A government shutdown looms. President Obama is demanding non-stop meetings between congressional leaders to resolve the crisis. “I will have my entire team available to work through the details of getting a deal done,” he declared.
The “entire team” does not include Obama himself. He’ll be in New York, hanging out with Al Sharpton.
On the verge of an event Democrats have been describing as fiscal Armageddon – a crash that will cause Social Security and tax rebate checks to become jammed in the lifeless gears of a broken $3 trillion government engine – and which has only descended upon us because the Democrat Party did not fulfill its duty to pass a budget when it held both houses of Congress, the President is off to New York to address the 20th anniversary celebration of racial arsonist Al Sharpton’s National Action Network.
Before that, according to the Washington Post, the President will spend the afternoon holding a “town hall meeting on energy” at a wind turbine plant near Philadelphia. This has absolutely nothing to do with the re-election campaign that was formally launched on Monday, and the value of Pennsylvania as a crucial swing state. Fortunately, the Weather Channel says 14mph winds are expected today, so at least the turbine blades will be turning. A backdrop of motionless windmills would have been an uncomfortably accurate glimpse of America’s future during a second Obama Administration.
Remember when Obama claimed his top priority was job creation? Never mind. His highest priorities, even higher than helping his party atone for its failure to produce a budget, are securing the political support of Al Sharpton, and selling his job-killing energy ideas.
It matters where a leader puts his energy, and presence, in a moment of crisis. The disconnect between Democrat rhetoric about “government shutdowns” and Obama’s behavior is jarring. It’s one more slap in the face to an electorate that is being told the Republicans trying to deal with the budget are somehow responsible for the impending catastrophe, while simultaneously they are shown the President has absolutely nothing to contribute to the discussion.
