Obamatrons, Find Comfort in George Michael

Oil spill threatens Obama’s effort to restore trust in government

Chicks dig it when I author poetry on their thighs.

The one-time sexual icon of my childhood (he didn’t always like dudes…right?) said we gotta’ have faith.  Should we always take the Father Figure literally though?  Lefty columnist Greg Sargent hopes so.  He explains how Barry can renew his followers’ faith in his ability to competently perform tasks beyond simply finding his keys.

As many commentators have noted, the Gulf oil spill may pose a serious threat to one of the most important aspects of Obama’s presidency: his effort to restore public confidence in government as competent, as a trustworthy agent of genuine and lasting reform.

Well that was a mouthful.  The Washington Post released a poll today that reveals a few things: 1.  polls are dumb.  2.  People hate BP and want the government to fire-bomb it.   3.  People find the federal government to be incompetent in completing any task other than fire-bombing BP.  In other words, the poll was about as useful in providing previously unknown perspectives as one asking whether I like butter.  But I digress…

The poll finds that more people support the Democratic vision of government than the Republican one. Asked which party has “better ideas about the right size and role of the federal government,” 45 percent of respondents picked the Democratic Party, versus 40 percent who picked the GOP.

I haven’t seen the actual poll, but if the only question asked about the respective parties’ “vision of government” is the question set forth in the second sentence of the foregoing paragraph, color me unconvinced.

But the actual performance of the federal government gets dismal ratings. Only 28 percent of respondents approve of the government’s handling of the spill, versus 69 percent who disapprove. And it gets worse: Only 27 percent trust the government to make the right decisions about the spill, barely more than the 20 percent who trust BP to do the same!

I’m shocked, SHOCKED to learn that an overwhelming majority of the American people find the Federal response to a disaster to be generally crappy.

So what does the public want? For the federal government to bring its boot down on BP’s neck. An astonishing 64 percent say it should bring criminal charges against the company, and 51 percent strongly favor this.

Yep, the American people hate BP too.  As an aside, it always amazes me when I read things like this.  Over two-thirds of the American people want criminal charges brought?  Isn’t that a little premature?  Newsflash to that two-thirds: it’s not the scope of the disaster that determines criminal charges; it’s the intent of the actors.

So why is this poll worthy of mention in a national newspaper?  Because it gives Mr. Sargent the opportunity to offer H.O.P.E. to his president and the Obamatrons.

And, fortunately, there still remains decisive action Obama can take: aggressively tackle the larger underlying problem by getting serious about taking on entrenched interests and rallying for real and lasting energy reform. That would do far more to dispel the “Obama’s Katrina” meme than cursing on TV will. It’s not too late.

“Obama’s Katrina” is not so much a “meme” as it is sweet sweet karma.  The Dems rode Bush so hard after Katrina that Kanye decided he hated black people.  Now Obamarama gets to enjoy some similar criticism.  In fact, I’m going to start selling t-shirts that read “Barry hates sea turtles!”