We all know (or should know) that to be a successful president in America one has to be “presidential.”  And, who determines what “presidential” is?  Well, as far as I can tell, it’s the media.  Now, we could have a discussion all day long as to whether or not our “liberal media” is really liberal, but the reality for President Obama is that perception becomes reality.  This is where the republicans are “light years” ahead of the democrats – and, if they (the democrats) don’t wake up soon, we’re all going to find ourselves in a mess far worse than the one we’re dealing with today – and, I’m not necessarily talking about the BP oil spill here.

I have tried to point out many times how the “right wing” instituted a plan, by my best calculations during the Reagan years – but, possibly prior to then, for a “permanent republican majority.”  Karl Rove, in all his arrogance, went public with this plan during the miserable years of the Bush/Cheney administration.  In fact, the Bush/Cheney administration should have been enough to put an end to such a diabolical plan forever, except for one part of the plan which most people won’t be talking about – and there’s a good reason they won’t.  Our “liberal media” – which is controlled by the likes of GE (not your liberal bastion), Fox (need I say more), Disney (if you don’t think they are tilted STRONGLY to the right – look up a bit of political history on Walt Disney), and a very few others who ALL depend on the corporate “advertising” dollars which often times leave me scratching my head – won’t bring it up.  As a quick example, take BP’s advertising that they are an environmentally “friendly” company.  On one ad after another I end up wondering what on earth are they trying to sell me?  Then it sinks in – NOTHING!  They are providing DOLLARS for the very media outlets which they need “on their side” during “times like these.”  Still not sure what I’m talking about?  Well, if a “news” network becomes dependent on the advertising dollars of  a company like BP, are they going to REALLY do “investigative” reporting on a spill like the “Deepwater Horizon” GUSHER?  You’ve heard the saying I’m sure, “don’t cut off the hand that feeds you.”  It’s like the government collecting taxes on the sale of cigarettes and alcohol.  They depend on the revenue so they have to make it look like they’re encouraging people to stop smoking and drinking, but they really need that MONEY!  It’s the same with the broadcasting outlets.  They depend on the advertising of the corporations who are buying “protection” from intrusive reporters telling the rest of us what is actually going on “out there.”

I really do understand that I sometimes am very awkward in making my point (I guess that’s why I’m still a school teacher and not a journalist).  However, the point here is that our “liberal media” is not liberal at all!  And, our democratic (and democratically elected) president is on the wrong side of the “fence” as far as the media is concerned.  Yes, I realize the “right” wing pundits keep cramming the thought into our collective minds that President Obama is getting a “pass” from the “liberal media,” but when you take a closer look at things that doesn’t appear to be the case.  For example, as far as I can tell, this “tea party” movement who portray our president in very insulting ways, is the result of all facits of the media giving them credibility when they have deserved virtually none (led, of course, by Fox).  I mean, why all the attention when less than a thousand people showed up at their “national convention.”  There’s Elks club meetings I can remember going to with my father with more people attending than that!  The common theme among these “tea partiers” is “we want our country back” – and, as I’ve said many times here – back from what?

These people don’t deserve page eighteen let alone page one of any responsible news outlet – but, our “liberal media” seems to have pushed them right up to the front of the national political debate.  I haven’t heard much outrage either that their “darling” candidate for the Senate from the great state of Kentucky, Rand Paul, is in favor of repealing parts of the civil rights act of 1964, or that his response to the deep horizon “gusher” was “accidents happen.”  (and, of course, this deepwater horizon DISASTER hasn’t slowed down Sarah Palin’s cries of “drill baby drill” hardly at all)  As I see it, the only way people like this and the other fringe candidates the republicans will be “throwing” at us en masse this coming November might win, would be if the press looks the other way (as Obama did with Bush/Cheney – I have to “throw” that comment in because it bugs me just as much as what our “liberal” media is doing) or if we get the same voting machines we had in 2000.

Getting back to being “presidential” and President Obama, he took office at a time when any reasonable person would have said “NO THANK YOU.”  I mean, the economy was headed for a possible second run at a Great Depression, we were entrenched in two endless occupations that the previous president made as difficult to extract from as possible, we were looking at a TRILLION plus deficit for the forseeable future, and the very government Obama was elected to “head” had been GUTTED by the Bush/Cheney regime who prefer NO GOVERNMENT to even limited government.  Can you imagine what these guys would be up to if there was no government?  They tried to get our social security trust fund (and, trust me, they’re not through trying to get their hands on ALL that money) but had to settle for about HALF of all the invested retirement income Americans had trusted into their care – OK, they (we) trusted it into the care of Wall Street, but they (we) assumed our government was OVERSEEING Wall Street to prevent the banks from stealing our money.  I mean, do you think the TRILLIONS “lost” in 2007 -2009 went up in smoke?  Awe, come on now, SOMEBODY ended up with all of it!  It’s just that us peons will NEVER know who it was.  We’re still depending on our government to PROTECT us from these predators – but, they either seem terrified to do so or they’re the predators!  (Don’t forget, both Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney – just to name a couple of the worst – reaped profits in the HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS from the Iraq fiasco – and Hank Paulsen, the Treasury Secretary who did the TARP bailout of Goldman Sachs et al, was the CEO of Goldman Sachs when they were running amok!)

President Obama is in this very difficult situation.  He’s the calm, reserved, passive type – or that is what it seems – at a time when “we the people” need a LEADER!  We need someone to call “ENOUGH ALREADY” on Wall Street, on the republican party (as it exists today), and on the media conglomerates who are threatening to bring down the very government that has lasted for well over 200 years.  Yes, the BP oil GUSHER is a good place to start for Obama.  But, the bottom line is that the “right” wing is trying to portray him as some kind of WEAK indecisive person who’s overmatched by the job he is holding.  As stated above, I’m not sure ANYONE could handle the job he was given.  But, I’ll try to give him some advice AGAIN!

It’s probably too late to start the investigations of Bush/Cheney – so, we’re likely to have to “file” that MISTAKE as one of the ALL TIME blunders of an American President.  If there’s any way Obama could manage to turn that one around, it could certainly “change” the conversation – but, even I’m thinking it’s too late (makes me sick to say that – worse yet, tonight I watched Eric Holder in Louisiana talking about the deep horizon spill saying “anyone who committed a crime will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law” – where the hell was he when Bush/Cheney were admitting to authorizing WAR CRIMES after leaving office?).  That “off my chest,” the situation with BP opens other opportunities.  Now, I realize that President Obama must be careful here because BP supposedly has the equipment and expertise (that was really hard to write) to at least get the relief well drilled by AUGUST!  So, DRASTIC clean up measures MUST be taken – whether they work or not.  I mean this oil could be in the South Pacific if they don’t get a handle on it soon (boy, can you imagine how angry the BP shareholders must be – a few cheap “fail safe” devices and they’d be reaping profits from a reservoir that conservatively holds 100 MILLION barrels of oil!)  Mr. President, call in every available POSSIBLE mitigating force (aren’t there huge tankers that can syphon the oil right out of the sea?) and FIRE some people in the Mineral Management Service!  FORCE Congress to pass a bill that will allow citizens to hold BP accountable for the damages – ALL OF THEM – from this spill which is the direct result of their negligence.  And, include Halliburton in all of that!

That’s just for starters.  Next, BRING THE TROOPS HOME!  Get us out of Iraq and then Afganistan!  Stop spending 200 BILLION dollars per year in those endless occupations which have NOTHING to offer us except more casualties and more stress to our military.  Make a case to spend the money to keep our long term unemployed from the homeless shelters, a “New” New Deal to create more jobs, and money to the states which will keep teachers, firefighters, policemen, etc. working (Yes, I’m a teacher – but, I’ve been at it long enough that it won’t be me that loses his/her job – sadly, it’s the young, vibrant, energetic teachers fresh out of college who will be taking the brunt of all these layoffs).  Take on the republicans (and your own “blue dog” democrats) regarding Wall Street.  We desperately need Glass Steagall restored.  The more I read about the “meltdown” and these unscrupulous bankers (including those innocuous “credit default swaps”) the more I’m bothered by our government’s seeming inability to “reel” them in.  I’ll have more to say about this soon, but these people are greedy, selfish, and they serve no redeaming value to our economy – they simply MAKE MONEY!  And, that’s about it!  Tax these hedge fund manager’s profits as ordinary income, place a small tax (.0025) on each stock transaction, increase the income tax rate for income in excess of 5 MILLION to 50%, and in general let these people know that they are not in charge of this nation.

There’s many other things I could throw out tonight, but the last one is to reverse the telecommunications act of 1996.  Break up all these media conglomerates.  I can’t think of anything that is more UNHEALTHY for this nation than to have 8 or 9 corporations controlling the vast majority of “news” sources.  Plus, many of the “owners” aren’t even Americans!  Where’s the “tea party” outrage over the FACT that their “sugar daddy” corporation – Fox “news” – is owned by foriegners (including a Saudi prince)?  They’re so damned worried about “immigration” that they have turned their back on one of America’s leading cable TV outlets being owned by foriegners.  That makes ZERO sense to me.  I’d like to see THOUSANDS of smaller broadcasting companies competing in the marketplace than what we have – NOBODY I know trusts the media – at all!  They are supposed to be our FOURTH ESTATE – after the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.  The republicans figured out a plan to take that part of our “system” over 30+ years ago, and it’s been like a STEALTH bomber flying over enemy territory – people have hardly noticed what’s happening.  The end result is that Fox “news” will be doing everything it can in the coming weeks to portray President Obama as “unpresidential” because they are committed to him failing.  The disasters, ALL OF WHICH were the result of Bush/Cheney, are becoming overwhelming – and, the way out of this MESS isn’t by coddling republicans in an attempt to gain “bipartisanship.”  The bipartisan “ship” won’t sail until the republican party is exposed for the greedy, corrupt, mean spirited bunch they are!  The sooner President Obama realizes this, the better his chances of mobilizing America behind the challenges we now face which could either make or break us in the immediate future and the more he looks “presidential.”