You occasionally hear Obama described as the Manchurian Candidate because of an absence of any visible abilities that would have qualified him for the presidency. Given how unqualified he is, it wasn’t entirely beyond the realm of possibility that he was at the centre of a more extensive network who rode his appeal into the White House with him merely the man in front. As it has turned out, that would have been the optimistic scenario. The reality is that the President is actually who he is; someone miles in over his head with no abilities to match the job. If only there actually were someone there in control who knew what they were doing with a coherent policy structure of some kind or another.
This article by Ed Lasky at The American Thinker, “How Obama Makes Decisions”, seems to get to the heart of an underlying reality. It describes a President who is shallow, ignorant and lazy, all to an extreme degree. He is the very reverse of a policy wonk, the total opposite of someone who loves to dwell on policy questions and can debate them for hours on end. This passage taken from an article by Mickey Kaus, no necessary enemy of the President, is quite incredible:
The President’s decision-making method…seems to consist mainly of checking boxes on memos his aides have written for him. … He’s presented with a list of $60 billion in cuts to his core stimulus policies, and writes ‘OK.’ … He ‘authorize[s] his staff’ to plan a likely-to-be-useless ‘bipartisan “fiscal summit,”‘ asks ‘what are the takeaways’ is told he could ‘ask .. for continued dialogue,’ and doesn’t write ‘this is all BS’ and cancel the summit, which in fact proves useless. … He’s given a memo on cutting government waste and writes ‘This is good stuff-we need to constantly publicize our successful efforts here.’ Does he later notice that either the efforts or the attempt to publicize them were wildly ineffective? … He’s asked to check a box saying whether he wants to fund his ‘child nutrition agenda’ out of the money for community colleges. … He’s asked about including medical malpractice reform in his health care bill, and writes (‘in his characteristically cautious and reasonable style’) that ‘we should explore it.’ … He’s presented a plan for a watered-down tax on multinationals or a very watered down tax. He writes ‘worth discussing.’
Lasky’s comment made following this quote was, “his handlers have been reduced to managing the president in a way more appropriate for a child in grade school.”
At the very centre of the American political decision making process there is no one home. Of all the quotes in the article, this one about a President who spends his day on the golf course or shooting hoops in the White House basement seems all too plausible:
Abe Greenwald of Commentary‘s blog calls our attention to this nugget from an enjoyable New York Times profile of Obama ‘body man’ Reggie Love:
Along the way, some unofficial rules have emerged between the candidate and his aide. From Mr. Obama: ‘One cardinal rule of the road is, we don’t watch CNN, the news or MSNBC. We don’t watch any talking heads or any politics. We watch ‘SportsCenter’ and argue about that.’
Read the article for yourself in full. It really is worth the effort.
He runs the country by check-a-box.
FM.
Arguably the dumbest president ever.
C.L.
22 Feb 12 at 12:32 pm
Oiiohh will eventually enter the vernacular.
He is a consequential President, however.
Ironically I expect he’s praying (to Allah?) that his signature legislation is reversed by SCOTUS.
It’s his best chance of being re-elected
JamesK
22 Feb 12 at 12:45 pm
This reflects what Ron Suskind noted in Confidence Men
Token
22 Feb 12 at 12:52 pm
Token
22 Feb 12 at 12:56 pm
Reagan was mocked because his staff prepared cue cards for him.
I’m pretty sure they didn’t prepare a multi-choice tick-a-boxes for him…
C.L.
22 Feb 12 at 1:02 pm
My own opinion is Obama wasnt running for selection when he got it.
If he was wise he was running for a VP slot so he actually would have more idea of how to run later on.
A Clinton Presidency, Obama VP might have been what he was aiming at.
Instead he got the prize, and has had a hard time ever since.
To cut him a bit of slack, and show just how much he had to absorb “on the job” look at his turn around on guantanimo.
If you accept he was genuine in his promise to shut it (which he may have been), just how much info didnt he know about when he made that call?
To turn around and change his mind its quite likely he final gained access to some raw material for the first time, and to his credit, changed his mind.
But he is a bad President, not neccessarily a bad person.
thefrollickingmole
22 Feb 12 at 1:20 pm
Why on eart gave you the false impression that Obummer changed his mind Mr Mole?
JamesK
22 Feb 12 at 1:31 pm
No way. Obama has drifted through life without anyone ever saying no to him. He’s the ultimate silver spoon slacker.
He believes the Presidency is beneath him.
Infidel Tiger
22 Feb 12 at 1:34 pm
He’s both. His views on killing children, ginning up class war and religious bigotry mark him as a lowlife.
C.L.
22 Feb 12 at 1:36 pm
tfm. So you suggest that it’s fine for a lying sack of excrement to make whatever statements sound good to the unwashed as long as he gets elected? As compared to someone who knows what he is talking about in the first place and has the courage to both run on and stand by his views?
Zatara
22 Feb 12 at 1:39 pm
Ill clarify.
I think he lacks the life experience to make a competent leader. Possibly due to the afirmative action brought up.
I dont think he had to promise Guantanimo closing to secure the election. That inclines me to think it was a genuine, but badly thought out promise which he dropped when he became better informed.
C.L.
I disagree, all those are easy to hold positions as long as you allow yourself to remain only 1/2 engaged with the outcomes.
Hes not evil, hes shallow, ill informed, and has never worked outside a bubble in his life.
I will agree his actions lead to evil outcomes, but I dont think there is the intellectual heft to say those are the outcomes he wants.
thefrollickingmole
22 Feb 12 at 1:47 pm
No he’s not. He’s a first rate arsehole.
JC
22 Feb 12 at 1:49 pm
Fair enough tfm.
But I still say the lying sack of excrement said anything he needed to say to get elected. A common trait in leftist “leaders”.
Zatara
22 Feb 12 at 1:52 pm
I agree with tfm. He doesn’t strike me as intellectually committed to leftism (or anything for that matter). It’s just that is all he has ever been exposed to. The bubble he has lived in all his life has nurtured him and given him self-esteem waaaay beyond what he deserves. I guess he’s bright enough but he really is ignorant.
Now he finds himself the POTUS and can’t believe his luck.
eb
22 Feb 12 at 2:58 pm
It was a supermajoritied Democrat Congress that prevented him closing Guantánamo.
His own party blocked him.
JamesK
22 Feb 12 at 3:51 pm
He certainly is a first rate arsehole and a dedicated extremist.
What sort of a sick person objects to a now universally accepted law to protect babies from being scissored to death at nine months?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/07/18/us-usa-politics-abortion-idUSN1726757620070718
C.L.
22 Feb 12 at 3:55 pm
The only necessary qualification to be president, prime minister, or whatever, is to win election.
Nothing else matters (except, of course, for everyone else).
Mark Tier
22 Feb 12 at 5:52 pm
Guess what Kates?
Romney’s a Keynesian. Hardcore. Read it and weep.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/huh-romney-warns-spending-cuts-will-slow-recovery?m=1
Les Majesty
22 Feb 12 at 8:55 pm
If I read him right Romney is saying spending cuts alone are not enough but must be paired with tax reductions. Everything, though, will be moving in the right direction with less government spending and more private. More particularly, if he intends to cut spending during a recession, what he most definitely is not is a Keynesian.
Steve Kates
22 Feb 12 at 9:48 pm