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Barrack Obama is showing once again why his poll numbers are plummeting along with his credibility and why he has become irrelevant. He is showing everyone that he is still the politician who voted "present" over 100 times in the Illinois State senate so he didn't have to go on record as being for or against anything. He is about to give a speech that will show why he no longer deserves to be taken seriously as president.
Buckling under to Republican pressure, showing the world that it doesn't take much to make his knees knock and sell out whatever shred of integrity he had left., Obama is now signaling that he will make a "major" speech on health care in which he will drop the public option and in true Obama fashion, try to weasel it both ways by talking about a "trigger" where the private insurance companies are given time to clean up their act and if they don't then a public option may kick in. That of course is not a bill, its not a plan, its an Obama weasel since what "clean up their act" means or entails can be open to so much interpretation as to be useless.
This is typical Obama. He has spoken out of both sides of his mouth so many times and for so long, he can no longer recognize his own lack of center, his own lack of moral conviction and his inability to stand for anything especially in the face of baseless attacks, which, while nothing but lies, has obviously had their affect on Obama. His reaction shows that his own health care plan does not include giving him a backbone and a lack of one is what has caused his drop in the polls which is what is motivating this speech. It is also making him virtually irrelevant to the health care debate..
This latest fiasco of switching strategies will only make people mistrust him more and prove he doesn't have a clue as to what he is doing. But lets be clear about one thing -- it doesn't make a shred of difference what strategy game Obama wants to play with himself, its the congress that will make the law, its the congress that will make whatever decisions need to be made and if Obama needs someone to hold his left hand while he signs whatever comes out of congress then there will be someone there to do that.
That is the extent of Obama's relevance and his importance to the debate. Just his signature on whatever comes out congress.
His constant cowardice highlighted by his stupefying incompetence in dealing with the health care issue, has exposed all of the cracks and flaws that have been on display for years. And that is now catching up with him too.
To show the degree of political cowardice at work, Obama, while trying to mollify Republicans of whom he is clearly afraid, is, according to an aide, is going to frame his dropping of the public option as having the courage to stand up against his own party. Imagine that.
In other words, Obama ( or should we call him Braveheart) is going to roll up sleeves, take a deep breath, bring up every ounce of intestinal fortitude he has and stand up to his own party, the people who have supported him the most since he started his political career and who have supported the most important aspect of the most important piece of legislation in 40 years and according to a recent poll gave him a 90% approval rating. Those are the people he is going stand up to. What he is actually doing is crumbling like a peice of two week old bread in the face of the people who are actually attacking him.
This is what is called Profiles in Cowardice, and that play on words with JFK's Pulitzer Prize winning book is as close to to JFK as Obama will ever get.
So in the face of Republican attacks, Obama has announced "a major speech" on health care.. Except there is really no such thing as a major speech coming from Obama. When he announces a major speech it is Obama hoping to get himself off the hook when he thinks things are going badly for HIM.
A major speech is and always has been, Obama's way of trying to Eddie Haskell his way out of a political corner ( for those who don't know, Eddie Haskell was the ingratiating, disingenuous smarmy friend of Wally on Leave It To Beaver, always giving insincere compliments). And with the latest Zogby poll showing Obama with a 43% job approval rating he is in trouble. The problem is Obama stil doesnt fathom that the cause of the trouble is him. And his speech and second attempt at trying to throw the public option under the bus could end up sealing his own fate..
What people are finally starting to understand is that because Obama uses 675 words to order a ham sandwich that isn't a sign of any ability to solve problems. It's not the sign of a thinker.. If there is one thing we learned from that erstwhile graduate of Yale, George W.Bush, it's that there is a vast difference between being educated and being smart.
Like Bush, Obama is well educated. Like Bush he isn't very smart. He just covers it up better. His greatest attribute has been pulling the wool over people's eyes, at least those people who allowed it.
Obama's meandering speeches and phony voice inflections are not a substitute for real thinking, real problem solving ability and the kind of integrity it takes to see it through.
Obama has none of these things. What he has are long winded speeches misusing vocabulary words that most people don't use in every day speech so aren't aware he's misusing them. These words ( like "I could have calibrated my words better") are used to make people think he knows what he's talking about when he knows he doesn't, and some people fall for it ( mostly in the press)
What's really happened is that Obama's way of doing things have caught up with him and its being reflected in the polls. And, like being caught in a weeks worth of lies about Jeremiah Wright which prompted "a major speech about race" when his political back was to the wall, this speech announcing a "new strategy" on health care reform is nothing but pure politics designed to save his own skin, not do what's best for the country.
It is Obama at his best, withering under pressure.
In the past, making a speech is what Obama has used as his fire extinguisher. But this time what he doesn't seem to realize is that he has filled his fire extinguisher with gasoline.
Trying to diminish or drop the public option is not going to work. It would be like having a Civil Rights Act without a Voting Rights Act. And what everyone should keep in mind is, this is not Obama's bill. Its the Democratic congress' bill. Nothing Obama has to say matters. The Democratic congress can and probably will refuse to go along with whatever Obama has to say. And so far Democrats are saying they will not put a bill on the floor that doesn't have a public option.
So the die has been cast. If Republicans use Obama's knee buckling as something that re-enforces them to hold out, then the Democrats will simply look to pass the bill without them or Obama. If the bill passes it will be no thanks to Obama and he will get no credit. If it fails he will get all the blame and he will deserves it and will probably make him a one term president.
Obama has tried his double talk once too often and health care reform if it passes with the public option is going to do more than just give Americans the health care choices they need. Its going to do a lot for the health of the country after the dishonest and acrimonious antics of the opposition.And leave Obama on the sidelines.
The only thing that might change is, if Obama sees that the reaction to his planned speech is so negative that it will do him more harm than good. Then in true Obama fashion he will back off and replace his change in strategy once again to suit which way he thinks the political wind is blowing. ( this is the kind of change only Obama believes in).
The congress needs to ignore Obama completely and do what they know needs to be done. It will be good practice since they will need to keep doing it for the next three years.And let the silly comparisons to JFK finally come to an end.. Where JFK was about inspiration, the only thing that motivates Obama is perspiration. His own.
Comments
Do you get paid to write this crap? Cos that's sounds like an awesome job - getting to vent about someone I was really jealous of and hated a lot and then getting paid money for it! What a gig!
Completely on target- spot on- Obama has flip-flopped so much on the health insurance reform (it is no longer health care reform)- this is like watching a tennis match. Ridiculous.
But let's remember- the democrats had a choice and the likes of Pelosi, Dean and Reid pushed for this guy. They strong armed the super delegates to get this guy the nomination. If we all remember- votes cast- HRC was ahead- delegate count they were neck-and-neck- if it weren't for caucuses and Florida and Michigan- Hillary would be the POTUS and would show true leadership.
Thanks Marc
Marc,
You're absolutely right about Obama. He's wimped out on everything he said he'd do--or at least on those things his followers THOUGHT he said he'd do. (His campaign speeches were so devoid of specifics, that anything could have been read into them. And that was by design.)
And Obama doesn't appear to have even heard the public outcry about his dropping the "public option." Apparently he tuned out the American people when he was vacationing in the Hamptons with his fellow plutocrats, while listening only to his new rich friends in Big Pharma and the health insurance industry. (Not to imply that he's forgotten about his other friends in the Wall Street Cosa Nostra.)
THE most popular part of HR 3200 with the American people is the "public option" -- and that's the 1st thing he wants to drop. Obama thinks it's better to make sure his new rich friends are happy, than to concern himself with the needs of the remaining 307 million Americans.
What unbelievable baloney. Get a life, man, and show a little respect. President Obama is not incompetent; if anything, he's inexperienced. Cut him some slack. On the one hand, he's up against a bunch of yahoos ("maroons, to quote Bugs Bunny) who can't acknowledge that their party lost the election last November, and on the other hand he's facing entrenched resistance (read mega-lobby) from the health insurers who put profits ahead of public interest. On top of it all, he still thinks there's a place for bipartisanship in passing this legislation. He has way more patience with his congressional colleagues than I do.
Speaking of experience, how long have you been at this writing thing? Not long, I'd wager. Keep at it, but if all you want to do is rant, get a radio show, preferably when I'm already in bed asleep.
So Marc- Now my question is is he using the kids as a warm up? I know he is supposed to address education when he infiltrates the classrooms of America's youth- is this a deflection or a build up to his joint address to congress?
If he gave us a nickel for every time he gave a speech, we'd be out of this recession
You wonder why America is so far behind other nations....it's because of people like you.
So let me get this straight, Obama wants to ensure everyone has health care, insurance companies are held accountable and overall citizens won't die over a simple scratch.
What’s the issue here? It seems to me that all Republicans care for is war and dominance while sacrificing their own citizens.
From an outsider looking in, it's sad. The media in the US is out of control, full of hate and funded by both parties. It’s awful to watch and makes me feel sorry for the less educated people who take a position by what the read or see on TV. Worse yet is the crazy religious groups who scare people to take political stances.
The US is being laughed at because of the ignorance shown to Obama's ideas.
When Bush said there was weapons of mass destruction in IRAQ Republicans supported him in droves, which shows the intellect of this group. Thousands of innocent people have died and no one is
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