The Crisis President.

Every President eventually gets known as the “_________ President.” (Fill in the blank.) Most Presidents start their term wanting to stand for something, and then find that they get pegged with something else. For instance, think back to the days before 9/11. George Bush entered the White House wanting to be knonw as the “Education President.” It’s actually a little soon to know exactly how he’ll be remembered by historians, but right now, I’d vote for the “War on Terror President.” That brings us to the White House’s current occupant…

If I was going to guess about a title for The Big O, it would be “The Crisis President.” Not, mind you, because we’re in bad shape. Quite the contrary – if you look at inflation, unemployment, the stock market, gas prices, et all, Ronald Reagan took office at a time where our country’s situation looked a lot worse. As in much, MUCH worse. But Reagan got tagged as “The Great Communicator” because he both knew how to speak, and because he knew how to make people proud of their country again (after four years of “The Morass President,” Jimmy Carter).  No, I suspect Obama will be known as The Crisis President, because he uses the bloody word in just about every sentence in every address, every time he speaks publicly.

His White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, famously advised never to let a crisis go to waste, for you can do things you’d never be able to do without it. Obama seems to have taken Rahmbo’s words to heart, and is milking this thing for all it’s worth. According to the White House, here’s what’s “IN”:

• The mortgage/banking crisis
• The foreclosure/home ownership crisis
• The stock market crisis
• The health care crisis
• The public works/infrastructure crisis
• The domestic automobile manufacturers crisis

With all these crises, it’s obvious that some things had to be dropped from the list, to make room for newer and fresher emerging crises. They are:

• The Global War on Terror
• The Border Crisis
• The Immigration Crisis
• The Ethics Crisis in Government

I’ll leave it up to you to determine which of these are real crises, and which are manufactured, but here’s a hint: the ones that the mainstream media sensationalize on a daily basis are likely bogus, or at best, grossly exaggerated. Ergo, we hear daily about the credit crisis, the stock market crisis, et all. We had it a lot worse in the 1980s. Interestingly Reagan dramatically lowered taxes and cut spending and got us out of the recession. Even more interestingly, Obama is not only ignoring Reagan’s solution, but is persuing policies diametrically opposed to The Gipper’s.

For those of you who realize that when you run out of money, the way to dig yourself out of a hole is to first, stop digging, Obama’s plan looks like lunacy. It’s not, actually. It’s crazy, but not lunatic. No, the lunacy comes when The Annointed One’s policies don’t work. That’s when the Dems will say, “it would have worked if only we’d spent even MORE.” Now THAT’S lunacy.

The real problem (for me, anyway) is that by doing what he’s doing, Obama’s moniker should be “The Socialist President,” which is far scarier than “The Crisis President.” Crises, we can handle. Lived through a bunch. We can live through more. Socialism, on the other hand, is a disease – sort of the Herpes of Politics. Easy to contract, almost impossible to cure. I look on our lurch towards socialism as the only crisis worth talking about.

Come to think of it, maybe “The Crisis President” is the right name after all.