Barack Obama emerged from his cocoon with an expansive denunciation of the Trump administration, along with a personal attack directed at the president. Why did Obama choose this moment to speak up? Does he actually believe his administration left the country in better shape than when he arrived in 2008? Doesn’t Obama remember the bonehead moves he made during his tumultuous years that left the country in dire economic and political distress?
Up to this point, Obama has taken a low profile, and it’s not because he was concerned about violating the unofficial code that former presidents not interfere with current presidents. In the eyes of many, Obama was a failed president. The mention of his name, along with that of Hillary Clinton makes conservatives’ blood boil. His performance between 2008 and 2016 enabled yet another incompetent man to become president.
It would be burdensome to attempt to list all of Obama’s missteps, so I will mention just a few of the notable disasters he inspired.
Right out of the box, the former president misjudged his mandate. He campaigned as a progressive and went all in when he bludgeoned Congress into enacting Obamacare. The problem with this tactic was that the US could not afford a multi-trillion dollar entitlement coming off of large expenditures affiliated with conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Moreover the economy was tanking and needed financial support.
You may not believe this, but misguided health care reform was a principal cause of Obama’s terrible performance. Immediately after Obamacare was enacted, Teddy Kennedy passed away and was replaced by Scott Brown, a Republican. This special election caused Democrats to lose their filibuster-proof majority. From that point, Obama’s agenda went up in smoke.
Democrats then lost their majorities in the House and Senate. Obama became a lame duck shortly after taking control of the White House, as Republicans refused to consider his legislative proposals and obstructed whenever possible.
Why did this happen? The new president was a neophyte, a self-proclaimed genius who attempted to personally manage the colossus known as the US. To make matters worse he surrounded himself with equally inexperienced sycophants. The ultimate result was a series of bonehead decisions, most of which were made by fiat and not with legislation. The most important of which was Obamacare.
A dearth of support in Congress did not stop Obama as he proceeded to initiate a series of regulatory mandates that cost businesses throughout the country billions of dollars and only served to make the economy worse. This deepened the ensuing recession.
To his credit, Obama heeded the warnings of more knowledgeable conservatives and propped up the economy lest it degrade into an outright depression.
All the while Obama kept trying to sell Americans on his pie in the sky ideals relating to social reform, climate change, inequality, the evils of capitalism and the sins of the 1%.
Regarding the last item, Obama encouraged class warfare that severely damaged the country. He made no excuses, and he said affluent Americans did not pay their fair share, and the 99% should join with him and strip 1%ers of their hard earned wealth.
Barack Obama was a not president of all Americans. His crusade, to steal from the rich and give to the poor without conditions, was a major reason his economic agenda was such a disaster. In any case, the US spent trillions on entitlements that exacerbated the economic distress of the day.
Internationally, Barack Obama performed like a true amateur. All of his smooth talking and blathering about inequality throughout the world fell on deaf ears. The world needed American leadership and he gave it platitudes while apologizing for the sins of America.
Most countries around the globe felt abandoned by the US because Obama pulled back in the face of terrorism, tyranny, imperialism, colonialism and nationalism. Russia and China made great strides as Obama stood aside in the Middle East, Asia and Crimea. The president did not have the courage to rein in either of our most important enemies, much less the murderous Assad in Syria.
Specifically, in the Middle East, Israel was abandoned by the Obama administration. If you don’t believe this read Bibi Netanyahu’s public statements regarding existential threats against the State of Israel and Obama’s feeble responses. It was the first time since the establishment of the Jewish State that America abandoned Israel and sided with the Palestinians.
The other major event was the inane nuclear deal with Iran. The stated policy of the US has always been to end the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The Iran pact merely delayed the development of nukes by Iran. The ayatollahs despise the US, all non-Islamic people and non-Shiite Arabs. The country contributes to virtually every anti-Semitic activity in the Middle East.
And so, Obama, Clinton and Kerry, for legacy purposes, made a deal that enabled Iran to have nukes in about a decade. Only a totally naive leader would do business with a mortal enemy, an enemy that lies and deceives others at every turn? How could Obama be assured that Iran would not cheat? Thankfully Trump has recognized that this horrible deal needed to be abrogated.
People speak of Trump’s efforts throughout the world in a disparaging manner. On the contrary, walking away from the Iran deal, renegotiating trade deals that cost Americans billions each year and forcing our allies to pay for their fair share of defense costs are noble objectives. The countries on the other side of these situations are understandably upset. Nevertheless, Americans should be ecstatic that Trump is cleaning up costly deals and mandates by Obama and his predecessors.
Barack Obama thinks he is the smartest man on the planet. Even if he is, he has proven that he was and continues to be incapable of leading America or even his own party.
I hope he and Hillary enthusiastically stick their noses into the mid-term and 2020 elections. This will result in great victories for Republicans.