PrintMarch 30, 2009
President Obama's Miscalculated Transparency
In the end, it may be Obama's transparency that does him in. Not the kind he promised in the campaign, of course.
More and more supporters are waking up to the reality of the man they helped put into the White House. In a sweeping but concise recounting on how President Obama's agenda is now all but lost, largely through a dead-on-arrival proposed budget, Byron York inasmuch predicts Obama may be already a lame duck president barely 60 days into his first term. How is this possible? How did it happen?
Much is made of the popular but overused word "transparency". Nearly every challenger for public office claims the incumbent is mired in secret deal making, cover ups and conspiracies to reward special interests who are the only ones with limited access to the truth. Obama himself repeatedly vowed to bring "transparency" to the presidency. He's certainly accomplished that, in spades.
Which is precisely Obama's problem and why his presidency is doomed. In a staggering miscalculation he forgot that transparency works in opposite ways too; for example displays of ineptitude, ignorance, inexperience and stupidity become glaringly transparent when afforded enough opportunity for repeated exposures. Obama's presidency from the start has been overexposed laying bare his naïveté and absence of leadership in substance, while proving he comprehends little of the enormity of the job he's undertaken, corresponding to his lack of any preparedness for it.
Wouldn't you think the Teleprompter President and his minions could use a little less transparency? While the stock market languished waiting breathlessly for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to show up and say something - anything -- every time he now opens his mouth the market tanks and the dollar sinks. How about less transparency over Geithner's enthusiastic asinine reactions to Chinese suggestions on taking over the world currency, followed by another back pedaling clarification provoking another dollar sell off and run up in gold prices.
If Obama himself has received no tutoring on diplomatic protocol, judging by his embarrassing conduct of the first official state visit from Britain's Gordon Brown, couldn't there have been some way to invoke executive privilege?
Why does Secretary of State Hillary Clinton travel with a gaggle of reporters when all that's fit to report is news about another misstep with China, Iran, Russia and Mexico? Her "Smart Power" has become impotent stumbling and bumbling. Can't she find at least 18 minutes of video tape to erase?
Obama can't even make an appearance on the late night TV talk shows without making an ass of himself, while the audience cringes at another misplaced attempt at humor -- this time offending Americans with special needs and disabilities. Hells bells even Steve Croft of CBS Sixty Minutes couldn't hide his incredulity over Obama's immaturity and lack of seriousness. And we haven't begun to mention Joe Biden yet.
Obama's Chicago politics have long been associated with back rubs in smoke filled rooms. Reformers believe sunshine is the best disinfectant to combat corruption and show the way for truth tellers. Obama would have been better off drawing the shades, closing off the ventilation and lighting up a few Cuban "Diplomaticos".
