Cynical, petty, & lazy: The broken promise of Barack Obama

i don't appreciate that you don't know the difference between "countries," "country's," & presumably "countries'."

you should be ashamed.

 

Barack Obama looks bitter, arrogant and partisan as he begins his second term

The liberal New Republic, which is periodically described as the in-flight magazine on Air Force One for Democratic presidents, has just released the transcript of an interview with Barack Obama as he looks ahead to the next four years. The New Republic piece is a compelling read, and is aptly headlined: “Barack Obama is not pleased.” It paints a portrait of a president, in his own words, who appears deeply partisan, sneeringly dismissive of his political opponents, bitterly angry at his adversaries for standing in the way on issues such as the budget, and completely lacking in any humility. If this is Obama at the start of his second term, one can only imagine what he’ll be like three years from now.

A key section of Obama’s interview is where he talks about the superiority of his own party, and why there must be “a real price to pay” for the Republicans for opposing his policies:

When it comes to certain positions on issues, when it comes to trying to do what's best for the country, when it comes to really trying to make decisions based on fact as opposed to ideology, when it comes to being willing to compromise, the Democrats, not just here in this White House, but I would say in Congress also, have shown themselves consistently to be willing to do tough things even when it's not convenient, because it's the right thing to do. And we haven't seen that same kind of attitude on the other side.

Until Republicans feel that there's a real price to pay for them just saying no and being obstructionist, you'll probably see at least a number of them arguing that we should keep on doing it. It worked for them in the 2010 election cycle, and I think there are those who believe that it can work again. I disagree with them, and I think the cost to the country has been enormous.​

Ever sensitive to press criticism, Obama could not resist taking a shot at the conservative media, while ludicrously suggesting that the liberal-dominated mainstream media is more supportive of political compromise, which must be a revelation to the editors of The New York Times:

One of the biggest factors is going to be how the media shapes debates. If a Republican member of Congress is not punished on Fox News or by Rush Limbaugh for working with a Democrat on a bill of common interest, then you'll see more of them doing it… The same dynamic happens on the Democratic side. I think the difference is just that the more left-leaning media outlets recognize that compromise is not a dirty word.​

There is nothing in this interview that suggests the president is in any way serious about reining in federal spending, introducing entitlement reform, or rolling back the frontiers of the government. For a country with more than $16 trillion of debt, this is a catastrophic approach. It is very clear from this interview that President Obama sees his re-election as a mandate to continue the very policies that will eventually bankrupt the country unless they are reversed, regardless of huge opposition on Capitol Hill. It chimes closely with the president’s second inaugural address last week, which offered absolutely no olive branches to the nearly 61 million Americans who voted for his opponent in November.

Significantly, a major Gallup poll released on Inauguration Day showed that most Americans don’t feel positive about the direction their country is taking:

U.S. President Barack Obama begins his second term at a time when Americans are as negative about the state of the country and its prospects going forward as they have been in more than three decades. Fewer than four in 10 Americans (39%) rate the current status of the U.S. at the positive end of a zero to 10 scale. This is about the same as in 2010, but it is fewer than have said so at any point since 1979.

… The challenges President Obama faces as he begins his second term in office are evident from the fact that less than four in 10 Americans rate the nation's current situation on the positive end of a zero to 10 scale and that slightly less than half project that the state of the nation will be positive in five years. Both of these assessments are among the more negative Gallup has measured since the Eisenhower administration. The bright side for the Obama administration is that the current low assessments leave much room for improvement.​

The Gallup poll should be a wake-up call for the White House. For this is a presidency that badly needs a dose of humility, and a fundamental reassessment of its failing policies. Barack Obama’s imperial tone is badly out of tune with the pessimistic mood of the country, and does not augur well for the next four years. As the latest RealClear Politics polling average shows, just 36 percent of Americans believe the country is moving in the right direction, while 56 percent think it is on the wrong track. This is hardly a vote of confidence in the direction the president is taking, one that points to continuing economic decline, a growing culture of dependency, and the relentless rise of big government.