No Hope, No Change, Despite Obama's Promises

By Kevin Canessa Jr.

Founder & Publisher 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Remember many years ago, when George Herbert Walker Bush was running for president, and at a town-hall like meeting, someone asked him how much a loaf of bread costs? Or how much a gallon of milk costs? 

Bush wasn't able to answer the question properly. And at that very moment, he seemed extremely detached from a reality — a reality that the average American not only knows what a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk costs, but that the average American needs to know what these items cost because they often have to live paycheck to paycheck. 

The prices of simple groceries matter. And for some, getting that loaf of break or that gallon of milk makes a difference whether they also get to buy extra juice, steaks or something else considered somewhat of a "luxury."

Canessa

Fast-forward nearly two decades. President Barack Obama is vacationing at Martha's Vineyard, Mass — one of the nation's most exclusive vacation spots. For 10 days, in between the security and economic briefings, it'll be sun-bathing, multiple rounds of golf, ice cream, luxurious dinners and the like — all the while as nearly 10 percent of America struggles to find a menial job for crying out loud. 

Oh how I'd bet any one of those 10 percent of Americans would die for a filet mignon that the Obamas will be chowing down on at one of the Vineyard's great steakhouses. 

Like Bush — and I detest having to admit this — Obama is totally out of touch with the reality of today's America. Some of his most ardent supporters, in the Black community, are suffering more than just about any other group of Americans. While the overall unemployment rate hovers around 10 percent, the rate among Blacks is just under 17 percent. Translated: Nearly 1 in 5 Blacks are out of work currently.

Obama was supposed to understand the needs of the people of this country. He swore up and down things would change. But here we are, nearly three years into his presidency, and we're about to enter yet another recession.

Someone suggested recently — I can't remember who it was, but I am in total agreement — that Obama nearly seems resolved that he's toast. He sees the writing on the wall, he knows he can try as hard as he can to no avail ... the economy won't be getting any better on his watch. The same person suggested he's at the Vineyard because he can be — and he's just counting down the days before his presidency ends.

I bought into the whole hopey-changy thing. But there has been no change. And, to quote Obama himself, the tone of Washington he sought to soften "has probably gotten worse" since he took office. He's absolutely right. There has never been a time, that I can recall, where Washington's tone has been this negative.

There also has never been a time where I've felt so badly about my country. I'm a part of that nearly 10 percent of Americans out of work. I've applied and applied and applied to job after job after job.

I haven't had a single interview. Not one. Since August 2009. Two years. Two long years. Not one interview, despite countless hundreds of resumes e-mailed, faxed and snail-mailed. 

Hope and change was supposed to come after the Election of 2008.

It didn't.

It won't be anytime soon.

And that, sadly, is beyond sickening. 

Do you think Hillary Clinton is regretting taking a position in this administration yet?

Perhaps a Democratic Primary Would Kick Obama Into Gear

It pains me to write this as an ardent supporter of Barack Obama in 2008, but given the state of our nation, the economy and the fear we may hit another recession, it may be best for the Democratic Party and the nation as a whole if someone challenged the president in the primaries.

And of course, the most logical person to do that would be Hillary Clinton.

I return to the last time such an experience occurred. It was 1980. Our country was a complete and utter mess. Iran kept many American citizens hostage. And President Jimmy Carter was, quite frankly from the get-go, doomed. The-late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, of Massachusetts, mounted a run against Carter, and nearly won the Democratic presidential nomination. 

Kennedy's mere presence was a sign that America was fed up with Carter's ineptitude. And the more we see of Obama, the comparisons to Carter are stark — and unfortunately, real.

Hillary has to be thinking about this. I've been thinking about it for the last 18 months. And as much as I don't want to admit it, I think it might be the Dems' best hope for keeping the White House if a real leader emerges from this crop of loonies on the GOP side. That, of course, remains to be seen. Could America stomach an extension of the George W. Bush era in clone Rick Perry? Could it deal with the absurdity of Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin? Could it digest Newt Gingrich's hypocrisy?

Not sure about any of that just yet. But I am certain that even if Hillary weren't to win the Democratic nomination, she'd certainly put Obama on notice that his performance, as evinced by recent polls, is intolerable and he could be on the brink of becoming a one-termer. 

Think about it for a moment.

Sadly, it makes too much sense to this Democrat.

This GOP Field is a Bunch of Flawed, Hate-filled Nutcases

By Kevin Canessa Jr.

I hate to say it, but after a viewing of the GOP debate tonight on Fox News, I could only come up with a few conclusions. And they're not all that promising.

■ If there were one candidate in the field I could vote for, it's Ron Paul. And it's mostly because he holds his so-called colleagues to task.

■ Tim Pawlenty seemed to be the most sane on the stage. 

Bachmann

■ Michele Bachmann somehow got to Congress with an IQ of a 10-year-old. The woman is seriously nuts — and for someone who wants to see limited government in D.C., she sure has a lot of ideas of how she wants to have government involved in lives of people where she shouldn't be involved.

■ Newt Gingrich is still quite unafraid to espouse his Hitleresque views on the American people.

■ No one, including the moderators, take Rick Santorum seriously.

■ The debate moderators threw so many fat pitches to this group — especially Chris Wallace — that it was nauseating. I wonder how long they prepared, ahead of time, with the candidates on the line of questioning.

■ Mitt Romney seems to think four years would make it easier for him to get to the White House. He was a failure in 2004, changed his moderate views to appease the GOP hardliners and, in essence, is what conservatives love to call a RINO — Republican in Name Only. That said, four years later, he has about the same chance of getting to the D.C. as he did in 2008. It just ain't happening.

■ We heard a lot of the name Rick Perry, who wasn't at the debate, but who announced he's running. God help our nation — this is YOUR crop of GOP candidates. If America were to have forgotten what happened the last time we elected a Texas Governor as President of the United States, and let's just say elected Perry, it would lead me to believe most of America was lost. One former Texas governor president is/was more than enough.

As much as I've been disappointed by the presidency of Barack Obama — I voted for the man in 2008 — this crop of Republicans scares the living daylights out of me. Not because I think any one of them could beat Obama — none of these people could — but because they're seriously flawed and absurdly and certifiably nuts. It is sickening how a group of people — most of whom think the same way — could in one sentence say they're for limited government, only to espouse in the next sentence what they'd do to insert government into our lives. 

Whether it's abortion, healthcare, same-sex marriage, or anything else, they sure do want to tell you how you should feel, what you should believe and what's best for people they simply cannot relate to at all. They're so in tune with the needs of the wealthy they've all seemed to forget we're in one of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression. 

And they're so into their own agendas that they'd all be best served not in the White House — but in Antarctica. 

Maybe the could legislate the protection of penguins.