A whole bunch of things happened last Friday that got my imagination working overtime.
For openers, I had the pleasure of interviewing the alien from Planet Krypton who recently landed on Planet Earth, Dr. Benjamin Carson. The man not only has a brilliant mind, but is incredibly knowledgeable on a wide range of subjects.
He is also fearless when it comes to saying what he believes. As he puts it, if what he has to say doesn’t apply to Barack Obama, he shouldn’t be offended. On the other hand, if the shoe fits, wear it.
On that same day, I read an article on Bloomberg.com about Reince Priebus. I know it sounds like some kind of itchy-scratchy disease, but Reince Priebus is actually the name of the chairman of the RNC. The new face of the Republican establishment told Bloomberg that it’s “very harmful” when Republicans make fun of Barack Obama for going on “The View.”
That’s right, after another embarrassing defeat at the hands of the country’s first Marxist president, one of the first things on Priebus’ mind was that Republicans have to be more respectful to him. In other words, take a cue from the King of Nice, MittMan. Sure worked out for him, didn’t it?
Which brings me to the next thing that happened last Friday …
I made one of those painful remote-control slips that brought Sean Hannity to my TV screen. His guest was none other than Austan Goolsbee, former senior economic policy adviser to Barack Obama.
As is the case every time Goolsbee appears on Hannity’s show, both of them were cracking jokes and yukking it up nonstop. These two lovebirds usually get a big laugh over betting dinner on one of their disagreements, but I didn’t stick around long enough to hear that gut-busting routine again.
Hannity tries to be rough and tough like his buddy Mark Levin, but, unlike Levin, he’s conflicted by his desire to be loved not only by establishment Republicans, but by the fascist left as well.
Levin, on the other hand, is like breathing pure oxygen. His only major weakness is his intense dislike for libertarians. I happened to listen to Levin for a while earlier in the evening, and he had a caller on his show from Ireland.
It was utterly amazing. The Irishman had a much better understanding of Barack Obama than do most Americans. Mainly, he was befuddled as to why Obama’s opponents continue to allow him to set the parameters of the political discourse in the U.S. He couldn’t understand why conservatives don’t simply ignore Obama’s dishonest, nasty rhetoric and give him a series of swift kicks in the groin (my words).
I find it remarkable that the Irish caller gets it, but Republican establishment types like Sean Hannity and Reince Priebus do not.
All this made me wonder what would happen if someone like Dr. Benjamin Carson were to run against Obama in 2016. (Don’t think Der Fuhrbama won’t try to run for a third term.) Always in search of a good fantasy, I closed my eyes and pictured their first presidential debate – head to head, with no moderator – and this is the way it unfolded:
Carson: “Before we begin, so there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind, I would like to lay on the table a certified copy of my birth certificate. I have also instructed the Vital Records office in Detroit to make the original of my birth certificate available to any legitimate member of the media or Congress who wishes to examine it. Mr. Obama, are you willing to do the same with your birth certificate?”
Obama’s response: “Can we take a smoke break?”
Carson: “I have instructed the proper authorities at both Yale and the University of Michigan to make all of my records available to any legitimate member of the media or Congress who wishes to examine them. Mr. Obama, are you willing to do the same with your college records at Occidental, Columbia and Harvard?”
Obama’s response: “Can we take a crack break?”
Carson: “I have instructed … etc. … Mr. Obama, are you willing to do the same?”
Obama’s response: “Can we take a break for a change of clothes? I think I just wet my pants.”
Carson: “Mr. Obama, once we get these foundational issues out of the way, I have a list of several hundred more questions I’d like to ask you about your background, your work experience, your close associates, organizations you have belonged to and your philosophy of government. It goes without saying that I welcome your asking me as many questions as you’d like about my life, my fundamental beliefs and my track record.”
Then, wouldn’t you know it? Just as His Royal Highness was about to respond, the phone rang and I lost my train of thought.
Could such a fantasy actually happen? Being the optimist I am, I believe there’s probably just under a 1 percent chance that it could. Of course, it would give many Republican lapdogs apoplexy, but it sure would be fun to see a no-nonsense individual take the fight to Obama.
The result would be that millions of conservatives and libertarians who normally don’t vote would be at the polls bright and early on Election Day. And since unemployment by that time would be in excess of 10 percent, housing prices down another 10-25 percent, and the national debt well past $20 trillion, you might even have a few million disillusioned Democrats willing to give liberty a try.
History teaches us that when people experience enough pain, they are open to new ideas. After all, that’s what got the presidential pretender elected in the first place.
But it’s all a moot point if the Republicans can’t agree on who they are and what they stand for – Priebuses and Hannitys, or Carsons and Levins? It would be quite interesting to see what would happen if they decided on the latter.
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