It’s that time of the Leap Year again. There are two major five month long contests that dominate public consciousness, Football Season and the General Election. In one we have a media frenzy led by pompous (often brainless) self-important announcers who are often extremely clueless when it comes to the brutal reality experienced by those actually exerting effort in an area rife with danger. The other has touchdowns, field goals, and cheerleaders!
Analogies between the two are going to be very subjective. Contrary opinions when speaking about such generalities are inevitable. That being said I have to state my opinion about the remarkable resemblance between our Commander in Chief and probably the most brilliant and most despised coach in the NFL today-Bill Belichick!
Consider if you would-both have impressive wins in their past. Super Bowl wins are rare even for above average teams. You really need the right combination of players, staff, and luck to achieve these things. Back to back Super Bowl wins are even rarer. Belichick is one of an exclusive club that only has 6 members. And who would have thought that when we heard about the Strip Club sex scandal involving actress Jeri Ryan’s Illinois Senator husband Jack, we would be watching the rise of his replacement (a State Senator at the time) to the Presidency? Or that his administration would succeed where the pompous blowhards who were currently in the White House had failed when it came to exterminating the leader of an organization responsible for the worst terrorist strike this country has ever endured?
Those are impressive accomplishments for both men. No one can legitimately take those away.
But there are also legitimate reasons for despising both men. Forget birth certificate conspiracy theories, dishonest Red-baiting, and Jets fanspeak, there are legitimate reasons to intensely dislike both Barack Obama and Bill Belichick.
Belichick was busted red-handed videotaping his Division rivals, the New York Jets in 2007. He was justly fined $500,000. There were other indications that the practice was more widespread than initially believed. Former Patriots employee Matt Walsh was in talks about revealing more incidents with the NFL. Then Senator Arlen Specter was interested in a congressional hearing on the matter. Belichick was lucky to avoid that hearing.
What followed was a 16-0 season and the Patriots faithful could not have cared less about these matters and just how bad things had gotten in the Patriots’ organization.
Barack Obama was elected with an overwhelming vague mandate of "Hope", "Unity", and "Change". There was also a clear priority to do something about our genocidal privatized Health Care system and breath life into an economy that Alan Greenspan and George W. Bush’s policies had left in shambles due to deregulation.
What we got was a compromised bill to reform the Health Care System (modeled on a program instituted by current Republican candidate Mitt Romney and originally proposed by the beltway elitist think tank Heritage Foundation in the 90’s as a response to Clintoncare) which barely withstood a questionable challenge in the very Right-biased Supreme Court!
We didn’t even bother changing Defense Secretaries. Considering the rampant corruption of Bush and Cheney, and a campaign promise for CHANGE after the worst terrorist attack we’ve ever endured resulted in brazen handouts to Defense Contractors, you’d think we’d put someone that would actually change that policy and get our troops out of there.
We had a program passed by Congress, which would have reduced the principal owed on mortgages by underwater homeowners during a time when it was desperately needed. Our tax money, which had already been allocated by Congress, could have been used to directly stimulate the economy! This money has been needlessly sitting idle. This is the work of Washington elitist bureaucrat, Ed DeMarco, acting director of the FHFA,(http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/31/why-is-ed-demarco-stopping-mortgage-refinancing/) the Federal Housing Finance Agency-overseers of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac.
Now keep in mind, Barack Obama is the President of the United States.
Ed DeMarco is the Acting Director of the FHFA. He supposedly serves at the pleasure of the President. It is well within Obama’s power to fire him. And considering the damage he’s caused to the American people in their time of need, it would be appropriate to not only fire him but televise him cleaning out his desk and have the USMC honor guard turn their backs on him as he exits the building in shame with the National Anthem playing. It’s campaign season. It would make for a good show.
None of this matters to those currently riding around with Obama bumper stickers on their car. Obama was President when Bin Laden was exterminated. He got rid of those evil pre-existing conditions in insurance policies. Although unemployment is still high, and would probably be lower if homeowners got relief if he fired the deadwood at the FHFA, the stock market has rebounded to where it was before the Crash of ’08.
Like the 16-0 2007 Patriots season, there are serious problems in the organization, but it does not matter to the faithful.
And there are issues with despicable people working for both men.
The New England Patriots are not the only team to be busted for taping their opponents. In 2010, Bellichick protégé and current Offensive coordinator for the Patriots, Josh McDaniel was busted for the exact same infraction while head coach of the Denver Broncos. I know that the current case accusing Belichick of massive spying on his opponents is going nowhere. It is a circumstantial case as of this writing. But, I think taking what he (and Patriot defenders) say on the subject at face value is extremely naïve!
Earlier this year, legal medical marijuana clinics in Northern California have been under assault by the same US Justice Department that couldn’t be bothered with prosecuting the massive robosigning frauds perpetrated by the nation’s largest banks. The "War on Drugs" is recognized as a miserable failure by an increasing percentage of the population.
It’s expensive (money spent on enforcement, adjudication, and penalization while at the same time shrinking the potential tax base), it has caused a collapse of civilization along the Mexican border (because it is a policy empowering murderous thugs instead of entrepreneurs), and it is sadistic (treating the serious problem of addiction with property forfeiture and incarceration instead of medical treatment). And the only thing accomplished is keeping police unions and social conservative hypocrites temporarily happy!
With no concern for patients needs or state’s rights, Melinda Haag, U.S. attorney for Northern California, has brutally escalated a Federal crackdown on Medical Marijuana clinics. (http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jul/11/local/la-me-0712-marijuana-oakland-20120712)A buffoonish autocratic crackdown of Oakland’s Oaksterdam University in April, 2012 led to the demonstrations the local police were ill prepared to deal with.
Raped in Oakland and need an officer? Robbed at Gunpoint in April, 2012 in Oakland, CA? Maybe you just need a police presence so a tense situation doesn’t escalate! Tough! Miss Haag has her moral crusade at the U.S taxpayer’s expense to consider. And the already budget starved Oakland Police were completely overwhelmed by the just outrage of the citizenry who protested. What an excellent example of protection and service, Miss Haag!
Oh, and by the way, Barack Obama could fire and replace Melinda Haag with a penstroke. And it would be appropriate for her to exit televised, clearing out her desk as the USMC honor guard turns its back on her while the National Anthem plays. (I know it’s not going to happen, but I can dream!)
There was a brief window of hope for introducing this into the national campaign when Paul Ryan voiced a State’s Rights opinion on the subject. It didn’t last long. He showed the convictions he really has towards the right of States to determine who has access to medical marijuana and caved in immediately. It would take a lot more than a truthful stance on that one issue that to get my vote anyway.
And it’s not like there is any choice on the other side. JaMarcus Romney has come out against medical marijuana and I don’t see him firing Ed DeMarco. When it comes to relief for homeowners underwater (who would then start building equity again) and respecting patients, and state’s rights with medical marijuana- there is no choice on the ballot!
So, Republicans can take comfort in approaching election season with a candidate who is of the equivalent of JaMarcus Russell. Barack is skilled. Bellichick is good. But Barack Belichick can be beat.
After all who lost the last Super Bowl? Not Belichick!
However, the Raiders QB who showed up to play overweight and hung over from purple drank didn’t beat him, by the way! It remains to be seen if the guy who won’t release his tax returns and tried to politicize the murder of an ambassador will beat Barack.
But unfortunately, the same entrenched bureaucratic morons (whom we’ve never voted for) and the policies they goosestep to are going to be present no matter who wins!
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