By the way, aren’t there any liberals who are embarrassed by the fact that their single biggest benefactor, George Soros, not only doesn’t pay his fair share of taxes, but made his billions the old-fashioned way -- through the tawdry practice of currency manipulation? Instead of using his ill-gotten gains to promote his left-wing agenda, I keep wishing Soros would simply buy an island where he could build a palace, plunk a crown on his fat head and make all his subjects call him King George.
Most people have an odd relationship with money. For one thing, they seem to take it personally when an athlete makes, say, $20 million-a-year. They carry on as if it’s coming out of their pocket. I mean, would you all feel better if the Steinbrenners kept all their moolah to themselves instead of paying it to Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez? It reminds me of when people used to carry on as if they’d been mugged when it came to the costs of the space program. I used to point out that NASA wasn’t taking that money, sticking it in a space capsule and shooting it to the moon. The money stayed right here on earth and went to buy materials and pay salaries.
On the other hand, even I know there’s a time to flaunt it and a time to keep a low profile. A while back, a lot of noses were out of joint because three fat cats flew from Detroit to Washington, D.C., on private jets in order to beg for money. Not only was it unseemly, but they blew a golden opportunity to garner decent publicity. Did nobody in the PR departments at Ford, Chrysler and G.M., even consider having the CEOs form a convoy and drive their company’s cars 520 miles to the nation’s capitol? While I am aware that, after having been severely scolded, the three stooges left their jets at home the second time they went begging, that only made them look like wimpy snobs.
Still, when AIG, after getting bailed out by the American taxpayer, hands out bonuses to its executives, and when the world’s leaders gather for dinner at the White House and toast each other during a financial meltdown with wine costing $500-a-bottle, you can’t help wondering if Paris Hilton or perhaps Lindsay Lohan is handling everyone’s PR these days.
It’s no secret that I am not looking forward to an Obama administration. The notion that the liberals will control the House, the Senate and the Oval Office, for the foreseeable future makes my blood run cold. The mental image that first comes to mind is a bull in a china shop, but the ensuing damage in that case would be inadvertent. The bull, after all, isn’t looking to destroy the crockery. It is merely looking for the quickest way back to the farm and the cows, whereas the liberals are looking to create an America in their own cockeyed image. That makes me think of vandals taking knives to the Mona Lisa or firebugs burning down a virgin forest.
Many people are questioning why Obama, the alleged agent of change, is filling his administration with a lot of Clinton re-treads. I am reminded of what took place in Germany after World War II. Suddenly, it seemed like all the mayors and bureaucrats were former Nazis. The explanation was that after a dozen years of Hitler, only the Nazis had the necessary leadership experience. Well, when you realize that since 1980, the only Democratic president was Bill Clinton, it figures that Obama would be forced to furnish his White House with second-hand goods from the Clinton thrift shop.
With that said, I have found one reason, other than not having to hear John McCain begin every other sentence with “My friends,” for cheering Obama’s election. As of this moment, he has removed Rahm Emanuel from the House, Bill Richardson and Janet Napolitano from their governors’ mansions, and Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton from the U.S. Senate. Now if he can only find new jobs for Barbara Boxer, Robert Byrd, Charles Rangel, Maxine Waters, Dick Durbin, Barney Frank, John Murtha and Charles Schumer, heck, even I might vote for him in 2012!