October 5, 2009

Half a president

By Steve McCann

President Obama apparently wants to do only half of his job -- the part that is the most fun. And he's got his eyes on a higher position.

Barack Obama has been the number one topic of conversation among many of my friends and associates in London. His incompetence, narcissism and danger to the interests of the United States and its allies in Europe are startling people. I was asked "How does Obama view himself as President?" We happened to be sitting in a hotel which overlooked Buckingham Palace and suddenly the answer to the question came to me.

In the United Kingdom and many other countries with a parliamentary system there is a distinction between the head of state and the head of the government. In some countries such as Denmark, Spain and the United Kingdom the monarch either a King or Queen is considered the head of state and with that office goes all the trappings of royalty. The mundane responsibility of running the government falls to the elected Parliament and their chosen Prime Minister.

Of the world's major democracies only the United States merges both functions into the office of President.

It appears that Barack Obama views himself as the head of state only. As such he cannot be bothered with the day to day responsibility of governance. He is, in his narcissistic world, above all that; thus he delegates the writing of the Stimulus, health care and other major bills to Nancy Pelosi, puts off any decisions on Iran and Afghanistan, appoints czars with power to spend and set policy and prefers to spend his time on television speaking to the huddled masses.

His responsibilities as the head of government have been assigned to others, who in many cases are not answerable to the American people. This has created untold chaos in Congress and apprehension among the citizenry. Yet the President appears not to care, as his interests lie elsewhere.

The Presidency of the United States to Mr. Obama is nothing more than a stage so he, pre-ordained by destiny, can act as head of state for the world. He is much too busy enjoying the trappings of royalty, despite his oft-declared disdain for that class, to be bothered about the dismal long term future of the United States if the left wing policies of his government are enacted. It appears President Obama also believes as the world head of state he can, by sheer force of his will, charm and persuasion convince the most brutal of global adversaries to live in peace.

The rest of the world has begun to see through his unrestrained self-absorption. The rejection of the Olympics for Chicago despite his personal intervention, and the published mockery of him by Nicholas Sarkozy are just the tip of the iceberg that is the real consensus of opinion, particularly in Europe.

However President Obama's make-up is such that he will never accept any criticism as being valid when directed toward him, and will instead seek any excuse to explain away what is said or done as being the result of the failings of others.

Notwithstanding the determination of the founding fathers to avoid having a monarch, we now have one, at least in his own mind.