Obama's Speech

Tonight, September 8, is the big night for President Barack Obama.  I hope he inspires a nation and gives us some great information on a jobs program.  And, for once, I hope the Republican Party keeps its mouth shut and just LISTENS for once.  The Republican party needs to talk less and listen more.  This is advice I used to give to my 8th grade students.  That is exactly how the Republican Party has been acting - like a bunch of snot-nosed 8th graders with goofy John Boehner as their leader.  And, then in the back row, the whiny-butt Tea Partiers are making faces, shouting out of turn, and throwing spit wads at Boehner and demanding all the teacher's attention.  But I digress . . .

What we need tonight, Mr. President, is a strong-willed, man-speech.  Please don't come across as the intellectual wimp.  Your intelligence I want - the intellectual wimp I don't.  There is a huge difference between the two.  For tonight, please don't cow-tow to the Republicans.    I realize  the leader thing to do is to lead for bipartisanship; however, the Republicans are having none of it.  A little Republican butt kicking would be good right now.  I, too, believe in "taking the high road."  But lately the "high road" is only taking us to the edge of the cliff, with the goofy 8th grader maturity of the Republicans  pushing us off the edge, just because they can and because they think it's hilarious.  I realize you are trying to do what is best for our country at large.  But the immature Republican Party isn't tagging along.  They're off on the other side of the playground playing Blind Man's Bluff, Catch me if you can, Dodge Ball, and Hang Man.  And, it's not Boehner they want to hang.

Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, like they do in Florida and California when they fight the wildfires there.  They sometimes set a line of fire as a boundary to stop the wildfire from spreading to another part of the countryside.  Then the big airplanes and helicopters come in to drop the fire retardant and water and that fire boundary wall is what helps the fire from going any further and burning any more houses and land. They have contained the fire and are able to finally douse it and move on.  Now, I didn't start out in this essay to mix my metaphors, but I'll do anything to help you understand what you need to do here.
Mark your boundaries with a wall of fire and don't let those goofy 8th grade kids in.  They need to realize there are presidential boundaries and that they cannot cross them. 

In other words, you have to be tough.  Just like I had to be tough in my 8th grade classroom. (Alert:  switch back to original metaphor)  Because, really, you are just working with a bunch of kids, there in Washington DC, and you have to be the adult and be in charge.  They are much happier when they know there are certain boundaries.  They are much happier when they have a disciplined routine that they can follow each day.  When they are settled, then you can begin to teach them the finer points of bipartisanship.  Until you get control of the naughty class, bipartisanship won't happen.   This rowdy class of Republicans needs strong discipline, but also love.  Show them the love  as you discipline them, and they will fall in line.  I know - it's hard to love them when they are acting this way, especially the Tea Partiers in the back row; however, in the long run, if you are strict, but also kind and loving, they will behave.  And, they will begin to grow.

Give a strong speech, one that sets boundaries, one that outlines a job recovery program that all can understand and take part in, stop in the middle of the speech and give the Republicans the evil eye when they get restless or pretend to be bored, if you have to.  But above all, let everyone know who is in charge.  And its not the whiny-butt Tea Partiers sitting in the back row.