WILL OBAMA BECOME JIMMY CARTER?

Last week Jimmy Carter took time off from his ongoing campaign to redeem his failed presidency to scold Americans for being racist in their opposition to President Obama’s struggling health care reform efforts. Like just about everything else Carter has said or done in the last 40 years, he’s dead wrong on that one too. But his re-emergence, however brief, got me seeing some unnerving parallels between the worst president of the 20th century and our current president, the man so many people hope will be one of the great ones.
Jimmy Carter has made a career of denigrating and apologizing for the American way of life. In his world there is no bright line separating right from wrong or friend from foe. Whether it’s sitting down with North Korean despots or selling out our Israeli allies in the Middle East, Carter’s always been in the blame America first game. That’s his call and thankfully the American people had the good sense to send him packing in 1980 ushering in the Age of Reagan. His opinion counts for very little these days and no amount of photo-ops with Habitat for Humanity is going to change the fact he was a disaster as President.
What does concern me are the early indications that President Obama is going down that same apologist path. It began shortly after the inauguration when Obama went on what many saw as a world apology tour. American resolve and national security initiatives were interpreted as colonialist oppression. By about April, I was pretty sure I was hearing the faintest hint of a French accent in our new President.
On the domestic front, Obama is listing left as he attempts to spend and legislate the country out of economic trouble. He sees no problem having the government own or control the means of production, making private citizens defacto government employees. If the federal government owns the banks, auto companies and other key industries, how does that make us much different from Cuba? I wonder if Fidel and his brother Raoul have thought about a “cash for clunkers” program, given Cuba hasn’t produced a new car since Castro socialist regime took over. Maybe Obama could sell them some GM cars with Jimmy Carter as the TV pitchman.
But let’s get back to national security and the Obama administrations new pantywaist policy decisions. Let’s start with Attorney General Eric Holder and his insane decision to investigate and potentially prosecute CIA intelligence officers for possible harsh treatment of terrorist detainees. Let’s even concede some of these interrogations went a little old school on us and involved knocking some of these guys around. Given we know these interrogations saved countless lives here and abroad, we should be handing out medals not subpoenas. The effect this will have on the military and intelligence community will be catastrophic and long-lasting.
Carter had a similar attitude toward the military. He actually discouraged military brass at the Pentagon from wearing their uniforms as a way of downplaying American power to visitors. When Reagan was made aware of this on his first visit to the Pentagon as president, he immediately ordered all personnel into full uniform and legend has it grown men cried that day in the halls.
Now comes yet another indication that Obama feels we haven’t sent enough conciliatory signals to the people who hate us and our way of life. Remember Richard Reid, the so-called shoe bomber. He’s the reprobate who tried to blow up a Miami-bound American Airlines flight on Dec. 22, 2001. Merry Christmas! Fortunately Reid was thwarted by crew and passengers as he attempted to light a fuse connected to powerful explosives in his shoe. After six years of harsh isolation, the Obama Justice Department has ordered the British-born terrorist be allowed to associate and pray with fellow jailed Muslims. One of the flight attendants, Hermis Moutardier, who helped subdue Reid said simply “What’s wrong with our system?”
What’s wrong, indeed? Our government has the right and the obligation to keep us safe from enemies foreign and domestic. We shouldn’t be in the business of appeasing our enemies by prosecuting the CIA or having Richard Reid high-stepping it around the prison yard with his al-Qaeda home boys. Obama seems to be following the Jimmy Carter business model and if he is, he could be a one term wonder too.

Teddy, Rose Kennedy and the Pope

TEDDY, ROSE AND THE POPE

For those of you still mad at me for chastising Ted Kennedy’s deathbed request that the law be changed to allow the Massachusetts Governor to name his successor, understand I stand by my opinion but regret the timing. Ted Kennedy’s death did have me reminiscing about the number of times I spent with him. Everyone I suppose has a favorite Teddy story because he was a larger than life person and he was who he was. Here’s my favorite.
I had been invited by a family member to Hyannis for the Memorial Day weekend in the late 1980’s. I stayed at “the big house” as the home of Joseph and Rose Kennedy has always been known. The house and the adjacent Robert Kennedy house were full of Kennedy’s and houseguests. I remember sailing over to Martha’s Vineyard with Teddy and a gaggle of Kennedy siblings and cousins. After some shopping and lunch, everyone was driven to the airport and we took a private plane back to the Cape, leaving the sailboat there. Only a Kennedy can leave a spectacular sailboat like you and I would a car at a shopping mall.
Everyone then returned to the house and cocktails. At some point we all headed into the dining room for lobsters with all the fixings. As we began the meal, we heard the clank of the elevator which was located at the far end of the sun room adjacent to the dining room. The elevator had been installed years earlier after Joseph Kennedy suffered a debilitating stroke. While Teddy was living in the house, his mother was living there as well although in a much diminished physical state. She had suffered numerous strokes and lived upstairs with round the clock nursing.
Suddenly there she was, the iconic Rose Kennedy, resplendent in a beautiful dress and grand hat, being wheeled into the dining room. I remember everyone there pounding the dining room table chanting “Grandma, Grandma.” At that point in her life it was difficult to know how aware she was of her surroundings so the table pounding and chanting was intended to rouse her.
Teddy immediately asked the nurse to wheel his mother next to him at the head of the table. I recall him saying “Mother, I knew you’d be down if you thought we were having a party.” There was no response but Teddy kept on talking and began telling his mother about his recent visit to the Vatican. Kennedy had just returned from a conference in Europe and a Papal audience.
“Do you know what the first thing the Pope asked me, Mother? He asked me how is Rose Kennedy?” At that point Mrs. Kennedy appeared to focus and stiffened in her wheelchair. We were all just watching and listening. Teddy then went on to ask his mother, “Do you know what his holiness gave your son Teddy?” (It was obvious Teddy wasn’t sure his mother knew which son she was talking to.) Again, she seemed to brighten at the mention of the Pope.
“Mother, the Pope gave your son Teddy Papal absolution.” At that point Mrs. Kennedy opened her eyes wide and said in that famous voice “Well Teddy, I certainly hope you got it in writing.” There was about a three second delay as everyone processed the fact she spoke and what she said before everyone laughed and cheered and started pounding the table again. No one was laughing harder than Teddy but in a few seconds I saw him begin to tear up and he asked everyone to leave the dining room as he wanted to be alone with his mother. We all left the room; Teddy closed the door to the dining room and sat there for at least an hour with his mother. You could hear him sobbing at times from the other room. He adored his mother and was so moved she was tuned in if only for a few moments. It was a moment I’ll never forget. Hopefully that Papal absolution has reunited him with his beloved mother.

Eunice and Rosemary Kennedy

Eunice Kennedy Shriver passed away last week at 88. She was well remembered as the founder and driving force behind the Special Olympics, an organization that forever changed the way the world perceives those with physical and mental disabilities. Her motivation in founding the Special Olympics was her sister Rosemary, who died in 2005 at 86. Rosemary was the retarded Kennedy sister as her condition was called years ago. An unsuccessful lobotomy further compromised Rosemary and she spent most of her life at a convent in Wisconsin.
The circumstances of her life were a carefully guarded secret during her brother’s presidential campaign for fear her condition would reflect negatively on her brother’s image. It was Eunice who forever shattered the taboo and the negative stereotypes by embracing the men and women we now see competing and excelling in the Special Olympics.
For most Americans, Rosemary Kennedy is frozen in the black and white of old photographs. However, as a guest the Kennedy compound in Hyannis a few years ago, I met Rosemary and the circumstances tell you a lot about Eunice’s and the family’s commitment to Rosemary and the cause.
I was staying at “the big house” which was then still occupied by Rose Kennedy and now by Ted Kennedy. Eunice had called me and asked if I wanted to play a little tennis at her house. I agreed and she said she’d pick me up. A few minutes later Eunice roared into the driveway, told me to hop in and said “say hello to my sister Rosie”, who was sitting in the front seat. I will not violate anyone’s confidence by specifically describing Rosemary but she was a lot to process as my only knowledge of her was in history books and old pictures.
Off we went to Eunice’s house where I helped Rosie out of the car and sat her on a bench while we hit tennis balls. (BTW, Eunice could really hit a tennis ball). Eunice constantly shouted to Rosemary as if she was actually following the action. Eunice took Rosemary everywhere and told me “Rosie always spends August with me.” We even went to the Cape Cod mall with Rosemary in a wheelchair and I remember thinking all those people have no idea they just saw the mysterious Rosemary Kennedy go by. For Eunice it was just taking her big sister to the mall.
She went on to tell me her brother Ted often took Rosie to Washington where he would take her to lunch in the Senate dining room and introduce her to his colleagues. While one could argue the Kennedy’s kept her hidden for many years for the wrong reason, it was Eunice who dragged them and the rest of us into the sunlight. It is a legacy that may well outlive and outshine her brothers. RIP, Eunice.

Professor Grievance Should Be Canned

I promised myself I wouldn’t succumb to the temptation to write about Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and his hysterical claims about racial profiling et al. He has never been considered by me as anything more than a predictable, politically correct Harvard hire. He’s lived his life as a walking and talking race baiter disguised as an academic.
The incident itself went according to script. The good professor returns home from a trip to China to discover he’s locked out of his fancy Victorian house on one of Cambridge’s more expensive streets. He goes around back to disable the alarm before asking his African-American driver to assist him in getting into the house. How many of us have climbed through a window or even broken one after locking ourselves out of our home? I know I have. If a cop showed up in my driveway at that point to ask me what I’m doing, I can assure you I would understand and even appreciate his or her efforts.
In Professor Grievance’s case, the police were there because a thoughtful and well meaning neighbor was concerned there could be a burglary in progress. It wasn’t as if the Cambridge cops were cruising around looking for middle-age black men to hassle. If you’ve ever spent time in the Peoples Republic of Cambridge, you would really understand that you have to get pretty jiggy before the gendarmes put the cuffs on you.
It was the announcement Monday that prompted me to write this little diatribe. The underlying assumption in this case has been that the woman who called police to report suspicious activity at the Gate’s residence specifically referenced the presence of two black men pushing in the front door. This poor woman has been in virtual seclusion all through this national hand-wringing, as one person after another has called her racist or worse.
The woman in question, Lucia Whalen, lives about 100 yards from the Gates residence and is of Portuguese descent, if anyone cares. Other than seeing the backs of two grown men attempting to push open the front door, Whelan said she was motivated by the fact there had been several break-ins in recent weeks in the neighborhood. So far, I’m not seeing any burning crosses or white pointy hoods.
Instead of calling Whalen and the responding police officers racists, Gates should have thanked them for their prompt response and calmly sorted it out on the porch as the cops requested. These types of incidents happen every day in America and don’t usually end with the homeowner in handcuffs.
In the case of Professor Grievance, the chip on his shoulder must have impeded the flow of oxygen to his brain. In spite of Professor Gate’s inflated opinion of his own celebrity, playing the “You don’t know who I am” card has never been a big hit with police. Referencing their “Mama” will also fast track most of us to the back of a squad car.
Now we all know President Obama really stepped in it when he elected to weigh in on Gates behalf. First of all, the President of the United States should have better things to do that react to a local beef. As an alleged constitutional authority, Obama should realize you don’t comment until you have all the facts. That he did says something about Obama’s real racial mindset and takes a bit of the sheen off his post-racial political identity.
Here’s how this sorry saga must end. The authorities in Cambridge must release the police tapes. My understanding is the tapes will totally vindicate the police and put the lie to Professor Grievance and his Al Sharpton imitation. Isn’t it interesting that Rev. Al didn’t hop that plane to Boston and get into the act? My guess is even he saw enough holes in Gate’s version, he didn’t want to look foolish again.(Can you say Tawana Brawley) The tapes will likely show a fairly routine “possible burglary in progress call” from a neighbor describing two men, followed by increasing radio chatter about a belligerent and disorderly person. Gates was eventually arrested for disorderly conduct and the charges later dropped.
As for Obama’s plan to have Gates and Sgt. Crowley to the White House for a beer, I find that pathetic and transparent. Gates and Obama are just trying to save face and the only victim in that room would be the cop. He was just doing his job and unfortunately so was Professor Grievance. Harvard should fire Gates but we all know they never will.

Make Cigarettes Illegal or Shut Up

In the interest of full disclosure I quit smoking almost three years ago. I actually calculated I had smoked approximately 300,000 cigarettes over nearly forty years. Think about it. A pack a day for forty years adds up to 291,200 cigarettes. Imagine someone telling you as a child that part of your life obligation was to smoke a few hundred thousand cigarettes. You’d be rightly horrified. In fact, I’m somewhat amazed I can even breathe when I think about it. I will also tell you the absence of cigarette smoke in my system has had a profound, positive impact on my health. My heart rate is lower as is my blood pressure. So you would think I’d be beating the drum for President Obama’s new Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Act. Well, I’m not.
Here’s the problem with this and other anti-smoking legislation. I don’t think it’s the government’s job to regulate choice or personal behavior. The irony here is the anti-smoking fanatics are for the most part the same folks always screaming about choice. Their definition of choice is you agree with us or we’ll see to it you have no choice. This legislation is just another example of the nanny state and the liberal’s intention to tell the rest of us how to live our lives. It started with smoking and that insufferable, patronizing attitude is evidencing itself with efforts to regulate everything from fast food to soda pop.
But let’s go back to the legislation Obama signed into law Monday in a Rose Garden ceremony. The act empowers the Food and Drug administration to regulate nicotine for starters. Am I missing something but are cigarettes food or a drug? They’re a pleasurable bad habit like so many things in life. If a person wants to smoke like a chimney or eat 10 bacon double cheeseburgers a day, what possible business is that of the federal government? One of the many benefits of living in a free society is the right to do as we damn well please within the confines of the law. Unless smoking cigarettes is deemed an illegal act, the distribution and consumption of cigarettes should not be regulated.
I can already hear you out there fuming (a little cigarette humor). The first retort is smoking kills. Yes and no. It’s clearly not good for you but I am living proof smoking doesn’t kill. No question it contributes to lung and heart problems but smoking critics tend to blame cigarettes for almost every inevitable malady. Take second hand smoke as an example. You will never convince me that being in the same room with a smoker is going to cause me any harm. If it did my children and a number of dogs and cats would all be dead or impaired. Second hand smoke is utter nonsense and detracts from any serious discussion about smoking.
I realize this legislation is just another stop on the road to outlawing smoking. Why it has become a partisan, political issue is beyond me. Like most things in life, choosing to smoke should be a personal decision and if impacts someone negatively, so be it. But I don’t want Uncle Sam playing smoke or burger police.

Jim Langan can br reached at editorial@thehudsonvalleynews.com

Does Cheating Matter Anymore?

Ross Perot was once asked about his policy of firing employees found to have cheated on their spouses. The question came up in the context of his criticism of then Governor Bill Clinton. Perot said simply “The way I look at it is if your wife can’t trust you, why should I.” It’s a good thing the Perot philosophy isn’t law or a lot of politicians would be out of work. Last week South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford blew up his family and career when it was discovered he’s slipped off to Argentina to rendezvous with a woman not his wife.
Sanford apparently told his staff he was going hiking on the Appalachian Trail when in fact he flew to Buenos Aries. As a friend of mine said “I didn’t realize the Appalachian trail went that far south.” Sanford’s behavior and lame explanation brought to mind Jay Leno’s famous question of actor Hugh Grant shortly after he was caught with a transvestite hooker in Los Angeles. “What were you thinking?”
You have to wonder what Sanford’s thought process was. Did he think no one would find it odd that the governor of a state simply vanished and nobody had any way of contacting him? It was especially ironic because the republican Sanford loved beating the family values drum and was highly critical of Bill Clinton’s womanizing. In fact, there was considerable speculation Sanford was going to run for president in 2012. He can kiss that baby good-bye.
The revelation that Sanford cheated on his wife put yet another brick in the wall of public cynicism about our so-called leaders. Fidelity and truthfulness have become an increasingly rare attribute in politicians. Gary Hart, Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, John Edwards, Eliot Spitzer are just a few high profile names associated with a sex scandal. Those are just some of the politicians we know fooled around. Like every thing else in life, we know those actually caught are likely just the tip of the extramarital iceberg.
The issue for voters, however, has always been, does it really matter if an elected official is a pig? I remember having a conversation with one of JFK’s sisters on that subject. Her response was “Jack may have screwed a lot of women but he never screwed the country.” Much the same was said of Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky affair. Clinton’s interpretation was “I was hired to do the nations business.” Then again, what else could he say although I maintain Bill Clinton would still be denying he had sex with “that woman” if Monica hadn’t produced the infamous blue dress.
For some bizarre reason philandering has taken on a decidedly partisan tone over the years. Democrats are far more inclined to dismiss infidelity as a personal matter while republicans attempt to take the high moral ground. Democrats probably have it right because when a high profile republican like Mark Sanford gets busted, republicans look foolish and hypocritical. The people who live in glass houses analogy comes to mind.
Voters seem to have a case by case reaction to sex scandals. Clearly they gave Bill Clinton a pass on his disgraceful womanizing probably because it didn’t come as a surprise and Hillary was seen as almost complicit in the affairs. John Edwards was the opposite. He was seen as an absolute hypocrite, cheating on his cancer stricken wife. He will spend the rest of his life in well deserved political exile.
Then there was Eliot Spitzer. He was busted at the Mayflower hotel in Washington with a high-priced call girl. Again, I doubt if Eliot Spitzer is the first politician to avail himself of the services of a hooker but it was his reputation as a crusader and scold that did him in. He had no problem telling people and corporations how to live their lives so when he got caught, there wasn’t a lot of sympathy for him. It appears we have gotten to the point where we almost assume our political leaders cheat and will lie about it if not caught red handed. Maybe for a lot of people, the Mark Sanford’s of the world hit a little too close to home. The divorce rate in this country tells you there’s a lot of cheating going on out there. That said, I still hear that Ross Perot quote in my head.

Why's Palin Bailin'?

Like almost everyone else, I’m having a difficult time reconciling Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s decision to resign as Governor. While her press conference wasn’t as weird as the one she gave last Thanksgiving, where a man stood in the background shoving turkeys into a decapitation device, as the Governor babbled on, it was pretty close. For anyone who hasn’t seen the video on you tube, it shows a chirpy Sarah Palin telling a reporter how much she enjoyed the Thanksgiving tradition and her recent run for the vice-presidency while a demented looking guy in blood soaked overalls kills turkeys. It is surreal given Palin was at the turkey farm to pardon the Thanksgiving bird.
Like the Thanksgiving video, last week’s announcement set off another round of “what a wack job” to “never underestimate Sarah Palin” depending on your political persuasion. The press conference was held in the back yard of her home in Wasilla. The only people in attendance other than press were her family and a couple of neighbors. She then launched into a “what is she talking about” ramble that had to have had even the biggest Sarah Palin fans scratching their heads. I kept waiting for the turkey guy to amble across the field behind her.
Even the timing of her Friday news conference was puzzling. Why would anyone want to compete with the wall to wall Michael Jackson coverage and the 4th of July? The only time a politician wants to announce anything in an environment like that is if it’s bad news. Well, I still can’t figure out what it is. Listening to Palin was like listening to Professor Irwin Corey. (You youngsters can google him up). You knew she was talking but you just weren’t sure what she was saying.
Not only is she quitting her job as Governor of Alaska, she’s resigning early. This leaves her vulnerable to the charge she’s a quitter. Americans don’t like quitters or whiners. She did a little of both the other day. As best I could interpret her remarks, she says she’s sick and tired of being criticized and lampooned.
Now I don’t disagree that the liberal media has been pathological and pathetic in its criticism but it goes with the territory these days. Palin should read up on my old boss, Richard Nixon. No one was more vilified by the liberal press than Nixon. The liberals hated him because he was right on communists in government and Alger Hiss in the late ‘40’s. He was written off time and again yet managed to be elected president in 1968. He knew he would never win over his critics so he focused on the so-called silent majority.
My instinct tells me Palin isn’t done yet although leaving a governor’s mansion early is a curious way of keeping your presidential aspirations afloat. But it’s important to remember she’s governor of Alaska. If you’ve never been there, it’s a hike. It’s a full day’s air travel and doesn’t lend itself to quick political appearances. Nor is the national media likely to spend much time or money keeping a correspondent or film crew in Anchorage. So is Palin wants to build on her celebrity, she can’t be tethered to Alaska. She needs to be closer to the big media markets like New York and Washington.
That leaves her two alternatives. She could run for Senator next year and hope a victory would bring her more Beltway exposure and an opportunity to grow her foreign policy chops a la Hillary Clinton prior to a presidential bid in 2012. Or she could land herself a chat show on cable but given the media animosity towards her, she’d probably have to settle for Fox News which would be tantamount to preaching to the converted. That’s exactly why former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has a show on Fox. It keeps him in the mix and provides a launching pad for 2012.
Then, of course, there’s the remote possibility she’s had enough or she’s getting off the stage before some sort of corruption scandal engulfs her. I doubt she’s had enough because it sure looked like she enjoyed the klieg lights last year. And like most politicians, she’s surrounded by acolytes telling her how fabulous she is. As for a scandal, resigning won’t get prosecutors off your back, so I don’t buy it.
My best guess is she simply wants a time out and she knows there’s plenty of time to get back in the game. Remember, this woman has had an incredible year on so many levels. Even a hockey Mom needs a little time on the bench.