Imagine you’re in the Obama White House, and this is what you face. Democrats lose a special election in a congressional district they have controlled since the 1920s and which was framed as a referendum on the president. There’s a possible scandal brewing over the White House’s effort to rush federal reviewers for a decision on a nearly half-billion dollar loan to a solar-panel manufacturer, Solyndra. The most recent Census Report shows median household earnings fell for the third consecutive year, back to 1996 levels. A record number of Americans are in poverty. In Afghanistan, the Taliban mounted a fierce assault on the U.S. embassy and NATO military headquarters in Kabul. A new CNN/ORC poll shows Obama’s disapproval rating has reached a new high while the number of Americans who think he is a strong leader has dropped to a new low. And that’s just today.It's no wonder he tries to blame his failures on President Bush. He believes his own press releases, and is incapable of accepting that even after 2 1/2 years he's not up to the job.
On a human level, one can sympathize with what the president, his advisers, and his supporters are going through right now. But there is a cautionary tale in this as well. When Obama was running for president, he was dismissive of those who came before him. The problems we faced, at home and abroad, would be fixed by signing this executive order and passing that piece of legislation. Hope and change were on the way. “I’m LeBron, baby. I can play on this level. I got some game,” Obama is reported to have said back in 2004.
Being president seemed so easy before he actually was president.
Education, politics, and anything else that catches my attention.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Hubris
Just looking at the title, you know who this is about:
Let's try and play spin doctor;
ReplyDelete-That district was going more and more Republican anyways. Besides, due to gerrymandering after the 2010 Census, that district is going away.
-The folks that did the review were life-long bureaucrats, not political appointees. It was properly vetted. Hey, companies go out of business, it happens.
-Do you realize how far the median household earnings would have fell if we didn't push the Stimulus through???
-Do you realize how many more people would live in poverty if not for the Stimulus? But I repeat myself.
-Remember Tet? This is their last big gasp!
-People can only disapprove if we are doing something of which to disapprove. Doing something is good. We are not voting present!
-Dropping to a low for strong leader this early before the election just means we have more time to improve!
Yeah, go spin-doctor!
I'm really starting to agree with you, D. However, isn't there something in "the devil you know." I mean Perry? Or, holy crap, Bachmann?
ReplyDeleteIf that's the case, I'd hope for an Obama presidency with the GOP taking both houses. Then maybe they'd both tack toward the center.
I'm serious about dissatisfaction with Obama. But I'm as serious about opposing extremists with which I have little in common other than fiscal conservatism.
Just saying.
Fiscal policy is the most important thing to me, right now.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you Mazenko, the worst case is when both houses of Congress and the Presidency is held by one party.
ReplyDeleteIf we get rid of the Devil we know, I actually hope the Senate stays Democrat. They need the check and balance or things run off the rail too far to one side or the other.
That said, I prefer an almost permanent 5-4 Supreme Court that favors the Right. What one Congress does, the next Congress can undo two years later. What the Supreme Court does, we suffer under for decades.