American Financial Meltdown, "Peter's Principle" President?

I'm enjoying the last free week of the internet version of the International New York Times aka Herald Tribune.  It use to be a free way to get NYT articles on the net.

I wouldn't dare claim to be an expert in the debt ceiling crisis or whatever is going on in the states.  I do understand that all sorts of government departments and services are shut, because the budget wasn't passed.  And from what I understand, there's a major blame game going on.

The Democrats blame the Republican, and the Republicans blame the Democrats, and I think it's just another sign that Obama just isn't qualified for the job.  This isn't the first time he had trouble with the budget, getting it passed.

As I've said many times, being a politician in high office demands a lot of skills and experience. And we all know that United States President Barack Hussein Obama was not elected for his experience and political skills. He was elected because a majority of Americans wanted a black, or multiracial person (male or female) as President.  He's more a figurehead than a skilled politician.

In some ways, those ways he has something in common with JFK the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy.  Kennedy didn't have much time to learn in the saddle, because he was assassinated very soon after being elected.  Kennedy didn't manage to pass the bills he's famous for.  He was more skilled when in front of the camera.  It was Kennedy's successor Lyndon Baines Johnson who was an extremely experienced and skilled political operator who put Kennedy's campaign promises and more into law.

Johnson succeeded to the presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, completed Kennedy's term and was elected President in his own right, winning by a large margin over Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election. Johnson was greatly supported by the Democratic Party and as President, he was responsible for designing the "Great Society" legislation that included laws that upheld civil rights, public broadcasting, Medicare, Medicaid, environmental protection, aid to education, and his "War on Poverty." Johnson was renowned for his domineering personality and the "Johnson treatment," his coercion of powerful politicians in order to advance legislation.

Johnson didn't whine pathetically to the American public that congress won't pass his budget and make desperate threats hoping someone will listen and fix the mess.  Johnson was a legislative leader and not a media sweetheart.  I don't know if a Lyndon B. Johnson would be elected President in today's America.

During World War II he served briefly in the Navy as a lieutenant commander, winning a Silver Star in the South Pacific. After six terms in the House, Johnson was elected to the Senate in 1948. In 1953, he became the youngest Minority Leader in Senate history, and the following year, when the Democrats won control, Majority Leader. With rare skill he obtained passage of a number of key Eisenhower measures.In the 1960 campaign, Johnson, as John F. Kennedy's running mate, was elected Vice President. On November 22, 1963, when Kennedy was assassinated, Johnson was sworn in as President.First he obtained enactment of the measures President Kennedy had been urging at the time of his death--a new civil rights bill and a tax cut. Next he urged the Nation "to build a great society, a place where the meaning of man's life matches the marvels of man's labor." In 1964, Johnson won the Presidency with 61 percent of the vote and had the widest popular margin in American history--more than 15,000,000 votes.

The United States probably needs an LBJ to get it out of the mess it's in.  But no doubt if LBJ was in office, whether president or senator, there's a good chance that some budget compromise would have been reached, and I wouldn't get the following message on the official government site when looking up Johnson:

Due to Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the government, the information on this web site may not be up to date. Some submissions may not be processed, and we may not be able to respond to your inquiries. Information about government operating status and resumption of normal operations is available at USA.GOV. 

I guess you can just say that Obama is a Peter's Principle* president.

the theory, usually taken facetiously, that all members in a hierarchy rise to their own level of incompetence[from the book The Peter Principle (1969) by Dr. Lawrence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, in which the theory was originally propounded]

And Where Were You When...?

Yes, I know, many of you weren't even born then. But do you have stories from your parents, grandparents etc? What political assassinations or attempts do you remember? It'll soon be 28 years since John Lennon was murdered.

- ON THIS DAY -
On Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. Suspected gunman Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States.

I was in the 9th grade in Great Neck North Junior High School. There was neither panic nor hysteria, just some confusion. In our very WASPy school, emotions weren't exposed publicly. We just sat in the classroom, not fully comprehending. I don't know how the adults were handling it in the office, far from the curious and prying eyes of the kids.

Our TV was black and white, since color was barely an experiment at the time, so we didn't see the red blood on Jackie Kennedy's lemon yellow coat. Maybe it would have been a more frightening time if we had seen the blood in color.

My impressions were that "everything was under control." Johnson was immediately sworn in to succeed Kennedy. And being that LBJ was an experienced and very skillful politician, he really had things under control. His biggest challenge was ridding his government of Kennedy people.

Kennedy had brought in some new, non-political people into the cabinet and other high positions. I remember reading some "memoirs" telling of naivite and confusion when the Kennedy appointments first tried to navigate the US Government. Actually, it was Johnson who passed the laws Kennedy had promoted. Kennedy just wasn't wily enough to be politically effective. I guess that Obama's apppointing Rahm Emanuel is to bring an experienced and powerful person in to prevent a Kennedy-like failure.

I wonder if I should make this a meme and tag people to blog about it. I just request that if you have anything to say about the topic, please do blog about it and, of course, pass the link to anyone you think will have an interesting memory. Thanks

LBJ--Israel's First Presidential Friend

People don't like to be reminded that the United States isn't a true friend of Israel. Why else had it been necessary for Truman's old friend to be drafted to cajole him into having the US vote for Israel's independence in November, 1947?

And during that tense, frightening May, 1967 (the month before the Six Days War), when Egypt banished the United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces, because it had declared that it was going to attack and destroy Israel, the United States Government insisted on "neutrality." Israel had no allies and no support, just the prayers of Jews and other sympathisers.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was the United States President, and after the war, he managed to make changes in United States policy, sort of. The reason I write "sort of" is that the United States military industry has always benefited from the relationship. Israel has to use the military aid from the US on American products, and whatever improvements Israel makes are for the benefit of the USA.

It's a myth that the United States is Israel's ally. The present policy of the United States is to undermine the sovereignty and security of Israel by establishing an Arab terror state in our heartland.