Self Parody

It's the height of irony that an article in the Washington Post entitled "So Far, Amateur Hour" would so thoroughly expose the author of said article, Kathleen Parker, as being the real amateur. I know for the most part she is used to writing for such right wing echo chambers as townhall and NRO but seriously she might want to step her game up when she writes for the big leagues. Now just to be clear the title is referring to the first 3 weeks of President Obama's administration. But lets delve in some of her article which could accurately be described as on the level of a third grader.

Now take this paragraph.

Absent is maturity -- that grown-up quality of leadership that is palpable when the real deal enters a room. There's a reason why elders are respected. They have something the rest of us don't have -- yet -- because we haven't lived long enough. We haven't made the really tough decisions, the ones that are often unpopular.

So you could surmise that elders should be respected right? But then look back at the paragraph directly preceeding this one.

What's missing from Obama's performance isn't the intelligence that voters acknowledged in electing him. It's the experience they tried to pretend didn't really matter. Experienced politicians, after all, got us into this mess.

So first she acknowledges that it was experienced politicians that got us into the mess but then in the next breath she says elders should be respected. That's pretty fucking confusing and contradictory if you ask me. But wait it gets better.

Obama wants too much to be liked.

Riiiiiiiiiight. Now we are back to the "Bill Clinton syndrome" heh. I defy anyone to scour the rest of the article to find any evidence to back up that statement though. Is just some bullshit pulled out of thin air to make some kind of convoluted point of which i still haven't figured out. Still undeterred she wasn't done.

There was a time last week when Obama looked younger than usual. Not youthful so much as not fully formed. He seemed out of place in his presidential role. In a word, he seemed haunted. Had he been visited by the ghosts of Christmas future?

Or had he looked across the table into the eyes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and realized that he was not among friends? Obama's lack of authority over the stimulus package has underscored the value of political experience and toughness -- and given weakened Republicans the leverage they needed to launch an aggressive attack.

Out of place? HE HAS A 70+ PERCENT APPROVAL RATING BITCH! I would say most folks thought he looked right at home. But check out the veiled racism here. The President who is the most powerful muthafucka on the planet has been some how humbled by the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader, both good white folks. That kinda flies in the face of the facts though. Lets go by the numbers

1. The President told Congress to get something to his desk by President's day. They are well on the way to obeying.

2. When there were disputes about some provisions President Obama told the leaders to yank that shit out. They complied.

3. The President layed out his priorities for the bill. They are all included.

4. The final version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be over $800 billion dollars which is what the President asked for. Again, win.

So if anybody blinked you would be hard pressed to say it was President Obama. But hey why stop Ms Parker when she is on a roll.

Other manifestations of Obama's political greenness include his apology for picking lax taxpayers for prominent positions, his campaign-like tour to Elkhart, Ind., on Monday and his ponderous first news conference later that evening.

Yeah its "green"' to own up to a mistake. Its "green" to go out and campaign for his stimulus plan while Rethuglicans are shitting on it. Its "green" to hold a press conference that was wildly successful in promoting his stimulus plan as well as smacking down Republican talking points as well as showing a depth of understanding about serious issues that was woefully missing the last 8 years. If that's green, you and your party are in for some serious ass trouble when he gets a little experience.

But the line of the entire column was this one in referencing President Obama apologizing on all the major networks for nominating people to his cabinet who had not paid their taxes.

He appeared weak.

See for all of her criticism of Sarah Palin, Kathleen Parker is still a wingnut at heart. And in their world everything is upside down. They think when you are trying to put a square peg in a round hole instead of looking for a different peg or a different hole you should just pound a lot harder. Republicans these days exhibit a fundamental break from most of America's reality. After 8 years of an asshole claiming he never did anything wrong, most Americans have concluded that its nice to have someone who is willing to take responsibility for their actions. It is in point of fact a sign of strength, integrity and honor that most people cherish from their leaders.

But therein lies the rub. People keep saying to me that I am wrong about the Republicans being in the abyss instead of the wilderness. That political parties always make a comeback. But never has a political party went so blindly ideological that they lose all appearance of being reasonable. Even with the majority of Americans pointing out that they support President Obama's approach to the stimulus plan, instead of changing their message what are the Republicans still pushing? TAX CUTS TAX CUTS TAX CUTS. And Kathleen Parker's article is just another example of what the Republican Party has become. Please go and see the over 600 comments already pilloring Parker for being out of touch with reality. Now I know some will feel like she wrote the article for attention but the truth is you shouldn't be surprised that this is what she believes. Thats how Republicans/Conservatives think. If you don't do it their way you are a failure. If people actually like you that means you're doing it wrong. Up is down, left is right, and dry is wet. Yes I have a headache after reading her column but its still a helluva lot of fun destroying it bit by bit.

Now lets take a more realistic look at the first three weeks of President Obama's administrations.

Signed an Executive Order banning torture.

Signed an Executive Order repealing the Mexico City doctrine on family planning funding.

Signed an Executive Order to close GITMO in a years time.

Signed an expansion of SCHIP into law insuring more than 11 million additional kids in this country.

Signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Act guaranteeing pay equality for women.

Put the kibosh on the Bush midnight orders opening up coastal waters for offshore drilling.

Is set to sign into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which has passed both chambers of Congress and just has to be reconciled now.

Thats pretty damned good for the first three weeks if you ask me.