Life is a state of mind.

“Life is a state of mind.”

………………………………..President Bobby, Being There, 1979

When Peter Sellers brought to life the character of Chauncy Gardiner, in this comedy classic, the humor was largely in the ridiculous notion that a mere gardener, who could neither read nor write, could become a major political figure, advising the most important politicians of the day, including the President.

While I am quite sure that the writer, Jerry Kozinski, would have loved an outcome where Gardiner became President, such an ending would have taken the film from plausibly funny to implausibly stupid. (Of course, this film was released in the middle of the Carter years (1979 – 1981)…so it may not have been so outlandish. After all, if a peanut farmer can garner the Presidency, why not a gardener?)

Now that I hear Barack Obama give his speeches, make his campaign promises, talk of the economy and the cure to what ails it, I simply cannot help but remember “Being There”.

Only in this case we have a community organizer who either can’t read or can’t comprehend the written word, rising up to become President of the United States. And just like President Bobby, he thinks that “Life is a state of mind”.

What do I mean by that?

Simply that Obama has no interest in reality….and is determined to convince everyone that life has no grounding in reality but is simply a state of mind.

This is the reason behind many of his so-called flubs. For instance….

-        - When he talked of visiting 57 states, his state of mind was dwelling on the Heinz 57 varieties and wondering which he would have on his cheeseburger after the speech

-        - When he was speaking of the Navy Corpseman (not the Navy Corpsman) he was a little confused since he had just watched the Tim Burton classic “The Corpse Bride” and was slightly confused

-       -  Or…he could have been referring to the KIA Medal of Honor recipient Jared Monte….who Obama thought was still alive

-       -  We can all understand how he thought Austria had it’s own language…he was channeling the career of Arnie at the time

-        - And then of course there is the state of mind that Hawaii is part of Asia….I wonder if Michelle knows of his fetish for Asian women? That was clearly his of mind during that particular speech.

Yes, life is but a state of mind.

Of course, there are many parallels between Chauncy Gardiner and Barack Obama….

“ Ron Steigler: Mr. Gardner, uh, my editors and I have been wondering if you would consider writing a book for us, something about your um, political philosophy, what do you say?

Chance the Gardener: I can't write.

Ron Steigler: Heh, heh, of course not, who can nowadays? Listen, I have trouble writing a postcard to my children. Look uhh, we can give you a six figure advance, I'll provide you with the very best ghost-writer, proof-readers...

Chance the Gardener: I can't read.

Ron Steigler: Of course you can't! No one has the time! We, we glance at things, we watch television...

Chance the Gardener: I like to watch TV.”

…………………..Being There, 1979

Can Obama read? There is significant doubt about this. I suspect he can read but has trouble with comprehension. After all, he seems to be able to read his teleprompter sort of ok…but when the words make no sense he still delivers them as they were written.  I really do not think there is any truth in the rumor that when he delivers a speech and stops frequently, it is because he is listening to the next few words being delivered through his miniature ear plug (called an earwig)…although that would explain the frequent gaps in the flow of his speech (often in appropriate places), especially if he can only be delivered a couple of words at t a time. Who knew?

Anyway…back to his reading. I think he can read somewhat, but with limited comprehension. Perhaps that is why he was able to rise to the Presidency where Gardiner was unable to take that final step?

Chauncy also states clearly that he can’t write either. Sometimes I wonder whether Obama’s speechwriters are related?

And then there is that final line…”I like watching TV”….enough said!!

In this world of sound bites and short concentration spans TV is the media of choice for liberal politicians who understand that their constituencies are filled with people just like them…people who are unlikely to read, and simply like watching TV. Obama and his advisers know this…and also like watching TV….that is where they get the pulse that they are so good at interpreting. That is where their base lives…and they study it as closely as they study foreign affairs.

And then there is the economy….following on our theme of “Life is a state of mind”…the economy sucks, but don’t worry…that is just a state of mind …the truth is….

“President "Bobby": Mr. Gardner, do you agree with Ben, or do you think that we can stimulate growth through temporary incentives?

[Long pause]

Chance the Gardener: As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.

President "Bobby": In the garden.

Chance the Gardener: Yes. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.

President "Bobby": Spring and summer.

Chance the Gardener: Yes.

President "Bobby": Then fall and winter.

Chance the Gardener: Yes.

Benjamin Rand: I think what our insightful young friend is saying is that we welcome the inevitable seasons of nature, but we're upset by the seasons of our economy.

Chance the Gardener: Yes! There will be growth in the spring!”

……..Being There, 1979

Well it may not be Shakespeare but it is just as poignant…

Shakespeare wrote in the first two lines of Richard III:

"Now is the winter of our discontent

 Made glorious summer by this sun [or son] of York," .

If Obama could read he would consider himself the Son of York….the healer, the leader, the messiah of this economy….but since his reading skills are somewhat lacking he would be more likely to watch Being There on TV…

….and would take great faith that after the winter spring will come…and with spring, growth.

The winter of discontent will pass away and an era of unparalleled growth will take its place….led by the sun of York.

Oh my….if ever President Bobby’s words were true…”Life is a state of mind”…then this must be it. It is only by ignoring reality, by living in a fantasy world,….actually, by watching television….that anyone could possibly think that a spring of growth will follow this dark winter….

This is nothing more than a mind numbingly stupid belief in fairly tales.

A President who dealt in reality would see our winter of discontent settling in for an extended stay. Obama is no son of York able to turn it into a glorious summer….

With the elections due in November next year, the Obama circus has nearly a year during which it can prepare and pursue a campaign of righteous anger directed at the “do nothing” Republicans, an intransigent Congress and obstructionist conservatives.

It has a year to convince the electorate that the winter of discontent is nothing more than a state of mind.

It has a year to convince the suffering, the unemployed, the homeless and the poor that their suffering is not real…it is only a state of mind.

It has a year to blame the economic realities on Bush, tsunamis, Eurozone financial problems, too little stimulus, the tea party…and now the lazy American people who just will not go out and start businesses or grow them.

It has a year to continue its race program of division. A year to ignite the jealousies of the have-nots and declare class warfare against the haves.

A year to push through bad policy….

All in the name of finding a way to give more freebies and trinkets to the unsuspecting addicts of government largesse…trinkets that ease the pain, cloud the mind and fog the memory. The drugs of choice of many Americans who also believe that life is a state of mind…and all they have to do is demand, and it shall be given unto them.

A winter of discontent?

Giving the addicted their desires will stop them seeing the perils of their addiction and the true state of the winter.

Yes, life is a state of mind.

And Obama is likely to use the color of his skin as his biggest weapon….

“Louise: It's for sure a white man's world in America. Look here: I raised that boy since he was the size of a piss-ant. And I'll say right now, he never learned to read and write. No, sir. Had no brains at all. Was stuffed with rice pudding between th' ears. Shortchanged by the Lord, and dumb as a jackass. Look at him now! Yes, sir, all you've gotta be is white in America, to get whatever you want. Gobbledy-gook!”

………Being There, 1979

Life is a state of mind….

Stupid is as stupid says.

…..devereaux

Three blind mice...see how they run!

Is today really only Tuesday?

So few days into the week and so many choices of stupidity to examine. I feel like a kid in a candy store today…..lol

I think I will pick my 3 favorites today….

1.      OWS

2.      DOJ

3.      Supercommittee

The Occupiers have been occupied. Bloomberg finally grew a pair and tossed the occupiers out of Zucotti Park. A police action in the early hours saw the park cleared of vermin and then cleared of the trash the vermin left behind. This was closely followed by the occupiers obtaining injunctive relief by court order which they claimed allowed them to return complete with tents, sleeping bags and the accoutrements of civilized living that they have been enjoying for how long? A couple of months?

That injunction was proven to be short-lived as a court decision in the last few minutes makes it clear that while the protestors are free to return to Zucotti Park, they are not permitted to set up camp, bring tents, sleeping bags etc, or stay overnight.

Where are they to go? As I wipe away the tears that are streaming down my face I have to ask….how could the world be so mean as to prevent people from demonstrating peacefully?

Well…if it was a peaceful law abiding demonstration, I could have supported their right to be there. But it wasn’t. Far from it.

The exact moment that the occupiers decided to use that name for themselves, they were stepping on thin ice. You see, the term “occupy” in the sense they meant it…means that they are taking by force, that which does not belong to them. They knew they were not in Zucotti Park by right, but were in fact taking something that didn’t belong to them, and in doing so, preventing those who rightfully could have been there from being there.

Are you with me?

The general public was unable to use that park while the idiots were occupying it. This was in fact preventing by force, by intimidation, and by oderiferous assault…the ability of many of the rightful users of the park from enjoying all it had to offer.

Anyway, the amazing thing is not that the OWS groups are being chased out of town, but that it has taken the local governments so long to do it. I do not understand this at all. Had I been Bloomberg, I would have done something similar to what he did last night….the second night the encampment was there. I would have sent a strong message that this would not be accepted. I would have surrounded the park with riot police all banging on their shields to drown out the camp drummers, and then simply worked from one end to the other clearing out the demonstrators and their trash.

Weird how he discovered it could be done after two long months!

And this in turn makes me wonder if there is any truth to three rumors I heard yesterday….

-        That Joe Biden’s son has just been employed as a lawyer by the Zucotti Park owners, Brookfield Properties?

-        That Bloomberg’s live in girlfriend sits on the Board of Brookfield Properties?

-        That Brookfield Properties received a significant payment from Obama’s last stimulus package for shovel ready jobs?

I actually do not know if these are true or not….but they sure do make great fodder for a press starved of real news…oh…I forgot….it is only unsubstantiated claims against conservatives that get Press coverage…not possibly true claims about liberals!

Enough of this stupid movement, OWS.  Just more of the same.

Let’s look at my second piece of stupidity for today. The much loved and highly regarded Department of Justice. You know, the department that allowed hundreds of weapons, perhaps even thousands, to walk across the border to Mexico…with nobody knowing where they ultimately ended up.

While the operation was itself an exercise in stupidity, that is not what I want to look at today.

Today I am looking at the answers that Eric Holder and his side-kick Kevin Ohlson. It seems that Ohlson is nominated for a federal Appeals Court and this whole fast and furious thing might put a kink in his plans to drive Obama’s agenda in the Courts.

Anyway, what is really stupid is this…

We have heard that Holder didn’t know about it…now we hear that his sidekick Ohlson didn’t know about it. In fact Ohlson admitted that he didn’t read the case files unless there was something on the front page that interested him. What sort of idiots are we dealing with here?

I would have thought that a file that had a front page stating that thousands of weapons had found their way to Mexico as a result of a crappy plan by ATF would have been something he found of interest? Wouldn’t you?

If it was me, I would have been all over this thing…but I guess he was way more interested in something else than he was in DOING HIS JOB! I wonder if a search of his computer usage would show anything of interest? Maybe a subscription to the Latin issue of GunsRUS? Or maybe the Mission Impossible tapes with Obama instructing him “if he chooses to take the mission”?

I don’t know what I find most offensive. The fact that a program was launched with insufficient safeguards to prevent the operation going awry, or that the heads of the DoJ, by their own admission, did not know about either the operation or that it had gone horribly wrong.

These jerks in DoJ have to go.

….and finally I get to my favorite piece of stupidity….the Super committee concocted in the feverish brain of an incompetent President and then thrust upon the unsuspecting American people in a display of arrogance not before seen.

Let’s recap here for a minute.

Obama wanted to increase the debt limit to avoid a government shutdown and stop grandma from getting her social security.

The Republicans did not want to increase the debt limit without a significant reduction in spending.

Obama wanted to reduce the deficit by increasing taxes. The Republican controlled House said “NO”…there has to be a reduction in spending. The Senate gets involved and says that you can’t cut spending without increasing revenue…in fact Harry Reid ran around trying to convince everyone that an increase in taxation WAS a reduction in spending!

Huh????

So the Liar –in-Chief thinks through the political ramifications and comes up with some sheer brilliance. Why not just kick the problem down the road? How can he do this…by tasking a bipartisan super committee to come up with at least $1.2 trillion dollars of savings – with the results of their recommendations to be available by end November.

Of course, he knew THAT wouldn’t work…there were two problems…

-        Nobody wanted to make the decisions as to where to cut

-        There were no incentives for the super committee to achieve any more success than Congress had done

I have to admit that Obama’s solution was brilliant. Let’s incentivize their action by stating that if they could not come to agreement, there would be automatic cuts of $1.2 trillion (over ten years) and those cuts would be from the military budget and some entitlements.

This was brilliant.

You see, the super committee did not want that job. They did not want to make those hard decisions. Neither sides of the political aisle wanted to be seen as intransigent or obstructive yet they did not want to let their constituents down.

And Obama made it possible for all to enjoy the benefits of being on the super committee with none of the downfalls of actually achieving anything.

Obama could then continue his attacks on the Republicans with terms of endearment such as obstructionists, putting the party in front of the people and so forth. He could study real hard and throw out intransigents, and millionaires and billionaires, and create class warfare without having it come back and bite him in the ass because he was disparaging the very folks he needed to pass his agenda.

Nope. He knew from day one that there would be absolutely no chance for agreement in the Super Committee…he planned for it to be that way!

So, when we hear noises coming from the super committee that they may still be able to reach an agreement, we should take that with a grain of salt. The reality is that when the super committee fails to reach agreement, the pre-ordained by Obama cuts will take effect.

A trillion dollars from defense and a couple hundred billion from entitlements.

Let me see…is it possible to cut $100 billion annually from defense? Sure it is when we pull out of Iraq….that is budgeted money that was never going to be spent anyway, but because it was spent last financial year it is budgeted to be spent this financial year as well. Cut that (code for removing troops from Middle East as already planned)…and voilla…instant savings.

The whole super committee is a joke. The whole plan to reduce spending by $120 billion a year for the next ten years is a joke. The Republicans who accept this crap are a joke.

It is time for some real spending cuts.

If the deficit budget is $1.4 trillion this year…then we should immediately cut spending by $1.4 trillion to stop debt increasing.

We can then look at further reductions and use the excess to pay down sovereign debt.

THAT would be spending cuts in my book.

Forget the super committee, forget the games of Obama and his accounting challenged advisors….forget the redistribution of wealth pleas. Just start cutting spending. Start with disbanding the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. Every person who was employed by these departments can all go onto unemployment for 3 years and the Country will still be better off. Don’t believe me…read my post that explains the economies of government jobs at http://devereauxdailydose.blogspot.com/2011/09/economy-needs-jobs.html .

I know it is not going to happen. I know that it is highly unlikely that even a conservative President will disband these wasteful organizations…for they too must rely on the receivers of their largesse for the votes to regain their office.

Until this country starts understanding that the road to prosperity lies in the difficulties of hard work, politicians will continue to give away the farm to buy votes. The only difference is in how fast the farm is broken up.

Stupid is as stupid says.

…..devereaux