A picture is worth a thousand words. Reflect for a moment on the image of a rain drenched President Barack Obama holding an umbrella during a driving rainstorm while guiding Illinois Memorial Day attendees to head for cover. When it rains it pours.
Of course, had the President Obama decided to visit Arlington National cemetery he would have been bathed in sunlight and avoided any criticism. Never mind that other presidents have chosen not to lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day. The point is the president left himself vulnerable to attack from detractors who have a political or personal interest by furthering negative perceptions of the president.
This is playing itself out on the Gulf Coast too, where an oil gusher continues to spew crude into the Gulf of Mexico. BP's deep-water drill explosion, which took 11 lives, will become the subject of a criminal investigation. It appears that short cuts were taken, less expensive methods were implemented and BP ignored regulations. This is a recurring pattern for BP, the most fined petroleum company ever.
From the beginning, the U.S. government has been managing BP's efforts to stop the leak. It appears that BP is way over its head as every approach has so far failed. The U.S. government does not have the equipment or expertise needed to stop the leak, which emanates from a well nearly one mile under the sea. The government is left to focusing on containing the spill and beginning the clean up.
Nonetheless, the president and the White House are coming under increased attack from all sides for their handling of the disaster. Yes the president should not have relied on the BP estimates of leaking oil; after all they want to minimize the damage out of business motivations. Yes the president could have spent more time on the Gulf Coast rather than head off for a family holiday in Chicago. Yes the president could have sent in General Colin Powell and several thousand troops in a massive show of force. But none of these steps would have stopped the leak.
The primary criticisms of the president have to do with "optics." He "looks like" he isn't passionate. He "looks like" he isn't engaged. So a narrative is beginning to be promulgated among conservative critics that the president is not competent. But this is like calling the Los Angeles Lakers losers because they get out-scored in the first quarter.
The president got a stimulus package passed and it has been credited by most economists as stemming the loss of U.S jobs. The president supported further bailouts to the ailing banks that are now stabilized and have repaid much of the taxpayer loans with interest. The president stood behind the American auto industry to the tune of billions of dollars and now the car companies are well on the road to recovery, which preserves thousands of jobs.
Health care reform expended a lot of energy and political good will, but now 31 million more Americans have health care, no one can be eliminated from coverage due to a prior condition, and the spiraling costs of health care now have more controls. The president and Congress are nearing completion of financial reform, which will be an important first step to avoiding another devastating financial collapse. The president appointed the first Hispanic to the Supreme Court, and he will soon get Congressional approval for his second court appointment.
Sadly the 1,000th American soldier died in Afghanistan. Soon this will be America's longest war. The president, following the recommendations of his military, authorized a huge buildup to give our mission the best chance of success. Had he pulled out he would have faced withering criticism from the right and center. There are now more troops in Afghanistan than in Iraq, where American troops are being drawn down.
The president is working hard with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to deal with the North Koreans, a nuclear power, through diplomatic channels using tough sanctions. The American government outed North Korea for its sinking of a South Korean vessel. Meanwhile, President Obama is trying to rally all major powers to crack down on Iran's nuclear program. A military attack on these installations would likely result is heavy civilian casualties and turn most of the population against America. Diplomacy must be allowed to run its course.
This is a particularly complex and sensitive region. Israel's attack on a flotilla of relief ships intended to break the blockade on Gaza instantly led to international condemnation. Israel's General Counsel said that terrorists on one of the ships attacked Israeli commandos who were acting within international law in boarding the ship. The United States has now drawn fire because it has supported Israel. Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of anti-Israeli protestors took to the streets in many European and Middle Eastern cities. President Obama will have to walk a fine line as more facts from this incident become known.
With growing deficits, slow economic recovery, a constant threat of terrorism and the imminent need for immigration reform, there are plenty more challenges for the Obama administration. For Republicans it may seem productive to turn political disagreements and past battles lost into questions of this president's competency. However, in the end the president's record of achievement will speak for itself and the American voters will have the final say.
Follow Joe Peyronnin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joepeyronnin
The simple problem is that if your political philosophy is vested in the "evil" of government, then you don't want government to succeed. If it does, your little world goes pop. So, no matter how many contortions, how much intellectual dishonesty and incoherence, you keep your fingers in your ears and keep denying reality.
Like the utterly disastrous President who preceded Obama, the one who left so many stinking piles to clean up. Now their mantra is, "He can't clean up our crap fast enough! So vote for us again!" Or, "Because we lost, everything we did wrong is now his fault!" Or, "Now we need the government to save us from unregulated private business run amok!"
Which, obviously, only makes sense to those with serious cognitive deficiencies.
'So a narrative is beginning to be promulgated among conservative critics that the president is not competent'.
how dare conservatives question the Presidents competency
after former President George W. Bush's history of lack of
competence????
the President has been focused on problems of the country
long before he took office and he has accomplished more
in a year and a half than Bush did in 8 years!
Like President Obama or not he has done well to keep the country
afloat..............
This president is doing more than is humanly possibly for one single man + dealing with the antipathy of uninformed, high-school dropout, teabaggers.
Yup he rocks
1. He was at another Memorial Day wreath laying ceremony (that got rained out)
2. Some of us didn't want him to wear a flag pin and none of us want him to have neocon fans.
If Zombies took over in a post apocalyptic nuclear world and the zombie "optics" demanded that Obama start gobbling brains some of us would notice.
At this point it is called un-achievement and the voters will have thier say on his Dem congress just months from now. Yes, he passed healthcare, in face of massive opposition and the costs are only just starting to roll in and they will be massive as well. He really has nothing to hang his little hat on except a slogan of hope and change that is fading into the abyss of dope and mange.
Deficits don't matter...
Bad candidates lose on both sides of the aisle...
All of a sudden 2010 is not shaping up to be the throttling some seemed to think it would be...
How many of Sister Sarah's picks have won again?
What happened in PA 12?
Bad times happen, little children bemoan it and leaders chart a path out of the bad times...
and lastly,
Elections have consequences...
I don't like every decision but I like more of the direction than I previously did.
A strong pragmatic President was elected, THANK GOD, and worked tirelessly inspite of constant critizism, and today our Nation is stronger and on a slow steady road to the future,
(Note: I did not say "....the road BACK" because America doesn't go backward, we always move forward.)
today... gas is 2.72 a gallon, unemployment is 9.5% (it wouldnt go higher than 8% if we passed the stimulus) and national debt has recently crossed the 13 trillion dollar mark.
no, his record is great, dont let anyone tell you different.
Obama has done a respectable job slowing down that trajectory and turning things around. And I suspect you know it, too. You can't possibly believe that this country would be in better shape if McCain/Palin were elected. That's simply ludicrous. Or are you suggesting more hog wild "Drill baby Drill" would be keeping gas prices down? By the way, where are you getting your stats from? Can you provide a reference for your gas price quote of 1.86 in Jan 2009?
"the American voters will have the final say".
Nice record . . . .