most vapid and immature things<\/a> I have ever heard from a President, when he told a bunch of television anchors at the White House: \u201cI like being President, and it turns out I\u2019m very good at it.\u201d<\/p>\nThat\u2019s humility and wisdom for you: six weeks into a four-year term, and he\u2019s already prepared to declare himself \u201cvery good at it.\u201d \u00a0I guess that\u2019s what happens when you\u2019re the kind of guy who gets a Nobel Peace Prize for doing nothing. \u00a0Thank goodness he likes being President, though \u2014 because, you know, it\u2019s all about him.<\/p>\n
President Obama has consistently been absent, more concerned about branding than leadership, with image and atmospherics than truly rallying the troops and harnessing our resources and solving our most pressing problems. \u00a0He turned over the task of crafting solutions on the stimulus bill and the health care bill to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, who predictably butchered it. \u00a0He botched the budget compromise with John Boehner and withdrew from the process. \u00a0When he thought that partisan gridlock in Congress might make him look bad, rather than forging into the gridlock and navigating a way forward he withdrew to the White House and played over 100 rounds of golf.<\/p>\n
The problem for President Obama is that the soaring oratory will not work this time. \u00a0The contrast between the rhetoric and his actual achievements is too great. \u00a0So instead he can vilify the opposition and pretend that raising taxes on the rich will solve our financial mess. \u00a0It won\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Here is one of the key distinctions between the Obama campaign and the Romney campaign: one is centered on a theory of what will revive the economy, while the other is centered on a cynical ploy to rally the middle class against \u201cthe rich.\u201d \u00a0Or in Romney\u2019s words from last night\u2019s speech, one is focused on creating tomorrow\u2019s prosperity while the other is focused on redistributing today\u2019s. \u00a0Even in theory, the centerpiece of Obama\u2019s argument, if implemented, would accomplish virtually nothing to resolve our nation\u2019s most serious problems.<\/p>\n
According to most accounts, even friendly ones, President Obama is haughty and surly. \u00a0To those with eyes to see, he is an act. \u00a0A vacuous promise. \u00a0An illusion. \u00a0An empty stool.<\/p>\n
My suspicion is that Clint intended to say more, but decided it was a good time to pack it in when the crowd was applauding the \u201cmake my day\u201d performance. \u00a0He\u2019s suffering the slings and arrows now. \u00a0One of the immediate \u201cfact-checkers\u201d pointed out, over against Eastwood\u2019s barb that it was time for \u201ca businessman\u201d and not \u201can attorney\u201d to occupy the White House, that Mitt too has a law degree. \u00a0Which is true, but there\u2019s a difference between a person with a law degree and an attorney, and Mitt took his dual JD\/MBA and became precisely what Eastwood said, a businessman.<\/p>\n
But the snarky complaints from the left and the spurious fact-checking only make Clint look better. \u00a0They\u2019re making his day.<\/p>\n
Because Clint is fundamentally correct: the Barack Obama that was promised in 2008 never made an appearance. \u00a0And now it\u2019s time to give the seat to someone else.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Clint Eastwood’s metaphor was correct: the Barack Obama that was promised in 2008 never made an appearance. And now it’s time to give the seat to someone else. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":2558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,326],"tags":[1351,959,1325,1360],"class_list":["post-2557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election-2012","category-politics","tag-barack-obama","tag-clint-eastwood","tag-election-2012","tag-mitt-romney"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>