Satire By John W. Lillpop
It occurs to me that a lot of President Obama’s problems over the past twelve months have to do with “spontaneous foolishness,” situations in which The One speaks his mind candidly, without giving what he is going to say, and the impact thereof, a great deal of forethought.
Take, for example, Obama’s feeble attempt at humor on the Jay Leno show last March. With millions of curious Americans tuned in to watch their new president unwind, Obama decided, spontaneously it would appear, to ridicule Special Olympics children
Outrage over the president’s foible was palpable, as the nation groaned in misery at Obama’s lack of presidential discretion.
Those on both the left and the right scratched their heads in puzzlement. After all, attacking the disabled was the sort of dumb remark one would expect from W., but the very last thing one would imagine from a Harvard elitist and lefty intellectual.
Incidentally, over the course of eight long years, not once did W. demean the disabled or otherwise attempt to abuse the less fortunate just to get a laugh.
Obama managed to do so after just two months in office.
Then on July 16, Henry Lewis Gates, an African American professor from Harvard and “friend” of the president, was arrested by Sgt. James Crowley, a white police official in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Without the benefit of first hand knowledge or any sort of grip on the facts involved, Obama’s mouth once again out ran his mind as he accused the white officer of “acting stupidly.”
Chalk up another one for spontaneous foolishness, as the president personally set race relations back 75 years with that race-based tirade.
Everyone knows that Obama was raised in Hawaii. That being the case, one would expect The One to understand that a presidential jab at an economy heavily dependent on tourism would be devastating, regardless of how innocent the intent.
Yet, President Obama has managed to offend Las Vegas, AKA, Sin City, on two separate occasions in his infant presidency.
The last presidential blunder caused a major firestorm, at least among Nevada's elected officials, when The One offered this not-so-sage financial advise:
"When times are tough, you tighten your belts," Obama said. “You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage.” "You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices."
Sin City Mayor Oscar Goodman was not amused, as reported, in part, by the Las Vegas Sun:
“Mayor Oscar Goodman delivered a double-barreled verbal blast at Obama for telling people not to spend their money in Las Vegas during the town hall forum.
“Obama is "no friend to Las Vegas" and "I think he has a psychological hangup about us," Goodman told reporters he gathered into his office at City Hall.”
“Goodman, whose face became red as he spoke at his desk, said he was "incredulous" when he heard that Obama had again attacked the city and that a simply apology was not enough this time to undo the damage."
Psychological hangup, Mr. Mayor?
Hmmmm, very interesting, especially when one considers that Obama’s frugality lecture came right after his deficit-busting, $3.8 trillion dollar budget was dumped in the laps of Congress!
Mind you, no one is suggesting that President Obama is anything akin to the underwear bomber or other terrorists that the Obama administration has decided to Mirandize.
Still, it might be prudent for a few powerful Democrats to pull the president aside and say to him, “Mr. President, you do have the right to remain silent!”
What are the chances of that happening? Let me put it this way:
Don’t blow the family cash on such a wager-- in Las Vegas, or any other venue, for that matter!
