The greatest of American Presidents was an astute judge of human character, having observed at one point in his political life that you can in fact fool some of the people all of the time.
Mr. Obama’s current opinion polls are both encouraging and scary. Our rock star President, has benefitted from an adoring public fan base that has been overly kind to him. Reality, however, driven by events is catching up to this man who has failed this nation in most aspects of his Presidency. His current poll numbers and job approval ratings are beginning to reflect the negative direction of the country, something most Americans have known for several years. The scandals, his failures in foreign policy and national security, and unconstitutional actions reflect fortunately the third fact stated by Lincoln,”…you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” This awakening by most Americans is encouraging. The fact however is that somewhere around one-third of Americans still think that Obama is doing a good job. Those poll numbers are amusing. Who are these Americans and what leads them under present circumstances to conclude that Mr. Obama is a successful President? Most of these people of course belong to the President’s left wing base. I deeply respect the rights of these people to hold the beliefs and political positions they do.
In the 2008 campaign it was obvious early on that Obama’s “change” was very suspicious and dangerous and that he was the wrong man, in the wrong place at the wrong time. I did at one time believe that it was a positive thing for America to have elected an Afro-American as President. Conversely I never believed that a man’s ethnicity should constitute a free ride in the Presidency which some Americans still do. This eventually evolved into the bogus claim by some of his supporters including Eric Holder, that if you criticize Obama you are a racist.
It is fair to ask, where are Obama’s one-third core coming from? It seems to this writer that his supporters have to overlook or deny a whole lot of reality in order to still believe that this man is a successful President, and that the country is going in the right direction.
First, they must sign up to Barack Obama’s blame game. The President has been very adept at blaming others for his failures. From day one the economy was the fault of George Bush and the Republicans. Truth be told, he could have had a good working relationship with the House Republicans if he had not repeatedly told them “I won the election; it’s my way or the highway.”
Scandals have been an integral part of the Obama Administration from day one and his supporters have to accept his phony claim that they are all political and that there is no proof against him. Most of the public has reluctantly concluded otherwise based on public revelations that Fast and Furious, Solyndra, Benghazi, the IRS, and the Veterans Affairs mess were indeed real and that Obama has not cooperated to clean up the carnage. Instead, he claims, “There is not a smidgen of evidence,” “It was a cheap video.” These false defenses were soon relegated to the trash can. Yet many of his supporters and defenders still accept Obama’s feeble and false statements and believe that Lois Lerner’s E-Mails were accidently lost and are irretrievable. His supporters have convinced themselves that the scandals are kept alive by his political opponents and the conservative media for political purposes.
Mr. Obama has done nothing effective to solve our huge illegal immigration problems because the “Republicans won’t cooperate.” He has refused to effectively seal the border which leaks like a sieve, a political reality that his supporters overlook.
International terrorism is not a threat to the US, says this disengaged President. ISIS, however, is quite different than Al-Qaida. It has seized territory, oil fields, and public facilities and has some credible sources of revenue. Its success has much to do with the failure of Mr. Obama to conclude a Status of Forces agreement with the Iraqi Government which would have allowed for an American residual force to stay in Iraq. Many Obama supporters say the world is complex and the President needs time to ponder and review the situation before he acts. The “red line” in Syria, “serious consequences for Russia” regarding aggression against Ukraine and Mr. Obama’s assurance to Putin that he would be “more flexible” once he was reelected represent a President who believes talk is effective policy and action. There is not much criticism from his base on these rhetorical and hollow statements.
Mr. Obama’s one-third accepts his phony claims that America has been a bully in the past and we must scale back and mind our own business, reduce our presence in the world and reduce the size of our military. This despite the reemergence of Putin’s Russia as an aggressor state, the threats represented by North Korea and Iran and China’s growing military and economic power. In other words by leading from behind and we will make the world a safer place. That phony and unworkable principle belongs in the fairytale section of the appeasement library. Seldom if ever have we seen a President so detached and indifferent concerning what is going on in the world.
Few things about Obama are more intriguing than the Americans who still flock to his fund raising events and who are forking out huge sums of money to a President who by all standards and measurements has failed the nation he was twice elected to lead.
I think it is fair to ask as America declines and the world is heading south on Obama’s watch, where are the responsible voices of those who know better and understand the growing threats. Where are the senior Democrats in the Senate, Harry Reid excluded, who should put country above party, who see the intelligence, who chair the committees dealing with foreign affairs, the military, political terrorist threats and homeland security. I have to believe they are shaking their heads while remaining silent. Is there no Scoop Jackson among the Senate Democrats? Where are the senior military and intelligence leaders who certainly see the threats looming on the horizon? Will one or more of them have the courage to resign in protest over the failure of this President to effectively lead the nation in an increasingly dangerous world?
Where are the Warren Buffets of America who have to know that their man in the White House is failing us? In 1936 Winston Churchill warned the people of Great Britain that Neville Chamberlain’s agreement with Hitler at Munich was a huge mistake. Is there not an American Churchill out there somewhere? Hasn’t the time come for George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to break their silence about this President? Presidential niceties should never override an administration that has become dangerous to the American nation.
Perhaps one day soon Obama’s one-third base will wake up and realize that their man is on a perilous course. Hopefully then the poll numbers will force Obama to change course, clear his confused mind, or perhaps even resign.