Through A Glass...Darkly.

Through A Glass…Darkly.   As scripture and Bergman tell us, it is difficult, if not impossible, to see things clearly while we are in the midst of them; true clarity requires either death or removal from circumstances.  So it is with Presidential administrations.  This is likely the main reason that most presidents tend to see their favorability ratings rise in the years after they leave office; as we gain greater appreciation after-the-fact for the challenges faced by our presidents during their term(s) in office.   I do believe also that it is human nature for our memories to gravitate towards the pleasant and away from the unpleasant; we are, by nature, forgiving creatures.  With these things in mind, we might reflect for a moment or two on the likely legacy of President Obama.   These reflections, of course, will be processed through my eyes and they will not necessarily reflect the views of many.  However, I do cling to the belief that the way I look at life is not that different from everyman and everywoman and will be, by and large, quite fair towards our President.   It must also be stated that any evaluation of this president will be incomplete at best and also subject to the ripening of history, but is that no what prognostication is all about?

In my lifetime (60 plus years), there has never been a president enter into office with a greater opportunity to coalesce majority support behind fundamental change in how our government does business.     The major portion of this good will was based on the fact that he is our first president of color; but a good deal of it was also attributable to his youth and his idealistic view of the world and how our nation fits into that tapestry.  Given this rare opportunity to affect monumental change, history will likely view his initial term in office as a colossal waste of opportunity.   Now some may say that Obamacare certainly qualifies as “monumental change” and that is a valid argument.  But I did qualify that change in my first sentence as change with majority support and in that sense, Obamacare is certainly dubious.  I also believe that even if Obamacare is judged by the ages as being a fundamental change, Obama did not lead the legislative effort to pass it; he delegated that task to Reid and Pelosi.  So even though Obamacare occurred on his watch, it was hardly a child of his making.  His presence facilitated its passage, but his intellect had little if anything to do with its content.  So…let’s take Obamacare off the table for now.  Let’s see…that leaves us with……?.   It would seem that any realistic assessment of Obama’s first term would reveal that he spent basically all of his political capital on the passage of Obamacare and having accomplished that, he was content with filling the administration with believers of his ilk, turning the ship of state over to them, and then conducting a perpetual campaign.  Such a waste. 

Now if this mode of operation was limited to a single term, it would easily fit into a frame and one could see how it might be revised, revoked, or otherwise factor into the long string of presidential terms going back over the decades.  Unfortunately, that will not be the case.  Obama will be our President for another three and a half years and the decision has apparently been made to continue, with renewed determination, the quest for a permanent change in how our government looks, acts, and functions through the use of executive fiat.  This quest, at the expense of our prominent place in global affairs, is apparently well on its way towards a surprisingly successful conclusion.  The pathetic Republican presence in Congress has shown its only retort to this president is delay and disregard.  They are as bankrupt as the Democrats when it comes to real and practical change in how our government does business.  Lost on many is the fact that our President must lead both parties; not just the one of which he is a member.  The laissez-faire approach practiced by Obama is beginning to show its faults, however.   Many of the trusted lieutenants selected by the One have allowed their authority to go to their head.  They have abused their power, pursued ideology over good government, and demonstrated an alarming lack of competence and ethics.  The fashion in which the Administration has reacted to the first few episodes of these failures does not bode well for the next three years plus.   

For a man who was held so highly by so many, Obama has proven to be quite the disappointment.  His promise as a great orator has been exposed as a knack for reading electronic screens.  His agility as a negotiator has been pathetically slow and has instead morphed into the character of a petulant high school student.  But perhaps the most alarming indicator of all for the immediate future is his apparent intent to continue his model of allowing his minions to do the everyday work of implementing government while he floats above the fray; venturing in occasionally to toss a partisan barb or to pose for a photo op.  Whatever the content of his character and wisdom may be, and indications so far are not at all promising, it seems we will never really know much about it due his penchant for sitting on the observation deck while other hands man the wheel.