Today I read Peggy Noonan’s regular piece in The Wall Street Journal. Normally I appreciate Ms. Noonan’s insightful and carefully crafted missives. Today was one more straw on the back of a camel’s back that’s about to break. You see, Ms. Noonan, like so many others, refers to the people in the current administration as “so bright” and also mentions that these dolts are led by someone who is also “bright.” Ahem. I beg to differ.
In the first place, the current US Administration has produced nothing successful in terms of domestic or foreign policy. They have recycled a mantra born of Marx, raised by Euro-socialists, and finally polished to high gloss by Hollywood, USA. Please, “spreading the wealth” policies aren’t ones created by “bright” people. They’re created by bitter, angry, envious, and dim people, ones typically bent on telling the rest of the country that the rules are to be obeyed except by themselves. Consider the results: consistent failure by any measure. Does the Euro-socialist have less debt and higher living standards? No. They’re invoice has come due and they’re scrambling with how to pay. Has the Middle East been mollified to even a minor degree. Sorry, no. Have the Iranians given up the quest for the A-bomb? Uh, not hardly. Has the economy snapped back? Not yet. Has China agreed to free-float their currency? Nope. Have the Russian laid off their former satellites? Nyet. Chavez taken a powder? No.
As for leadership by Ms. Noonan’s supposedly “bright” person, consider that he drops a list of demands before the prime minister of Israel and walks out for a meal. Is this the action of a “bright” man? No, this is the method of an angry, arrogant, envious, and pitifully dim man. He results to brute thuggery. Why? Isn’t this the one who is supposed to be so eloquent, so persuasive, so congenial? No, he is not. If he were “bright” as too many claim, he would not have had to bribe Congress and various constituencies to pound through his health care plan. He would have made appeals that gained support without the purchase price of billions. He would have been able to have a meaningful and productive dialog with another head of state. No, the Oval Office is not occupied by a particularly bright person. All evidence points to the exact opposite.
What the evidence also shows is that the “press” and many members of Congress and too many people in the public no longer have an accurate method of measuring the quality of those in high office. What passes for “bright” today is woefully below the mark. If you wear a snazzy suit, walk with a swagger, and wag your finger in moments of barely controlled hostility, well, you’re a bright fellow capable of leading a nation. Never mind that you’re a retread worn down to the cords the moment you stepped into the light. You look good through the soft-focus lens. Peggy Noonan said so. And that makes it true.
The Bent Page 
A nice guy.
You would be hard pressed to find a nicer guy than Congressman Joe Sestak (D Pennsylvania). Mr. Sestak is a mild-mannered, soft spoken fellow who engages people with a kindly smile and focused eyes. He served many years in the United States Navy and a couple of terms in Congress.
Nonetheless, I learned at a town hall meeting yesterday that Congressman Sestak has a tenuous grasp on the facts of American life. When I asked him how the government was going to pay for the new health care plan, he said that according to the Congressional Budget Office the cost was completely covered by the provisions in the bill. Incredible. When reminded that the CBO has been frequently in error with these predictions he continued the party line that this was fully paid for unlike so many of the previous entitlements created during other administrations.
I give Mr. Sestak credit for staying on message. He knows how to filibuster with long-winded answers that essentially dodge the facts, repeat a mantra, and serve to wear down any opposition. He failed yesterday. More than three quarters of the people present were in opposition not only to the health care plan but also many of the other programs he supports. When asked about how the government could simply take over the college loan business from private banks, Mr. Sestak casually mentioned how it would save money. Never did he address the issue of whether or not it was appropriate for the government to engage in this activity. One fell swoop, according to the good congressman, its finished. I was left wondering what else the government wolf had in mind to swallow.
And so it went. People respectfully confronted the issues only to be met with well intentioned but ill-reasoned responses. This is a sad commentary on the quality of elected officials in the United States. But its not all bad. The people are awake and on the march. If this level of interest is sustained through November, there is the possibility of a sea-change in the political make-up of the nation.
- Commentary
on April 4, 2010 at 1:26 pm Leave a CommentTags: 9/12, congress, election, health care, news, politics, Sestak, tea party, town hall