—–

It’s like Chevy Chase doing an impersonation of Chevy Chase doing an impersonation of Gerald Ford (which I loved, by the way).

The best Chase could summon in defense of He Who Hit 41% Today, was an excuse that sounds an awful lot like what the Right was warning us about in 2008:

“It’s too early to tell. He’s young. Maybe he has not anticipated or hadn’t yet anticipated, with perspective, a way to gauge what’s going to be most important to the electorate and to people as he came in because he’s young. Perhaps he came in with all sorts of great thoughts and found out that in fact, in order to make things happen he had to deal with upper most issues as it were that were political[.]”

Shorter Chase: Obama has no idea what the hell he’s doing but we expect him to do better next time.

Wars, tax cuts for the rich, Gitmo open, military tribunals on, gas prices spiking, jobless claims up, a health care bill growing less popular by the day, and everyday citizens organizing and taking it to the streets for the first time in generations.

Quick question, Mr. Chase:

—–

Naturally, the hard-left site MovieLine is in an excited lather:

If George Clooney’s first trip behind the camera in three years wasn’t reason enough to be excited for The Ides of March (based on the play Farragut North by Beau Willimon) perhaps a first look at the Barack Obama-inspired campaign posters his presidential candidate character employs in the film will do the trick.

After the box office sensations Leatherheads and Good Night, and Good Luck — who isn’t excited to see Clooney behind the camera again?

More on the film here.

—–

Jonah Goldberg put it best: Oh, Dear Lord.

The musical debuted in Germany back in January:

Barack Obama and his dramatic ascent to power has inspired a raft of books and articles. Now a German musical is set to pay an all-singing, all-dancing tribute to the world’s most powerful man. Hope! will soon premiere in Frankfurt.

Wearing a knitted cardigan and crooning into his microphone, Barack Obama paces around the stage, wooing Michelle with a love song. In another number, now clad in a suit, Jimmie Wilson who plays Obama, struts up and down, clasping his mike and leading a euphoric gospel chorus of “Yes We Can.”

No word on whether or not ”Hope!” is still playing or if there have been any updates to the musical with Michelle singing “Life as First Lady is Hell.” Or the somber ballad “We Know We Promised 8%,” the show-stopper “My Negatives Are as High as an Elephant’s Eye,” or the Faustian closing number “Welcome to ObamaCare.”

We’ll keep you updated.

Watch the video here.

Instrumental intro…

Choir:

Ahhh… 

Narrator:

“We are a people of improbable hope.” Writes President Barack Obama: “For at the core of the American experience are a set of ideals that continue to stir our collective consciences; a common set of values that bind us together despite our differences; a running thread of hope that makes our improbable experiment in democracy work. These values and ideals find expression not just in the marble slabs of monuments or in the recitation of history books. They remain alive in the hearts and minds of most Americans and can inspire us to pride, duty, and sacrifice. We’ve added family and the cross-generational obligations that family implies. We’ve added community; the neighborhood that expresses itself through raising the barn or coaching the soccer team. We value patriotism and the obligations of citizenship. A sense of duty and sacrifice on behalf of our Nation. We value a fate in something bigger than ourselves; whether that something expresses itself in formal religion or ethical precepts. And we add to the constellation of behaviors that express our mutual regard for one another honesty, fairness, humility, kindness, courtesy and compassion. These values are rooted in a basic optimism of our life and of faith and free will; a confidence that through pluck and sweat and smarts, each of us could rise above the circumstances of our birth. Those values are our inheritance, what makes us who we are as people. And they have proven to be surprisingly durable and surprisingly constant across classes and races and faiths and generations. We are a people of improbable hope.” 

Instrumental continues… 

Choir:

From the ashes of the fallen, the courageous deeds of heroes

From the voice of freedom calling, “Lead the way.”

From the ordinary people who embrace a common purpose

To unite a mighty nation to proclaim:

Chorus:

There is hope, bold as the crimson dawn of a bright new morn

There is hope, clear as the stars in the midnight sky

There is hope, springing forth from faith, every day reborn

With tomorrow in our eyes, there is hope

As the winds of change blow stronger and divisive currents threaten

Shadows deepen and grow longer, spreading fear

But the faithful are not shaken; linking hearts, we stand together

Never will our dream be taken; we vow that here

Chorus:

There is hope, bold as the crimson dawn of a bright new morn

There is hope, clear as the stars in the midnight sky

There is hope, springing forth from faith, every day reborn

With tomorrow in our eyes, there is hope 

Narrator:

“The audacity of hope. That was the best of the American spirit, having the audacity to believe despite all the evidence to the contrary that we could restore a sense of community to a nation torn by conflict; the gall to believe that despite personal setbacks we had some control—and therefore responsibility— for over our own fate.” 

Choir:

Like the eagle on the rise, who to the far horizon flies

Lofty and noble may our vision be.

There is hope… 

Narrator:

“We have a stake in one another and what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart….” 

Choir:

There is hope… 

Narrator:

“…and that if enough people believe in the truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done.”

Choir:

There is hope, springing forth from faith, every day reborn

With tomorrow in our eyes, moving forward side by side

There is hope.

Narrator:

In the words of President Obama, “That’s what satisfies me now, I think – being useful to my family and the people who elected me, leaving behind a legacy that will make our children’s lives more hopeful than our own. Sometimes, working in Washington, I feel I am meeting that goal. At other times, it seems as if the goal recedes from me… When I find myself in such moods, I like to take a run along the Mall. Most of the time, I stop at the Washington Monument, but sometimes I push on across the street to the National World War II Memorial, then along the Reflecting Pool to the Vietnam  Veterans Memorial, then up the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial. At night, the great shrine is lit but often empty. Standing between marble columns, I read the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address. I look out over the Reflecting Pool, imagining the crowd stilled by Dr. King’s mighty cadence, and then beyond that, to the floodlit obelisk and shining Capitol dome. And in that place I think about America and those who built it. This nation’s founders, who somehow rose above petty ambitions and narrow calculations to imagine a nation unfurled across this continent and those like Lincoln and King who ultimately laid down their lives in the service of perfecting an imperfect union. Of all the faceless, nameless men and women; slaves and soldiers, [inaudible] and butchers; constructing lives for themselves and their children and grandchildren – brick by brick – rail by rail – calloused hand by calloused hand – to build a landscape of our collective dreams, it is a process I wish to be a part of. And so, we are choosing hope over fear. We are choosing unity over division. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit – to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that… with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Choir:  

Hope…rising…hope…climbing…hope…building…hope…flying

And a nation rejoices in song, for strong is hope

Where there’s hope, dreams are free to fly,

Where there’s hope, catch them as they pass by

Where there’s hope, easier to see, where there’s hope, what the future can be

Come with me, hope with me, dream with me, let this hope spread to every heart

Come with me, hope with me, dream with me

What binds us all together is greater than what drives us apart

Come with me, hope with me, dream with me, let this hope spread to every heart

Come with me, hope with me, dream with me

What binds us all together is greater than what drives us apart

Where there’s hope, dreams are free to fly,

Where there’s hope, catch them as they pass by

Where there’s hope, easier to see, where there’s hope, what the future can be

Hope is rising, hope is climbing, hope is building, hope is flying

Hope is dancing, hope is singing, hope is shouting, celebrating

Hope, rising like a tide, climbing like the sun, building as our dreams are flying

Hope, dancing on the clouds, singing to the sky, shouting with the joy of celebrating

Springing forth from faith, every day reborn

With tomorrow in our eyes, calling dreams to arise

There is hope, there is hope, there is hope!

Hope — Music and lyrics are by Gary Fry. ©2010 Fry-by-Night Music [ASCAP]
Performed by Voices Rising, Chorale and Concert Orchestra
Recorded by Ed Ingold – February 21, 2010
Pick-Staiger Auditorium
Readings from: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream ~ Barack Obama, Author
President Barak Obama Inaugural Address
January 20, 2009

In the meantime….

Ever wonder why you can’t just skip over those FBI warnings at the start of every DVD?

Ever wonder why “piracy” is always such a big issue for Hollywood when discussing our economic relationship with China?

It’s because writers, actors, directors and producers all live and die from royalties and residuals (payments for the repeated use of a copyright protected piece of intellectual property).  I know most people don’t want to hear this, but being a writer, director or actor is usually not a great life.  Until (or unless) you are lucky enough to make it big, it is fiscally challenging to say the least.  So many actors who are not stars are lucky if they get one or two weeks’ worth of work in Hollywood per year.  How does an actor survive on only two weeks’ pay?  They don’t.  But, one thing that helps them is they get paid for every subsequent use of the show they were on.  Same with the writer and the other creative folks working on the show.

But, as you can imagine, if their work could be legally duplicated and distributed without any payment to them for their work, it would seriously disrupt the financial life of these artists.  That is called copyright infringement, or piracy.  The adherence to the fundamental belief that an artist’s work is protected, a writer’s words and stories are protected, and an actor’s image and performance is protected from duplication and piracy is fundamental to the economics of the artist’s business.

Enter Shepard Fairey.

Shepard Fairey is often referred to as a street artist.  He made a name for himself by creating large posters and sticking them up by the thousands on public places.  Others would call this vandalism, but I digress.  He is heralded as the creator of the Obama “Hope” poster which is seen as a major influence in rallying devoted support to the Obama candidacy.  The “Hope” poster conveyed in one image and in one word everything that the campaign wanted its most fervent allies to embrace, champion and (most importantly) to perpetuate to their friends who might not have been quite as fervent.   The poster has been described as “the most efficacious American political illustration since ‘Uncle Sam Wants You.’” There is no denying its efficacy, even if its message doesn’t send a “thrill up your leg.”  Only problem with it:  It appears to be pirated.

I’m sure that this revelation has sent many of Fairey’s admirers into the same depression that George Harrison fans felt when it became clear that “My Sweet Lord” was just a rip-off of the Chiffons’ hit “He’s So Fine.”  (Seriously, the fact that George Harrison may have ripped off another tune is one thing… but “He’s So Fine”???)

In February (a convenient two weeks after the inauguration), the AP announced a copyright infringement lawsuit against Fairey claiming that the image Fairey used was copyright protected intellectual property owned by the AP.  Fairey’s response was two-fold:  First, he claimed protection of his poster under the “Fair Use” guidelines of the copyright laws, and, second,  it doesn’t really matter anyway because the AP is wrong; the image used as the basis for the poster was not the image AP claims ownership of, it was another photo. Any reasonable examination of the original AP-owned photo and Fairey’s poster would seem to favor the AP’s argument — and just this last Friday, Fairey not only admitted that the AP’s image was, in fact, the image he used, but he also admitted lying, submitting false images and destroying others during the discovery phase of the lawsuit. He still clings to his over-riding defense that his art and use of the photo is not piracy as it falls under the “Fair Use” guidelines.

Now, I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t even play one on TV (although I think I would do a better job than some of those replacement actresses in the last season of “Boston Legal…”  Geez!), so I am not here to argue about the “Fair Use” provisions in the copyright laws.  But, I do suggest you read the provision and consider the issue for yourself.

OK, back to Hollywood and Broadway.

Those actors on stage during act one who see a red light in the house indicating a video camera is on them….  They will go right off stage and demand that the stage manager do something. The stage manager then tells the house manager, the house manager tells the usher, and THAT’s why you are being distracted by a seventy-year-old woman climbing over three rows of seats trying to wrestle a camcorder from an unsuspecting patron during “Phantom of the Opera.” It’s not because the red light is distracting them… it’s because they are protecting their performance and their image from being duplicated and distributed without their permission.  It is their right.  Just as it is the right of a professional photographer to protect their product from being copied, slightly altered and re-distributed without THEIR permission.

So imagine my surprise when I didn’t see one person from the Writers’ Guild or from SAG cheering on the AP.  How could they not?  The writer’s just endured an industry-crippling strike and the major issue was residual payments for use of their product on the Internet.  Though Internet re-plays of “30 Rock” is not exactly the same as barely photo-shopping a photo and distributing it as art, but the core principal is the same:  A work of art or entertainment must be protected from duplication or re-distribution or the entire copyright edifice will begin to crumble.  Michael Moore was so thrilled with the WGA in their unwavering position on the webcasts, that he gushed to the LA Times: 

“This is an historic moment for labor in this country, …To have the writers union stand up like we did, not give back a single thing and make them give — it was a really great moment to sit in there and listen to everything.”

So why are Moore and other left-leaning artists, writers and directors relatively silent on the Fairey issue?  You would think that the protection of intellectual property is something they would champion.

The question answers itself. Fairey is an artist who uses his art for the right reasons. He helped get Obama elected.  He made a great poster in support of same-sex marriage.  He gave President Bush fangs and a trickle of blood down his chin in another poster.  “So what if he broke copyright laws… his art is effective, he’s cool, and he thinks like us, we will look away.”  I love the smell of cognitive dissonance in the morning.

Before you lefties start flaming the comments with claims that Fairey made no money off of the poster so there is no infringement…  understand one thing:  Whether Fairey made money or not, it doesn’t matter with regard to copyright laws.  I can’t put on a production of “Wicked” at the local high school gym as long as I don’t charge any money for tickets.  I can’t make copies of the DVD of “Titanic” and start handing them out for free on the street.  You MUST know that, right?

And by the way, to suggest that Mr. Fairey has not benefitted from his association with the “Hope” poster is disingenuous at best.  Mr. Fairey is currently enjoying the honor of having a special exhibition of his work at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.  A hand-crafted collage version of the “Hope” poster is now in the Smithsonian.  If you think that the sale of future Fairey works will not be influenced by this, you don’t understand market economics.  Also, just because Fairey might not have made any direct income from the poster, does not mean that someone didn’t make any, most notably, the Obama campaign and transition teams.

In all of my searching for some sort of outcry over Fairey’s use of protected work for his poster, I did find an interesting trend.  It seems that in the past, one of the champions of copyright protection with regard to these types of images and artwork has been none other than Shepard Fairey.  You see, before “Hope” there was “Obey,” Fairey’s breakout poster in which he used a photo of wrestler Andre the Giant, modified the image, and affixed the word “Obey.” The iconic image was adapted recently by artist Baxter Orr.  Orr gave Andre a SARS surgical mask and gave it the caption, “Protect Yourself.” What did “Fair-use Fairey” do?  He sued Baxter Orr.  Orr cries hypocrisy:  “”It’s ridiculous for someone who built their empire on appropriating other people’s images,” he said. “Obey Giant has become like Tide and Coca-Cola.”  Fairey’s gentlemanly response?  He called Orr a “parasite.”

But this is only Fairey’s protection of his famous “Obey” icon, right?  He doesn’t care what people do with his “Hope” poster…  that was all done for free and to benefit the Obama campaign, right?  Well….  It seems that many of the posters that got distributed to Obama supporters at events were found on eBay auctions (those damn capitalists) and Mr. Fairey was not amused.  He demanded that eBay take down the auctions, his website called the people engaged in the sale as “greedy” and he subsequently opened up a page for the exclusive sale of signed “Hope” posters.

Any director, writer or actor interested in making long-term money in the entertainment industry should be calling Fairey what he is:  A plagiarist.  But they won’t.  And they won’t protest for an end to the Afghan war even though casualties are mounting under President Obama’s watch.  And they won’t claim President Obama is taking away their freedoms even though he extended President Bush’s declaration of national emergency this past September 10th (something the left continually criticized President Bush for). 

One wonders what fault, if any, the left will find in this President or his loyal supporters like Fairey.

Og, Bog, and Grog were out hunting mammoth one day somewhere in the mountains of Prehistoric Europe.  Grog’s job was to select the most succulent, Grade A Prime Mammuthus primigenius available in the Mesolithic grocer’s aisle and herd it towards his spear-bearing buddies who were hidden in the brush.  Grog made his choice and, using his trusty, flaming torch, chased the big woolly one brush-ward.  Unfortunately, in the midst of all the excitement, Grog forgot the cardinal rule of torch-bearing hunters everywhere: always stay at least ten stone lengths away from the back end of a mammoth after it’s eaten a fir tree for lunch.

Over Grog’s ashes, Og ponders the lesson of his friend’s untimely incineration and thinks: “I’m gonna recommend the Chief hold a hunter’s refresher course and change it to twenty stone lengths.”  Meanwhile, Bog, though he has access to the same information, processes it differently.  He ends up dismissing the whole episode as a fluke and decides that, even if the conditions were similar, the same result could never happen to him.  As Og is busy absorbing the cause and effect of Grog’s sudden demise, Bog thinks: “Let’s see, I had half a bison for breakfast, eighteen crow eggs, hand full of pine cones, pig fat smoothie with a scoop of roe deer hoof powder…which means, if I jog back to the cave reallyreally fast I can eat that entire pit of flame-broiled grubs.”

While Og clearly observed and assimilated the dangers of getting on the wrong side of a mammoth, Bog apparently chose to ignore the historic event.  Og burned a groove in his brain and made damned sure his children burned the same groove in theirs, passing his factual knowledge down for posterity.  Bog, on the other hand, kept revising the story and, several oral drafts around the campfire later, actually managed to convince himself that the whole debacle wasn’t Grog’s fault, it wasn’t the mammoth’s fault, it wasn’t even the fir tree’s fault.  Rather, it was all somehow Og’s fault. 

The story of Og and Bog would have no place in hypothetical history were it not for the fact that, apparently, Og went on to father Homo sapiens (“knowing human”) while Bog went on to father an entire subspecies known as Homo sibi destruens (“man destroying himself”).  Though they appear physically identical and share a majority of cognitive abilities, Homo sibi destruens (“HSD”) is decidedly different from Homo sapiens in one critical area: they are unable to absorb the lessons of history.

Standouts of this subspecies can easily be spotted governing countries, running the 111th Congress, starring in films, chairing U.N. committees, controlling the White House and keeping the flames of socialism and communism flickering the world over.  During particularly critical times in history, HSD often emerges en masse to make sure we all end up ignoring the lessons of the past so we can collectively suffer maximum damage in the present and future.

To HSD, communism is not a failed philosophy.  It’s just never been done right.  European socialism –- a floundering system of government Americans have never actually endured –- is somehow superior to the pseudo-capitalist system we are rapidly losing.  The government, though they have mangled our public schools for decades, frittered away our Social Security, worsened our financial crisis and grossly mismanaged everything from Fannie and Freddie to the U.S. Postal Service, is now somehow best qualified to handle our banking, mortgages and healthcare.  Should HSD cross paths with anyone who has actually suffered under communism or experienced the stagnation, lack of choice, and rationing of repressive socialism, they simply dismiss their warnings.

Hope & Change circa 1940's China

I recently asked “Ron,” a Rhodes Scholar friend from Taiwan, what he thought of a college student I knew who kept a poster of Mao Zedong on his wall.  Ron is married to a woman whose highly-educated father, during the so-called “cultural revolution,” was arrested, tortured and ordered to publicly burn his books.  Ron’s wife, a skilled physician, was nearly forced to marry a pig farmer before a patient who was a high-ranking party official interceded.  Ron thought carefully about how to define a young man who admired a mass murderer of millions.  After a moment, Ron pronounced in his heavy Taiwanese accent: “muddy thinker.”

If the current trends in Washington and Hollywood are any indication, HSD’s muddy thinkers are all the rage.

Several years ago, I came across perhaps the best visual fix on muddy thinking I’ve ever encountered.  I was visiting a friend who lived in an isolated, mountain region.  Record rainfall that year had caused a series of mudslides throughout the area.  Driving up the narrow, one lane road to her house, I rounded a hairpin curve and encountered an amazing site.  Pulling over, I got out of my car and stood gaping on the side of the road.  There, before me, were two houses I had passed many times over the years.  One house, however, had apparently slid down the side of the hill and was now lying in ruins at the bottom of a gully.  The other, identical home, located a few yards away from its decimated twin and looking decidedly wobbly, was still inhabited.  And there, in that home, in clear view through a dining room window, were the descendants of Bog.  Gathered around the dinner table, a family of Homo sibi destruens were eating, chatting, and watching MSNBC as if nothing unusual had happened.  I had to fight the urge not to bang on their front door and scream: “Are you crazy?  GET OUT!”

Propaganda Poster circa 2009

Shortly after, the house of Bog’s muddy thinking descendants did, in fact, join its clone in demolished repose at the base of the ravine.  I wonder how long it took the family to finally accept reality and acknowledge their dwelling’s fate.  I wonder how long it will take Bog’s descendants in America to acknowledge what they are doing to this country?

How's this for "Progress?"

Walking out of a Hollywood coffee house just after the so-called “Stimulus” was passed, I followed two prime HSD specimens down the street.  As they entered their fully loaded Prius complete with scary, propagandic, Obama bumper sticker circa Leninist Russia, I overhead one, young rail-thin blonde talking with another.  Instead of pondering how more than doubling our nation’s debt, nationalizing private industry and an unprecedented expansion of government will hobble their bright, shiny futures, I heard:  “Let’s see, I had a non-fat, soy latte for breakfast, Acai Berry smoothie with a scoop of protein powder for lunch, hand full of unsalted almonds, which means, if I work reallyreally hard in Pilates…”

All through the campaign Barack Obama told us not to listen to the “politics of fear.” These are the ways of the old guard, the naysayers, the negative ones - he said. Those who won’t sit and talk with the bad men are the warmongers - he called them. These are the guys who created our enemies, he inferred. Don’t listen when they use words like “terrorist” and ”disaster” and ignore the call to be vigilant. It’s a neo-con ruse. It’s a plot to scare you.

So what has our president been saying lately? The economic slump is a “continuing disaster,” he told us. He said the economy is “in crisis.” Back in December he told us it was “going to get worse.” Recently he warned of a “national catastrophe” if the stimulus bill wasn’t passed. He kept his speech before the joint session somewhat more positive in a stylistic sense (style points count when you blow off your promise about not tolerating any earmarks). But still, again down goes the Dow.

I can’t remember a president in my lifetime who out of the gate, has been so pessimistic and directly affected the markets so negatively. This man sits in the most powerful position on the globe. His words BOOM above every other chief on the planet.  A president says it – the world listens. He keeps telling us he inherited this problem. No sir, you wanted this problem. You ran on it, with it and for it. Time to stop the blame and deliver on your promises, deliver on your hope. The markets need some.

Now, say for instance you have several million dollars and are thinking about investing in a start up business but you turn on the tube and the leader of the free world is saying words like “disaster” and “crisis” and other doom gloomy tidbits. Maybe you put your dinero back in your pocket? I think so.

Or, you employ a crap load of people and are teetering on some layoffs due to the fear that things just might get worse, and you punch up the boys at MSNBC playing some tape of our president doing the henny penny deal. Hmmmmm, maybe Bob Cratchit needs to go, after all. Screw, Tiny Tim.

Obama laid the groundwork for the market’s fear of him during the campaign by inferring capitalists were villains, and wealthy folks were their henchmen.  Pure class warfare. Earth to the White House: Big business employs people.  

In order to help Main Street, we need to make sure there are some stores left on Main Street. And in order to help the worker, we have to be sure he has a place to work.  Watching corporations and passing sensible regulation is fine, but turning them into villains and crying disaster every five minutes has its repercussions. The repercussions are evident in the markets. We need a leader who can instill pride, confidence and a spark in the American worker, and most importantly in the American corporation. Like it or not, we depend on corporations for almost everything we touch. 

During WWII, when England cringed under Hitler’s bombs, Winston Churchill inspired a nation to come together, to persevere through adversity, and he told them that in doing this, it would be their “finest hour.”

However, we keep hearing the bad news. We keep hearing how bad all those nasty corporations are. Mr. President, you need to inspire, not fatigue.  You need to lift us up and grease the wheels of commerce (hint: lower their tax burden).

Being so unhopeful, you’re sounding to us like a sort of Anti-Churchill.

“We will hand out on the land, we will hand out on the sea, we will punish the wealthy. We will reward failure and incompetence, debtors and greed; with a new start. We will transfer the wealth. We will demand that those who planned and saved, worked and sacrificed, turned down the vacations, and didn’t run up debt, PAY UP to help you – my overspending brothers and sisters.”

To me it is plain as day; our president must inspire hope in business, as well as the common American. He needs to remind us that we have gone astray in our personal spending and debt, and spur on the corporations.  

Americans are addicted to credit and spending. It’s time to realize that we as a nation have a personal problem and we need to take the personal steps to correct it. Not everyone can afford the best cars, houses, toys, vacations. Credit needs to be paid back, and at a much higher cost. Addiction is a nasty thing, and denial is part of the problem. So by taking the focus off our real problem, and praying for the leader to bail us out, we just might be hiding the problem that is still there. They say addicts sometimes trade one addiction for another, then delude themselves into thinking they have truly kicked their addicted ways.So just maybe, America is trading it’s addiction to spending… for its addiction to Obama.

During the election the chants of “Hope” from Mr. Obama and his followers always seemed to be said with a smile. Today those smiles are gone and have been replaced by the stern condescending look of someone very frustrated that a socialist agenda is being met with resistance from the right and conservatives all around the country. Thankfully, conservatives have finally spoken up and we can only “hope it’s not too late to reverse course.

If you listen to the liberal media, you will hear something very interesting. On the cover of Newsweek magazine they declare, “We are all socialists now.” This is not viewed as a negative event but one met with cheer. The interesting part of this article is that it decries the Bush Administration as the source of all of our economic problems: “The U.S. government has already – under a conservative Republican administration - effectively nationalized the banking and mortgage industries.” Yes, that’s true, Bush did effectively start this mess with the TARP program among other welfare type programs. Maybe this is why Bush’s approval rating was so low. There had to be many unhappy conservatives in order produce such a low number. 

So the left cries that Bush was terrible, yet he laid the groundwork for the Democrats to effectively walk into office and continue on the same path. So why is it that when Nancy Pelosi does it the left calls it brilliant but when Bush did it he was worst president ever?  Do democrats think that doing the same thing the Bush administration did will help us climb out of this economic mess? No, they don’t, and in fact they might very well want this to fail so they can push for more government control. 

So how did we get here? If you ask the left they will say Bush spent us into a recession. Forget about the likes of Barney Frank pushing for more low income housing loans and protecting his lover’s company from oversight before the collapse of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. I can only point to the greatest gift the left has had in 30 years. George W. Bush! Without Bush they would never have succeeded in winning the election with the most liberal President EVER, and they would have never been able to even utter the number $838 billion dollars in the largest spending bill to pass through the halls of Congress.

America of 2009 is on its way to becoming what Newsweek magazine called the Modern European State. Oh, and they said it with a smile.