A Jumble of Nine

It has become easy to connect the dots in the Middle East. We already see the outlines of the end game. Michael Vlahos is right when he says that underlying it all “is a search for dignity”. I did not hear the show but, I assume, he did not go so far as define ‘dignity’ as seen from the Islamic perspective.

At the same time, we refuse to connect the dots here at home. Most conservative pundits and political hopefuls openly state that our nation cannot survive another six years with Obama at the helm. What they really mean to say is ‘two’ (years). Most do not yet connect the chaos in the Middle East with the chaos in Wisconsin and elsewhere. Yet, clearly, the demonstrators themselves have made the connection. Their talk and signage shows that they are keenly aware of what’s happening in the Middle East and are in solidarity with it.

Last week marks the first time a major, nationally known politician raised the ‘I’ word in an interview with Newsmax TV. He did it in a sort of circumspect way, suggesting if President Sarah Palin had done what Obama did (re: DOMA), there would be immediate calls for her impeachment. Then, immediately backing off, he went on to say that, in Obama’s case, calls for impeachment are not warranted.

So, which is it Newt? Is it the old sock-in-the-mouth double standard again? With talk like that Newt cuts his own throat. And DOMA is not the only issue on which Obama finds himself on thin ice - constitutionally speaking. And that’s not even the sum of it. Look at where we are today domestically as well as internationally. Are we really better off now than when Bush left office? Or is the calliope crashing as we watch? Do we have a Plan B, or C, or D…? Or has what we are seeing been Plan A all along?

Come on Newt! You can do better than that. Say it like it is and then stick to it come hell or high water. Show some spine!

Kudos for getting the word out there, anyway. Hopefully, it’ll get the ball rolling (even though we all know that it won’t be you to roll that ball).

Here’s a prediction: The first one who owns the ball and takes charge of it wins. If no one is willing to do this much, then we’re even worse off than I thought we were.

How many glossed-over low blows will it take before we lose all appreciation of four corners (as in a ring)? How long before the number ’8’ becomes just another meaningless cipher among a jumble of nine?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/