Michael Gerson, who knows a thing or two about presidential speeches, says that President Barack Obama’s Monday night address to the nation about the debt ceiling really wasn’t about anything at all. The president was merely getting a jump on the blame game rather than advancing a new argument or reframing the debate.
Gerson, chief speechwriter for George W. Bush, may know of what he speaks, but I respectfully beg to differ. Obama wasn’t just blaming, though he did plenty of that. He was also clearly auditioning for his post-presidential Act II as a Fox News commentator. How else to explain the sudden injection into his lexicon of the words “fair” and “balanced?”
Savvy.
Maybe Brandon Gomes just needs to pitch against the very best.
Politics Rule No. 1: Never say what you really think, especially before you think.
GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain learned this lesson hard and fast when he asserted recently that communities have a right to thwart construction of mosques in their neighborhoods. Cain, who hails from Atlanta and is best known as the CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, made those comments during a visit to Murfreesboro, Tenn., where residents have been trying to block a mosque for the past couple of years.
Have you ever noticed that people believe what they want to believe? Of course you have. Ever wonder why?
Let’s focus on two key reasons: media and ideology.
Pick your adjective: steaming, sweltering, suffocating and sticky. It's been really hot here in Massachusetts and across the country. But this is July, and hot days in July are normal, right?
Not exactly.
While the nation’s capital was in the midst of furious rounds of negotiations and recriminations over what kind of deal would be made to raise the debt ceiling, political reporters received a missive from Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign that served as a reminder of how irrelevant this kerfuffle might feel next year.
If only the migraine problem had been Mitt’s. Or Newt’s. Or any man’s rather than a woman’s.
By now Michele Bachmann’s migraine headache problem is well known.
She takes prescription medications, sometimes has to be hospitalized, and reportedly is temporarily out of commission when a headache strikes.
One of the greatest comments ever written in all literature was given by Albert Schweitzer in his “Reverence For Life.” It reads: “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know is that the only ones among you that will ever be happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” The scriptures support those profound words as the Samaritan’s greatest moments of happiness was when service was the keynote and a simple glass of water was given to a thirsty person.
GOP leaders in Congress don't want a balanced-budget amendment. The party, which rails against government bureaucracy, is counting on government bureaucracy to prevent them from successfully changing our founding documents. It's perfect because they don't actually want to amend the Constitution — well, not in a serious way. Maybe in a drunken, overly-clever, 1:30 a.m. in a Hill-adjacent dive bar kind of way: "The 28th Amendment should outlaw blue food on Wednesdays ... that'd be hilarious!!"
The debt ceiling looms. Confusion reigns. Schemes abound. We are deep in a hole with, as of now, only three ways out: the McConnell plan, the G6 plan and the Half-Trillion plan.
