Which scenario is worse? A clueless POTUS with no idea how to formulate effective policy or an ideologue with no regard for policy outcome? I suspect that Obama can fit the profile of several variants when it comes to policy, none of them any good. Perhaps the larger question is does it even matter? I’ve been listening to a variety of pundits opine on the direction Obama is taking and those seem to be the two main theories.
Is Obama just the generic community organizer who has never held a real job and thus really has no idea how to make competent decisions concerning policy? I don’t think there’s any question about that. Yet, he’s also the agenda driven ideologue who is directed primarily by a narrowly focused thought process on how to implement his fundamental change of America. Thus the explanation for the seemingly incoherent comedy of errors when it comes to solving the economy.
He really can be both at the same time. Clueless and laser focused. It’s important to understand your enemy if you wish to defeat them. Much of his agenda was spelled out for us prior to his election in 2008. Unfortunately, so many of us were caught up in ‘hope and change’ and couldn’t see the forest for the trees in front of us. Those of us who saw through him are not at all surprised by the course he has taken because he said as much.
So the logic seems to be that no one will be fooled this time around. We’ve all heard the stats thrown around such as no incumbent ever being re-elected with an unemployment rate higher than 7.2%. Will it be in Nov. 2012? Absolutely. Does that guarantee an Obama defeat? Absolutely not. One would think it to be impossible for him to even have a chance with the pathetic state of affairs in America. Yet that isn’t how politics works. Having the statistics on your side simply isn’t enough.
That’s the folly in the thinking of labeling Obama as clueless and inept. Don’t worry, there will be a plethora of examples available to illustrate just how unqualified Obama is in regards to running a country. No doubt bloggers far and wide will create laundry list posts brilliantly laid out with a 4 year expose of how Obama has run this country into the ground. Anyone with an open mind and capable of critical thinking should have no alternative other than to vote Obama out. If only it were that easy.
Lately, we’ve seen members of the Obama inner circle jumping ship left and right. Even the MSM has been throwing a few barbs his way just for good measure. The right has been quick to point out each instance and give hope to the idea that the Obama machine may be imploding. I’m not buying it. We’re still 16 months out from the election. Next spring we’ll have a GOP candidate and running mate selected. That’s when you’ll see the democrat wagons circle and the critical voices silenced as everyone falls back into line. They will attack with their usual vigor and rally behind Obama for better or worse.
I think it’s a mistake to approach the election with anything other than the utmost caution. It’s already abundantly clear that the GOP cannot produce a candidate that will put a thrill up the leg of the entire party. Particularly if you are a strong conservative. Some can easily be eliminated right now like Gingrich and Huntsman. Even Perry will have his prior background as a democrat haunting him. Romney is dead with Obamneycare. Pawlenty has his cap-and-trade statements and on and on. Lots of baggage out there. Palin isn’t running, never was. Paul can’t get the establishment support to ever get the nomination. Bachmann will be squarely in the crosshairs now and attacked viciously. I can’t begin to predict who will survive and end up with the nomination.
Many will say is doesn’t even matter. They’re all big spender establishment candidates who simply aren’t capable of charting the course necessary to resurrect our economy. We need look no further than Greece for an example of the difficulty laying before us. Despite overwhelming debt issues and a strategic disaster in economic prospects, the austerity measures being undertaken are resulting in the extreme violence we see on our tv’s. Can you imagine what America would look like if we finally undertook the medicine we require to fix our state of affairs? Granted, our economic flexibility blows Greece away and we have far better prospects for a solution. But only if we get around to dealing with it.
Obama certainly has no intention. His team is currently exploring the feasibility of simply ignoring the debt limit altogether and printing money anyway. There is no regard for the Constitution whatsoever. If they can’t sidestep it, they will work to modify its interpretation. Flat out changing it isn’t really at the top of the list. Not when you can legislate from the bench or implement administrative edicts that won’t be challenged. BTW, Bush was no better when he ‘abandoned his free market principles’ in order to save the economy. He stated that the Constitutional challenges would be sorted out later.
Sorry, you can’t do that. That’s why they’re called principles. That’s why you can’t be a liberal today and support capitalism. Capitalism must have a failure mechanism. It’s the only way it works. Bailouts don’t apply. Government intervention and market manipulation don’t either.You can’t experience the rewards of capitalism and the opportunities it provides without the risk of failure present. That’s the check and balance to keep the free market honest. No bailouts, no stimulus, no artificial interest rate manipulation, no printing money, no picking winners and losers. None of it. In other words, none of the Obama agenda can be tolerated.
And it goes beyond that. To the American people. We still have ultimate control over our future. For better or worse, we will have to pay the price for our elected officials misgivings. After all, we put them there. And we continue to re-elect the same fools that created the mess. If we react like Greece when an attempt is made to fix it, we will face an even worse fate.
Is ‘anyone’ other than Obama the answer? Well, clearly Obama is not the answer and will only serve to exacerbate the problems we face. I don’t support RINO’s or establishment statist’s any more than the next guy. To be honest, I don’t know if this country can save itself. Can we ever get enough on board to recognize the need to elect someone who will literally make things markedly worse in order to get better later? Only then can someone with the economic medicine of a Ron Paul find the support to do what needs to be done. But for right now, let’s not knowingly make it worse with Obama vs. the fear of the unknown from ‘anyone’.
I wish I could find a place to disagree with you, but I am afraid you are right. To be honest, I am leaning towards Ron Paul, but as you have said, it is extremely doubtful that the Republican establishment will give him their support, even if he were to win the nomination.
What bothers me, more than a little, is the attitude that some people need not apply for the job, simply because some pundits/bloggers, etc. deem them to be unelectable. They are declared to be “sucking the life” out of the candidates who can “actually win the election”. I saw that same attitude in 2008 and it gave us John McCain. I would really hate to see it repeated in 2012.
I suppose the perfect world would be a patchwork candidate with the strong points of each sewn in. Most Republicans would embrace Paul for his economics if they could throw out his foreign policy. This idea that if the GOP doesn’t put forward the ideal candidate in 2012 means it doesn’t matter if Obama wins re-election is scary. Nothing wrong with striving for electing the game changer that will do everything right, but don’t just throw up our hands and say it doesn’t matter if they don’t emerge. It reminds me of all of the high profile celebrities who claim they will leave the country if the candidate they don’t support wins. All or nothing just won’t work. Unwinding the progressive movement will be a process. Thanks for checking in Larry.
Yes, it is going to be a process and not a short one, I dare say.
I think all of us would do well to remember that just because a person is elected as our President doesn’t give them carte blanche to implement their agenda. According to the Constitution, they still have to abide by the checks and balances that are built into our system. If Congress can hold someone like Obama in check, at least a little, why wouldn’t it work the same if Ron Paul, or someone else, for that matter, were elected that we do not totally agree with?
I really, really wish people could get past Paul’s stance on foreign policy. I am not even
saying that I am going to support him, not yet anyway, but I still think there is more to the man than many think. I have seen some conservatives say he scares them as much on foreign policy than does Obama, but I can’t see that. I may not agree with him on everything, especially on foreign policy, but given a choice between the two, I would vote for him in a heartbeat and have not one qualm about doing so.
Ron Paul scares the establishment because he represents a true threat to the status quo. Both sides of the aisle. He threatens their power structure they have enjoyed for so many decades. You can find countless examples of people who can’t find disagreement with his message after they really hear it in detail for the first time rather than through the sound bite media.
It’s interesting to hear the debate on his foreign policy. GOP hawks fear the world’s dictators will go on a rampage if we pull back from our extensive foreign influence. Yet, we have a POTUS who actively engages extremists and terrorists. What’s more threatening? Isn’t it the rhetoric of these extremists that it is our intervention that gives them cause to strike back at us? I know that’s a whole separate debate, but no matter what the position one takes, they sell the opposing view with fear.
I would say that actively pursuing a disengaging foreign policy would be an unknown outcome. But isn’t the economy job one? The debt? The Fed? Who better than Ron Paul to clean house on those issues?
An excellent essay. here is what worries me. Often it is necessary for an addict to hit rock bottom before he/she can begin to recover. America, I fear, is addicted to big government. Does America have to hit rock bottom before it can begin to recover? I hope that is not the case because it could take a generation or two to recover from the devastation of hitting rock bottom.
I’m afraid your fear is well founded. All of our discussions about who to elect are a moot point if the bulk of Americans can’t get behind eliminating our entitlement mentality. Recognizing the problem at all is a high hurdle. It goes against American exceptionalism. It’s viewed as a defeatist attitude to admit we have to significantly change our way of life. However, a positive attitude about America is even detrimental if we don’t see the problem. How do we get the masses to embrace opportunity rather than dependency? We even have a graphic display of examples happening around the world to illustrate it. Yet we may be more concerned with the NFL lockout or the trial of Casey Anthony than our house on fire around us. Thanks Jim.
“Recognizing the problem at all is a high hurdle.” Yep, that is the crux of the problem in my view. As long as the large majority of folks I run into don’t care and can’t be bothered to notice the political and cultural downslide of this country, well it’s not gonna stop.
When will enough people notice? Beats me, but that rock bottom that CoF mentioned is a reasonable guess. Blech!
Great post.
Linda
Same boat as you. Not enough people that care one way or the other. Thanks for stopping Linda.
Well said, sir. I’ll be linking…
Done. http://mindnumbedrobot.com/2011/07/02/anyone-obama/4750
Have a great weekend, my friend!
Great post. Don’t worry though, the country can save itself. Just look at how enthusiastically many of college are grabbing onto Paul’s message of liberty. They’ll be leaders of tomorrow as the r3VOLution grows.
I don’t get to see firsthand what is happening on our campuses across this great land. I hope you’re right since we all know the youth hold the key. Thanks for weighing in Frank.