The best chance President Obama has of being reelected is if the nation contracts a case of collective amnesia. We will have to forget, for instance, his attitude toward the plebeians who actually do the work in this country. Those are the people he famously touted as clinging to a few things out of insecurity:

We’ll also have to forget that he’s been on the job for quite some time now, and that there is a statute of limitations on blaming the previous administration:

And then there are the promises he made, and the policies he enacted to bring them to fruition. It’s going to take a world-class case of amnesia for those:

None of this is new to the man, though. He was practically raised on class warfare:

Yes, we’re going to have to forget a whole lot for him to stay in office four more years. I won’t put it past us, but I’m praying we will regain our senses in time.

How about a panoply of cartoonish insight on a variety of issues? Let’s start with that ever-present “movement” that’s occupying the airwaves. The nature of the movement is finally becoming obvious to almost everyone. Well, almost everyone:

Back in Congress, the so-called Super Committee is attempting to hammer out a deficit-reduction package. That should be easy. A small group certainly can accomplish more than the entire Congress, right? Right?

President Obama has been doing whatever he can via executive orders. Funny, I don’t remember reading anything about those in the Constitution. But he’s now going to reduce student loan paybacks by a whole $8 per month. And there will be forgiveness of those loans if they aren’t paid back in a certain number of years. Students should be elated, but don’t tell them the truth; it might damage their faith in the nanny-state:

Some people got very upset over a proposed $5 fee at the banks. Perhaps they should be upset over something more substantial:

How are you getting along with our new light bulbs? Are you like me, stocking up on the old ones? You might want to consider it.

And finally, there’s the ongoing illegal immigration quandary:

We can now add South Carolina to the list of states the Justice Department is suing for taking matters into their own hands. The past three years sure has brought change, hasn’t it?

I haven’t said much about foreign affairs lately, so let’s catch up a bit. The really big news, of course, is the death of Qaddafi in Libya. Some are touting it as a major step forward for “democracy.” While I’m glad the delusional tyrant is gone, don’t count me among those who believe the future is rosy in that part of the world:

Change is not always synonymous with progress.

Speaking of change, that would be nice for Venezuela. Yet it appears Hugo Chavez is hanging on, to the detriment of the country he rules:

And then there’s Iraq. President Obama has declared our mission complete by the end of this year, and most troops will be removed. While I am always glad to keep our soldiers out of harm’s way, this is a bittersweet withdrawal:

I realize we can’t stay forever, and that Iraq must stand on its own, but will this now be a vacuum that Iran will fill? How can that be a better scenario? No easy answers in the Middle East, but it would be tragic if Iran now becomes the neighborhood bully. What’s Obama’s plan about that? Or is this primarily a campaign strategy? Forgive me if my cynicism is showing.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

“I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”

Pardon me for a small divergence from the usual today. You see, tomorrow evening marks the end of a mini-era: the final episode of Lost. Yes, I admit it, I am a confirmed “Lostie.”

Perhaps it has something to do with my undergraduate degree in radio, TV, and film production, but I truly enjoy and appreciate quality work in storytelling. For me, that’s what Lost has been.

While it is not explicitly a Biblically themed story, there has been quite a dialogue on the issues of faith and science, fate and free will, and purpose in life. Some of the characters have demonstrated that the greatest love is to lay down one’s life for another. Overall, it has been thought-provoking and the character aspect has remained strong over all six seasons.

I also don’t mind a little sci-fi along the way.

That is not someone you want to have in charge of your audit.

For those of you who couldn’t care less about the program, file this posting under “what was that all about?” For those who share my interest, I hope you come away from the final episode satisfied with how it ends.

A primer is something that provides elementary lessons; it teaches the basics. There is a segment of the American public that needs a primer on what happens when the government tries its hand at directing the economy. Personally, I think the lessons are quite obvious, but ignorance is widespread.

The first lesson is that our political leaders [depending on who is in charge, of course] often believe that government spending is the key to prosperity. In fact, President Obama has stated this explicitly. Now if the concept of spending one’s way to prosperity seems a trifle contradictory to you—well, that means you have a grasp of how logic works. That’s not always the case with the government. It would be nice if Obama and his allies would at least admit they have a logic problem. Perhaps they some help in discovering this.

I guess some people never do learn to take personal responsibility for anything. That’s another one of those basics we need to learn, by the way.

Lesson #2 is that instead of learning from the mistakes of out-of-control spending, the government decides to solve the problem by allowing even more spending.

There, problem resolved.

A third lesson is that it doesn’t matter if a program goes bankrupt. The best thing to do is simply ignore reality. Life is less stressful that way.

Finally, government never gives up on its plans to take over more and more of the economy, no matter how awful the idea, how resistant the public is to it, or how dead it seems.

I hope this primer has been helpful. Feel free to spread the word.

Before I start, I want to acknowledge the fact that a camera can catch anyone in a pose that is unflattering. We probably all have pictures we would like to burn.

So, that point is made.

Regardless, if someone is continually caught in a certain pose, it could be that he or she has a habit of striking said pose. In the case of President Obama, he has the tendency to stick his chin in the air and come across as someone who is above it all—particularly the peons upon whom he has deigned to bestow his blessings. In other words, he comes across as arrogant quite often. The first picture is from campaign days. But there are others.

In fact, here are two more from his State of the Union speech on Wednesday. Mark Steyn, in a comment in National Review, flashes his usual wit on this topic:

One problem . . . is that upturned chin. Just as a matter of angles, it looks wrong on TV. So it would be a problem for Hillary or McCain or Ron Paul or whoever would have won. But it’s worse for Obama because it plays into the aloof-and-arrogant meme. I don’t know why he does it. Are the prompters notched up a hole too high? What’s the deal? Why doesn’t one of his supersmart advisers get out the wrench and lower them?

We don’t have to speculate too much, though. Pictures and words together give us a pretty accurate measure of the man.

There were many bets placed on which words or phrases he would use most often. Those who predicted that his favorite word would be “I” win the prize. Never has a president been so self-centered. He speaks and acts as if he is the embodiment of the nation. There have been presidents who truly did embody the nation, but part of the reason they were perceived in that way was their humility. The prime example for me is Ronald Reagan.

In his State of the Union speech, Obama never once really took the blame for anything. He scored the Supreme Court for allowing corporations to give to political campaigns [as the Supreme Court members sat immediately in front of him---rather unprecedented in a speech like this] and castigated “Washington” for politics-as-usual. Well, wait a minute here. Just what is this nebulous “Washington” to which he refers? Who controls the executive and legislative branches? Isn’t it Mr. Obama and his confederates?

Some will say he did place blame on himself, but consider the context: he only took responsibility for not explaining his healthcare “reform” clearly enough. Really? He has been everywhere explaining it for months. No president has given so many interviews as this one. The nation is practically complaining of a new syndrome: Obama Fatigue.

The subtext for this personal “fault” is that these poor Americans just cannot understand the intricacies of his wisdom unless he speaks in simple language—you know, lower himself to their level.

No, the public understood his healthcare plan quite well. They rejected it precisely because they did understand it.

Three more years.