Mediaspeak: A litany of cliched catch phrases or words used by cable TV newspeople, pundits and other guests strung together in sentence form on any subject.
Today’s mediaspeak topic: The debt-ceiling crisis.
“It’s a slippery slope the talks are still on because of the disconnect between President Obama and House Republicans who accuse each other of throwing the American people under the bus. At the end of the day the draconian cuts in shared sacrifices may be the only thing to quell this perfect storm. But everything is on the table —- and before both parties can get on the same page and get our fiscal house in order, someone has to be the grown-up in the room.”
Therein lies the problem: No one is the grown-up in the room during these debt-ceiling talks. Obama is giving it his best shot —- he even wants to bring all parties involved to Camp David and lock everybody indoors until they can agree on anything.
But Speaker of the House John Boehner doesn’t like the sound of that because it brings back painful memories from his childhood when kids at camp bullied him because his skin was orange —- and then they stuffed him in outhouses, and to add insult to injury, they shoved firecrackers through the half-moon slots.
The prez will still have everything on the table —- but Nancy Pelosi won’t like the garlic chicken. Obama will have to once again tell House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, “Eric, eat your peas.” But Cantor will stomp his feet and say no until the president tells him to go bed and no TV for the night.
Obama will eventually start acting like Gary Cooper in “High Noon,” pilgrim. He’ll no longer be the tin horn on Capitol Hill (if lawmakers don’t do something soon that will be changed to Boot Hill.)
The prez apparently told pea-brain Cantor “Don’t call my bluff” (which Maverick —- the TV gambler cowboy, not John McCain —- would never say when other peoples’ money was on the line to take.)
And speaking of money, the Obama re-election campaign has thus far amassed something like $86 million in campaign funds.
To which Mitt Romney says, “Big deal. I got that on me.”
No debt crisis there.
If this is how government is going to continue to work, it’s no wonder a lot of Americans don’t bother to vote.
Anyway, this debt-ceiling crisis is going to take a back seat when the Women’s U.S. Soccer Team beats Japan on Sunday.
Then there’s always Casey Anthony’s release from prison.
What a media circus that will be.
Send in the clowns.
Never mind, they’re on their way back from Camp David….
