PrintFebruary 25, 2009
A Month of B.O.
Has it been but a single B.O. Presidential moon? It's hard to believe the sheer volume of hyperactive bumbling the Obama administration has crammed into the space of a mere 30 some days. Perhaps it's the technological superiority of the Obamanauts that has enabled them to ratchet up the level of administrative dysfunction so thoroughly.
Recall the dismay expressed by Obie One's staffers when they found that the White House technology apparently consisted of a few rickety abacuses and an intercom made of a series of tin cans cobbled together with string. While this primitive gear may have sufficed for the Bush administration to do their cipherin' out by the White House cement pond, it was woefully unacceptable to the hip new Prez and his Windy City Rollers.
With their exceptional technical wizardry, the new administration was able to nominate nearly twice as many Cabinet candidates as previous Presidential administrations, sometimes several to a single post. The nomination process has been the first truly bi-partisan effort by an American president, as Obama's selections have included both tax-payers and non-tax-payers.
As he hit the ground talking, our new chief executive was hardly remiss in promoting his appointments and policies. In fact, the Great Leader spent more than a third of his first month (11 days) on the road in an attempt to gin up support for his wobbly opening gambits. Obama emoted by radio address, press conference, town-hall meeting and even a bizarre interview with Al-Arabiya in an attempt to show what he believes is leadership right out of the gate.
Unfortunately, all his locutions just sound like more campaign rhetoric. What else can Obama do? Try to remember that when the only tool you have is a hammer, all of your problems begin to look like nails. What evidence do we have of BHO possessing any other skills relating to his new job? Better buckle in for 4 more years of detached, grandstanding flourish left untethered by an incurious media.
The Chicago crew has delivered a mixed bag at best in the foreign policy arena. On the plus side, Obama dispatched Hillary Clinton on a mission just about as far away as one can possibly get from the United States. Surprisingly, the normally pugnacious Mrs. Clinton has picked up on the new administration's developing two-fold diplomatic strategy characterized by the grandiose and self-effacing extension of olive branches, followed immediately by groveling. One might have expected an experienced politician with leftist credentials like Hillary's to carry a brief for the beleaguered Tibetans along on her visit with the Chinese Communists, but Ms. Foggy Bottom clearly acceded to the new Administration's priorities:
Clinton (sought) to focus on economic and environmental issues in Beijing, saying Washington's concerns about the human rights situation in China should not be a distraction from those vital matters.
Just keep turning yuan into dollars and we will forget about your little Tibetan problem: so nice to see such a principled stance from our new administration.
Likewise, the new kids on the Pennsylvania Avenue block are offering a fuzzy and nearly unilateral kind of nuclear disarmament in the face of Putin's muscling up on the Eastern Europeans and the various I-would-like-to-buy- a-vowel-istans. Obama's reaching out to the Iranians has accomplished precisely a demand for an elaborate act of contrition for our imagined Persian-directed sins as well as the end of our support for Israel.
With all the pro-Palestinians filling Obama's staff chairs, an independent observer might believe that he is considering tossing Israel under the bus, not that there is any room left down there. If it weren't for the providential squeaker of a victory by Bibi Netanyahu in the Israeli elections, the formerly committed Western alliance in the Middle East would resemble a beached school of 98 pound weaklings begging to have sand kicked in our faces. And the other guys have a lot of sand.
Of course none of the above is a top priority for the Hope & Changers. Just as in the Chicago Machine that birthed his political career, with Obama it's all about the Benjamins. And with the stimulating collusion of Pelosi and Reid, B.O. is rapidly making the Daley arm-twisters look like pikers. After what must have been a careful review of Karl Marx's Theory of Surplus Value , the Community-Organizer-in-Chief has begun the stimulation of the U.S. economy from rock-bottom up by holding town-hall meetings where the American Idle now get to engage in sympathy contests a la Queen for a Day. Henrietta Hughes? Come on down!
On the economic front, early indications suggest that the Obama administration will look to Brother Gettelfinger and the UAW for guidance, as the overpaid and over-benefitted union that drove our car industry into desperate shape has effectively solved Marx's Surplus Value dilemma: in the American auto industry, there is no surplus value. The value of the products manufactured these days is the same as its cost of production (or less.) If we leave it up to the Illini politicos, before long we won't even have to worry about capping CEO salaries: gross output production quotas can simply be assigned by the appropriate Federal Bureau. The Hurry-up & Changers have a similar cure in mind for the American banking system. And the health care system. And their sycophantic newspaper/media buddies. Ad nauseum ad infinitum.
All of this in B.O.'s first month, and this report barely begins to scratch the surface of his attempted Chicagofication of America. Our new President provides the perfect combination of hubris, narcissism, naïveté and unjustified self-confidence to continue to step well beyond the bounds of the limited mandate he acquired with his enormous campaign funds, the stilted lick-spittle media coverage, and unquestioning support from youths and minorities. Continuing attempted change at this pace will assure the rapid expenditure of Obama's diminishing political capital. Can you say Jimmy Carter?
Ralph Alter blogs at Right On Target.
