PrintFebruary 19, 2010
Opposite Day Obama
As kids, we played a variety of games for entertainment. I recall one such game called "opposite day." On opposite day, a pledge would be made that we would say the exact opposite of what we were feeling for the entire day. For example, if my socks were black, I would tell everyone that they were white. If I liked my breakfast, I would say that I hated it, and so on. Soon the other kids would catch on and start playing along until Sally Parker (the cutest girl in the school) would ask me if I liked her. Game over!
It would appear that America has been treated to a full year of opposite days with our president. We are constantly being told one thing, but the exact opposite is what really occurs. Our first-year president appears to be playing the opposite game.
Let's go back to the campaign, where the president pledged Hope and Change. What has he given us? A world of despair and more of the same -- times the power of twelve. It must have been an opposite day. He promised us transparency, yet we were treated to backroom dealings, payoffs and special interest deals. Perhaps another opposite day? We were assured that there would be no lobbyists in his White House, yet we find the payrolls riddled with those very individuals. Either our president had his fingers crossed behind his back, or it was declared on another of his opposite days. How about the assurance that nobody making under $250,000 would see a dime in new taxes? What about the stimulus bill keeping unemployment under 8%? What about televising the health care dealings, or posting any bill for 72 hours prior to voting? Of course, the president didn't really want to be in the automotive business, right?
The problem is this: If we look back on virtually all of the promises made by our president during his first year, we would be hard-pressed to find any that were actually kept. There's only one justification that I can find for this: He is making promises only on his opposite days! Based on the number of prime-time news conferences, press conferences, and television appearances; he must have had a lot of 'em.
Now with this in mind, we can prepare for the next three years -- assuming (which is a safe bet) that the president will continue with his opposite day games. It will be a simple process to translate anything that he tells us. For instance: When he says that he is focused on deficit reduction, we can assume that spending will be rampant. When he tells us that his stimulus has saved or created two million jobs; we can be assured that the economy has actually lost those two million jobs. When he assures Republicans that his February 25th summit on health care is an attempt at bipartisan politics to save the country's failing health care system, we can be assured that he has no desire to reach across the aisle. When he says that his number-one focus is finding jobs for Americans, we'll see through the game and realize that this is actually the last thing on his mind.
The president swears that he is not an ideologue, but we have been witnesses to an agenda that is being force-fed to America whether they like it or not. When we are told that FOX News is not a true news organization...well, play the game and see what the truth really is.
It is my hope that with this revelation that we're in "opposite day" format, we will all be able to take what we are told and then revert it to the opposite to truly see what this president has in store for us. When he tells us that this deep recession is over, we can play the game and recognize that we're still in the midst of what by all standards appears to be a depression. When we're told that we're going to create two million more jobs by increasing our exports, let's sift out the opposite crap and realize that this is an impossibility. When he promises that foreigners will always want to buy our treasuries, let's recognize that it's an opposite day promise.
Mr. President, do you truly care about the American people? Game over. Where is Sally Parker when you need her?
