I Think - Therefore I
Am
Or In Obama’s Case
I Think I’m Smart – Therefore I Am
Holman W. Jenkins just coined the term
“Smug Obliviousness” in relation to Obama and compared it to Trump’s “pragmatic
streak” in his Wall Street Journal article “Trump’s Charm of Not Being Obama”.
As far as terms go it ranks right up
there with “Irrational Exuberance” coined by Federal Reserve Board Chairman
Alan Greenspan warning of the “Dot Com Bubble” which burst and markets tumbled.
I love catchy terms or phrases because and
here is another one “brevity is the soul of wit”; initially coined by
Shakespeare. But in his day and age
“wit” meant wisdom.
With “Smug Obliviousness” Mr. Jenkins
captures the aloofness of Obama’s outlook on his policies and their effect on
the economy even to his own detriment.
The sense one has that President Obama feels that he alone has the
answers to the world’s problems and his “obliviousness” to the reality of the
situation.
Jenkins then compares that to
President Elect Donald Trump and his “Pragmatic Streak” which is based totally
upon the reality of the situation.
In this article Mr. Jenkins shows what
was obvious to the pragmatic Trump yet beyond the reach of President Obama ---
Reality. The rust belt was/is ready to
boom and all it needs is infrastructure such as pipelines for example.
The low gas prices have companies chomping at
the bit and with the idea that the President Elect will be pipeline friendly, the companies are starting to spend that pent up money.
I like this article, I think it is fair to
both sides, it is what journalism should be, “Just the facts mam”, giving both
sides hell when they don’t comply.
The businessman Trump instinctively
saw buildup of demand and what it would take to tap into it and I’m assuming
his pipeline/energy policies will let that demand be met. That is probably one of the things that is
behind his “Making America Great Again”. That practical grasp of reality is what most
of the Washington Establishment doesn’t see or doesn’t want to see.
That streak of Conservative pragmatism
was evidenced in 2014 when Dick DeVoss told “Mother Jones” reporter Andy Kroll
in his article: "So the lesson
to others is: Be prepared. Invest in the infrastructure necessary to leverage
an opportunity when it presents itself."
Too bad President Obama was oblivious to the obvious.
By the way that article, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/devos-michigan-labor-politics-gop is an excellent study of one of the financial powers and
their motives on the Republican side in Mi.
Local.
Taking this to a local level, I just got a call
from an old radical like myself wondering why I wasn’t opening his important emails
he’s been sending me. He told me he has an app and
I think he called it e-mail monkey which tracks who opens what emails.
Ask me once fine. But it took me several tries of my basically
telling him it was not any of his business what email I was opening and
especially why I wasn’t opening them. He
then went into a talk about how I should set up my email account so the
important emails like his would be at the top.
I remember this guy from the early days of the
Tea Party and he was a go-getter a real activist. We don’t see each other much, he lives in
Ottawa County. He’s worked long and hard
for “the cause”. I have a lot of respect
for what he’s done.
He’s a better
organizer than me. I bring his phone
call up because it is indicative of what I see happening on both sides of the
isle.
The phone call I got was from someone who hates
the idea of government “spying” on people.
What was he doing seeing if I opened my email without my knowledge? Not a big thing but add the lecture about how
I should set up my email differently and what do you have.
Well to me it indicates that even those who
swear by the slogan that power corrupts fall into that trap as easily as those
they oppose who they say have gotten corrupted.
There is a term for that and it is self-righteousness. He would have been one of the first to call
it that back in the day but now I wonder.
Our local tea party group here for example loves
to make secret plans as they try to unseat those in power because among other
things those in power make secret plans.
You see my frustration. It seems
like they are feeling lost because they have lost their prime person they
attack – Obama and need someone or something to complain about instead. They have started their own bureaucracy and
need to be careful not to fall into the same trap they are fighting against.
On a larger scale I see this in the growing opposition
to some of what Trump is doing by conservatives. They built a “complain machine” and seemingly
it has to keep complaining.
There sorry for the rant.
Oceana County Convention coming up Wed. 12/6/16
at 7pm at the Pentwater Community Center.
Also the monthly meeting of the Oceana GOP will
be next Tuesday at 6pm at the Hart Community Center. There will be no Feb. meeting.
Regards, Bob Carr
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
231-728-3455
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
231-728-3455
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