“You can’t bullshit a bullshitter.”  A little low brow?  Maybe.  Wisdom in those words?  Absolutely.

This sage advice was given to us a long time ago from someone who created brilliance from simplicity – gold from straw if you will.  Nope, it’s not a Yogi-ism.  Close, though, and we like it.  It’s simple and effective.  The gist?  Blatant lies are, well, blatant and don’t play well to an honest, educated audience.

Who’s the latest bullshitter?  This guy.  Yes, you’ve heard him lie before.  Shouldn’t be a surprise he’s lying now.  Can’t fault the guy, however.  He probably doesn’t think he’s lying.  As George Costanza once said, “It’s not a lie if you believe it.”

President Obama’s latest lie is that his jobs bill isn’t about politics.  Speaking earlier today in the Rose Garden he brandished a copy ofThe American Jobs Act and stated unequivocally, “This is the bill that Congress needs to pass – no games, no politics, no delays.”  No politics Mr. President?  Oh, for a moment we weren’t sure why you surrounded yourself with police officers, firefighters, teachers and construction workers during today’s speech.

The next act is getting his minions to lie along with him.  According to White House budget director Jacob Lew, “(the legislation) is not a hard choice for most Americans, if the choice is creating, you know, economic growth and jobs, or tolerating the results of many years of inequities in the tax code.”  On come on!  If President Obama wants to reform the tax code we’re all for it but using it as an excuse for lousy, politically-motivated legislation is weapons-grade BS.

Lying is not the only hallmark of a leadership void.  So is scapegoating and is he ever good at it.  His remarks today included the gem, “Either Congress gets it done, or if Congress doesn’t get it done, people know exactly what’s holding it up.”  Really?  It’s Congress’ fault?  When did ‘my way or the highway’ become an effective strategy in a democratic, majority rule society?

There’s a fundamental truth about life.  When it comes to, well, anything there is but one choice – we either don’t know or we don’t care.  President Obama is a smart man.  He knows precisely what he’s doing.  He simply doesn’t care.

Bill Clinton knows this truth.  Say what you will about the man but he is awfully smart – and then some.  He began his administration an ideologue attempting to remake our country in the image of The Great Society envisioned by his idols JFK/LBJ.  (Ironically the most famous of his initiatives references his wife.)  His initiatives failed on their merits and he was too smart to try to spin them – to ‘BS’ the American public.  He abandoned his idealism in favor of pragmatism.  The result?  Policies that did more than pay lip service to the economy but actually stimulated it – welfare reform and the encouraging of capital formation to name a couple.

Staring contests don’t work when no one will blink.  President Clinton knew this.  He knew the way to achieve results wasn’t to beat us over the head with his politics, lie to us or bully those who didn’t agree with him.  He knew the way to progress was to be realistic – to compromise and find a middle ground.

President Obama refuses to be a pragmatist.  Fresh in his mind has to be the war he and his fellow Democrats waged during the artificial ‘debt ceiling’ crisis.  He has to know tax increases aren’t going to get through Congress.  So what does his jobs bill ask for?  He wants to raise $400 billion by limiting itemized deductions such as charitable contributions for individuals earning $200,000+/yr and families earning $250,000+/yr.  And to stick it to the ‘millionaires and billionaires’ he loves to vilify he seeks to raise $3 billion by altering the tax treatment of corporate jets.  Yes, that’s a whopping 0.6% of the money needed to pay for his spending plans.  Hardly an economic drop in the bucket but a huge political windfall.  This isn’t about politics Mr. President?

If President Obama wishes to achieve results he must become more of a pragmatist and less of an ideologue.  If he wishes to be reelected in November 2012 he’d better hope the voting public is comprised of idiots because it’s clear to anyone paying attention the guy simply doesn’t care.  He scoffs at us and mocks us by lying to us and hopes we won’t notice.  Sorry Mr. President but you can’t bullshit a bullshitter.