Listening to President Obama is like listening to an alcoholic

President Obama gave a press conference yesterday to address the intelligence failures that led to the Christmas day bomb plot. In his speech, he declared, "The buck stops here." He was firm, resolute, and tried hard to communicate that he was in control of the situation.

And yet, try as the President might to sound, well, presidential, his words rang hollow.

Yesterday was not the first time President Obama has made such a statement. At an impromptu press conference in March 2009, Obama responded to questions and criticism about his administration's handling and knowledge, or lack thereof, of the AIG bonuses by stating, "The buck stops with me."

A phrase frequently used by President Truman, Obama borrowed it last year to assure the American people of his seriousness, his willingness to be the big man and take responsibility for both his administration's successes as well as failures, and his ability to manage the economic crisis.

And yet despite the President's words, the economy still continued its downward spiral. Unemployment rose, consumer confidence tanked, and the stimulus plan became a fiasco. The economic decline and policy failures indicated that he was not control of the situation, if he ever really was to begin with.

Watching the President yesterday and hearing him say again, "The Buck Stops Here," I felt as though I was listening to an alcoholic declare he was going to cut back on his drinking after another "accident." Maybe the most recent accident was a fall down the stairs, a DUI arrest, or a trip to the emergency room after a drunken injury. In the end, whatever led the alcoholic to state (again) that he was going to clean things up and take responsibility didn't really matter.

Because there had already been too many accidents followed by too many declarations of intent to clean things up to even take the alcoholic seriously. Until the alcoholic actually quit drinking, changed his course, adjusted his worldview and associated with people who took their own lives, jobs, and responsibilities seriously, none of his words mattered, because they were just empty promises.

President Obama and his administration sound increasingly like the alcoholic who makes grand promises to change course, but never actually does so. Obama has made many promises and shamelessly broken most of them. He makes fresh claims of responsibility and accountability, but often only after his initial response draws public criticism. His administration races to implement new and inefficient policies, that are little more than temporary, politically correct fixes, whose primary purpose seems to be to halt the tide of public criticism instead of making the United States safer, stronger, and more secure at a nation.

Like the alcoholic, President Obama does not seem to grasp the gravity of the problems that only he can take responsibility for and change. He is surrounded by like-minded, unserious bureaucrats that choose to vacation during national emergencies and whose first reactionary instincts are often alarmingly wrong. Nor does Obama seem concerned about the consequences his actions may have for generations to come.

If President Obama continues on his current path, he will provide the Republicans a real chance to come back in the 2010 elections. Because the people in this country do not trust, believe, help or vote for those who repeatedly speak to them with meaningless words, make empty promises, and ignore their wishes.