One thing that President Barack Obama is finding out with increasing certitude is that it is far easier to criticize someone than to walk a mile in their shoes; or in this case, the few steps from the Rose Garden to the Oval Office. Notwithstanding the disagreements with Moderate [Reagan] and some Liberal Democrats, Republicans, and Independents within both the House of Representatives and Senate regarding legislation over Health Care, the Economy, and dozens of other domestic as well as foreign policy issues, Barack Obama is looking more like a “lame duck” [legislatively ineffectual] already than a newly elected President.
With nearly a year into his presidency, Barack Obama has achieved very little in the way of steering a sure and steady course toward any coherent, meaningful, and realistic agenda for moving the country forward. Outside of the occasional rhetorical flourishes, he has not shown the very thing that people expect, namely, “leadership.” It is about time that something tangible and sustainable emerges from the president other than him trying to do everything all-at-once, thereby accomplishing very little in the way of achieving ‘real’ results.
During the Presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama promised accountability, transparency, doing things right that make sense, reaching out to members across the [political] aisle (bi-partisanship), being deliberate and thoughtful, and bringing economic relief to those Americans on Main Street and not Wall Street. So far, none of this has happened and the printing presses at the US Treasury Department have issued nearly a trillion dollars to keep Insurance companies, US Automakers, and major Banking Institutions from bankruptcy. The average unemployed worker has received an extension of UI benefit checks but none of the optimistically forecasted new "Green Energy" jobs.
Even Federal and State Pell Grant or Worker Retraining funding to go to a College University or Technical School is dwindling and may be unavailable for those who most need it. President Obama is reminiscent of the Nursery School tale of the Little Dutch Boy who tried to plug a hole in the dike with his little finger to stop a leak. When he did that, another leak sprung somewhere else; you get the picture. Just like the little lad in the story, President Obama doesn't know how to "fix" the problem. And in the story, was it that the little boy didn't have enough fingers to plug each leak that formed in the wall of the dike, or was the dike constructed of cheap materials and of such poor quality to hold back the swelling waters, or was it instead, the mounting water pressure on the other side of the dike's protective wall which threatened its eventual collapse?
President Obama’s numbers are plummeting, edging below 50% according to the latest MSNBC poll for the first time since he took office, and is likely to drop even more until the “CHANGE” that candidate Obama promised the electorate truly comes to pass. Internationally, outside of the few mostly positive remarks from Western European countries and their leaders who sing his praises publicly, it is uncertain whether Barack Obama conveys the same kind of confidence and support in private diplomatic negotiations and discussions.
If the United States governmental officials and politicians are at odds with him on the domestic agenda, what chance does Barack have to persuade an International assembly of disparate and separate political entities, ethnic, religious, and economic ideologies, each with their own particular self-interests and priorities? Political representatives and citizens of countries in Central and South America, Eastern Europe, The Middle East, and the Far East as well as in parts of Africa are waiting to see what President Obama is going to do; as they have yet to swoon over the eloquence of Barack’s oratory because as the old saying goes, “Talk is cheap but it takes money to buy land,” or as the slogan in an unforgettable former fast foods commercial asks, “Where’s the Beef?”
Years ago, former President George W. Bush mentioned to a reporter during questioning after one of his press conferences that, "It's a hard job [being President]," and based upon what Barack Obama is dealing with behind-closed-doors and out of the glare of the media spotlight, he would undoubtedly say, "Amen, Brother!" Of course, President Obama is not one who lacks a high estimation of himself, as told to Oprah recently when she asked him to rate his performance in office, and not surprisingly, he gave himself a "B+" grade. That overrating must be for "style" points because it sure is not based on "substance;" and come to think of it, isn't this the very thing that Hillary Clinton pointed out during the Presidential Caucuses and debates? And if this is how Barack does now, what will he do in a real national emergency or International crisis in the future when that "red phone" in the Oval Office actually does ring at 3AM?
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
December 18, 2009
pbks@hotmail.com
