Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Gail Collins, "The Curse of the Second": Worse Than Anything Fantasized by Karl Rove

"I didn't do it."

- Bart Simpson


"I didn't know it."

- Barack Obama


"And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."

- John Donne



It's all pretty grim in the West Wing. Whereas the IRS, Benghazi and NSA scandals couldn't sink Obama's popularity ratings, Obama's past promise that Americans would be able to keep their insurance plans appears ready to cripple the presidency. Unfortunately, the crash of the Obamacare website is only a preliminary reflection of the horrifyingly poor preparation undertaken to implement the new health care system, which could have disastrous consequences on the American economy beyond anything ever fantasized by Karl Rove.

But none of this prevents Gail Collins, in her latest New York Times op-ed entitled "The Curse of the Second" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/opinion/collins-the-curse-of-the-second.html?_r=0), from making light of Obama's plummeting popularity. Collins concludes:

"Perhaps the president could do a press event to celebrate the re-opening of the national parks and get lost for a few days in the Grand Canyon. Everybody would be reminded of how much they used to like him. He could come back in triumph and re-start the immigration reform bill. The cloud over the White House would lift and the website would suddenly be up and running.

I believe we have a plan."

Isn't she cute?

Meanwhile, in case you didn't notice, Putin has replaced Obama in the pole position of Forbes "World's Most Powerful People 2013" list (http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2013/10/30/the-worlds-most-powerful-people-2013/):

"Who’s more powerful: the autocratic leader of a former superpower or the handcuffed commander in chief of the most dominant country in the world? This year the votes for the World’s Most Powerful went to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He climbs one spot ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama, who held the title in 2012.

Putin has solidified his control over Russia while Obama’s lame duck period has seemingly set in earlier than usual for a two-term president — latest example: the government shutdown mess. Anyone watching this year’s chess match over Syria and NSA leaks has a clear idea of the shifting individual power dynamics."

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

And although I hate to be the one to shatter Collins's cheerfulness, she might also want to take note of the most recent numbers evidencing the ongoing financial demise of Obama's cheerleading section The New York Times, which tomorrow is expected to report a further decline in print and digital advertising revenue for the third quarter of 2013 (see: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304526204579099180254949844).

Can it possibly get worse? Just wait and see!

1 comment:

  1. Well, Putin's power is stronger, now Obama is focusing on strengthening of Iran's Ayatollahs power (and comfort). One would think that American Secretary of Treasury has now other concerns than comfort of Ayatollahs, but no - our Secretary is working hard on making their life much better and lifting sanctions. Why is he hired for this role? For the same reason he was hired in the first place - a useful tool of incompetent, highly manipulative and sickly ruthless (at best - there are other possibilities of interpretation) President. He is very, very, very dangerous now. He'll do everything to divert attention.
    Some decades ago, in certain martial law (mild) circumstances, I heard a bard singing about a dying dictator who's thinking: "Well I am dying, should I leave this beautiful world to others. No they don't deserve it." And he pushes the button.
    Obama is worse than Breshnev.

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