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From
the Other Side of the Edge….
The
“Smallness” of the Presidency Now….
By Joe Facinoli
Has
it simply slipped away from us, ..…that time when the American
Presidency gave us something to be proud of ?
Do
you remember when there was a certain dignity, nobility, and
even “regalness” to it ?
When
maturity, and experience, and professionalism were such sure
pre-requisites, that they were not even spoken about very much?
When
we could look to this elected leader, regardless of our
politics, and expect him to be the one who spoke for America, and who
was on
the watchtower for us, and who would be at his best, 24/7, protecting
us ?
How and when did that all change?
When
did we lose that good and secure feeling?
It’s
like so many other good and special things in life, ….if you
take them for granted, they can get away from you.
Or, someone can take them from you, if you let
yourself be too naively inattentive, and presumptuous.
And
changed so drastically, in what seems like such a short
time. But
it wasn’t, such a brief
period. We
let it happen, over three
decades, while we were asleep at the wheel, and partying with other
people’s
money.
When did that same special office, become the province of people so
“small”, so
self-aggrandizing, so petty and narrow minded, and so inflexible?
And
so blindly arrogant.
How
could someone so unprepared, so ill-informed, so unaware, yet
so cold-heartedly focused on changing that which they know so little
about, nor
possess even the slightest feeling for, ever get elected, much less
attempt to
govern???
When did Jay Leno replace Walter Cronkite?
Or Peter Jennings?
(Btw,
has there ever been a less talented, and less funny
individual on TV, and for so long?
Leno
makes all the girls on “Friends” look like Lucille Ball, compared to
what he
brings---or doesn’t.)
How
can some whiny, one-trick-pony, no talent like Presidential
press secretary Jay Carney, in all good conscience, take the same
podium as
Pierre Salinger (JFK), Jim Brady (Reagan), or even Tony Snow (W. Bush)
?? They
were professionals.
(hmm….two
Jays, same talent level,…interesting, …maybe separated at
birth?)
When
did David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel take the place of Huntley
and Brinkley, or any other real journalists, in a national forum ?
And
Edward R. Murrow, perhaps the founding father of TV news, and
of professionalism in that medium, must be on permanent “turnover” mode
by now,
if he catches any of what feebly passes for “journalism” these days.
When someone so uneducated in the fundamentals of running a government,
or a business,
or any large enterprise (larger, that is, than a “community”…just
sayin’),
despite their supposed I.Q., is so centered on an agenda, one so
different,
even so foreign (on many levels) to the preceding 220 years Americans
have held
this office before him, it matters little to him what means are used,
nor their
propriety or legality, nor how much the country suffers.
It’s
“the Cause”, only and always “the Cause”,….that matters.
Even
if that “Cause” brings with it the path to permanent,
unwanted, and unneeded change, which by direct linkage will inevitably
and
un-erringly lead to our ruination.
Wow. That’s probably
the
least cheery sentence I’ve ever read, muchless written, about the U.S.
Presidency.
But
that’s where we are now.
That great office signifies almost nothing
now, except as a means to an
end.
It’s
all about “us” vs. “them”.
Whoever
and whatever “us” and “them” might be.
But that doesn’t matter either.
You
are quite simply for the “cause”, or you are the mortal enemy
of it. And
of them.
You’ve
heard the phrase:
“The enemy of my enemy, is my friend.” ? Well, these
folks waste little time with
that. They
go right to: “My
enemy is my enemy, and I don’t need any
friends.”
Just
votes they can coerce, and “causes” they can espouse,
regardless of all logic, common sense, nor any cultural or fiscal
responsibility.
How does a snot-nosed, foot stomping little kid, and open bigot like
Attorney
General Eric Holder, think he has the “stuff” to occupy the same
Cabinet space
as RFK, or William Rogers, or Ben Civiletti?
Or
even Elliot Richardson, who at least stood up for principle and
resigned, rather than obey an ill-advised and inappropriate (but not
illegal)
request by his boss, Richard “I am not a crook” Nixon, to fire a
Special Prosecutor
in the ongoing Watergate scandal of that time.
Holder
goes completely in the opposite direction, by ignoring all propriety,
honor, that annoying “professionalism” thing (again), and even the
Truth, in
his daily and never-ending pursuit of “the Cause”.
Three immediate predecessors to the current administration were little
better,
in terms of competence and professionalism.
But they only set the stage for this group of
imposters, and
Constitution tramplers on steroids.
No shame. No
conscience, …no
concern. No
regard for veracity (neither
personal nor professional), nor for any of our traditions (even for as
little a
thing as saluting or honoring our flag), nor for anything close to
pride in
country.
Only
political polling matters, subversive planning, and
steadfastness on P.E.D.s, while chasing and attending to what they all
firmly
believe is the course which they were chosen from on high to champion,
and make
happen, at all costs, and in defiance of all that proceeded them,….and
worked.
Hopefully, some of that “higher” power, in which so many believe, in
some honest
form or fashion, and which promises deliverance by that belief, will
kick in
and “even things out”, a little bit.
Or
maybe,….it already has.
Life is a test, or a series of them.
How you do with that, is all on you, and your
ability to navigate
through your own life, and that which surrounds you.
As John Wayne so eloquently said, in “The Sands of Iwo Jima”: “Life
is tough, ….but it’s even tougher
when you’re stupid.”
So let’s all stop being so “Stupid”, and take back this once proud, and
still
great country of ours.
And this Life is definitely “tough” enough, ….without “small” children
in
charge.
Right,
Duke?
Joe
Facinoli
(Joe can be reached at: joefacinoli@gmail.com
)
--Intelligent
Response Encouraged !!
©
Copyright 2013, Joe
Facinoli
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