President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, talks about proposals to reduce gun violence, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (AP2013)
As I begin to write this column my heart wrestles mightily with my brain. There is nothing good to say about the state of our Union.
I want desperately to look at this administration's performance in the same way the Obama apologists look at it, but unfortunately I can't. There is nothing this administration does that gives me hope.
I was recently struck once again by the comment of a known Obama apologist, any time a criticism is launched at him or his administration. “Let’s face it,” she said, "the reason why they don't like him is because he is black." I was befuddled; is she serious?
We now know that millions of unsuspected Americans will have their current health care program cancelled, even though the President had promised up until three weeks ago, that they could keep their plan.
Maybe she has bought into that notion because it’s the easiest way out. Never mind the numerous disasters that he has presided over, that his signature accomplishment has been an unqualified catastrophe, or that America has lost credibility around the world since his taking office. I won’t even discuss the stagnant economy or the fact that there has been a 70 percent increase in food stamp recipients since 2009. No, let's stop any argument by simply calling anyone who disagrees with the way he does his job a racist.
There are numerous instances to show that the promised "most transparent administration" has been less than forthcoming. They have gone to great lengths to look at the American people in the eye knowing full well what was coming out of the President's mouth was not true.
We now know that millions of unsuspected Americans will have their current health care program cancelled, even though the President had promised up until three weeks ago, that they could keep their plan. In addition, the President had said that the average family would save $2,500 a year; we have heard countless testimonies to the contrary. People are facing dramatic cost increases to their health insurance. He had said that people could keep their doctors. We know now that is impossible when you cannot even keep your current plan. And the worst tragi-comical untruth is that the rollout would be easy. No comment is necessary when Saturday Night Live has made so much fun of it. Even the cost of the program has been a farce.
I definitely wonder and worry about how such a brilliant president can be such a poor manager, how can he be so out of touch. How many things happening right under his nose he doesn't know of? How many he is not made aware of? Worse yet, how many has he learned from the news at the same time as America has? I have to suspend disbelief to accept that narrative. Some of the most egregious instances of this claimed ignorance are the Benghazi threats, the Fast and Furious program, the IRS scandal, the problems with the healthcare rollout, and most recently the spying on some of our most significant allies and trading partners.
Is our president so disengaged from day-to-day activities that all of these instances have taken place without his knowledge? Is it possible that in his political calculation the generosity of Americans is so significant that they will always give him the benefit of the doubt?
The thin-skinned president needs an adoring crowd, a yes-sir cabinet that protects him from any criticism. But in the end they cannot protect him from himself. One thing is for sure: if he was the president of a real company, he would have been fired long ago.
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