08 September 2011 | Big, Bold, Blah

So, our Media Glitterati has been building up Barack Obama's jobs speech into a major viewing deal. Well, I suppose any address by the President of the United States is, but in this particular case, it seems too little, too late.

Our hapless media fucks are already setting the parameters for success: this speech must present big, bold ideas or it won't work. Well, let's gloss over the fact that speeches do not make policy alone and that anything that eventually crawls out of Congress will probably be unrecognizable, but for me, I stopped at the word "bold." This president does not do "bold." He shirks away from it. He doesn't like confrontation. He is so obsessed with his place in history that he wants to be viewed as the Great Compromiser, but he's really the Great Doormat.

The president's speech no doubt will talk about the need for bipartisanship, for the umpteenth time, and that's already a blowout. He will probably talk about "doing the work of the American people." Maybe he'll mention that he knows "we can come together" because "the stakes are so high." It's the same shit he spouts each time he needs to be "bold" and "big." He appeals to some alleged better nature of politicians, except this nature does not exist.

The president doesn't seem to get that the GOP wants him to be a one-termer. They want to destroy his presidency. Oh, sure, some of them may share the golf links with him, but he seems to believe that translates into some magical connection that will help them transcend their partisanship into a shining moment. Such bullshit, but he keeps going back for more abuse. 

Like I said, this president doesn't do bold. He won't go for broke, except maybe to further anger his laughably impotent base. And remember, despite how the media is hyping this all up, all the hours that will be spent with pundit blather is not going to affect what this jobs plan translates to when it emerges from Congress, if ever.