Newt Gingrich : 2014-08-21 : President Obama's Golf: The Real Problem

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August 21, 2014

Newt Gingrich : President Obama's Golf: The Real Problem

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A lot of people have commented on and made fun of the frequency of President Obama’s golfing.

The more I watched President Obama, however, the more I concluded the problem was what was not happening between golf rounds.

Two earlier presidents, Eisenhower and Reagan, golfed frequently but their presidencies were stunningly successful. The difference seemed to be that Eisenhower and Reagan were really effective when they weren't golfing.

President Eisenhower was a very serious golfer who had been a varsity football player at West Point. Eisenhower joined Augusta and routinely played with business leaders and pro golfers.

When Ike wasn't golfing, however, he was the best trained strategist to ever occupy the White House. From being first in his class at the Army Command and General Staff College to serving as General MacArthur's speechwriter to rising meteorically from lieutenant colonel to general of the Armies (five stars), Eisenhower proved to be exceptionally smart and hard-working.

As leader of the Allied forces in Europe, he made many of the biggest decisions in World War II. Ike knew how to run meetings, establish strategies, and manage people to get things done.

Eisenhower's White House staff actually urged him to get out on the golf course. They knew he was so intense and so driven to succeed that he needed time away from the office to decompress.

President Reagan had a very different background from President Eisenhower but a very similar approach to disciplined, strategic leadership and focusing on what mattered.

Reagan had actually learned from Eisenhower that it helped to be underestimated and seen as pleasant and not particularly intense. Reagan used to quip, “They say hard work never killed anyone, but why take chances?”

The Reagan presidency was focused on three very large goals: defeating the Soviet Empire, relaunching American economic growth, and rebuilding the spirit of American civic culture. He achieved all three.

While Reagan knew how to relax, he also knew how to focus intensely on the three goals that mattered. Look at the personal effort he put into defeating the State Department and insisting on keeping the “tear down this wall" line in his Berlin speech in 1987.

The problem with President Obama's golf outings is the lack of strategic thinking and systematic leadership when he is not on the golf course.

The confusion over Syria, Iraq, ISIS, Hamas, Israel, and Libya is only one example of the growing incoherence of his entire administration.

Lurching from crisis to crisis and story to story with no strategic purpose or long-term implementation makes his golf matches look more consequential than his presidency.

If the economy was growing, the border was controlled, the Middle East was stabilizing and there were no outbreaks of violence in the streets of major American cities, no one would comment on the number of golf games President Obama played. But none of that is the case--which gives you a sense of the achievement gap between the Eisenhower-Reagan model of strategic leadership and the Obama model of tactical improvisation.

Just remember: it's not the golfing hours, it's the non-golfing hours that are a problem.

"We have to frankly break the back of the secular-socialist machine, elect people committed to representing the American people, and then methodically rip the system apart."

I'm still waiting for you to refute a single thing I've quoted Newt as saying. And I'm going to dog you until you do. “When I first ran for Congress I was the natural candidate of most environmental groups…” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 168

“If the United States challenged Europe and Japan to join it in financing a world biodiversity refuge system and tied foreign aid into the process of maintaining biodiversity, we could probably save a very high percentage of the earth’s biological richness…” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Pages 170-171

“As a young professor at West Georgia College, I taught in the second Earth Day in 1971 and coordinated an interdisciplinary environmental studies program.” Newt Gingrich, “Real Change,” Page 196

“That is why I worked so diligently as Speaker of the House to protect the Endangered Species Act, historic legislation that has been mired in controversy…The Endangered Species Act is an excellent example of the value of civility, consultation and collaboration.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages XII & 51

“For that reason, we have supported its (the Endangered Species Act’s) continuation against all challenges by private citizens, interest groups, and congressional opponents.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 53

“The U.S. government operates endowments for the humanities and the arts…Perhaps, it is time we consider a new endowment for conservation and the environment.” “Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages 115-116 [NOTE: As Speaker, Gingrich told conservatives he wanted to eliminate the wasteful National Endowment for the Arts. Now he cites it as an example of a government spending spree that needs to be duplicated.]

“Significant resources should be set aside to protect hallowed sites such as the Galapagos Islands, the Virguna Volcanoes in Central Africa, and Georgia’s Okenfenokee Swamp, to name a few.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 117

Where does that end?

"John Muir, for most of his adult life, experienced nature in spiritual overtones…He even favored using the armed forces to enforce environmental law…However, with the inexorable advance of the urban realm, the defense of forested land assumes a greater urgency as we strive to sustain the highest-quality standards for our nation’s air, water, and land.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 127

“Our national parks and wildlife reserves require more vigorous protection. With an eye toward strengthening his environmental legacy in the 2007 federal budget, President Bush requested the largest increase for national park funding in our nation’s history. We should expect nothing less than excellence from our national park system.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages 130-131

“Far from becoming a new source of global discord, environmentalism, which binds nations to a common concern, will be the best thing that’s ever happened to international relations.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages 149-150

“We will need to organize a series of high-level global conferences that focus on specific [environmental] problems…” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 158

“…the type of arduous research that produces real breakthroughs can only be funded by astute governments.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 167

“America used to be that kind of government [that spent millions of tax dollars on “energy research” welfare programs,] but our commitments have wavered in recent years so government incentives for energy research will be issues in future political campaigns.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 1 +667

“Mobilizing other countries to join us will not be as easy as it may appear. Many of the countries that signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol are lagging behind on their commitments.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 168

“The act [Endangered Species Act] has been, by any measure, a very successful guardian of wildlife and habitat and any attempt to weaken it should be resisted.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 170

“…our children, according to Louv, run the risk of acquiring ‘nature deficit disorder,’ a malady that he describes as a contributing factor to a recognized mental health construct, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Nature deficit disorder, not yet acknowledged by scientists or clinicians, is a working hypothesis that Louv believes helps to explain the onset of ADHD, and he proposes that exposure to nature should be offered as a therapy for children who have difficulty attending to stimuli and learning in conventional classrooms. His call for research in this domain is compelling.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 182

“Local governments operate much closer to the origin of environmental problems, and they have begun to provide tax incentives and large cash rewards for environmental compliance…While the motivation is driven by the application of tax dollars, the effect is rewarding rather than punitive…” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 194

“…our government, at all levels, must be modernized to successfully partner, let alone compete, with the private sector.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 196

“In spite of the demonstrated liberal leanings in academia, we have nothing but respect for the nation’s scientists. They represent America’s best hope to protect the environment. We support a dramatic increase in science and technology research and development because we desperately need to understand global climate change and other environmental phenomena.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 201

“Needless to say, an appropriate and significant investment of public and private funding to renew the earth will pay dividends.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 202

Newt talks a conservative game, but when it comes to the one power of government to pick winners and losers in the marketplace, worldwide, when it comes to the one illegitimate power of government that has done more than any other to wreck the free enterprise system, Newt is right there with the big money global socialists.

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