I've Got a Job That's 'Shovel-Ready'

Talk about your catchphrases. President Bush, #41, was drummed out of office with “It’s the economy, stupid.” “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” was the noose for President Clinton. “They misunderestimated me.” And “Mission Accomplished.” almost made Bush #43 a one-termer. And I predict that President Obama has teed up the next phrase we are going to be sick of in a very short time. “Shovel Ready” is going to be on everything from bumper stickers to coffee mugs. You can already see them can’t you. A picture of the President and the words “Shovel Ready” underneath. Or a picture of the President making a speech and the caption: "Have you got your shovel ready?" Mark my words, this is the new “I did not inhale.”T

This is the lightning strike, the moment when a simple sentence is instantly forged into a durable hook we hang our conversations on. It can be used as code for anything having to do with fertilizer, and we all know what that stuff is made from. We can use it as the answer to poll questions when news stations do man-on-the-street surveys. “How do you feel about President Obama?” Answer: “I think he’s shovel ready!” as we laugh at our own joke. Before long, everyone will be racing to be the first one to use it in conversation. This is the phrase of 2012.

This is fitting don’t you think? The phrase that is eventually going to be on your tombstone should be words from your own mouth. I’m sure the time and setting of the original remark will have a lot to do with it. These words chuckled from POTUS when he was asked about his abysmal failure with regards to creating jobs. The fact that he found anything humorous about 14 million people not having jobs is appalling. The fact that he had the hubris to joke about it on camera is infuriating. The fact that his own cockiness is going to haunt him out of office: priceless.

What’s really revolting in a 'storm the Bastille and demand the heads of royalty' kind of way is the fact that many of the megadonors to his election campaign received huge contracts worth tens of millions. So apparently the best way to ensure that you have a job in 2011 is to make sure your name is on a donor list from 2008. Pretty nauseating stuff coming from guy who wore out the phrase “Hope and Change.”

He promised his way into the White House. He promised to end "politics as usual" in Washington, that phrase never wears out. He promised to close Gitmo, he didn’t keep that one thankfully. He promised that unemployment would never get above 8%. He promised free or affordable health care to everyone. He promised to bring our troops home. He kept none of those promises. So here we go with the new catchphrase;

"Cleaning out the Oval Office? Now that’s a job that is 'Shovel Ready.'”