This ain’t Camelot

    Upon “ascension”, the Obama Presidency was compared to Kennedy’s Camelot.  Pause.  Ok, stop laughing. Jackie in the gloves, Jack in tux and tails.  Not happening again.  In retrospect, underneath the glamour, JFK was a war hero who lived during a time when any guy you met on the corner could have been on Suribachi, Iwo Jima or at the Bulge.  Politics aside, Kennedy was a man of his times, which means he was a man.  He’d seen noble cause, death and nearly died for that cause himself. A flawed man but a man all the same. He was considered a bit of lightweight as a young whipper-snapper Senator from the old timers, perhaps within the context of those times of very tough men, he was…but can you imagine this Pacific Theater war hero standing next to clowns like Reed, Pelosi, Obama and his own little brother? He represented a hope that was real and charged America forward to our destiny as the greatest nation on earth no matter the bumps along the way….and to space.  We went to the frigging moon! We were a forward looking nation then…

     Now, dear God, we have Cash for Clunkers and the race is on for which blogger/journalist can come up with the most clever use of “clunker”.  I kind of like my Clunkerville but hey, fill in your own blank. I picture Bob Dylan in his Subterranean Homesick Blues video with witty clunker message cards, tossed one after the other onto the street. “Johnny’s (Geithner) in the basement mixing up the medicine (economy)” Tosses Clunkernomics (from Lowry) card. Clunker President, Clunker Cabinet, Clunker, Clunker, Clunker.  I can’t get that word out of my mind. Mellencamp and Henley were always quick to lament the Reagan days with a lyric or two. Can they come up with one good Obama “clunker” lyric?  Just a line.  I have an image of a whole generation of kids tinkering with crappy cars from the 70’s/80’s (the current fad) and happily scraping mufflers down the street.  Jeez, I think I saw all the way through an AMC Pacer the other day.  Castro’s Cuba did have a little impact after all. Who would have thought it would be clunker mechanics?  Just a matter of time before “clunker” becomes a verb.  “Man, I got clunkered on that deal.”  As for Camelot,  Michelle can put on work gloves instead of  Jackie’s silk ones. Obama can wear coveralls for Jack’s tux. Carter was “Malaise”.  Obama will always be “CLUNKER”