Serving Up a Shit Sandwich

“The one big problem I’ve always had with Obama, is that he refuses to educate the public – and to me, that’s the primary function of a president. That’s what the bully pulpit is all about. How does he refuse to educate the public? Because he lies. He refuses to call things as they are. To me, there was no greater example of this than the aftermath of the unemployment benefits + bush tax cut extension debacle. Instead of saying as clear as day, that he’s only going along with the egregious tax breaks for the richest, because the Republicans are holding millions of unemployed Americans hostage, Obama makes it sound like a fantastic bipartisan deal. When you serve up a shit sandwich, and claim it’s great tasting and you and the other cook are in agreement, well, you lose credibility with the diners – because now, they see no reason to pick you over the other cook – and further, you lost the opportunity to educate the diner as to why the shit sandwich is shit when you refuse to disclose that the other cook was demanding to put ground glass and arsenic in the sandwich. And you enable the movement of the Overton window. That’s a monumental failure of a president – the inability to clearly draw lines and educate the public. He should have always pointed out – “we now have no choice but to cut this important program for you, the voter, because of who has been voted into congress – elections have consequences, and this is one of them – please remember this next time you go to the polls”. Call out the Republicans publicly, every single time. And make it clear to Joe-Six-Pack that if he votes like a jackass, his lot in life will be that of a jackass. You can’t mollycoddle the voter. Please treat voters like adults. You earn respect and credibility. But that demands honesty, all the time – even when it’s painful for your position. But such honesty is seen by some as poor politics, because you want to preserve an option to lie to the voters, i.e. keep being the average politician – who will be trusted as much as a used car salesman.”

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