Obama: His Political Foes Are In Denial

Perhaps his critics who view President Obama from the ankle down seemingly only see some 10% of the man. Mr. Obama came to national public attention at his 2004 Democratic National Convention speech.

[State Of The Union]

If  America is ready to elect another mediocre President there are many contenders  lining up to challenge Barack Obama, but to no avail because at this time in its  history, this nation is lucky to have an intelligent, thoughtful, deliberative  and level headed Chief Executive since Obama is aided by the best team of  advisors a leader could have.

Such a view is reflected in the strides he has  made to repair the multifaceted problems he inherited in just over two years of  his administration amidst equally pressing worldwide challenges.   

From  the time of his emergence on the national stage, President Barack Obama has been  the subject of criticism from right, left and center and this proves a leader  can be criticized by people all the time.  From the inception of his assuming the mantle of leadership of this great  nation, Barack Obama has been the victim of personality attacks, policy attacks  and even attacks on principles; that is, from the perspective of those leading  the attacks.  

Everyone  is familiar with the pre-election attacks on his patriotism, experience,  religious affiliation, “elitism,” even the perennial and nauseating attacks on  his birth status designed to disqualify his right to hold the Presidency.  Whatever happened to “Joe the Plumber” who coined the notion Obama was a  sociality? He was last seen in a New York  Post political cartoon being “flushed down the bowl” by Obama.  Remember the claim Obama won’t know what  to do as President when the “3:00 AM phone call comes.” That is not altogether  correct, as is evidenced from his gutsy decision to take out bin laden! And  since the World Clown Federation had their eyes on a “Trump Endorsement” we have  to wonder whether the GOP may have a screw missing!

If  we examine the attacks on his tenure and personality we see President Obama was  criticized on the economy as the job market greatly hemorrhaged losing more than  half a million jobs per month and because he had not instantly rectified the  situation in less than two years that had taken more than a decade to create.  The President was criticized for  aiding Wall Street, the Automobile Industry, Banks, and his use of TARP and  Stimulus Funds. He was severely criticized for the stubborn state of  unemployment.

Meanwhile the “Birthers Movement” continued their “fools’ errand”  challenging Mr. Obama’s citizenship while undermining the credibility of the  Office of the Presidency and that of Hawaii State officials who certified Mr.  Obama was born in that state. Put all the weight on the good mule meant Mr.  Obama was also criticized for the housing crisis that resulted in massive home  foreclosures, greatly reduced new housing starts and a tremendous decline in  home value as well as the fall of lending giants including Fanny Mae.

Through  all that turmoil, ignoring the misdirected rhetoric, President Obama went about  his duty of improving America’s image abroad, laying the foundation for  America’s resurgence as the world’s technological leader and sponsoring a new  generation of clean air and clean energy resources to reduce the nation’s  dependence on foreign oil. But even more, Mr. Obama emphasized education as a  cornerstone of the future competitiveness of the nation.

Very early in his  tenure, Mr. Obama passed the Fair Pay Act; helped in reducing crack from cocaine  sentencing, and compensated Black Farmers. He also unveiled plans for upgrading  the nation’s transportation system, emphasizing
the need for high speed  transportation to be competitive with other nations who have active high speed  systems. Completing this and utilizing “stimulus funds” the President began  disbursing such dollars to repair roads, bridges, tunnels and  ports.

Through  all this, Mr. Obama demonstrated outstanding leadership that turned the tide  despite the criticisms, threats, unduly caricature and Republican  obstructionism.  In addition, as  Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Obama has had to prosecute two wars in Afghanistan and  Iraq, while checking militants in Pakistan through drone attacks and the  seemingly ubiquitous Al Qaeda movement. Further, he has had to be concerned  about domestic terrorism, Mexican border violence, and sundries issues such as  earthquakes, Somali pirates, tsunamis, radiation contamination, NASA’s space  program and a whole lot more.  

Some  commentators have argued street protest to address social grievances pioneered by Blacks in this country, were taken over by the “Tea Party” movement and this  tactic was instrumental in their successes in the 2010 mid-term elections. Now  “in power” people begin to see the challenges posed to leadership and now their  heads lie uneasily because of “Tea Party”  proposed draconian methods that are not  dissimilar to their initial attitude towards the now President Obama, in their  coming together where he was characterized and caricatured in the most  disrespectful and uncivil manner.

So much so, the public’s watch word to the  “Tea Party” is now “wait till the next election,” when, like the proverbial  “tea” you will be “thrown overboard.”  

When  President Obama made his early Address in Cairo he stressed the need for reforms  by the Middle Eastern governments that should focus on the needs and aspirations  of their people such as jobs, education, and freedom of
speech, right to  peacefully assemble and to protest grievances. He was quick to point out these  are among the pressing issues that lead to pessimism and attractive to  terrorism. Seemingly none of the leaders paid attention and some two years later  Tunisia and Egypt erupted in peaceful revolution forcing their leaders from  power.  

Perhaps  his critics who view President Obama from the ankle down seemingly only see some  10% of the man.  Mr. Obama came to  national public attention at his 2004 Democratic National Convention  speech.  There, applauded for
a  brilliant speech, he came with the highest American educational background that  such intellectual brilliance resulted in his being elected President and the realization he had amassed millions of dollars and millions of followers through  his Internet savvy database. Even from the time he ran for President, whenever  faced with insufficient knowledge of any issue, Mr. Obama would “go to school”  by consulting some of the most knowledgeable advisors on the particular issue. 

Hence he gained a reputation for studying every issue before making his  considered judgment and decision. It is arguable such an approach enabled the  turnaround of national conditions. We see his imprint in reforms in the  financial system through new federal regulations; albeit Wall Street and the  banks are stronger; strengthened, they’re making
and disbursing money;  unemployment has decreased through job creation by public and private hiring as  the unemployment rate has begun to drop; new housing starts are up, foreclosures  are down, and houses are regaining some of their lost value; the domestic  automobile industry, particularly General Motors, Chrysler and especially Ford  Motors are more competitive and holding their own in market share, particularly  because of loans made to the
former two giants.  

Questions  as to how far the Republicans and their “Tea Party” allies will go are tied to  their repeat success at the next, general or Presidential Elections. In a  hopeful boast Newt Gingrich has predicted the Health Care Reform will be  repealed in 2013, the first year of the next Federal Administration, which he  hopes to lead. 

While  opinions varied on the President’s response to unfolding events in Egypt the  customary criticisms were forthcoming as expected, despite his proper handling,  as some have said, of this issue. Two of the most vocal
critics were Senators  Lieberman and McCain, particularly from their “vantage point on a trip to  Jerusalem.” Still, John McCain did give President Obama some credit for handling  the situation in Egypt.  However,  and conversely, as
events in Libya unfolded, Senator McCain appeared on Candy  Crowley’s Sunday morning program State of the Union and she asked him a  pointedly political question, “Did the President wait too long on Libya?” as  this was
certainly political. To which McCain said “Yes.” However, she did not  ask the same question of other guests who would have given a more favorable  response regarding Mr. Obama’s response to Libya.  

Next  Santorum, Romney, Pawlenty, Palin, etc. potential Republican presidential  candidates expressed vocal criticisms about Mr. Obama’s actions in this matter.  Jockeying for favorable status to challenge Mr. Obama, their criticism were  expected. Next, John Conyers and Dennis Cucinich, Democrats, joined the  chorus.  All this goes to show,  criticism can be the order of the day.  

As  events in Libya unfolded, Mr. Obama was again criticized as not acting fast  enough. Take the horrible situation created by the earthquake in Japan. Even  though Mr. Obama would have liked to rush assistance to Japan, he had to wait  until the Japanese government asked for such aid. With Libya he had to move  cautiously and by the time of the Arab League’s appeal, he was then able to move  swiftly in an action that was not readily apparent, yet the criticisms poured  in.

However, unknown to many Mr. Obama had dispatched military elements that had  been in contact with the “Rebels” in Libya, indicating in fact he “did not wait  too long on Libya.” All this goes to show, Mr. Obama did not have to ask  permission of Republicans who would have rightly exploited the fact he needs  their insights to act decisively. However,
Mr. Obama is still an excellent  example of American Presidential leadership and seems unbeatable for the  election in 2012.


“Speaking Truth To Empower.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *