The Sorriest Man in America

I suppose that you might suspect this already, but I am deeply suspicious that Obama is sorry that he ever ran for the Presidency, and even sorrier that he won. I think that he regularly wakes up overwhelmed, sorry that he has to go into his daily briefings, sorry that he has to face the pressing issues of the day, sorry that he has to put on his happy face, again. But he goes through the motions as he doesn’t really have the option of giving up his office. It’s no wonder that the man is out golfing so often, for his frustration level has got to be about as high as, as, well . . . mine, and, apparently, nearly two thirds of the population. At least I get to put aside the problems of the world for a few minutes, puttering about the house or being with friends and family,

forgetting for periods of time all the problems of the world, but he’s got the entire White House staff trailing him from room to room—or at least keeping track of where they might catch a glimpse of him—waiting to pounce with more bad news; that is if they can get past Rahm Emanuel who, apparently, keeps the commander-in-chief as divorced from dissonant discourse as possible. And the man has a great deal of trouble on his hands, a whole boatload of it. Heck, the dock is full of ships just waiting to be unloaded. On him.
He’s got that oil leak, with the bad news that no solution will be happening soon—he’ll be happy to point out that this is not his fault—the Afghan war should have been won by now, but conditions are worsening—over 1,000 troops now have fallen in a what increasingly looks like a war for which Obama has neither stomach nor stamina—and Iraq is not really taken care of either. I’m also suspicious that he and his staff have decided to let Iran go nuclear. The economy is still in arrears, and a second recession is a looming possibility, actually likely now as the leading economic indicators have taken a downturn in the last several weeks; the Dow Jones, in fact, fell today by 268 points today. The deficit is outrageous—and he’ll attempt to point out that this is not his fault either, but he knows better—immigration reform should be acting in his favor, but it is not. His stimulus package failed to do what all his economic advisers claimed it would do, but a new stimulus package is waiting to be voted on by the Senate. What a mess.
It appears that he’ll be the presiding political officer over the greatest political debacle of this century, for it is more than likely that he’ll lose the House and the Senate . . . and more. Indeed, the number of those who are willing to declare themselves as Liberal or Progressive has drastically fallen—only about one in five, as of late—an immediate indicator of his party’s fortunes this fall. And his poll numbers are falling, ready to drop into the thirties, a range of numbers he should get used to looking at. His charisma, the one thing that he has always been able to count on, has puttered out—people will remember his Oil-Spill Crisis speech as reminiscent of Carter’s Malaise Speech from this time on—and his laid-back, aloof leadership style that served him well in the Illinois legislature and the United States Senate—but not really anyone else—now results in headache after headache. None of these pressing problems is going away. No decent solutions are in sight. No wonder he’s sorry.
His headaches recently increased due to the flap created by the recent article in Rolling Stone and his subsequent firing of General Stanley McChrystal. Obama was clearly torn as he badly needed the general; indeed, he was hand-picked by the White House staff to win the ‘good’ war after he fired the previous general, but he had to fire him due to fact that McChrystal is not a completely loyal trooper; the general is neither enamored with Obama’s leadership nor his commitment to the war. Firing two generals in the same war is not a good track record, and Obama knows just how bad this firing makes him look, especially considering the perception of him having a thin-skinned ego that will not accept criticism. In fact, today it was arranged that the general would be able to retire as a three-star general, something that the firing would have prevented, likely a bribe to keep McChrystal quiet about his Obama disenchantment. The general could have been retained if Obama were a stronger, more competent leader—indeed, he has had nothing but praise for the actions of his former general—but he can’t tolerate any who question his leadership.
Given recent events, a new drama will erupt tomorrow, and Obama will long for the putting green. He’ll be attempting to run from his problems for a few minutes, for he is sorry that all could go so badly.
The problem is that Obama is not a hands-on guy. His theory is to get the best and brightest—or if needs be the most politically connected—and give them a problem to solve, creating enough Czars so that each has a discrete issue to deal with. They are to do their jobs, sharing credit with the President for success after success, and getting presidential scorn if and when they fail, for politics in general, and particularly Chicago-style politics, demands a scapegoat to sacrifice upon demand. Rather than being in immediate contact with BP, its executive officers, or any other major player in oil drilling or disaster cleanup, he had his staff in contact with some, but not many, and likely the wrong folk. Rather than have in-depth conversations with General McChrystal before sending him to win the Afghanistan War, he spent a grand total ten minutes with him. The conversation would have gone something like this: “You’re the smart guy here; solve the problem and get back to me.” When he touted all through the campaign that he had a superior plan for success, although he was always short on details, this is what he meant: “I’ll be the engaging executive, and I’ll run shotgun on all the wise washed who’ll figure out how to solve all problems.” That was the plan. That was it. Nothing more. Nada.
Of course, he cannot explain that he’s sorry, for his ego won’t allow it, and he doesn’t feel as if he has a choice. He must keep the stiff upper lip, for he can’t quite admit to being fallible like the rest of us. And he knows that public confidence is already on the wane, so he won’t utter a single word of apology, regret, or remorse—other than the politicians’ famous ‘non-apology apology.’ But if he were free to let it all loose in a moment of cathartic confession, he would say something like this:
“Dear citizens of the United States,
“I need to admit that I was completely unprepared for the Presidency.
“I now realize that being a community activist and a college professor was not enough experience for me.
“I should have waited a bit more time, perhaps running for Governor of a state, and spending a full term in the Senate. But I was too impatient and wanted it all now.
“I also realize that I needed more experience in both economic theory and economic reality, for all that I’ve been told would work has miserably failed.
“And I now realize that I should have been more up front with you, dear citizens, for I now realize that my partisan policies and procedures are both questionable and highly risky.
“I also have been naively optimistic, thinking that personality would help smooth things.
“I now know that, despite my best ideas, it all may go horribly wrong.
“If it does, it is clear that my inexperience and lack of leadership skills have inevitably contributed to it.
“So, citizens, I need to apologize to you. I am very, very sorry.

The tragedy is Obama had it all. If he had been careful, if he had been responsible, then he could actually have been a good President. We gave him a super majority, and he’s squandered it all. If compared, Jimmy Carter is now beginning to look like a much superior Executive to Obama.
But is he sorrier than anyone else in America? I am sorry that he was elected. Corporately, we are all sorry that he was elected. Even the party faithful has turned on him; they are sorry too.
But if we see how Obama has squandered his office, how he has messed and continues to mess everything up, I think we must yield the floor and let him have the title.
Obama is the sorriest man in America.