Does Obama really believe what he said—that China’s infrastructure is “vastly superior” to the United States? Was this a gaff of someone who was off the teleprompter? Obviously, but perhaps he is suffering from a deeper malady.
The presidential campaign trail is grueling and takes a toll on the presidential hopefuls. With the advent of the 18-month campaign more politicians seem to be suffering from Teleprompter Reliance Syndrome (TRS). The syndrome can be an agonizing emotional roller coaster as the candidate travels through the vicious addiction cycle. Teleprompter Separation Anxiety dominates their psyche through repeated periods of non-use in which anticipation of the next use dominates thinking followed by the “high” or altered emotional state created by the trigger, and finally the post-use depression. The most notable and debilitating symptom of this syndrome is the tendency to make wild gaffs when speaking “off-the-cuff”—sans teleprompter.
TRS aside, if, as Obama says, Chinese infrastructure is “vastly superior” to the United States then multitudes of companies and individual “world citizens” will consider re-locating to China to take advantage of it. Maybe we should at least take a closer look at his misguided praise of China.
For starters, let’s begin with a straightforward multiple-choice question about China’s superior infrastructure: How many people in China live in caves.
A. one million
B. 10 million
C. 20 million
D. 40 million
Here’s a hint. To paraphrase Stalin, “One family of cave dwellers is a tragedy, but 40 million cave dwellers is merely a statistic.” Yes, a jaw-dropping 40 million Chinese live in caves—sounds like the Flintstones. Thus, Obama can add China’s cave infrastructure to the Continued... |