Half or Twice As Much?

While I'm working on something of a more serious nature, I wanted to share a brief thought with you that struck me as I watched the President kick off his official 2012 campaign at the Schottenstein Center on the Ohio State University campus.  Since Columbus, OH is one of my former hometowns (and the one where I lived the longest ... and the most number of times). 

There has been a great deal of discussion over the venue of kickoff of the campaign, in spite of the fact that it's only four days ago.  Now politics is as much about perception as it is about reality (and some would say far more), so the picture that many saw of the president speaking before the OSU banner carries a message, both up front and subliminal.  We see smiling faces and people applauding (as such events are want to bring out).     

The banner in the background likewise lends an air of almost endorsement, though I'm sure that somewhere on the last page of a press release in typeface normally reserved for the last 5 seconds of a car commercial, it states that the University is not endorsing, nor can it endorse, the candidacy of any elected official.   

The second picture has been much ballyhooed by those of the Republican persuasion, showing that the packed houses that once likened the President to a Rock Star, have dwindled.  Not only are the upper decks largely empty, but unless the the Secret Service or OSU officials prevented it, the arena floor is likewise mostly empty.  The question Republican pundits posed was that of whether the venue was "half-full or half-empty".   

These pictures reminded me of this clever phrase as well, but with a different interpretation; one explained to me many years ago:

The Optimist looks and says that the glass is half-full.

The Pessimist looks and says that the glass is half-empty.

The Realist looks as says that we have twice as much glass as we need.

So while these pictures remain in the public eye late me state that:

The Cynic looks and says Mr. President, that we're trying to tell you that we have twice as much (and more) government than we need.  Are you getting the message?