Wednesday, March 23, 2011

ARTICLES OF THE YEAR? Obama in Exile: Obama, The Accidental President



OBAMA IN EXILE

For centuries exile has been the most popular strategy for kings and dictators to escape hanging, whether it be Charles II, his brother James II, Idi Amin, Ferdinand Marcos or the Shah of Iran. Exile also has been a preferred choice for those seeking political asylum from persecution such as Albert Einstein and Bertolt Brecht fleeing the Nazis, or Salman Rushdie finding safe haven from the Ayatollah's fatwa death sentence.

No US president has ever been exiled. For high crimes and misdemeanors impeachment is our cure. For lesser sins, a second term denied is punishment enough. Until Barack Obama came along, a president imposing one's own exile would have been unthinkable READ MORE...




OBAMA, THE ACCIDENTAL PRESIDENT

The world is going to hell in a hand basket; Japan, ravaged by an earthquake and a tsunami of biblical proportions, is teetering on the brink of yet another, nuclear, disaster; the Middle East is aflame; the national debt is skyrocketing while Congressional Democrats and Republicans are mud-wrestling over the budget; gas prices are inexorably climbing to the psychologically devastating $4/gallon level -- and meanwhile what is the U.S. President doing?

Amid all the turmoil, he discusses an apparently world historical issue of school bullying; honors the 2009-10 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks; delivers a radio address on another all-important subject, "Women's History Month;" attends a fund-raiser; goes golfing (that darned weather: it was just too nice for the President to resist the temptation of hitting the links -- for the 61st time in his two plus years in office); yuks it up with the Washington press corps (pronounced "k-o-r", not "k-o-r-p-s," try to remember this, Mr. President) at the annual Gridiron Dinner. And to top it all off, the crowning event in Barack Obama's busy schedule -- drum roll, please! -- videotaping his NCAA tournament bracket picks. (Think about it: Obama discusses basketball with authority, which means that he must be spending a lot of time watching the games and listening to sports commentators. Exactly what he was elected for, wasn't he?) While Rome burned, Nero fiddled. While the world burns, Obama ponders the outcome of a college basketball tournament. READ MORE...

No comments:

Post a Comment