By Arthur Piccolo
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. July 27, 2012: As we continue to slog through this presidential election that Mitt Romney has already lost – as the Wall Street Journal’s new poll among many others confirmed showing Obama ahead 49% – Romney’s 43% and nothing but hopelessness for Romney – and still months ahead of mindless rhetoric and wall to wall political ads in so called battle ground states that really aren’t ……
That is no reason to allow Barack Obama the false claim he is doing a good job. Romney a dismal candidate running as the candidate of a pathetic party is going to lose. Obama is not winning this election even though the result will be the same. Four more years of Master of the Status Quo Barack Obama.
So a typical Obama week here we go …
Might as well begin Obama’s week in Colorado as he did consoling the victims of the whacko murderer who was very proficient at shopping on the Internet. For bullets, explosives and information about how to become a mass murderer.
President Obama’s sole response to this latest massacre was his flying to Aurora on Air Force One a 3 hour flight to spend two hours there then 3 hours back to The White House in time for dinner. Did we get any leadership or proposals from Obama on the painful issue of gun violence in America?
Of course not. Not even a call for a renewal of the assault weapon ban or preventing lunatics from buying thousands of rounds of ammunition online or even a requirement that such sales be reported to local law enforcement who just might be suspicious why a local graduate student bought 6000 high powered bullets.
Obama said nothing at all about sane gun supervision let alone gun control in America. Why. We all know why. For the same reason he has done nothing on the issue since becoming President. It does not work with his re-election strategy which was his only goal from the day he was first elected. Not leadership re-election. The same goal every typical politician has but a real leader does not.
Obama having been elected on his phony message of change cynically understood his re-election would be about not being a disruptive Change Master but rather minimizing giving Republicans and especially independents reason to vote against him in 2012. He realized Democrats had nowhere else to go no matter how disappointing he would be to many of us.
The re-election would be all about voters in swing states who might vote for or against him in 2012. In the case of gun and ammunition management many of those swing voters had already bought the NRA Koolaid that any action whatsoever to monitor let alone control gun or ammunition purchases is a communist plot to enslave all Americans and place us all in giant prison camps.
So Obama was going nowhere near the issue even in the face of this massacre which logically (in a different universe) would have been a powerful reason for our President to speak out on the issue and offer new legislation in the wake of these murders. At least appoint a Commission to investigate and make recommendations to him. No way anything at all might annoy some swing voters.
Obama did feel some heat during the week so he made a meaningless speech before the National Urban League Conference in New Orleans in which he said: “We have no greater mission as a country than to keep our young people safe.
“But we have to understand that when a child opens fire on another child, there’s a hole in that child’s heart that government can’t fill.”
What does that mean Mr. President? I have no idea.
Some other random “highlights” of President Obama’s week ..
More ‘good news’ about Afghanistan. It seems a lengthy 800 page report on mass murders throughout the 1990s and onward slaughtering tens of thousands of Afghan women, children and men were atrocities carried out by among others many who now hold key positions in the Afghan government and as a powerful warlords today who the U.S. government works closely with.
While many Afghanis and human rights activists around the world call for the release of the report the Obama Administration is putting no pressure on Hamid Karzai to release the report. It would punch another big hole in the logic of Obama’s Afghan war.
More business as usual in the Obama White House.
Then there was the story of Caterpillar, the big manufacturer of industrial and mining equipment, hammering its workers in the U.S. for major concessions in the face of huge profits the company is making. This from the New York Times: “Despite earning a record $4.9 billion profit last year and projecting even better results for 2012, the company is insisting on a six-year wage freeze and a pension freeze for most of the 780 production workers at its factory here. Caterpillar says it needs to keep its labor costs down to ensure its future competitiveness.”
What a golden opportunity for President Obama to speak up for
American workers and a fair deal for them! For President Obama to show up in Joliet, Illinois, where the Caterpillar workers are on strike in response. Couldn’t you see Barack Obama his tie off in full campaign mode standing with the cheering strikers telling Caterpillar to stop the nonsense. How dare they ask for major concessions while these workers are creating record profits?
Don’t hold your breath waiting for Obama to show up. He has the labor vote locked up no matter what. He has no need to upset his corporate base writing him all those $20,000 -$40,000 checks.
Then there is Timothy Geithner this week. President Obama’s hand picked Secretary of the Treasury who he is so fond of when
Geithner wanted to quit a year ago Obama begged him to stay. Timothy Geithner was in the news this week. But President Barack Obama had nothing at all to say about it either.
Geithner who has served the big banks very, very well, first as President of the NY Fed and now as Secretary of the Treasury, it turns out was very aware of LIBOR the interest rate rigging scandal all the way back in April 2008 while he was President of the NY Fed.
Yes he wrote some self-serving gentle memos about the problem, offering some advice but did absolutely did nothing to do his part to end the scandal which it was his responsibility to do.
Or as the New York Times put it today July 26, 2012: “But when Mr. Geithner discussed Libor with other American regulators in May 2008, he did not disclose the specific wrongdoing at Barclays. He also stopped short of referring the matter to the Justice Department.”
Let me repeat that quote: “But when Mr. Geithner discussed Libor with other American regulators in May 2008, he did not disclose the specific wrongdoing at Barclays. He also stopped short of referring the matter to the Justice Department.”
Nothing but silence from President Obama and have no doubt if he were asked all he would do is praise Timothy Geithner. Amen.
Yes I could go on with lots more. But why bother. It is just a very typical week in the Obama Presidency and his re-election campaign. In his mind the big news was his 3 day campaign swing and all the bucks he collected at a series of fund raising events.
It isn’t as easy as you may think to reach his goal of raising $1 Billion for his campaign even thought for all practical purposes he will be re-elected if he doesn’t raise another dollar.
Anyway it keeps him busy. He can ignore all these real issues.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Arthur Piccolo is a special weekly contributor to News Americas.
