Despite the title this is not going to be a sports column. I already do that with "Snide World of Sports," which appears in the first weekend edition of every month. (How's that for a shameless plug? Then again, aren't all plugs kind of shameless?)
"Scoreboard never lies," (or the shortened "scoreboard") means that the final score is the ultimate truth not the "woulda, shoulda, coulda" excuses. I mention it because this coming Tuesday President Obama's gives his 6th State of the Union address and this time he has his strongest scoreboard.
The late U.S. Senator, Daniel Patrick Monyihan said, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not to his own facts." In the first six years the Obama administration has created 12,000,000 jobs and unemployment is down to 5.6%. Interest on the deficit is less than 2.8% of the overall economy and is two years earlier than promised.
More facts: Bid Laden is dead and the American auto industry is alive; gas prices are the lowest in decades and the housing market is strong; and the Dow Jones has more than doubled during Obama's presidency.
But Obama will be lucky if his speech isn't interrupted by a Congressman calling him a liar as happened in a 2009 Joint Session speech. (And by "Joint Session" I'm not referring to legalizing pot.)
Or, he could experience something as he did during his 2010 SOTU. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, lacking all dignity, shook his head dismissively and mouthed "not true."
The point is, if a conservative president had accomplished any of the above they'd be chanting "It's morning in America." And if it had been the Bush administration that killed Bin Laden they'd stage parades in every city and town in America. The simple truth is if Obama is in favor of something, the right wing nuts are automatically against it.
It's an amazing double standard. Reagan grants amnesty to undocumented workers, he's lauded for being pragmatic. But when Obama's for it, he's destroying the country.
Nixon normalizes relations with China and he's courageous; Obama does it with Cuba proves he's a socialist. And talk about audacity, possible presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee recently criticized the Obamas for letting their daughters listen to Beyonce. Good grief.
Or how about the criticism Obama received for not attending the recent Unity Rally in Paris. Congressman Randy Weber (R-Texas) tweeted, "Even Adolph Hitler thought it more important than Obama to get to Paris." Not only are Weber's comments disgraceful, he misspelled Adolf.
Not that long ago wing nuts like Weber hated the French because they had the temerity to be against the Iraq War. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) actually renamed French fries in Congressional cafeterias to "Freedom fries."
Of course Ney ultimately got his due. In 2006 he pleaded guilty to corruption charges stemming from dealings with crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. (Only in America, when he got out he wrote a best-selling memoir.)
George W. Bush was also displeased with the French for not supporting his war. He let it be known that President Jacques Chirac would not be invited to the Crawford ranch.
Given French art, architecture, food and fashion, that must have been a real blow to Chirac and his wife. The two missed out on eating hot dogs and seeing Crawford. (And all that brush that W. was forever clearing oblivious to 9/11 looming.)
As for Obama's SOTU on Tuesday, one of his proposals could impact Santa Monica College. It has to do with the obscene expense of a college education.
It's becoming like it was before the turn of the 20th century, when college was only for the elite. Now, if you're not from the 1%, one has to be willing to graduate with a student loan debt of a hundred thousand dollars ore more. But it's even worse.
In 2013 it was estimated that the government's profit on student loans was $66 billion dollars. College is expensive enough, why are we profiting from the loans?
But, the right wing congress refused to impose a small tax on millionaires and billionaires rather than lower interest on student loans. So Tuesday Obama will propose that, for full time students with a 2.5 average, community colleges should be free.
It's unlikely Congress will pass anything Obama wants. Particularly discouraging with MLK's birthday on Monday, this includes restoring the Voting Rights Act. (For possible insight, Google the GOP's "Steve Scalise" and "Dave Agema.")
Instead of working with Obama, Congress is more likely to impeach him, possibly for his Executive Orders on immigration and Cuba. (Or maybe for letting his kids listen to Beyonce.)
Yet, even with all the haters, Obama might just get the last laugh in history. This due to one word: scoreboard.
Jack is at facebook.com/jackneworth, twitter.com/jackneworth or jnsmdp@aol.com.
