Obama`s Excellent Adventure (2008-07-24)
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| | Barack Obama continues his tour of the Middle East and Europe with his entourage of network anchors in tow. The avowed purpose of the trip was a "fact finding tour", but evidently he has had trouble finding any thus far. That he has been unable to find any facts is probably not that important since he more or less announced his conclusions from the trip the week before he left. |
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| | Even in hindsight he has been unable to find any facts to support the surge. Although he admitted that things were more peaceful in Iraq than they had been, he maintains that he still believes the surge was a mistake, crediting the "Sunni Awakening" and the standing down of the Shiite Militias as the primary reasons for the surge`s seeming success. |
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| | It evidently never occurred to him that the overwhelming presence of additional U.S. troops from the surge may have been the inspiration for both the Sunni Awakening and the Shiite Militia`s losing their enthusiasm for fighting. |
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| | Obama continues to display an unbelievable lack of appreciation for the threats facing America. What makes this so astonishing is that he may very well be the next President, if we can believe the main stream media. When we read the poll numbers, read posts and comments on the Internet or listen to the talking heads on TV, it is easy to become discouraged about the prospects for America`s future. |
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| | On the other hand when we look backwards for the past fifty years or so we see that the American people have done a pretty good job of picking Presidents from the choices they were given. What would our country be like after a presidency of John Kerry, or Al Gore for example? The problem is, we are not given very good choices in most elections, and this one is no exception. |
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| | However, in spite of the shortcomings of John McCain, the candidate foisted on us by the Republican establishment, he is clearly the better choice of the two. We cannot expect every generation to produce a leader equal to the tasks imposed on the President of the world`s only super power. Along with the Washingtons, Reagans, Trumans and Lincolns, we also have to expect our share of Carters and Clintons. |
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| | In spite of evidence to the contrary I cannot believe the American voters will eventually choose Obama over McCain. The one good thing to come from Obama`s adventure is the added exposure the media is giving him. The more exposure he gets the better it is for McCain and for us. In spite of the fawning adulation given him by the leftist media, his carefully crafted image is beginning to blur. The more exposure he gets in the press the more his shortcomings for the job of President become evident. |
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| | Instead of the charismatic orator he appeared to be a few months ago, when in an unscripted setting it becomes more apparent that he has very little grasp of current problems and his reasoning abilities are sorely lacking. When properly scripted by his handlers, he is proficient in delivering a prepared speech composed of generalities and platitudes. However, when he attempts to deliver remarks extemporaneously or respond to unexpected questions on policy, it is apparent that he has extreme difficulty in organizing and expressing his thoughts. |
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| | The fact that he is unable to hold a consistent position for more than a few seconds is becoming apparent to even his most ardent supporters. At first his shifting positions were written off as simply a politician who was attempting to transition from the hard-line positions required in a primary campaign to the more moderate positions required for a general election. However, as you become more accustomed to his rhetoric it becomes apparent that there is little connection between what he really believes and what he is saying. |
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| | Another characteristic of Obama that is becoming more apparent of many is the extreme arrogance he displays in his rhetoric and his actions. For example, several weeks ago he was chided for having a "knock off" of the presidential seal displayed on the front of his podium while making a campaign speech. He did not repeat that little piece of presumptiveness. However, he cannot resist the temptation of pretending the election is over, and he won. This week the refurbishing of his 757 campaign plane was completed and flown to meet his entourage in Jordan. The refurbished plane has been dubbed "O Force One" and the American Flag on the tail fin has been removed and replaced with his logo, a large blue "O" with a red white and blue banner at the bottom. |
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| | More presumptive posturing can be found in his discussions with world leaders as he continually speaks as though he is actually President. He not only disparages the policies of the person he hopes will be his predecessor, Bush, but even attempts to negotiate with them concerning issues currently in debate. Individual citizens usurping the responsibilities of the State Department has been condemned throughout our history. However, in Obama`s case it is completely overlooked by the press, just as it was when Nancy Pelosi made her trip to the Middle East and attempted to negotiate with leaders of terrorist supporting countries. |
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| | Today (Thursday), he made his long anticipated speech at the Berlin Wall. As usual, the speech was little more than a string of platitudes and generalities strung together from great speeches of the past by Lincoln, Kennedy and yes, even Reagan. The one thing different in today`s speech was its focus. He expanded his Denver speech calling for citizen sacrifice and service to cover citizens of the world. |
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| | In his usual style he lectured his audience on their responsibilities concerning world poverty, genocide in Africa, the spread of AIDS, and of course, the future destruction of the world through carbon emissions and our opulent lifestyles. To someone who just arrived from another planet it would seem that Obama is campaigning to be President of the world. In his own mind, that may very well be the case. |
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