He’s Right, Of Course
There’s quite a bit of buzz today over some things that Joe Biden has said, things that speak to a greater truth about the next presidency:
He’s right, of course.
In reading his statements, I’m returned to a thought I’ve expressed before in the past; who in their right minds would want to be president now? After George W. Bush has mucked up the works for eight years now, the problems that face us in this nation are such that only a mad man would contemplate stepping in to clean up the mess.
But this concept here is one of preventive maintenance versus corrective maintenance. Preventive maintenance is relatively easy, even if it is an annoyance. Think about it like walking every day and eating the right foods in order to stay physically fit, or like making sure that you get your car’s oil changed every three thousand miles.
Corrective maintenance, on the other hand, is a pain, and often times more expensive. It’s the equivalent of paying money to a dietician and a physical trainer because you are now in such poor shape you are at high risk of heart disease, or having to pay for a new engine for your car because you blew the head gasket.
Of course the next administration is going to step into more challenges than usual, and of course that president is going to be faced with decisions where the right answer will not necessarily be the popular answer. That is what this current administration has set forth for the next one.
But when we look at the two men running for president this time around, what we see is the difference between a preventive maintenance president, and a corrective maintenance president. John McCain will be the former.
Electing John McCain as our next president, at best, is the equivalent of committing to regular oil changes after the head gasket’s already been blown, or cutting down to one whole pizza a night. The thing of it is is that depending on the situation, the country as a whole will keep going in the wrong direction, but at least the pain will be prolonged. To stretch the frog in boiling water analogy a little, we will just learn to tolerate more and more as the water continues to get hotter and hotter around us.
Barack Obama promises to be the corrective maintenance president. Things may get worse in the near term, I would never deny that. But that is the price we may have to pay in order to get the country back on the right track. We may need to endure a period of mutual sacrifice.
But if we are truly Americans, if we are truly the sons and daughters of our parents, the generations born from the Greatest Generation; if we truly represent the best the world has to offer, than this time of hardship for the sake of a better future is one that I feel we will meet with courage and determination.
If we are truly patriots, we will overcome.
(edited by DrGail)
2 Responses to “He’s Right, Of Course”
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- The Heretik : There He Joes Again TM - [...] good Joe Biden only has two left feet. He might want to stay out of the prediction [...]
If you’ve been loaning brain cells to those in need since 2003 can we take that to mean that you’ve been getting steadily more stupid? Just wondering.
Why no comment on the more interesting quotes from Biden about how the Obama presidency will be tested by a generated international crisis within six months, and how people need to have faith even as Obama’s approval ratings sink and supporters question his decisions?
Putin? Kim Jong? The Mad Hatter?
Assuming most of his positive approvals will come from his supporters, what event does Biden think will turn their devotees against them so soon?
And Biden says he has forgotten more about foreign policy that his collegues could even know?
Let’s hope he hasn’t forgotten anything he’ll actually need. Like whether we ever kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon.