CNN and NBC have been gently mocking President Obama for his recurrent metaphor about the economy being "a car that Republicans drove into a ditch." Sunday, former comedy writer and current US Senator (or do I have that backwards?) Al Franken took the metaphor to its outrageous conclusion, as he campaigned for MN gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton. In case you missed it, Franken spoke of how, as the "car" sped down the embankment, toward a thousand-foot cliff, George Bush "bailed out" (on inauguration day, 2009), and Barack Obama somehow miraculously "jumped in," stopping the careening car before it plunged into the abyss. Now, Franken spins, the President and his team are "pushing the damaged car up the hill," which—of course—is more difficult, and takes longer than when it's barreling downward.
Problem is, a few things are missing from Senator Franken's metaphor. First: what caused the "car of our economy" to careen off the road in the first place? It was a runaway semi truck called "Fannie and Freddie," that was carelessly built (without brakes) by community organizers in Chicago, and driven by Mr. Franken's fellow "progressives" at dangerously high speeds! And, as anyone who drives knows…once someone traveling the opposite way from you veers too far left…they will inevitably cross the line, and into your lane! Secondly, Franken forgets that President Bush was thrown from the vehicle by natural forces he could not control… namely…the 22nd Amendment. And finally…instead of trying to push a broken car up a hill…why don't Mr. Franken and his cronies allow the skilled mechanics across the aisle to repair the engine, thus permitting the car to drive UP the hill under its own power?
Something tells me that—in just a few days—they'll get their chance.
