Ercille I. Christmas

This Is Not the Country of the Founding Fathers
October 5, 2009

The week ending September 2009 and ushering in October 2009, was very eventful, in terms of exposing the diminishing role of the US as a world power. The “sleeping giant,” under its new leadership, has been snoring while dictatorial powers have been partying! Party like it is 2009!

China did have a birthday party and it celebrated with the help of its biggest debtor, the USA. “And it is three cheers for the red, white and blue!” Factually, it was light up the Empire State building with the two colors that have come to symbolize repression. Yep, there in a blaze of red and yellow light, was that symbol of American freedom, lustily celebrating Communist China. One pundit suggested that the color red symbolized millions “eliminated” by the regime. Sometimes, or most of the time, a dictatorship has to do what a dictatorship does best. Although to be fair to China, it has come up with a “cocktail” of communism and capitalism, which seems to be working out really well. Taking over about 90% of the world’s manufacturing might make other nations see red, but China is experiencing a flood of currencies in multiplies of color!

Ironically while the Empire State Building was celebrating sixty years of a dictatorship, some folks in Hong Kong and Taiwan were not partying. They were out protesting. They had better be careful in case they are made to learn the lessons of Tiananmen Square. About 2500 learned a deadly lesson in that Square: Protest and die on the streets.

“Protest and die.” This eerily brings to mind an Iranian Tiananmen Square protest moment that the Iranians had about four months ago. Many went out to protest what they considered to be rigged elections for the post of president of Iran. Many did not live to find out if they were correct. They too were mowed down with the same “efficiency” as happened in Tiananmen Square. The name Neda continues to symbolize Iranians dying on the streets of Tehran. During that time of upheaval, the US hemmed and hawed. Most of the rest of the world yawned. More Iranians died. The Iranian president’s election was duly confirmed. End of that story…for now.

Having dispatched many of those pesky protestors, Iran pushed on with construction of its nuclear weapons. I apologize. I wrote the incorrect description. It is a nuclear power plant for energy. True to its description, it is stirring up a lot of heat in some nations, most notably Israel. Where was the president of the “snoozing giant’ in all of this? He was jetting off to Copenhagen, to bedazzle the Olympics Committee with his renowned oratorical skills. Did it work? Stay tuned.

In fairness, progress was made in talks with Iran on its “energy” producing nuclear program. Iran graciously agreed to inspections of its facility- in two weeks. I guess the Iranians in charge want a chance to spruce up the facilities for visitors. All of the evidence must be neatly camouflaged. There I go again, getting all confused! I meant to say that in honor of the visit by such important visitors, the facilities should be spotless. And, I own a castle in DC, that I want to sell, after cleaning it up. It appears that in preparing for its distinguished visitors, Iran discovered another facility. See what a little housekeeping can do?

While these world events are unfolding before the eyes of millions of astonished Americans, they see their leaders acting as if they think that the US is starring in a version of Transformers, the movie. Real life feels eerily like reel life. Take a country that is performing relatively efficiently, except what was then a financial “burp,” and transform it into one that is skating into disaster? Transform it into a more heavily debt-laden nation, where the world community now wants a new world reserve currency, an ABAC (any but American currency)?

If the world is clamoring for a new world currency, why would it now want the US to be entrusted with its Olympics, when the US cannot manage its own currency? Give credit where credit is due. If I had heard the US president’s speech, especially the emotional plea: “And if you do -- if we walk this path together -- then I promise you this: The city of Chicago and the United States of America will make the world proud," I may have fallen for the plea. Until, I remembered that this is the same president who had already “warned” the entire solar system how “arrogant,” divisive,” “gun clinging,” among other choice description, les Americains are! Unless the new world standard is to be proud of “arrogant, divisive SOBs,” this current appeal has no magic in it.

Couple this conflicting view of Americans from their own president, with his apparent inability to recognize that, while he is calling Americans names, there are truly evil people in the world, who want to kill the rest of us, then the nation and its leader look very wishy washy and inept. Even the French president in a diplomatic manner that I am loosely translating, is telling the US president to “man up!” The French telling a US president to act manly? That is “transformation” that not even an idiot can believe in! It is not so “mmm, mmm, mmm good,” anymore.

By the way, the troops in Afghanistan are also waiting for the president to “man up” by upping the number of troops in that battle. Now that the higher priority of schmoozing with the Olympics Committee is over, there could be a block of time opened up to fit this in. This just in! There will be time to fit in the “little” matter of increasing the troops level.

The final piece of evidence of US political impotence, under this president, was just rendered. The International Olympics Committee delivered the coup de grace. Despite the president cruising into Copenhagen in an attempt to charm the Committee with his hope and change mantra, the Committee was not impressed. The members said “No” in English, French, German, Spanish, and other assorted languages, which still translated to “N-O.” Really, my opinion is that it is not so much the failure of the US president to persuade, but the success of the Brazilian delegation in persuading. But, I could be wrong. “Blame it on Rio!” I did not see the presentation, but somehow I have the feeling that the representatives who spoke for Brazil, did their speaking without the aid of a teleprompter. Next time the US president should leave the Olympics “electioneering” to a “czar of Olympics electioneering.”

Brazil should make the president an honorary Brazilian. This is the second of two gifts that he has given to Brazil, in the span of about six months. First there was the $10 billion dollar loan to drill for oil, while the US is pinning its energy hopes on windmills. Now comes the gift of a flubbed Olympic bid. How does one say “thank you,” in Portuguese? Actually, the Brazilians should be saying “thank you” in English, or in US currency!

I used a throwaway line about the president perhaps needing to begin taking “political Viagra.” A friend deemed the line “brilliant.” I am therefore going to try to convince the president of my “brilliance” in coming up with a brew. I am not into pharmaceuticals, and prefer to get my “get up and go,” by natural means, so maybe the president should try my brand of “political Viagra.” It is a brew consisting of:

▪ Pride in country of birth, which includes no disrespecting of your fellow citizens

▪ Humility, interspersed with true courage

▪ Openness, but with the ability to keep state secrets from the enemy

▪ Fiscal prudence, to include no saddling of generations of the next century, with debt from this century

▪ Speaking from the heart, not reading words from a teleprompter

The beauty of this brew is that the president does not even need a container of any kind to mix it. As the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz, discovered, this ability was always there.