Random Thoughts

Just when you thought our politicians in Washington, D.C. were of no value, here’s a game I invented that you can play at home. The premise of the game is that all politicians’ names are actually acronyms. So first, write the names of our political leaders on slips of paper and throw them into a hat. Then, draw a single name from the hat and show it to all the players. You each have 15 seconds per letter to create an explanation for the acronym. For example:

OBAMA (1.25 min): Ordinary Background … Absent Much Achievement

PELOSI (1.50 min): Poorly Equipped Leader Of Socialist Idiots

REID (1.00 min): Really Egotistical Incumbent Democrat

BOEHNER (1.75 min): Better Off Eating Hotdogs … Not Educating Republicans

CANTOR: (1.50 min): Constantly Against Neutering The Other Republicans

LIEBERMAN (2.5 min): Likeable Independent Even Before Ever Running Mostly As Neutral

See how it works with either party? Try a few at home.

Then, vote for whose explanation best describes the politician. That’s what I call a lesson in democracy. If no one gets a two-thirds majority, you can either work to reach a compromise or filibuster to your heart’s desire.

The winner of each round receives $5 billion in stimulus money for each letter of the name they explained. The game isn’t over until $1 trillion dollars has been distributed. You won’t believe how long it will take you to complete the game.

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Speaking of the Poorly Equipped Leader of Socialist Idiots … oh, I’m sorry, I meant to say Nancy Pelosi … do you remember her pledge on October 5, 2006? She promised that if the American people would give the Democratic Party legislative majorities in Congress, the Democrats will, "turn the most closed and corrupt Congress into the most open and honest Congress.” Based upon what I’ve seen since the American people kept their end of the bargain, the Democratic Party is still trying hard to establish “the most closed and corrupt Congress;” witness all the backroom dealings surrounding healthcare reform this past year. The good Speaker went on to say, “The only way you can make the change that needs to be made for our country - a new direction where we're there for the many and not the few - is to drain the swamp." Since we followed her lead back in 2006, I think the least we can do is to “drain the swamp” for her in November. Massachusetts has already bailed the first bucket. Now, that’s what I call “Change We Can Believe In.”

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Nancy also led an impressive delegation from the United States to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The Speaker approved twenty other Congressmen (15 Democrats and 6 Republicans total) and 38 staff members to attend with her. I’m not sure why Congressmen need two staffers each to accompany them on a trip of this nature, but former Senator and Presidential candidate John Edwards assures me that it is standard procedure. Apparently, it has something to do with having one to hold the camera.

When you add the Senators and their staff that chose to attend, you pass the 100 mark. That doesn’t include spouses and family members who took advantage of the “free” trip as well. Initial estimates indicate that the “free” trip only cost taxpayers $1.1 million … not including the cost of President Obama and his entourage, who also visited the event.

Perhaps, the 100+ people in the delegation are the individuals the President was admonishing in his State of the Union speech when he said, “I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change.” I mean, why else would all these people travel to Copenhagen for a Climate Change Conference other than to be educated on the issue. They certainly didn’t contribute in any meaningful way. The Conference itself has been described as a “disappointing failure.”

Clearly, most of these people must disagree with the premise that climate change is an issue. After all, it took three U.S. military jets, two 737s and Speaker Pelosi’s Gulfstream V to transport the bulk of the delegation to the Conference, while 59 individuals flew commercial. The President’s attendance means that Air Force One, a spare, identical plane and several cargo planes also made the trip. That means our delegation created a carbon footprint that would make Sasquatch feel inadequate.

Didn’t these people know that Al Gore had already spoken at the event during its first few days? Do we really need anything beyond the prognostications of the “Father of the Internet?” My goodness, he’s even got an Oscar! If that isn’t “overwhelming scientific evidence,” I don’t know what is. Big Al told the world that, “These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr. Maslowski that there is a 75 per cent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years.” Unfortunately, this apparently came as a surprise to Dr. Maslowski. On the bright side, maybe there’s another movie in this … perhaps a comedy!

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On May 25, 1961, I remember hearing President Kennedy say, “First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” I also remember the disbelief with which that comment was met. At the time, I did not realize that the speech was unusual in that it was a mid-year State of the Union address; but Kennedy thought that the mission was of sufficient importance for a rare break from tradition.

Earlier in his speech, he recognized the magnitude of the challenge: “I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the facts of the matter are that we have never made the national decisions or marshaled the national resources required for such leadership. We have never specified long-range goals on an urgent time schedule, or managed our resources and our time so as to insure their fulfillment.” Yet, he pulled Congressional leadership together to pursue the objective; not by upbraiding the opposition … but by moving all members toward a common goal.

On July 20, 1969, President Kennedy’s prediction became a reality when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon. I had the pleasure of meeting Neil Armstrong in 1971 when he joined the University of Cincinnati’s Aerospace Engineering faculty. He was quite an unassuming man for one who had traveled so far to ignite the excitement of a nation. I still remember how everyone was transfixed while watching that “one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”

I wonder if President Kennedy ever could have imagined that a young man, born just days after his inspiring speech, would someday become the 44th President of the United States … only to terminate the space program as we know it.

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Healthcare Reform pales by comparison to the technological challenge associated with landing someone on the moon when it was first proposed in 1961. One has to wonder how easy it would have been to pass good Healthcare Reform had it been the focus of an Administration that stimulated intellectual agreement and apolitical cooperation. Common sense tells us … it wouldn’t have taken very long.

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© 2010 by Dr. T.J. O’Hara. To support viral distribution, this article may be copied, reprinted, forwarded, linked, or published in any form as long as proper attribution is given to the author and no changes are made.