Barack Obama and Leadership
Lately there has been a great deal of talk about President Obama and his leadership, or lack of it. I am finding this more and more amusing, especially as it is starting to come not just from his detractors but from his far left liberal supporters.
Let me be up front about something. I did not vote for him in 2008 and very likely will not vote for him in 2012. The main reason is because I am a grown up. Deciding whom to vote for to be President of the United States is a very serious decision that should not be done with your emotions. He didn’t make my leg tingle, I didn’t see stars at the sound of his voice and I don’t care how ‘cool’ he is. I thought it through in a calm, rational, reasoned manner, looked at his qualifications and it was very obvious he didn’t have any. Being a no-show state legislator, a rookie US Senator and a community organizer (whatever that is) does not qualify anyone to be President. Clearly, in the interest of full disclosure, I am not a fan of Barack Obama. However, he is the President and I did want him to be a good one and succeed. Unlike a lot of people, especially the starry eyed libs, I am not surprised that he is coming up woefully short.
Back to my point. As I wrote above, there is a lot of angst going on over his leadership and I cannot help but be amused by it and wonder what took everyone so long? His indecisiveness over Libya has a lot of people dismayed. Why? This man has shown virtually no leadership since the day he took office. Obamacare? Not at all. This was Nancy Pelosi and the Dems in the House. The so called stimulus bill? Wrong again. Nancy and her minions at work in what has turned out to be the biggest, most corrupt package of pork ever ladled out by the government. The tax compromise done in December. He hated it and it was shoved down his throat. He only took credit for it after his pollsters told him the American people liked it.
Now comes Libya and just like Iran in 2009, our prez comes up looking weak, indecisive and all but helpless. Three weeks ago he insisted “Qaddafi must go” and then didn’t say or do anything to back it up. He left it to the French, the French of all people, to take the lead while Obama, finally, went hat in hand to the UN asking for their permission to do something about a murdering, meglomaniac terrorist. And, like everything else the UN does or doesn’t do, it took three weeks to make a decision and now, it is very likely, too late.
Now, it is legitimate to say we should not have become involved in Libya at all. This is a legitimate position to take and if President Obama had done this up front, it would have made him look a lot better than what he did do. To loudly proclaim that Qaddafi must go and then do nothing but sit back and leave it to Hillary Clinton and President Sarkozy is the worst thing he could have done. MAKE A DECISION AND THEN BACK IT UP WITH ACTION! Don’t dither and bumble about. It makes him look exactly like what he is. The successor to Jimmy Carter.
Three weeks ago what we are doing now, thanks to the leadership of the French President Nicholas Sarkozy, would have made the difference in ousting the murdering mad dog of the Mideast, Qaddafi. Now, it is looking to be too little and too late. Leadership? It would be nice if we had seen some. This President has no conception of America or its role in the world or isn’t comfortable being President. He’s too worried he might offend someone it has him paralyzed.
Obama’s leadership style is much more suited to academia. He would make a terrific university president so he could form committees and debate each and every little thing about every issue to come up and then get everyone to agree to a decision after it is too late and no one cares. Or, we could ship him off to the UN that he worships and let him run that mess. A decisive president he is not, quite clearly.
Yes Dennis I agree and my question to all the doubters of Sarah Palin, refusing to vote for her as Vice President because she had no experience in foreign affairs, is “how in the world” Barack Obama has shown much difference from Sarah’s perceived short comings? In my estimation as a fellow strong female, I would believe that she, at least, would have researched, made a decision and stuck with it should she have had to succeed a president. I highly doubt she would have put anyone in harm’s way more than what we have had in the last 2.5 years. Additionally, no matter how I feel about John McCain’s occaisional moderation I know that he would have had LEADERSHIP written all over his attempts to make solid decisions for this country’s foreign interest.