Romney is competitive–he likes to win. Obama is egotistical–he likes to be admired. That’s why when these two go at it, Romney has a lightness about him–to him it’s a game. Obama on the other hand is pissed–to him it’s personal.
This was obvious from the first minutes of the first debate. Obama seemed to seethe at Romney. Not only that, but Obama actually seemed kind of depressed and has ever since. I think part of why he hates Romney and seems so put out by debating him is that Romney and this whole tough campaign have triggered an identity crisis in Obama.
This is the sink or swim moment Obama never had. I’ve had my own, so I recognize the signs. It happened to me when I had to learn the difference between school and work. I was always lucky enough to get standardized test scores that would make a tiger mom weep, but when I finally got to the big leagues–my rude awakening being a summer internship at a bulge bracket investment bank’s mergers and acquisitions group–it became clear to me that coasting through multiple choice questions while the clock panicked my peers was not enough to succeed in the real world. Hard work, knowledge, skills, experience and instincts were giving my co-workers advantages over me and I was getting a run for my money. I caught on pretty quickly that I had to change my game, but the experience was intense and painful.
I see reflections of this same kind of pain washing over Obama’s face every time he’s in a room with Romney. I’m not suggesting that Obama coasted through life on his ability to take standardized tests–he has never given me reason to believe he was as brainy as the media made him out to be. No, I believe Obama’s advantage was more akin to George W. Bush’s: connections that gave him both position and protection. Obama’s stepfather was a liaison between the Indonesian government and big oil, Obama’s mother worked for Tim Geithner’s father at the Ford Foundation in Indonesia, and Obama himself went to an elite private high school in Hawaii, just to name a few.Â
Monica
Recap of the Debates to Date – SNL Style!
The final Presidential Debate will be on Monday, October 22, 9PM ET, but these SNL skits are always better than the real things…. The Second Presidential Debate [hulu id=sbr9xslglddiy0u7-vhcpq width=512] The Vice Presidential Debate [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-eKugrkYOc] The First Presidential Debate [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO2JVacQdMY] And the best debate spoof ever – not from the general election but from the … Read more
America's Talent Deficit: A Free Market Solution
The plight of the anti-austerity crowd in the PIIGS countries often loses my sympathy when I notice that the most vociferous and violent protestors seem to be students against cuts in university subsidies. If there is one “entitlement” that has no moral basis whatsoever, in my opinion, it is this one, yet these free-riding students are the most self-righteous. I pity many of the people who are dependent on the bankrupt systems they grew up in, sometimes through no fault of their own. These include it’s-too-late-to-start-over Social Security dupes, already-sick Medicare recipients and I-paid-into-Unemployment-for-years dolees.Â
Professional students, however, are not on my sympathy list. I have come to believe that higher education is not really serving the social purpose these angry, marching students seem to base their sense of righteousness on. That is, higher education is not simply the great equalizer, the path on which the have-nots can learn the secrets of the haves and enter their ranks based not on birth but on merit. Today’s higher education is not intended simply to illuminate the minds of the children of the ignorati with crucial facts, critical thinking and the art of argument–doing that really would give the ruling classes a run for their money!Â
Romney & Obama Slay 'Em at The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner
These two videos are packed with laughs from last night’s Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation fundraiser traditionally attended by both presidential candidates. The two candidates are roasting each other hard – it’s hilarious! Note. Alfred Emanuel “Al” Smith was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times and was … Read more
All Hail Bloomberg!
Check out this video of Mayor Bloomberg speaking to Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN just after his recent ban on large sodas was approved by the Board of Health in New York City. In the clip, Bloomberg does a better job than any libertarian ever could of demonstrating how centralized economic plannning per force results in the violation of personal liberty. For all “left-leaning libertarians,” please take this as an opportunity to observe how government provided economic services cannot coexist with personal liberty. Specifically, Bloomberg’s argument demonstrates that the primary danger of Obamacare is not how it will impair the quality and availability of healthcare itself (though that is inevitable and a valid fear) but the primary danger is that Obamacare will be used as a justification for total control over what should be personal choices.
In the video, Bloomberg rightly points out that the cigarette ban was widely criticized when it came to pass but now that us frogs have been boiling for awhile we don’t even feel the heat. He goes on to claim
Recommended Reading: With God in Russia & Other Stories of Survival
I am a big fan of well-written survival stories and I have read a few great ones. Here is a list of my favorites: Stories of Survival. I wish to feature, however, the one I read most recently: With God in Russia, by Father Walter Ciszek, S.J.
This is the story of a Jesuit priest who went to Poland and ultimately went undercover as an ordinary peasant to minister to Poles behind Russian lines during World War II. Upon being discovered as a priest by the Russians, he was charged with subversion and imprisoned for 23 years until his release through exchange for two Russian prisoners in 1963.
The story is so humbly and straightforwardly written that it takes awhile to realize how greatly Fr. Ciszek is suffering through all of this. For his dedication to the service of God and his defense of the Faith, Fr. Ciszek is up for sainthood. He has many devotees, including my mother, who pray for his canonization regularly–there are whole societies dedicated to him, and I can understand why.
I won’t go through all of the many hardships Fr. Ciszek endured, but I will relate how his story stays with me and why I think of him often.Â
Ron Paul on Jay Leno September 4, 2012
Would it be disrespectful of me to say that Ron Paul gets more adorable all the time? I’m beginning to agree with my 83-year-old mother who says, “That Ron Paul – He’s a cutie!” [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr4R_Q6aDbQ] And speaking of cute, I found this video of a backstage interview after Ron Paul’s Leno appearance in December. Enjoy… … Read more
Good News & Bad News
The bad news is I am once again getting preempted by football; the good news is, I’ve got a podcast for ya. Of course the best part of the show for me is the calls, but this’ll have to do for now. For future shows during football season, check back here for the schedule or … Read more
Please Don’t Feed Me Neo-Con and Tell Me That It’s Liberty (Part 3)
This post is the third in a three post series. Click for part one and part two.
Though the press has made much of the notion that Paul Ryan is a “conservative of the libertarian kind,” I actually believe just the opposite. Within the Republican Party there are two competing ideologies: traditional conservatism emphasizing fiscal temperance and constrained government on the one side, and neo-conservatism with an emphasis on social legislation and foreign influence on the other. I believe not only that Paul Ryan is firmly in the camp of the neo-conservatives, but also that he is the pivotal figure in the neo-conservative metapmorphosis of the Republican Party. In my view, the selection of Paul Ryan as Romney’s running mate is an indication that the neo-conservatives believe that their transformation of the Republican Party is assured and they are ready to challenge the Democrats on their own turf: Establishing, Embracing and Controlling Big Government.
The real tell that this is the moment the neo-conservatives have been building toward can be seen by comparing