WOW!

"...but it's a real good thing you did. A real good thing. That is one of the classic lines directed at the character “Anthony” played by Billy Mummy in the Twilight Zone episode “It’s A Good Life.” Anthony is a six year old ultimate brat with the mental abilities to do virtually anything he wants. His actions usually result in a comment like the opening line. Intense fear does that.

That brings me to President Obama or as I prefer - WOW (Walk On Water). I have a good friend who is an Uber Liberal whose defense of the crumbling administration is now you will see the results of his “bold and courageous” moves in ten to twenty years. Well, a statement like that certainly limit’s the debate. No matter how foolish this administration meanders about the fall back is just wait a few decades. I’m sure those who are unemployed or underemployed will delight to know that hope and change is just a few decades away. The Obama apologists have to really, really work exceptionally hard attempting to put a shine on this first year and a half.

I will give WOW credit for two significant pieces of legislation - health care and financial. With health care I am concerned about quality of care eroding and substantial costs. The bill for uninsured and under insured has to be paid by someone and that someone will be the taxpayers. I have been posting regularly on the sidebar bits and pieces from Congressman Lee Terry - a conservative Republican from Nebraska. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.

With financial reform my concern is how long will it take for Congress, compliant regulators and the major financial players to weasel around this legislation? Sooner or later business as usual will resume. Just remember that Barney Frank - a major player in the meltdown - was an instrumental force in this legislation.

When you get to other issues of significance three pop out - the economy, illegal immigration and foreign adventurism. On the first the party line has been to spend our way out with a series of stimulus bills that have been pork enhanced. Take about adding fat to a diet! So far this version of trickle down - which the administration will never use - has been a resounding failure. The second forces an administration to look at reality and to choose between what is legally correct and fiscally necessary or offending a Hispanic voting block. Arizona had the right idea and even Massachusetts legislators see which way the wind is blowing on this one and are hastily cobbling together legislation to address the issue. The final issue is war. The administration has done some saber rattling the last year or so in regards to Afghanistan. IMO this is a venture that one must enter into with heightened trepidation. History is not on our side.

Transparency was front and center in the campaign and it has vanished as quickly as jobs and stimulus money. The highlight - to me - is the attempted backroom deal to get clear sailing for the Spector campaign. Toss in a healthy dose of closet meetings on health care and you get a idea of what WOW and his fellow travelers consider to be transparency.

I was a lukewarm supporter of WOW back when his machine was doing the best to deep six the Clinton campaign. But then came his vote on TARP, support for the Patriot Act and the emergence of Revered Wright. With Wright I just wondered how someone could sit in a pew year after year while this racial hater tossed out his BS. WOW did nothing until finally confronted by a fawning press.

Cronyism, partisan politics, lack of transparency all show that some things never change.