It is not possible to remain unmoved as Rep. Charles Melancon (D-LA) finds the break point.
“Everything that I know and love is at risk.”
Watch it all. Melancon’s sincere pain is a rebuke to the incessant political posturing we see out of Washington, and all the artless media outrage to which we have become so accustomed.
In all seriousness–because this is a very serious situation–it seems that Chris Matthews’ heart is breaking, too:
Allahpundit writes of Matthews:
But now that I’ve watched and seen the hurt in his eyes when he says “idiotic cerebral meritocracy,” I fear something’s died here that can never be rekindled.
Matthews’ whole remark was:
“. . . this idiotic cerebral meritocracy has got to step aside and let the people who do things take over…”
And that is the problem in a nutshell. Our government is top-heavy with people who have never “done” anything.
The Obama administration is loaded down with academics and lawyers who have spent their lives theorizing about things like economics, markets, social order and crisis management–and criticizing methods with which they disagree–but who have little practical experience in doing.
In fairness to the White House, many members of congress (and their leadership) have never done anything but talk, pose and run for office, too, but perhaps it behooves a president to have a few people in place who know how to (as any successful capitalist would) find the people who have an acquaintance with practical applications and who know how to yell, and how to dig in with both unmanicured hands.
Admittedly, it is difficult to put such people in place. Can-do capitalists are jawboners; they tend to want to lead, rather than fall-in-line. But any administration should have a couple of them discreetly in the background, so that when things hit the fan, there are more than mere theorists on board.
Otherwise, you end up hearing the people who loved and trusted you question the “idiotic cerebral meritocracy” you’ve put in place, and declaring you “incompetent” from a rather large mic.
AJ Strata cries “incompetence” on another issue, too.
UPDATE: As a rule, I generally avoid posting videos created by political parties, unless it is to laugh at them, but this one is exceptionally well done, and relevant to the issue. It is also depressing as hell. When James Carville moves you, you know it’s serious. Yes, it makes the heart crack.
It’s going to take more than a marketing campaign to reassure these folks.
This sort of tone-deafness won’t do it.
Related:
Timeline
“incompetent, inexperienced and divisive”
“President is too busy to talk to you, Mr. Congressman”
Expecting too much of Government
Did Birnbaum lie to Congress?
Culture of Corruption at MMS
Passing the buck?
Two things-
One- If the Dem congressman voted for anything the left was pushing, then I have no sympathy for his feelings. You lie in feces, you’ll get up smelling. It’s a Karma thing.
Two- Funny that a commenter mentioned Alice. I just finished a post at my site talking about how Alice, the left and Europe are having to wake up and maybe grow up. The money is gone.
link
I was trying to find an example to show what a European liberal (like the Greeks) look like.
I came up with this guy.
link
“Chaz” from the movie Wedding Crashers. He is perfect for an example. Still living at home, thinking he is on top of the world, contributing nothing and screaming at the rest of the world for more “MEATLOAF!”.
Perfect.
The country is bleeding profusely suffering from two man made disasters simultaneously: the oil spill in the gulf and the election of an incompetent, arrogant, corrupt political hack to the oval office.
“Of course, with Katrina, the provenance of emergency response was local, state, fed, whereas this disaster took place in federal waters and was therefore the provenance of the fed right away. I don’t know whether that makes any difference, but it probably should be noted. -admin]”
Exactly.
As governor -Blanco was in charge yet could not make a decision on her own. Sad to say-her advisors were very political.
The New Orleans mayor was even worse.
Charlie Melancon voted for Nancy Pelosi and was a big backer of Obama.
He is now running for the US senate seat now held by a very conservative Republican. This is all about Charlie’s ambitions.
Melancon will be backed by ACORN(headquartered in New Orleans) and SEIU(offices in same building as ACORN).
I am from Louisiana–I have great sympathy for the people on the coast–but non for Charlie Melancon.
Carville has been teaching political classes at Tulane in New Orleans. That is what we need in Louisiana–more just like him. I saw video’s of him later-stepping back from his rant–someone from Chicago must have “spoken” to him.
I too worked at Interior for 31 years. What was described earlier was exactly right. The field people (where the work got done) mistrusted headquarters to the point of ignoring them. Over the years, I saw more and more useless paperwork and buck-passing that served to bog necessary work down more and more.
I did work with (NOT for) the Minerals Management Service. The MMS corporate culture was largely one of self congratulation and insulation from reality. I also saw a situation where an employee of high rank was not only not fired, but promoted after the offense was adjudicated. It was an open secret around the agencies. So yes, the MMS is largely incompetent to do anything other than shuffle paper.