Burt Prelutsky

Obama and his stooges will have to excuse me if I'm somewhat skeptical when they claim to be delighted that the GOP is running Romney and Ryan against them. I mean, I have tried to see things from their viewpoint, but I just can't imagine why a radical leftist who has run this nation's economy into the ground and his clownish sidekick would want to run against two guys who are smart, well-spoken and extremely personable.

I mean, at least when the various palookas said they were looking forward to facing Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano and even Apollo Creed, in the boxing ring, guys like Tony Galento, Bernie Reynolds and Rocky Balboa, knew they were in store for a big payday. But faced with having to debate these two attractive, articulate Republicans, and without a Teleprompter feeding them their lines, Obama and Biden better hope their opponents will agree to take a dive.

I know that some conservatives are upset that Romney isn't cool or charismatic, two words that Democrats always attach to Obama. As for me, it's enough that I'm so cool, I could actually double as a refrigerator, and so charismatic, it's almost scary. But I wouldn't want to see me in the role of commander in chief and leader of the free world. For that job, I prefer someone who is honest, decent and competent.

One of the things I happen to like best about Paul Ryan is his ability to translate economics into perfectly understandable English. Although you would think that every single American would understand what four years of 8% unemployment, 8% underemployment and a $16 trillion dollar national debt, mean to our nation's future and the future of the world. A world, by the way, that is faced with the threat of a nuclear Iran; a China lusting for more turf; and a Russia controlled by the former head of the KGB.

And then there's the matter of Islamic ambitions. Let us never forget that Barack Hussein Obama once declared that if push ever comes to shove, he would side with the religion of his loony, racist, drunken, father. And why would we doubt him when everything he has said and done, even prior to taking up residence in the White House, has shown where his loyalties lie?

For more on this subject, I urge every voter, whatever his political affiliation, to see "2016" before Election Day.

What I don't get is how oblivious so many Americans are to the economic precipice this nation is fast-approaching. You don't have to be Milton Friedman or have a Ph.D in economics to understand that you can't indefinitely deal with the problem by borrowing from China and printing worthless paper money. When towns and cities all over America are facing bankruptcy because their politicians gave public sector unions a blank check when times were flush, knowing they'd get votes and campaign contributions when election time rolled around, you would think everyone would be aware of the devastation our nation is facing.

Of course it's only anecdotal, but Bret Baier, in his report about the dire circumstances facing American municipalities, mentioned that in San Jose, CA, prior to the city declaring bankruptcy, firemen were averaging $130,000-a-year while cops were pulling down $90,000, and after 20 years of service, they could look forward to equally generous pensions.

In San Bernardino, one police sergeant pocketed $317,000. No doubt he put in a lot of overtime, leading me to wonder if the man ever slept. But $317,000 in a city where the average taxpayer makes less than $40,000-a-year seems a tad outrageous. For that kind of dough, if I were a resident, I'd expect the cop to spend his weekends painting my house and repairing my plumbing.

What makes this all the more farcical is that these towns are in California, where the Democrats in Sacramento have spent decades squandering money we don't have, while pretty much inviting companies to leave for business-friendlier locales like Arizona and Texas. As a result, we have what are probably the highest state and sales taxes in the land, and while the rest of the nation has apoplexy when gasoline prices hit $3.60 or $3.70-a-gallon, ours regularly soar well over $4.00. Liberals of course blame the oil companies for hiking prices at the pump, but the truth is that Jerry Brown and his cronies are gouging us to a degree that the folks at Mobil and Arco can only dream about.

Finally, one reader recently sent me an email, reminding me that, in declaring my skepticism where pacifism is concerned, I once wrote: "Gandhi was just lucky that his enemy happened to be England and not the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany."

In response, I added, "The tragedy in the Middle East is that Israel hasn't been nearly as fortunate in its enemies as India was."