Monday, April 22, 2013

Word Association Presidential Style

Presidential periods can be summed up in single words, and I don’t just mean presidential agendas. I mean in the broader scope of things. You can define an era using single words and do so remarkably well. At this point, I think we can define Obama’s era, so let’s do that. In fact, I think you’ll find his word to be surprisingly fitting. Read on.

Before getting to Obama, let’s back up so you can see what I mean. The word that described Jimmy Carter’s administration was “malaise.” Everything seemed to be grinding to a halt and nobody cared about anything. There was a real sense that the world’s better days were behind it and everyone was just waiting for the lights to go out. If you don’t believe me, just watch a few episodes of Barney Miller and you’ll get the vibe of the era. . . rundown, resigned, defeated. People even talked about the Presidency being too big of a job for one man.

If I had to pick a word for Reagan’s era, it would be “deregulation.” Reagan privatized government functions, slashed regulations, and devolved power to the people. But most importantly, Reagan instilled the idea that America was a do-it-yourself nation and we didn’t need Washington telling us how.

Then came Bush Sr. His word was “multilateral” because he wanted everyone to hold hands and play follow the consensus on everything from budgets to war, which is exactly how horrible, gutless decisions get made. It’s a thousand points of pathetic if you ask me. Fitting with Bush’s timid mindset, this was the age of “consensus leadership” in management schools, as if there can be such a thing. . . leading from behind.

Bill Clinton’s word was “pretend.” Heh heh. Good old Bill did what anyone married to Hillary would have done... he pretended he wasn’t married and he dragged a $10 bill through a trailer park and a cigar through an intern. But Bill was hardly alone in his peckerdilloes, hence, this word defines his era. Indeed, the people who pursued him so obsessively had likewise been buggering the interns as they pretended they were Christian soldiers in good standing. Bill friends and biggest supporters were all Hollywood types, i.e. the land of make-believe. His foreign policy was make-believe as well as he pretended that launching a couple cruise missiles would wipe out terrorism. The stock market was all pretend too as companies with no prospects of ever making money were valued higher than the world’s greatest cash cows. . . tech-bubble make-believe.

W’s word was “incompetent.” Bush took office under a cloud of incompetence in our electoral system as we got to watch some truly incompetent people count hanging chads. Then Bush stepped in with incompetent political messaging combined with an incompetent defense of conservatism, incompetent handling of regulations, incompetent handling of Iraq and Afghanistan, and incompetent handling of budgets. But he wasn’t exactly alone. Incompetent car companies and banks collapsed after incompetent regulators assure them of bailouts. Why? Because they made loans to people who weren’t competent to pay them back and they traded in these things even though they weren’t competent to understand them and their insurers weren’t competent enough to value what they had insured.

And now we know Obama’s word: “frustration.”

In a broader sense, Obama’s term has been nothing but frustration: people are frustrated finding jobs. They are frustrated that their homes lost value. They are frustrated there is nowhere to invest. They are frustrated that nothing seems to want to get better. Europe is frustrated by its never-ending Eurozone crises. The world is frustrated by pirates, petty dictators with nuclear missiles, and a never-ending supply of terrorists.

Obama specifically has been huge on frustration. He frustrated moderate/conservative whites who thought voting for him would mean a shift to the right for the Democrats, an end to racial strife, and a less polarized political system. That didn’t happen because Obama has zero ability to create consensus or to work with those he doesn’t like. He is polarization personified. Conservatives have been frustrated by a budget that has gone out of control, Obama’s destruction of our healthcare system, and our inability to win the public to our side.

Liberals are frustrated because Obama can’t seem to pass anything they wanted. And some of them are starting to realize that (1) this is because Obama is lazy and (2) this is because the Democrats are lying about their intent to pass things. Think about the things Obama dangled before their selfish eyes:
● universal medical coverage
● an assault weapon ban, gun registration, and an assortment of measures to slowly end the private ownership of guns
● cap and trade
● an end to corporate privilege
● ending too-big-too fail and regulating big banks
● gay marriage
● illegal alien amnesty
● an equal pay law for women
● national back-door unionization through the NLRB
● and so on...
So far, all he’s delivered has been money for big business and a “healthcare” plan that puts people at the mercy of big insurers. . . something even his supporters are seeing as a pending disaster. Beyond this, leftist journalists are getting frustrating dealing with him personally. Late-night comedians have been frustrated by their inability to poke fun at such a soft target. Foreign governments are getting frustrated at the constant sleights and uncooperativeness of Obama’s administration. Leftists are frustrated that they sold their souls to this man with the idea being he would stop things like drone attacks and global warming and now they are being played.

I suspect that looking back at this period in time, future historians will call this period a Dark Ages for leadership, with the exception of Reagan. But even before we get to that, I think we’ve found Obama’s word... frustration. Watch for it as we move to the end of his term.

44 comments:

AndrewPrice said...

BTW, if you want to see what "frustration" looks like in written form, check out this article by Maureen Dowd in which she accuses Obama of failing on gun control basically because he's lazy and because "he doesn't want to learn."

LINK

Patriot said...

Andrew.......I think another word to use for Obama's reign is haughty. From both him and his wife and his b.s. handlers who surround him.

Don't you dare question him or anything he says or does.

And kept fools would describe his era's press idiots. Why we even pay attention to some of these mewling metrosexuals is beyond me. They all remind me of the Nina Burleigh quote about Clinton and abortion and what she would gladly do if Clinton would keep abortion on demand.

My personal word for these times is exasperation.

Patriot said...

Actually.......bullshit might be a more appropriate word or this president and his administration. As in always being sold a load of.....

Writer X said...

Façade.
Frustration.

Definitely an f-word.

P.S. Hello, Commentarama. Glad to see you again. :)

T-Rav said...

Hmmm, I first saw this and I was going to go with "fundamentally." Or other words starting with f. But "frustration" works too.

AndrewPrice said...

Patriot, Exasperation works too. I really think that concept describes this era where everyone seems frustrated about everything.

As an aside, I need to check, but I think Obama actually said a couple times that he was "frustrated." I think he said it during the gun control failure and during the oil spill.

AndrewPrice said...

Patriot, The problem with BS is that it doesn't quite fit the rest of the era. It fits him, but everything else is quite earnest at the moment.

AndrewPrice said...

Writer X, Welcome back! :)

Definitely an f-word. LOL! Absolutely and f-word!

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, Why "fundamentally"?

rlaWTX said...

alliteration... just fill in the "foxtrot" (as in whiskey tango...)

I tried to find a link to an article I read in yesterday's newspaper, but no go. It was in the "Oil" section and was an update on TOTUS's choices of tax-raising on the O&G business in his new "budget" proposal. As I read it, I thought, "of course he's going to up the taxes on one of the few highly performing parts of the economy. Not only is it Keynsian (SP?) at it's finest, but it's that evil oil besides!" There was also an explanation of "subsidies" that are just tax deductions and the areas that only apply to oil businesses and not any other...

rlaWTX said...

OH - I have a guess about "fundamentally"! Isn't that one of TOTUS"S catch-phrases, like "Let me be clear"? Or, should I have more caffeine?

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, Foxtrot... LOL!

That could be about fundamentally. He may say that a lot. I try not to listen to him enough to know for sure though. :)

It's bizarre to me how "fundamentally" stupid Obama can be. "Oh look, something's working! Let's kill it! That will make things better!"

BevfromNYC said...

"Overexposed" - In the world of 24/7 newscycle and endless information available via the internet - our government officials can run, but they can't hide.

As for Obama - "Shameful" works for me.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, As long as we are in the "S" words, there's a good one I can think of. :)

It's going to be interesting to me to see how the left in particular views him once he's out of office. They don't tend to want to let their heroes get trashed, but he really has completely failed to deliver on anything they wanted and he could have given them everything.

BevfromNYC said...

Speaking of Presidents, The GWB Library opens on Thursday in Dallas on the campus of SMU. It is going to be very interesting from what I read. The NYT described it very favorably (surprise!). There is an interactive section that basically asks "What Would You Have Done" which I think may be very enlightening to some people. It's supposed to be very high tech and already has a platinum LEEDS rating. Take THAT Al Gore...

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, The Algore library will be the size and shape of a maximum security prison, completely with floodlights everywhere. It will be powered by a furnace that only burns endangered species. And it will be hailed as the most environmentally friendly of near-presidential libraries.

It will contain only three times: (1) His film which inconveniently came out right as the Earth began cooling, (2) the film "Love Story", (3) a CD of "Mr. Roboto" with a Tipper label on it, and (4) a link to Algore's internet which is crawling with porn and racism.

It will be grand, if anyone ever visits Dumbass, Tennessee.

(p.s. by "grand" I mean the entrance fee.)

BevfromNYC said...

I was hoping Algore would have a theme park section where little children can learn to recycle and cut their carbon footprints (feetprints?) on appropriately-named "human-powered" rides.

AndrewPrice said...

That works! Algore Land!

They can learn to farm tobacco... to design an interweb... to grift environmentalists... and then to force the kids next to them to recycle with extreme prejudice! :D

As an aside, it's "footprints" because we don't want people with only one foot to feel left out. What about people with no feet you ask? Well, no one cares about them.

K said...

Writer X said...

Façade.
Frustration.

Definitely an f-word.


Fascinating.

I've never seen an administration so far left and it's providing some important information. Things like why executive orders are a really bad idea. Why political balance in higher education is a long term requirement for remaining a free country. etc etc etc

AndrewPrice said...

K, Are you saying the word for Obama should be "educational"? Sadly, I don't see a lot of learning going on anywhere right now... just a lot of repeating the same mistakes only with more anger and speed.

Perhaps the word should be "ironic"?

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew - LOL! What exactly would forcing one to recycle "with extreme predudice" be?? I'm afraid to ask...;-)I envision being forced to watch "An Inconvenient Truth" in a loop with your eyes taped open, but that's just me. Maybe, polluted-waterboarding?

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Like all good totalitarian theme parks, I'm sure it would involve recycling to excess (possibly things you haven't even used yet), with the behavior being enforced with violence plus a stint on the Recyling-Denier's Prison Adventure ride.

I like the idea of polluted waterboarding. That's real enhanced education techniques right there! :)

Tennessee Jed said...

LIAR!

AndrewPrice said...

Excellent choice! :)

rlaWTX said...

Ten. Jed: that made me think of Carol Kane's rant in "The Princess Bride"!

T-Rav said...

Andrew, I was thinking of his claims that he would "fundamentally transform America." That seems to be a pretty big part of his vision.

Incidentally, I'm glad to see you're still active, Jed. I was afraid Reese Witherspoon getting arrested might have thrown you into a funk. :-)

Kit said...

My response to the Maureen Dowd article:
LINK

:)

Tennessee Jed said...

hey guys - the Reese thing is tough to take for sure. Who among us wouldn't play the celebrity card if we had it to play. Really, this is a mistake many make, and I suspect and hope these two will learn from it. Fortunately, no one was injured. DUI is not a good thing.

On a more personal note. my youngest is getting married down here in East Tennessee so my posting will be spotty. With another thing I have going on, it may remain that way until about July, but I'll always try and chime in when I can :)

Backthrow said...

Andrew said: "That works! Algore Land!"

And some "lucky" dolts --er, visitors will thrill to an occasional personal appearance by the man himself!

Anonymous said...

First off...

Jed, congratulations! My best to your youngest!

Kit, Cartman's response was quite appropriate, even if my GI tract didn't quite agree with my brain.

Backthrow, a Westinghouse robot? You're breaking my heart! Oh, the days when Westinghouse was a forerunner of technology...before getting financially raped by CBS, tossed around to the highest bidders, and finally ending up a sud-division of Toshiba. (Though, in all fairness, Toshiba HAS been trying to rebuild the company so that its output can begin to match its reputation again.)

And Andrew, I saw something that will either make you laugh or give you a headache. I'm honestly not sure which. Please proceed with caution.
By the way, where I come from, we have a perfectly word to describe Obama: "jagoff."

-Rustbelt

Koshcat said...

I always thought the word to discribe president ding-a-ling would have been "uh"

Koshcat said...

Frustrated is good but I think "failure" would also work.

Failed at his promises (too many to list)
Failed at fixing the economy
Economy failed because of the previous "fixes"
Failed housing market
Failed banking system
Failed at finished the wars
Failed at war
Failed at peace
Failed at international politics
Failed to protect those representing the US overseas
Failing educational system
Failing medical system
Failing legal system
Failing infastructure
Failing government finances
Europe failing to fix it's problems
China failing as an arbitrator of peace
Too big to fail
Failed at fixing to big to fail
Failed auto companies and failing bailout
He failed to help his own race

And most important, Obama is the poster-boy of why afirmative action is a failure.

Not saying mine is necessarily better but all the frustration is due to the epic fails.

Koshcat said...

You know Andrew, I was having a good day. Then I read that crap from Dowd. I haven't read her stuff in some time because the ignorance and stupidity generally gives me...oh, here it comes...a frickin' migrain!

90% of the public was never behind Obama you nitwit. If they were a bill would have been passed. He couldn't get anything passed because HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW! I honestly don't think he knows how it happens. Someone please send both of them the video "I'm just a bill". Geez, a parapalegic squirrel could have gotten something passed. The only thing that comes as close as to incompetent as this president is the GOP leadership.

I'm going to lie down in a dark room now...

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, Just don't tell me that Obama's agenda is only mostly-dead!

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, I have to say in all honesty that of all the President's I've experienced, Obama has been the least transformative.

AndrewPrice said...

Kit, Nice! LOL!

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, Congratulations! Best wishes to you and to the family! :D

AndrewPrice said...

Backthrow, There would be no way to tell the difference between the real Algore and the animatronic Algore!

AndrewPrice said...

Restbelt, I saw that and I laughed my butt off. That has to be a spell check gone rogue or something, but either way, I can assure you that I had nothing to do with it. ;)

Westinghouse did one have a really solid reputation, didn't they?

AndrewPrice said...

Koshcat, Great list of failures! If historians look at all fairly at our era, that's the kind of list that will earn him a truly damning description. I really don't see him going down well in history.

AndrewPrice said...

Koshcat, It does hurt the brain to read the kind of nonsense people like Dowd puts out. But I think it is very interesting nevertheless. Her worldview is so skewed toward liberalism that I think Obama's failures will end up amplified because she will find it harder and harder to understand why he couldn't get anything done with everyone behind him.

I think her piece is really quite a savage attack on him. It's the most savage I've seen from the left (excluding the real weirdos). She's basically calling him stupid and lazy and unwilling to do the right thing. That's pretty ugly.

tryanmax said...

Since when do 90% of Americans agree on anything!? That Dowd article is just plain nuts. From the weird shit she just makes up to the things that have been obvious for year that she's figuring out.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, She's a fool, that's for sure... a slow one at that.

BevfromNYC said...

Tryanmax and Andrew - I have read that "90%" statistic in numerous places. From "Newtown Families" and even the WH used it. They equate 90% of their friends rather than actually the population at large. kind of in the same way that the famous '68 election statement goes (by a New Yorker btw) - "I can't believe Nixon won in a landslide. I didn't know anyone who voted for him!"

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