Posted on 02/05/2009 4:48:11 AM PST by IrishMike
The election is over, and Obama is going to change the world. Just sit back, grab your ankles, and enjoy the ride down as best you can. Twenty years ago I was on an airplane with my wife and daughter when we suddenly lost an engine. Cabin pressure disappeared, the oxygen masks came down, and the plane began a five minute, 45 degree angle plunge toward the ground. I thought I was going to die, and my family along with me.
Except for the plaintive wails of my infant daughter who was terrified by the oxygen mask held against her face, the interior of the plane was deadly silent. I looked around at the two hundred or so people in the seats behind us and saw the same look in their eyes that I and my wife had. We knew we were in serious trouble and were unsure of our fate, but there was absolutely nothing we could do about it. Rather than scream and cry, we all sat back and accepted the fact that we were just along for the ride. Only the pilot and co-pilot had any real control of the aircraft, such as it was. Our futures were in their hands.
Fortunately, after bracing for a crash, we landed without any further incident — though you wouldn't have guessed that from the rows of fire trucks and ambulances lining the runway that were visible from the airplane's windows. Then, and only then, did we release all our pent up emotions and feel like masters of our own fates again.
I tell you this story because I've been having a discussion with a number of friends lately about the future of this country under the Obama Administration. Two weeks into his presidency I've already lost count of the number of cabinet officers he's selected who didn't pay their taxes until they were nominated. (Hey, did you hear the latest Republican plan to balance the budget? Just nominate as many Democrats for higher office as you can.) The "stimulus package" keeps growing with non-stimulus pork as the economy continues to tank with no end in sight. Iran has launched a satellite into orbit, and North Korea is renouncing its agreements with the South and again threatening aggression. Oh, and unlike Iran, they do have an existing nuclear capability, and a missile capable of reaching the West Coast of the United States.
Obama fashions himself in the FDR-Kennedy mode, which gives me additional cause for concern. He's avoided the tax-cutting, pro-military aspects of the Kennedy legacy in favor of the Camelot mythology. "Kennedy-esque," not "Kennedy-like." Where he's likely to follow in Kennedy's actual footsteps is in the area of completely screwing up our foreign policy. Young, naive, inexperienced, Kennedy was no match for Khrushchev during their first summet meeting, which left the Soviet dictator with the impression that the US president could be rolled. This led to the Cuban Missile Crisis which almost brought us to nuclear war. Had it not been for Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the ExCom, I might be writing this article today with a mud brick and stick instead of a computer, assuming of course enough of humanity even remained to retain a common language.
Today, instead of RFK we have Eric Holder to help guide us through a crisis (when he's not otherwise occupied pedaling presidential pardons to the rich husbands of big breasted women). Obama's ExCom is still being put together, so the verdict here is still out. The country is still being combed for enough Democrats who have actually paid their taxes to fill all the vacant cabinet slots.
Looking at the people Obama has managed to get through the nomination process, I will acknowledge that many of his cabinet officials who were given personal waivers to serve (since they violated Obama's supposedly inviolable ethical restrictions against utilizing former lobbyists, unless of course he really really really wanted them), and who paid enough of their back taxes to gain Senate confirmation, and whose husband's ethical and financial lapses were given a pass because they have 12 million names in their rolodex, are pretty smart people. In fact, they remind me a lot of the brain trust in Roosevelt's cabinet; which leads me to my second observation.
FDR surrounded himself with bright, accomplished people who held opposing points of view and were given overlapping areas of authority. He did this, liberal historians say, to give the president "the best information and options possible." But there is also another, less generous way to characterize this situation. By setting his cabinet up along these lines, FDR assured himself that he'd have sufficient justification to do whatever he wanted to do in his own personal interest. If your Secretary of State and Secretary of War have opposing points of view, you can support the SOS on Monday when that objective serves your interest, the SOW on Tuesday when that objective serves your interest, and back and forth again and again as often as you need.
What distinguishes FDR from Obama, albeit marginally, is that FDR had some actual goals and objectives he wanted to accomplish over and above his own personal interests. With Obama, the judgment on this is less clear. My original fear was that Obama was a socialist ideologue who would actively seek to transform the country in that vision. After getting rid of Richardson, Daschle and others who were supposedly the only people capable of implementing his vision, after abandoning his tax-the-rich rhetoric upon assuming office, after promising to close GITMO without actually closing it, it's becoming clear to me that Obama has no real core philosophy other than to do what is in the current best interest of Obama. If pandering to the Left is needed one day, pandering to the Middle the next, and pandering to elements of the Right the day after that, well, that's "inclusiveness."
Don't get me wrong. Despite my reduced fears about the implementation of an ideologically driven, Obama-directed socialist paradise, I still think Obama will be a disaster for this country domestically and internationally. But the disaster will come from Obama's focus on Obama, not his focus on ideology. There isn't a bus big enough for all the people he'll toss under if he needs to keep his approval ratings high.
Unlike Bush — who had core values (though not always rigorously conservative ones), and thus wouldn't abandon friends or policies to bump up his numbers — the minute it become clear that Obama's Chief of Staff did more than simply relate an abstract preference for the new Illinois Senator in his discussions with Blago, Emanuel will get tossed under the bus too. So too with any other Obama official or supporter whose political baggage will threaten an Obama legacy. The man likes to be president, and he likes to be popular, and these two objectives tend to clash when a person's core values interfere. Either get rid of the values (or, never possess them in the first place), or reconcile yourself to the fact as Bush did that you can be president, or you can be popular, but you can't be both at the same time.
Obama's supporters will hail his superficial inclusiveness and willingness to jettison his "mistakes" (Richardson, Daschle, et. al.) as a clear example of Obama's high ethical standards, ignoring all the ethics waivers and tax dodgers he has already permitted and embraced. Only if you look behind the curtain will you begin to see the O-man for who and what he really is; a man more interested in image than substance, in impressions than results.
And this is where the ride comes in. I ranted and railed about all of this before the election. But the election is over. I still care, but without passion. I can still analyze and write about Obama and his administration for what is really is, but it's become more of an academic exercise.
When the US is attacked by a North Korean missile, or an Islamic terrorist, or suffers any other predictable social, economic, or political problems that arise from Obama's incoherent policies, it will be like sitting in that plane again. There's nothing I can do about it until the next election.
For now, like the rest of the country, I'm just sitting back, grabbing my ankles, and enjoying the ride down as best I can.
Agreed. Obama is like Clinton in this respect--he will toss ideology over the side if it means saving himself and preserving what he sees as his reputation above all else.
Agreed, except that I don’t think Obama is changing much of anything. Well...maybe a little more haste toward whatever hardships lie ahead of us. But we’ve been cruising for a crash for a long time.
We would be advised to call him by his real name, ‘arrogant communist’ Obama. His Kenyan communist pappy’s student.
Good article. It perfectly describes the situation we are now in. It will be a 45 degree decent with an engine until the next election. We are in God’s hands.
with = without an engine
While Obama Nominee’s Cheat Uncle Sam, Rock Guitarist Imprisoned as Tax Cheat
Ronald Isley of the Isley brothers get 26 years for 5 counts tax evasion
—BHO-the example of what happens when an election is won by the below-the-median portion of the population, intelligence-wise—
The country is still being combed for enough Democrats who have actually paid their taxes to fill all the vacant cabinet slots.
Seems to be timely, given that I've just finished sending my paperwork on to the IRS for my oversized refund.
Pretty insightful writing.
Obama is without principle, which makes him much like every other liberal. What makes liberals different from one another in my observation is what they fixate on as their cause. If you look at Obama’s life, he has only ever fixated on himself and his own position in this world. He is a man with a giant chip on his shoulder. IMO, this stems from being abandoned by his father.
OK, somebody explain to me how you “sit back” and “grab your ankles” at the same time? Shouldn’t it be “bend over”? Hard for me to read the whole thing when the intro makes no sense.
I've said on numerous threads that Obamalamadingdong's ego will be his downfall. It's a weakness that Conservatives should exploit to the fullest extent possible. The best thing that could happen right now is for this $900 billion boondoggle to fail in the Senate. Senators are in the process of thrusting a moistened finger skyward in hopes of capturing public sentiment. They know support for this nonsense is falling like a rock. Now is the time to let your congresscritters know you are paying attention!
I was only referring to government spending and trade imbalances. As for having a “buttress” against terrorism, we need to invade and occupy Iran—the continuing source of the enemy’s strength. The world is not a television police show, and guerrilla warfare cannot be won only by trying to stop attacks at their destinations.
All of that said, I believe that President Bush did all that he could for our Nation while being pecked on by the Party’s favored constituents to continue the debt schemes, avoid defeating the enemy, and thereby, avoid temporarily higher freight fuel prices. And the best that he could do was to actually drive spending up to the extent, that Democrats (and Republicans) don’t have much with which to do damage without risking a general default.
Denazification, cumulative review. Report, 1 April 1947-30 April 1948.
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History.Denazi
It is imperative that Republicans begin an intensive public education campaign well ahead of the mid-term elections to explain to the dumb masses that elections have consequences and electing inexperienced, immature, amateur politicians to be the POTUS is a disaster in waiting.
So far, the Obamoron is living down to all of the conservative expectations of him and, IMO, will end up as a one-term president who replaces Jimmuh Cahter at the top of the list of worst presidents ever. Complaining to Congressional Republicans about the fact that they are conservatives and oppose his marxist agenda has only driven a wedge between him and them. Major tactical error that will come back to bite him in the butt time and again as his administration moves forward.
Given how bad his first two weeks in office have been and the rather sudden downturn in his popularity poll numbers, he will become the icon for future generations of Americans as to why everyone in America should not be able to vote. I’m tending more to agree with Neal Boortz on this. If you don’t pay taxes, you don’t vote. If your primary income is from welfare, you don’t vote. If you can’t, as a minimum, name the President, Vice-President, Secretary of State and the senators from your state, you don’t vote. If you believe that voting is a “right” guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, you don’t vote. And, of course, if you are a convicted felon, you don’t vote. Finally, if you can’t/won’t produce a valid photo ID along with your voter registration card when you show up at the polling place, you don’t vote.
But, ‘Pubbies don’t get a pass. They have to EARN (thank you John Houseman and the Smith Barney commercials) our votes and they have to return to their core conservative principles. We can’t continue allowing Washington to conduct “business as usual” when it means that, regardless of which party is in control, the political elites are going to sell out America. America may have voted for “change”, but the Obamoron’s version of “change” won’t cut it.
bump
Obama and his Administration are corruption personified. Crooks et al. with Pelosi as head crook in charge of the DC crooks!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.