Saturday, July 30, 2011

What a Difference a Year Makes!

A year ago, the internet was all abuzz about the pending wedding of Chelsea Victoria Clinton to Marc Mezvinsky. We knew the site was Rhinebeck, N.Y. People were arriving, and in Hillary-Hood we wondered about the gowns, the hair, and whether we would get to see any good pictures. Cable news and networks had teams covering the arrivals and the doings around Rhinebeck. There was much excitement in the air, and rumors were flying about who was or was not on the guest list. Everything was very secret. The first glimpse we got of the Clintons that day came in the evening when Bill and Hillary Clinton showed up at a reception given in their honor the night before the wedding. We did not see the bride or groom that night.

So, here we are a year later, and all the drama on cable news today is over the negotiations on Capitol Hill to save the country from default on its debt. It seems almost unreal that our great country could be on the verge of economic disaster - unnecessary, avoidable disaster, at that. The leadership vacuum has never been more obvious. Once again the president got on Saturday morning TV and read us a laundry list of the terrible things that will happen if the bad Republicans do not fall into line. Well, I think we all have known what is on that list for weeks and did not need yet another George W. Bush style speech from Barack Obama to remind us. Both of these presidents use the same rhetoric: statement of the obvious. I could have given that speech without the teleprompter! Where is the speech about what he is going to do to save us from the disaster? Why is this White House so afraid of the 14th Amendment?

To assuage my anxiety and yours I offer this lovely slideshow of two great leaders who are afraid of nothing. Neither of these two people would hesitate to take the reins of leadership in this crisis. So, in the words of the eloquent Sarah Palin, "How's that hopey changey thing workin' out for ya?"

Enjoy the show! The SOS could not have looked more glamorous! Just exquisite! She is beautiful enough to be a movie star, but I have a better job in mind for her.