curiosity of the candidate.
On this Blog, I am concerned with trying to get people to objectively think about their philosophy and how they apply it. I invite you to subscribe both to the Blog and my Ezine so you can better contribute to the discussion.
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