Liberals Comtemplate Fratricide; Obama vs. Carter; BT: A Father’s Disease
Political strategist James Carville, sensing a downward trend in the Democratic party’s fortunes, has an answer to address the negative political results of President Obama’s lousy policies: fire those who faithfully implemented such. In a “kill the messenger” approach, Mr. Carville suggests that the President fire his economic advisers and maybe his Attorney General.
With the moral imperative, if not justification, of a Churchill or Lincoln, Mssr. Carville pronounces “The course we are on is not working. The hour is late, and the need is great. Fire. Indict. Fight.”
But who exactly are these people who should be fired? The answer is simple: those who faithfully carried out the President’s policies that have simply not worked. One would think that the firing of congressional Blue Dog Democrats, in last November’s elections, would have satisfied Liberals’ frustrations with their own failures. But apparently not. And if Mr. Obama does fire people carrying out his policies, is he not sending a message to the electorate that he, too, should be fired in next November’s election for the same policies?
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James Fallows of The Atlantic weighed in on NPR this weekend about what Obama needs to do to right the ship: his political and the national economy. He said the president who Mr. Fallows once worked for, Jimmy Carter, was “in a real situation of malaise in 1979.” Putting aside the difference between “real” malaise and all other flavors, it seems that Mr. Fallows is implying that Mr. Carter was given quite a bit on his plate that was either well beyond his control or at least far more cha;llenging than what President Obama faces. Such is true as the late 1970s saw the U.S. embroiled in a Cold War and mired in national self-doubt resulting from Vietnam falling in 1975, the social convulsions of the 1960s and failed economic policies from several administrations.
Such also reminds us of the “transformative President”, Ronald Reagan, who Candidate Obama admired on the campaign trail in 2008. Unfortunately, Mr. Obama is learning that not only did Mr. Reagan have great communication skills, but he communicated great ideas, as President Reagan often said. Unless Mr. Obama wishes to abandon his failed approaches to the economy, he will merely aspire to the Gipper’s success, but not achieve such.
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As reported on NPR, a study this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that when men become fathers, their testosterone levels drop precipitously.
Dr. Lee Gettler at Northwestern University checked the testosterone levels of 624 Filipino men when they were 21 and found them high.
But five years after becoming fathers, their testosterone levels had dipped as much as 34 percent. The steepest decreases occurred among men who reported that they spent time caring for and palling around with their children. “There’s something about being an active father that’s contributing to these dramatic declines,” said Dr. Gettler, who headed the study.
No kidding.
I’ve seen the commercials regarding low testosterone (“LT”) and as a (bedraggled) father of 2 (3 if you include the wife), this comes as little surprise.
Stumbling home each week night and expected to have the energy level of the family that has been home for hours and bored over such, playing chauffeur, financier, and cruise director every weekend (all weekend long), and then repeating the week night wash/rinse cycle Monday morning, it is a wonder that the modern father/husband register a blood pressure, let alone one of testosterone.
And for the medical world, “Dr. Windee” has a new label for this male hormone phenomena: “BT” (Beaten Testosterone).
-I.M. Windee
