One wonders sometimes if elected leaders or bureaucrats weigh their words before speaking, especially in light of remarks they have made in other days. In his commencement address the other day at the University of Michigan, President Obama cast an aspersion at the angry rhetoric-mongers who denigrate government as "inherently bad" and said their off-base line of attack ignores the fact that in a democracy, "government is us,” according to the AP.
Well…yes! Of course, his press guru Robert Gibbs (also known as Glibs) said the other day that the administration will keep its boot on the throat of British Petroleum until it stops that awful oil leak in the Gulf. One suspects that Glibs…er Gibbs, wasn’t aware of the president’s stance regarding public discourse. Even at that, a boot is a better metaphor than a guillotine, a symbolic one of which Glibs…er Gibbs, applies to his own throat quite often in his rambling discourses to the Press Corps.
Glibs…er Gibbs is not even above telling an outright lie, surely a no-no according to the Obama philosophy of more civil discourse. The intrepid disseminator of what passes as bona fide news from the administration claimed out loud enough for all to hear, film and record that Michael Brown, FEMA director a few years ago, said that the Obama administration actually perpetrated that oil spill for nefarious reasons. Brown not only didn’t say that on the Fox News Cavuto program but he said nothing that could even be construed as what Glibs…er Gibbs, claimed. His exact remarks were made available again on 05 May so everyone could check out the enormity of the lie. Glibs…er Gibbs, obviously should not go out in public un-chaperoned by a teleprompter.
The prez even resorted to naming names in his speech, proving that he’s maybe more aware than people think of what is being said behind his back. He mentioned that people who watch/listen to pundit Glenn Beck should check out the Huffington Post, an online publisher; however he didn’t suggest that Post devotees try listening to Beck. Guess where the opprobrium applies. Of course, he did say that New York Times readers should also check out the Wall Street Journal, but then he didn’t suggest reciprocity in that case, so one wonders if he still considers the Times, known for its inaccuracies, as part of what some call the state-owned press, a propaganda arm for Obama and cohorts.
It may be that CBS news guru Katie Couric bedazzled New York Mayor Bloomberg the other day and made him remark that the Times Square bomber might have just been dissatisfied with the Obama health-care mishmash, so apparently one is to believe the mayor speaks disrespectfully (uncivilly) of those who disagree with the prez. The bomber turned out to be a Muslim-butcher wannabe but, of course, he could have been a naturalized Muslim butcher-wannabe angry over that health-care plan, so give hizzoner some slack.
The prez managed to remark that police in the Boston area acted stupidly last year. That seems a bit much vis-à-vis civil discourse and warm fuzzies all around, especially since he didn’t know what he was talking about. He might at least have just suggested that the police could have asked the man arrested if he would like for someone to pick the lock to his house (or someone’s house), but then picking locks also sounds a bit shady, especially for the police.
The prez might have been just a bit uncivil during his campaign when he referenced the “typical white person,” giving his grandmother as an example, as being uncomfortable around other ethnics, assuming that whites are also ethnics, something not usually acknowledged by the mainstream media. But then, of course, all whites look alike anyway, don’t they? The prez hasn’t indicated what a “typical black person” is, but one suspects a bit of reciprocity from a Harvard Law grad, i.e., that blacks are uncomfortable around whites. Does that sound civil?
Perhaps the prez concocted the unkindest, uncivil discourse during his campaign when he mentioned in conjunction with Pennsylvanians (probably only meant republican Pennsylvanians – he didn’t say) that they are likely to be trip-wired Bible-toting, gun-slingers on the lookout for those “untypical white persons” called immigrants, or maybe illegal immigrants. But don’t all immigrants look alike anyway, especially if they’re in the poor, tired huddled masses yearning to be free…or something like that?
Perhaps Mr. Glibs…er Gibbs, might elucidate to the hoi polloi in behalf of explaining those squirrelly Pennsylvanians yearning to be free from tacos and refried beans. In the meantime, everyone should use only the most civil discourse, perhaps defined as just the opposite of what the rap-crowd puts out, what with its glorification of cop-killings and gang-rapes.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
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