Subliminable?

This page is no political pulpit, but after reading the following quote you have to admit that the president did nothing to dispel anyone's opinion of his intelligence. While welcoming a number of collegiate championship-winning teams at the White House he had this to say about the hometown Huskies:

"Jim McLaughlin and the University of Washington Women's Volleyball Team is here. Congratulations to the Huskies. (Applause.) These women won their first national championship in school history. They weren't supposed to win. They were the underdog. They had low expectations. It's a good thing, is to keep expectations low, by the way. And they brought home a national championship to the University of Wisconsin. Congratulations to you all."

So, mixing up Washington and Wisconsin isn't that big a deal, it just shows the lack of sincerity at the event. The thing that really gets me is the bit about low expectations. First of all, the team was coming off a final four appearance the year before, was 30-1 and had swept 26 of its 31 matches. To say that they had low expectations is wrong if not an outright insult. Damn East-coast bias.

But secondly, and more importantly, keeping expectations low is not a good thing. I'd actually go so far as to say it's a bad thing. Having low expectations helps perpetuate the cycle of poverty in our cities. It's what keeps kids from excelling in school. It's what frustrates business owners when trying to motivate their workers.

Think about who we look up to in this country. Do you think Vince Lombardi had low expectations? What about Bill Gates & Steven Jobs? Ford, Boeing, Edison? Thomas Jefferson, F.D.R., Martin Luther King? Tiger Woods, Brett Favre, Michael Jordan? And don't forget about Rudy, heck, they made the movie about him because his expectations were as far from 'low' as possible!

"It's good to keep expectations low."

It's almost as if he was referring to his second term in office.

Boy, that's a can of worms that I'd rather not open here. This page is not for politics.