Sunday, December 9, 2012

The Worst President in Modern Times

The worst President in modern history is very easy to describe.

He had no real political experience, aside from a marginal position of authority in the state, which was not even his home state.

He was much better at organizing people to engage in public events than he was in pursuing real leadership.

A Harvard graduate, he had an uncanny disinterest in the opinions of others. He went with his own, often wrong, intuition.

He was a little kid playing in a big man's world. He was a chip off the old block, following in his father's footsteps. Critics have persuasively claimed that he wanted to avenge the wrongs done to his father, a man with liberal leanings which offended some of his own supporters.

He came into office and faced an unprecedented crisis. He received high approval ratings early in his Presidency, only to lose this standing as his policies failed to progress into success.

He spent money that we did not have to fight wars which we should not be fighting. He placed our troops in harm's way in countries where no one can hope for any success.

He expanded health care entitlements without a plan to pay for them.

He suspended the rules of the free market in order to save the free market, yet at the same time he invested his cabinet with the very people who have prolonged the international bailout culture in this country. He has also engaged the same "1%" to run our government and our finances.

I know the man you are all thinking of: George W. Bush. And your guess would be right on. But it would also be very wrong. I am writing about President Barack Obama. Aside from the differing party labels, President Obama is just Bush with a different party label and different skin color.

He had no real political experience, aside from a marginal position of authority in the state, which was not even his home state.

George W. Bush served as the Governor of Texas, which because of the state constitution gives the chief executive a reduced role over a reduced legislature. Barack Obama served as a small-time state senator, then became a small-time US Senator.

He was much better at organizing people to engage in public events that he was in pursuing real leadership.

George W. Bush owned a sports team, the Texas Rangers. He should have stayed with sports. Barack Obama was a community organizer, yet his policies have left this country in disarray. He should have stayed in Chicago.

He had an uncanny disinterest in the opinions of others. He went with his own, often wrong, intuition.

President Bush often went with "his gut". President Obama, a Harvard upstart turned Constitutional law professor, rarely debated issues or listened to colleagues in the faculty who shared differing opinions, so convinced was he of his own opinion.

He was a little kid playing in a big man's world. He was a chip off the old block, following in his father's footsteps.

In many ways, Georg W. Bush was following in "Daddy" Bush's footsteps. Critics attest that W. wanted to get rid of Iraq's Saddam Hussein in order to finish the job started by "Operation Iraqi Freedom". President Obama grew up under the tutelage of "anti-colonial" elites. Similar critics attest that he wants to reduce the United States' stance in the world as vengeance for the "oppressed" third world.

He came into office and faced an unprecedented crisis. He received high approval ratings early in his Presidency, only to lose this standing as his policies failed to progress into success.

From the disputed election to 9-11, Bush had a lot to handle. From the Housing Crisis to the debt crises, Obama had a lot to handle, too. Bush overreacted on combating terrorism by launching the "War on Terror". President Obama attempted to stifle the Housing and Debt crises with more spending, more regulations, and debt, all of which created the crises.

He spent money that we did not have to fight wars which we should not be fighting. He placed our troops in harm's way in countries where no one can hope for any success.

Iraq and Afghanistan: Bush brought the country in, and Obama has not brought us out.

He expanded health care entitlements without a plan to pay for them.

President Bush and a Republican-controlled Congress pushed the unfunded Medicare Part D expansion. President Obama pushed "ObamaCare", which the majority of voters in this country did not want.

He suspended the rules of the free market in order to save the free market, yet at the same time he invested his cabinet with the very people who have prolonged the international bailout culture in this country. He has also engaged the same "1%" to run our government and our finances.

The first sentence is Bush's, but the policies have continued under Obama. The TARP culture which started with Bush has continued with Obama, but instead of bailing out banks and businesses, Obama has bailed out Big Government and Big Labor.

Bush-Bashing is fun, easy, and just about inescapable in this country. Yes, I voted for the guy in 2000 and 2004. I did not want Al Gore or John Kerry in the White House. I can attest that a majority of voters in 2004 did not want John Kerry in the White House either. Just as many Democrats did not like Obama in 2012 but voted for him, so I was not crazy about Bush -- except that he recognized terrorism for the evil that it was, and he was not for the war in Iraq before he was against it.
Yet as much as people love to "Bash Bush", the same people who have given the White House to Obama should ask themselves:

"Why have I voted for a guy who is going to give me four more years of Bush?"

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