I may not be that clever but you have to give me some credit for consistency!

Hello Americans including the state of Arizona, at least for now, and welcome to a brand new week. It is Monday, May 17, 2010. I actually try to limit my political commentary but there are times whenever I have to get it out while it is fresh. Most of you already know that I am not politically inclined to support President Obama's agenda or his approaches. I do support him as our President and as our Commander and Chief, and I take pride that he and his family have demonstrated how that we in America, with all our warts and blemishes, still live in a land of opportunity and promise. Many of you may think I get my talking points or marching orders from conservative talk radio. I will not deny that when I am out on the road that I do listen to some of these programs but there have been many times when I have spotted something even before they did. Here's one from Friday where the President held a short press briefing dealing with the Gulf oil spill. He said that he would not tolerate the finger pointing that had gone on including within the government. "I will not tolerate." That sounded very familiar to me. Therefore, being the closet journalist that I am, I plugged into Google: Obama "I will not tolerate." The search yielded 1, 480,000 hits. Again, this is my view from here and while I usually try not to write political stuff all the time, this is what I grabbed hold of and one of those law thingies must have taken over, not the law of gravity, although some of this stuff is pretty grave, but I felt this compelling compunction to get it out there, and that's how we arrived to today's blog.

President Obama in talking about the excessive executive salaries and bonuses of those in the financial world said that "it isn't just bad taste--it's bad strategy--and I will not tolerate it." Concerning the would be underwear bomber, the President said he would not tolerate the failure to connect the dots on the part of government security functions. Secretary of State Clinton speaking on behalf of President Obama said "The US will not tolerate a nuclear Iran." Candidate Obama told a British Newspaper that if he was elected "he would not tolerate the continued raiding of medical marijuana facilities." When the Congress passed the ill fated $787 billion bail out package, President Obama said "I will not tolerate wasteful spending of these funds by the States." During the campaign at one time when the advertising was really heating up, this is what he said: "I will not tolerate this type of slime politics." When pushing for the health care bill he told congressional leaders: "I will not tolerate delays." Even with the recent Times Square bomb attempt, President Obama made it clear: "I will not tolerate any bias or backlash against Pakistan." These were gleaned from only the first few pages of hits and I am certain there are many more.

Okay. Here's my take. He obviously likes this phrase. It may have tested well in their focus groups. However, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know the difference between saying tough words versus figuring out how to deal with and solve problems. I can say that 10% unemployment cannot be tolerated but after months and months accompanied by nearly a trillion dollars thrown at the problem, the emperor begins to look toothless along with his wearing no clothes. I can say that I will not tolerate terrorism but when I order my lieutenants not to even call it by its name and we see an increase in specific acts against our country, the words begin to ring hollow. I could go on and on and on. I do not think you doubt that I could. I would never underestimate the magnitude and significance of the challenges we are facing as a country and no one would expect them to be easy to solve. Yet, there is a huge difference in mostly making speeches, pointing fingers, and lecturing others compared to rolling up your sleeves and figuring out a way to make progress. This is the disconnect I see going on before us and there are far too many who seem to think we will wake up one day and these potentially deadly issues will all go away. I don't see it that way and I pray that America will wake up, turn back to God, and seek His will in charting our way forward. That's a nickel's worth of huffing and puffing for a Monday morning. Have a great week and may God bless. Amen. ........More later.