December is one of my favorite times of the year, beyond the holidays, which often obscure the joys of reunion and celebration. Hooray for a new cycle, the New Year.
But the best part, of course, is basketball – a game that transcends the season, and extends across several seasons and, I admit, is just getting started. Ha-ha! I love it.
And so does President Obama, apparently. He’s got a crew to play with regularly, and he’s still got game they say.
But he’ll take it in the lip and not swing his elbows. That’s the word on the playgrounds.
This is the President, who should have some power. He’s the Big Guy in the middle. The game comes through him. He’s a triple threat – by himself on a bully pulpit, with unlimited travel budget and a Team of the best and the brightest.
For what they’re worth, this time around.
How much credence do you give an economic team that seems all too ready to kowtow to the wealthy and giant stateless corporations that are soaking American communities for their own personal gain? You have to wonder: Whose side is Obama on?
It’s a natural question to ask, when we see such a bad deal go down. The tax cut compromise is a capitulation – an admission that the Republicans are right, that the richest should be taxed the least and that tax cuts are the solution to our problems.
For those of us who saw Obama as our champion, someone who would take it to our opponents, who was not afraid to take the big shot, this is a disappointment.
I’d like to see Obama come to this game with an aggressive plan to win the programs and ideas he believes in. He should go to the goal, and not just settle for a 30-foot jump shot. And, most important, let’s stop shooting at the other guy’s basket.
