9.19.10: General Colin Powell/ President Bill Clinton

Mr. Gregory uttered the phrase, "ride the tiger," with regard to established Republican politicians attaching themselves to the Tea Party movement. For certain, Tea Party candidates are collectively ferocious, but we all know the end result of being on the back of a tiger too long - bitten and mauled.

The declarative statement that was today's Meet The Press will hopefully become a news-site endless clip reel. General Powell put it directly to the Tea Party movement, "you have to have an agenda, not just slogans." However, he does feel that this movement is healthy for the country because they have tapped into an anxiety about debt, spending, and taxes, he explained. He went further and opined that it would be good for the President if one of the houses were under control of Republicans. This way, Republicans would be forced to govern and make the hard choices.

However, if Tea Party Republicans have not given any indication that they can make these hard choices, becoming too wrapped up in their own bluster of rhetoric. In theory, the General is probably correct, but his theoretical Republican Party is vastly different than the one vying for control of Congress.

Colin Powell is a voice of reason and an essential leader for America. His position on immigration, outlining the Dream Act [an undocumented/illegal resident can work his/her way to citizenship through going to college or into the military] is sensible and realistic given his arguument with regard to the eligible working-age population, but his position undoubtedly disqualifies him from today's Republican party, they simply don't want to tolerate such a moderate voice. General Powell in fact described himself as a moderate Republican, but is there such a thing anymore. The ones who view themselves like that are not shunned from the overall political discourse, just from the party machinery. That's now run by Senator Jim DeMint from South Carolina. Regardless of whether you agree with all or some of his positions, he conducts himself and his discourse in a manner of which people should listen. This above statement does in no way let us forget General Powell's sad performance in front of the U.N. Assembly making the case for Iraq's weapons program, but in a country that facilitates, encourages redemption for so many of the wrong people, perhaps the redemption of Colin Powell is coming. Especially since his strategic position with regard to Iran is most responsible one we've heard from any politician right now. Use steep sanctions if Iran doesn't comply with international inspections of their nuclear facilities, get Russia and China involved, and use diplomacy. Very sound, but again, where was this exact strategy when the conversation was about Iraq?

What we really appreciated most was the following:

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He pretty much sums it up right at the end there, it's the base from which the international community should work.

As for the second half interview with President Bill Clinton on this notably episode, we must first say that now we know who is rebuilding Haiti. Bill Clinton is rebuilding Haiti. In just the few minutes in which he spoke about the rebuilding, you just know that it doesn't happen without his effort to bring forth donors to meet with the Haitian government to see it through. His detailed description of the realities on the ground briefly exhausted David Gregory and he has to move on.

We didn't particularly like the fact that President Clinton laughed off the incendiary comments of Former Speaker Newt Gingrich ['anti-colonial, kenyan mentality,' et al]. It is comments such as those that General Powell implored against in the front half of the program. And it is this coded rhetoric that fuel a movement, of which both guests questioned specifics of its agenda.

We wish the Obama Administration would take some lessons from the former President on how to frame their ideas and accomplishments. It's the one thing that Bill Clinton does better than any politician. He has the ability to take distill a topic so that the everyday American can understand how it would effect him.

The obvious example from today's interview is the subject of healthcare. Within this, the President outlined out in 2009, insurance company profits were up 26% and that our government pays one trillion dollars more per year on healthcare than any other country. How does this relate to the ordinary citizen? Under the new healthcare bill, 85% of a person's premium payments will not go to actual care instead of most to the industry's buracracy and profit margins from dropping coverage. And when he said that there were some things to fix in the healthcare bill, that was his code for saying that the amendments/concessions that the Democrats let slide need to be repaired.

Today's program has lead us, actually reminds us of this axiom: In the United States, there are too many politicians and a dearth of statesmen.

9.12.10: Speaking of Quotes

We've probably referenced this quote some time in the past before, but we haven't heard anything more concise than Lewis Black's. "The difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans suck and Democrats blow."

And it is the latter that we more concerned with today because really, Democrats hold all the cards. They're just not playing them well. How lame is it that Democrats pass historic healthcare reform and none of them campaign on it, but David Axelrod, today's first guest, stated concise bullet points as to why they should and they still won't do it. In the roundtable discussion, Ron Brownstein said that there is a disconnect between performance and results for the Democrats, but additionally it's not seeming to have confidence in their convictions. We not talking about President Obama and his administration, we're talking about Congress people.

1. Seniors paying less for prescription drugs
2. Not being denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition
3. Not being dropped by your insurance company if you get sick

Those three right there are more than enough to win people over. Explain to people that they have more control over their healthcare than an insurance company.

The explanations have not been clearly put forward by the two most important messengers after the President and those are Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Leader Harry Reid. This is another much longer conversation but as readers of this column you should have a good concept of why we're making that statement.

Mr. Axelrod issued a warning today that with Republicans in power, they will repeat the policies that put the country in the financial hole we're still in now. When Mr. Gregory asked him about a timeframe for when people would see the results of the policies they've put in place, he skirted around it... wisely and we rarely condone a non-aswer. In this case, if Mr. Axelrod said any number, the clip would be everywhere and if it were not to come to fruition it would obviously become a shot in ones own foot. Additionally, Mr. Axelrod, as well as everyone else, knows that we can not afford to extend the tax cuts for the top 2%, and we do not expect the Administration to flinch on their position, Congress on the other hand, again, we're not so sure. Conversely, and sadly, we find out today courtesy of The New York Times that more and more families are moving into homeless shelters.

Also noteworthy is that Mr. Axelrod was looking much thinner today. His suit and shirt were too big. Other Democrats [read: Congress] could really stand to lose some weight and sweat it out legislating and talking to the people... and do it on television... make that news.

Speaking of quotes, Vice President Joe Biden said it best simplifying Mayor Giuliani to "Noun, verb, and 9/11." The former Mayor is a cartoon character at this point, you can not trust what he says anymore it seems. Not to mention that we find it a bit of a shame that with every anniversary of this tragedy, it's necessary to have Mr. Giuliani's perspective every time... as if only seeing that event through his prism. Lastly, Author Reza Azlan, at the top of the roundtable made a good point that anti-muslim sentiment is becoming mainstream due to people, like Mr. Giuliani painting all muslims, moderate and radical alike, with the same brush. It is bigotry, as Mr. Azlan put forthworth, but what he didn't qualify is the case of Mr. Giuliani is that it is now at an unconcious level.

9.5.10: Pavlov and The Republicans

If you think our cultural climate has been grossly, politically charged this year so far, get ready because after this Labor Day weekend, the pols are going to be strapping on the battery booster packs for the run up to Nov. 2nd, and let's face it, President Obama is getting hammered from every side and the key overarching questions for today's program were, Is the President an asset or liability for Democrats leading up to that date and is what his administration doing right for this country. With regard to the latter, for the Republicans the answer will always be no so we have to try and give some perspective.

Every Republican politician you see on television these days has to practically stop him/herself from salivating on camera when discussing the November midterms. Collectively, they are supremely confident that they will take control and the Congress. The mainstream Republicans are embracing the Tea Party Republicans to capture that majority and according to every pundit, it is a certainty. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), today's first guest, was no exception in his confidence.

The Senator's tactical logic for both topics of discussion, Iraq and the economy, was that it didn't matter at this point what initial actions were responsible for the state of both, but now that we're here, it is President Obama that bares the burden of history for both.

We, at The Opinion, are not at all excited by this Administration's messaging since the election, where they had done so well with communication, and in the town of spin the Administration is dizzy and confused. They are unable to make people understand the chain of events and they aren't being honest about timing.

Usually, any Administration's policy choices are felt by the people years down the line, and when we say years we mean if something is passed in the months after a President's first term, you will not see the effect until perhaps half way through his second term. Maybe even after he's out of office. This is the exact dynamic you had with the Bush Administration, but he was no exception and neither willl be Obama. The point is, that the United States is a huge ship that takes years to turn just 90 degrees (forget about 180 degrees), and people simply don't have the patience to wait for the full turn.

So when Lindsey Graham says on today's Meet The Press, that right now the government taxes and spends too much you have to wonder about his judgement. By extending the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% of Americans, in terms of wealth, as he advocated today, the debit will rise even more, hence we're spending more money we don't have.

With regard to the Healthcare Bill, he saying that we headed for government run healthcare and the we should replace the just-passed bill with something the puts control into the private sector. This is just another way of saying that the insurance companies should continue to dictate the terms of coverage. The result: everyone's premiums will continue to climb and the government will continue to put even more money adding, again, to the debt and spending more money we don't have. He also said that the Democrats used every parliamentary trick to pass the bill, which is simply political posturing and not true. The bill ended up being compromised to the point where the base of the Democratic Party was dissatisfied, and no Republican was voting for it any way.

MSNBC's Erin Burnett, pointed out twice (during the today's roundtable) that from her reporting and researching she has found that the recovery from this particular recession is the fastest of any in the past 25 years, hence turning the ship faster than normal.

The Washington Post's E.J. Dionne advised to pick a fight over the Bush tax cuts but that could be a losing proposition because tax cuts are an easy sell, the wrong thing to do, but an easy sell. Additionally, when asked if the President was an asset or a liability, he said 'both.' Well, if the President can get his message across to the people, you'll definitely see a vote of no confidence.