An article on politico.com today, presents some thoughts from Democrat strategist James Carville who claims that “in some ways, the falling poll numbers are overblown, and Obama’s record speaks for itself."
He went on to say, “I think we can stop putting the nails in the coffin here. We can admit that there’s some real, deep, fundamental problems with this president. But I think we’re throwing the dirt here too soon. The deficit is dropping as a percentage of GDP faster than any time since World War II. He saved the auto industry. Health care costs are flattening better than any time in the last 20 years. Teenage pregnancy is at an all-time low.”
I mention this because it typifies Democrat spin to the nth degree.
The deficit’s dropping so quickly because Republicans fought for, and achieved, a budgeting sequester. Had they not, unbridled Dem spending would still be spiraling through the roof. The auto industry’s building plants all over the world, except here, and the GM bailout alone cost U.S. taxpayers $9.7 billion as of Sept. 30, according to figures released in an October report to Congress.
As far as health care cost goes, Lucia Graves, a staff correspondent for National Journal, reports that according to the Harvard Business Review in November: "In 1980, the national expenditure on health care in the United States was just over 9% of Gross Domestic Product. Today it accounts for nearly twice that — close to 18%.… Health insurance premiums rose four and half times faster than the rate of inflation over the same period.”
Then, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services website, “The teen birth rate has declined almost continuously over the past 20 years. In 1991, the U.S. teen birth rate was 61.8 births for every 1,000 adolescent females, compared with 29.4 births for every 1,000 adolescent females in 2012. Still the U.S. teen birth rate is higher than that of many other developed countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom.
Which means the rate was dropping for fifteen years before the incumbent ever showed up, and is continuing to do so on it’s own.
So, maybe Mr. Carville ought to do his homework before he throws out selected statistics. But if he did, neither he nor his incumbent friend would have a leg to stand on, which would mean that both of them would have to do something they’re just about incapable of. They'd have to shut up.
However, it occurred to me after reading the actual facts as opposed to Carville’s distortions, that the incumbent’s a lot like Chauncey Gardiner, the role Peter Sellers played in the film, “Being There."
As described in Wikipedia: “Chance (Peter Sellers) is a middle-aged man who lives in the townhouse of an old, wealthy man in Washington, D.C. He is simple-minded and has lived there his whole life, tending the garden. Other than gardening, his knowledge is derived entirely from what he sees on television. When his benefactor dies, Chance is forced to leave and discovers the outside world for the first time.
Chance wanders aimlessly, wearing his former employer's expensive clothes. He passes by a TV shop and sees himself captured by a camera in the shop window. Entranced, he steps backward off the sidewalk and is struck by a chauffeured car owned by Ben Rand, an elderly business mogul. In the back seat of the car sits Rand's wife Eve.
Eve brings Chance to their home to recover. Drinking alcohol for the first time in the car ride home, Chance coughs as he tells Eve his name. Eve mishears "Chance the Gardener" as "Chauncey Gardiner". Judging from Chance's appearance and manners, Rand assumes that Chance is an upper class, highly-educated businessman. Chance's style and seemingly-insightful ways embody the qualities Rand admires. Chance's simplistic utterances about gardens are interpreted as allegorical statements about business and the state of the economy.
Rand is also a confidant and adviser of the U.S. President, whom he introduces to "Chauncey". The president interprets Chance's remarks about how the garden changes with the seasons as economic and political advice. Chance, as Chauncey Gardiner, quickly rises to national public prominence."
So, other than Chance being only a trusted advisor and not actually president himself, there’s still a significant amount of similarity here if you think about it.
However, in spite of the preceding, the incumbent might have accomplished something in the Middle-East that’s never been done in more than five thousand years.
According to Chris Stirewalt, digital politics editor for Fox News, “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to try to stave off the U.S.-led effort to strike a deal to allow Iran to enrich uranium. Netanyahu told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that it’s an opinion held by many of America’s allies in the region: “There are many Arab leaders in the region who are saying this is a very bad deal… And you know when you have the Arabs and the Israelis speaking in one voice, it doesn't happen very often, I think it's worth paying attention to it.”
Therefore, if Israel and its fiercest enemies work together to defeat Iran, when the smoke clears, we might find all these age old foes becoming friends. And therefore, in one fell swoop and likely a nuclear holocaust, whoever's still standing together in the rubble later will have the incumbent to thank for their friendship.
That’s it for today folks.
Adios
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