Obama: taking the gloves off at last
Back in November of 2010 I made a prediction that frightened me:
The American people are a generally genial and forgiving (not to say trusting) lot, predisposed to like [Obama], and by [2012] he may indeed have rehabilitated himself in the eyes of enough voters that he will win his bid for re-election and even increase the Democrats’ Congressional representation.
And then, and then””voila! Four more years! Four years in which he won’t have to answer to the electorate at all. He will be unleashed to do whatever it is he really wants. And does anyone think that would look moderate at all?
I was wrong about two things: 2012 didn’t increase the Democrats’ Congressional representation. And Obama didn’t fake as much moderation between 2010 and 2012 as I thought he might in order to win it all in 2012. The rest seems to have come to pass as predicted. Let me say, as I’ve said before, that I don’t think I showed any remarkable foresight in predicting this. Any close observor of Obama could and should have done the same.
Now, however, he’s been extremely immoderate in his actions, and he’s telling his supporters that he has plans to do a lot more of it before he’s through:
Speaking of his remaining time in office, [Obama] said: “Two years is a long time.”
He can say that again ”” and did, attaching a scary promise about his plans for the twilight of his tenure.
“Two years is also the time in which we’re going to be setting the stage for the next presidential election and the next 10 years of American policy,” he told wealthy donors in San Francisco. “So I intend to run through the tape and work really hard, and squeeze every last little bit of change.”
There you have it. Instead of cleaning up the messes he’s created, Obama is hell-bent on making more of them.
The word that comes to mind is “rogue.” As in, the president is going rogue. Like an elephant on a rampage, he’s breaking free of all constraints.
The author of the article, Michael Goodwin, points out that people such as Putin and our enemies around the world are aware that the next president, be he/she Republican or Democrat, will probably try to assert more American control in the world than Obama has. That means they have two more freebie years to grab what they can and do as much damage as possible. And two years—as Obama rightly said—is a long time.
[NOTE: Jonathan S. Tobin continues to warn of the constitutional crisis we face (and remember that Tobin voted for Obama in 2008), describing a new immigration-ruling horror perpetrated by a single liberal judge in DC:
If liberal federal judges and the president are determined to trash the rule of law in this manner, we are on the verge of a full-blown constitutional crisis. As much as there is reason to grant many illegals a path to legality if not citizenship, without first securing the border, such proposals ought to be off the table. Rather than contribute to a consensus that might create real immigration reform, both the president and liberal judges like Boasberg are creating a set of circumstances where it has become impossible.
Oh, and the words “at last” in the title of my post were meant to be ironic.]
Okay, so you made a couple of mistakes. It is believed that most, if not all of your followers would forgive these and more while being mindful of that one big redemptive move you made so long ago—–severing your previous political affiliation. And coming to your senses.
Everybody on main street flyover country has the empty chair narcissist’s number. Evacuate the NE and left coasts and come to the real America in order to actually live free, prosper, and tilt the electoral game board. Yes, the weather is extreme, but you will find friendly, hard working neighbors.
neo – Actually, you were right the first time. The Democrats gained 8 House seats in 2012, and 2 Senate seats.
(Wikipedia has fairly good summary articles on those elections.)
Yes, Neo: He’s announced for all to know that strategy, plans, etc. for the coming “liberation” of Mosul. And, today we hear that he’s agreeing to give the Iranians nukes in a few years. The laugh-track in Tehran is at full volume.
But, do not worry, Obama loves America.
Jim Miller:
I had forgotten the exact figures, although I knew the change wasn’t significant enough to represent a change of party control for either body.
neo – Those senate losses were too painful for me to forget. In 2012, the Republicans should have picked up a seat or two, net, at least. (They were running against the 2006 class.)
By losing two, they put themselves in such a hole that it wasn’t until very near the end in 2014 that I thought they would take control.
Putin will roll up the part of the Ukraine he wants in the next three months. The cease fire is a joke.
And Iran will have nuke material within two years.
@parker : February 23rd, 2015 at 3:30 pm
Actually, Obama seems to agree with you! It’s reported that 800 Somali’s are being shipped into the Minneapolis area every month, and that isn’t including all the Syrian refugees. Here’s a good link to see what’s happening with refugee placement; “Refugee Resettlement Watch” – http://bit.ly/1AFBQg7
Ten years ago I moved to a modest city on the upper plains, known for it’s Norwegian population. Now, however, the deep black of Africa and the dark brown of the Middle East can be seen everywhere – especially at the clinics and social service offices. Every night there seems to be strong arm robberies now, whereas 7-8 years ago there were seldom any robberies in the winter time – it was just to darned cold to be going outside to rob someone.
Obama isn’t done remodeling America into a more acceptable paradigm (in his imagination). The big problem I see is that there are thousands upon thousands of people who agree with his view of how America ‘should’ be. It’s not a pretty picture to contemplate. I sometimes think that if people can just be placed in a position to realize there is something better than the Nanny State the Liberal Progressives offer, perhaps then they will turn away from this lemming race into oblivion.
I can say one thing really positive though, this is still America where I live. No slums (yet), most people work hard and we’re a gun culture – unlike some parts of the East or West Coast.