I'm going to focus on blunders, here, of 2011. I did a similar post in 2010, and I think it's extended from Obama-blunders to general governmental screw-ups. A few good things did happen, too, but there were some brilliant missteps in the PR of several of those situations. Let's take a look at a list of a few of my favorites.
1. SURFACING/EXPOSURE OF THE "FAST AND FURIOUS" GUN-RUNNING OPERATION
....or as it's been dubiously called, "Project Gunrunner"
I'm not going to lie, this was impressive. The attorney general Eric Holder should ultimately be held responsible, for the concealing of this, and for the events of the death that lead to a federal agent. It's his responsibility to enforce the law; instead, he endorsed a program that put weapons into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, which, last I checked, was not exactly legal.
Can this man please be impeached for this epic failure? I wouldn't hate that.
2. REPRESENTATIVE ANTHONY WIENER'S RESIGNATION
All I'm going to say is, dude, don't post obscene pictures of yourself on the internet, especially if you're famous and/or hold public office, because somebody will inevitably get a hold of them and publish them for everyone to see. (Paris Hilton was a fine example of that, some years ago).
3. NEWT GINGRICH
Alright, so I'm a Republican. But more importantly, I'm a conservative. Newt Gingrich is not a conservative, even if he's painting himself to be that way. He's too liberal for my taste, a DC insider, and someone who has shown a lack of personal morality. I don't think he'd be a good president; he would fail to take a stand for what was right, as he did as Speaker of the House.
4. OCCUPY WALL STREET
Tents, food lines, and homemade picket signs became a household image, in the latter part of this year, not to mention in my town of Salt Lake City that there are people handing out flyers on the street, telling us to "get out of corrupt banks." It struck a little closer to home with me, however, because my favorite cousin is with the Occupy Tampa movement, sleeping in a tent and growing out his hair. As one liberal writer put it, "If 2010 was the year of the Tea Party, then OWS has surely dominated news in 2011." Pardon me, sir, but let me point out a few differences (and this is not a complete list).
1. We Tea Partiers are about accomplishing something: having our government adhere to the constitution. We are about having those who are in office rotate our on a regular basis. We are about enforcing current rights. We are not about stealing money from those who have rightfully earned it. We understand economics, and particularly, that taxing people heavily kills incentive.
2. We don't live in tents. Now, this may seem mundane, but when we protest, we descend for a weekend or so on a location, and then move on. Then we write books, get on TV, and work to move toward our goals by encouraging others to vote for and then sending people to represent us well.
3. We're clean. We don't commit crimes when we are in a location altogether. Our camps don't get shut down because people don't die there. (That happened in Salt Lake.)
4. We accept that corporate America is what makes our country run well- not the government. But I do find it terrifically ironic that these people slept in tents bought at Wal-Mart, organized their efforts on their Dell computers and on their iPhones, and wore North Face jackets. To me, if these people are as "poor" as they say they are, then they shouldn't be spending that kind of money, and they show a large amount of personal fiscal irresponsibility, which, in my opinion, is what got our nation where it is today, as far as debt (consumer and otherwise) is concerned.
My good friend Lyle put it like this (and you may have seen his quote elsewhere):
“I’m tired of hearing about this Occupy Wall Street nonsense. We don’t need to Occupy Wall Street, we need to occupy Congress with good, moral representatives; we need to occupy our homes with loving mothers and fathers; we need to occupy our children with productive activities, not crime. Wall Street (as a whole) did not create our problems – we created our problems. We are dismantling our Constitution, we are electing dishonest people, and we are not teaching our children correct principles.”
I couldn't have said it better myself.
5. "Anyone but Mitt."
Pardon me, for a moment, while I bash on my own party:
You guys are stupid, with this "anything but Mitt" movement. Now, given, there are other viable candidates, but allow you tell me why I think he's the best man for the job.
1. He's got experience. In the real world, experience is all that matters. That's why it's so hard to get your first job. That's why it's so good for us to elect someone who has actually run something before, and that's why our current president is doing such a poor job, because he has very little executive experience. Mitt has plenty, from his time as governor of Massachusetts, to his running the Olympic committee, to his prolific business background, to running a Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (not a small task, usually requires about 20-30 hours weekly, on top of a normal job).
2. He was a Republican elected in Massachusetts. This is key to understand, because while he was there, he did what the people asked of him, even though he disagreed on occasion, such as with RomneyCare or raising taxes. This is something we have not seen in any recent administration, whether we're talking about Clinton, either Bush, and certainly not President Obama.
3. He understand economics and business. He knows how to create jobs. He sees the senselessness of the President's stimulus packages, and would do all he could to reverse those. He knows that building roads is just temporary work, not something that will "put us back to work," and more importantly, he knows the people know it.
4. He's honest. When he makes a mistake, he admits it. And if that means changing his view one something, then he'll do it.
I like Mitt. I think he'll do great, because of the aforementioned qualities. Here's more, written by Richard and Lynda Eyre, fellow Mormons and good friends of Mitt.
Well, that's enough for today. I look forward to 2012, when we can hopefully get President Obama out of the White House, and get a new, less-corrupt, administration in place that could help this country get back on a solid economic track.
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