Amateur Hour at The White House

By now I'm sure that you have heard all about our president's trip to London for the G20. Published reports have told us that the staff that made the trip was 500 strong. He took his own chef, specialized O-mobile, 200 secret service agents and several decoy helicopters.

No wonder the rest of the world looks at spoiled Americans with disdain. Do you remember when then Democrat candidate Obama chastised the country for being comfortable?

His exact words were, “We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times...and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.”

We can't, but he can. Yes, he can! Yes, he can!

Anyway, when you're the President of the United States of America, it is a different story. We can't do those things, but he can. According to David Axelrod, he keeps it so balmy in the Oval Office that he could grow orchids.

He can transport all of his presidential toys across the Atlantic for a few meetings. He can bring along a personal assistant/brother-in-law/one-on-one basketball partner named Reggie Love to hand him a tic-tac when he needs one.

He can park that 15,000 pound Cadillac, which has been described as a hardened missile silo on wheels, right in front of the garden entrance driveway at Buckingham Palace. His driver did just that upon he and Michelle's visit with the Queen. There was only one problem – the prince wanted to leave the Palace, so the Caddy had to go.

I have to laugh so I don't cry. All we have seen from this administration in the first 70 days has been like amateur hour. They are coming off like complete buffoons every where they go. Clarke Griswold looks like Einstein in front our president right now.

A few weeks ago he gave the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, a collection of cheesy DVDs that couldn't even be played across the pond. Then, Secretary of State Clinton gave the Russians a “re-set” button that really meant “overcharge.” Where do they get their help? Circuit City? My nine year old armed with a Dell Mini and Google translation services would do better.

Next, the Best Buy geek squad czar who recommends all these wonderful gifts must have just missed the cut to make the G20 because somebody decided to give the Queen an Ipod. Yes, of course, she already had one, but not one pre-loaded with can't-live-without Broadway show tunes and, you guessed it – legendary Obama speeches. Amazing! Priceless! Not even Stephen King could make up something so terrifying. I wonder how the First Lady even rides in that big limo between him and his ego.

Since the inauguration, the markets have tanked. Unemployment is cresting 10 percent. Our currency is not worth the paper on which it is so rapidly being printed, and all I have heard from our distinguished leader is something like, “Hey, I didn't do it, Bush did.”

Classless, petty, and dangerous.

By day he fires CEOs and by night he parties with the likes of Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind, and Fire.

I'm sorry but I just expect more out of a president. I expect more maturity, more gravity. I expect fewer jokes on Letterman and less hypocrisy behind the Resolute Desk.

Sadly, what can be expected from a one term Senator turned President?

Presidential Karaoke is all I have seen thus far.

Written by Michael Andrzejewski for The LaGrange Daily News.

President Farkas and the Growing Frustration - Guest Blogger

Do you remember the scene in the movie, “The Christmas Story” when Scut Farkas, the consummate bully goads Ralphie into crying after pelting him in the face with a ginormous snowball? Something snaps in the mild mannered Ralphie, and he commences to unleash a torrent of tiny fists and swear words in an unknown tongue rendering the bully humiliated, bloodied, and reformed.

Well, smack dab in the middle of the winter of our economic depression, the spirit of Scut Farkas has been channeled into the US government. They have pitched snowball after taxing, hypocritical snowball toward the quiet, unassuming Ralphies across the country. How many more snowballs will it take to reach critical mass? What will be the final salvo launched to insight the bullied and bespectacled to punch back?

For the record, I believe that we should pray for our leaders on every level that we may live a quiet and peaceable life. I would never advocate anarchy or revolution; however, I firmly believe if the government continues its current pompous taunting of the citizenry, some will respond in an unprecedented fashion. Atlas will shrug.

Today, the current checks and balances are breaking down and people are starting to understand the intentional destruction that is taking place. At least I want to believe it is intentional and not borne completely out of idiocy.

Since the inauguration we have systematically alienated our closest allies and opened new doors to welcome our enemies. We have shaken hands with Syria, pledged to give $900 million to Hamas (er, Gaza), and spit in Israel's face.

We are genuflecting before Russia and telling the Poles and Czechs to take a slow train to Siberia. Do you know that Poland is such a strong ally that within our intelligence community some refer to them as the 51^st state?

In the middle of a recession, we are turning down sales of fighter planes to Taiwan because we don't want to upset the Red Chinese.

We just gave the British Prime Minister 25 DVDs in exchange for priceless heirlooms and blew off a joint press conference. With friend like this...you know how it goes. As far as I'm concerned, the President would have done worse only if he had urinated in the Englishman's tea.

But at the same time we are falling over ourselves to hug the Taliban and sing kum-ba-yah with Islamic terrorists around the globe.

Farkas gave us about a quarter raise ($13 a week tax break) at the exact same time he was lifting our wallets so that he could max out all of our credit cards while buying environmentally friendly golf carts, paying for our neighbors' abortions, building a snowmaking facility in Minnesota, and upgrading intercoms in Alaska. Incomprehensible!

President Scut armed with even more snowballs and insults (aimed at freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to bear arms, among other things) daily treads closer and closer to that imaginary line in the sand for so many.

Whatever faith there was in the government has now dwindled down to those who lazily stand with an outstretched hand crying for someone else to pay for their mortgage and put gas in their car. Like a parasitic side kick they look to big brother Farkas to fix it all.

But one of these days that last frozen missile will plant itself for the last time in Ralphie's face. The gloves will come off and the landscape could look dramatically different. Although I'm not a betting man, my money's on Ralphie.

Written by Michael Andrzejewski for The LaGrange Daily News.

Different Commanders - Same Marine Corps

Watch the responses. Who do the Marines respect?