Obama and Timing
On Wednesday, President Obama, speaking from the White House, spoke in very defiant terms about the bloodshed in Libya. Obama stated, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at his side, that, “”The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable…So are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters and further punish the people of Libya. These actions violate international norms and every standard of common decency. This violence must stop.”
These are important words, and words that should be spoken. Over 200 are dead so far in Libya. Libyan President (see Dictator) Moamar Qaddafi has stated that he will die in Libya as a martyr. His son, Saif al Islam Qaddafi, said clearly that the streets fill flow with blood if the uprising does not stop. It was important to get out ahead of these killings, and this massacre. However, as is now the historical trend with President Obama, the words he spoke are days late, dollars short and miraculously hollow.
The historical trend is the proof of Obama’s lack of leadership, and inability to push forth America as the world’s moral center – which it is! In the first uprising in Iran, when the people wanted the ability to vote, and hopefully remove Ahmendinejad from power, they were gunned down in the streets. The President spoke on it way too late, and his words were muted. Some may want to play the game of technicality, where they (on both sides of the aisle) state that yes, indeed, the President did speak about Iran and the rights of the people. However, it would take a solid amount of time on Google to find that speech. It does not stick into memory, as it was not memorable…to us, or to the people of Iran. Yet, the majority of people remember the Cairo speech in his first year, where Obama apologized for America and attempted to show humility. (Humility, however, is a completely American trait. In the Middle East, it is viewed as weakness.)
When Egypt was bubbling, people were talking. Former California Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, a regular guest on my radio show and my show on PJTV, (Chuck also worked in the Reagan Administration, served in the Reserves and lived and studied in the Middle-East) wrote an article about the coming explosion in Egypt days before it happened. (Some credit him as even beating the CIA to the punch.) It is not as if Egypt was going to be a complete surprise. Something was happening there, something was coming there. Certainly, there was enough information to get three or four analysts to war-game on it, and bring the President three scenarios on how things could go in Egypt. Yet the first thing we heard was from the greatest mind in the history of foreign policy – Vice President Joe Biden. It was Biden who stated that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is “no dictator.” From there, it was Sec. Clinton who put the full faith and credit of the US behind Mubarak. Then, it was finally time to hear from the President, days into the protests and conflicts in Tahrir Square. In his statement, he gave the endorsement of Mubarak. A week later, Obama was sending envoys to Egypt to help get Mubarak out of office, all the while giving tacit endorsement to the Muslim Brotherhood. Truly, a “He Said, She Said, Someone Said, Where The Hell Am I and How The Hell Did I Get This Job?” kind of week.
And now, in Libya, President Obama is late with his words again. When asked about his lack of statement on Lybia, newly minted Press Secretary Jay Carney said that the President hadn’t spoken about Libya because of a scheduling conflict. It’s possible to have a scheduling conflict with the Ambassador of Honduras and a meeting with economic advisers about trade deficits with island nation of Fiji. However, it is incorrigible, and simply disgusting, for the leader of the free world – and the moral center – to have a scheduling conflict with speaking out against a homicidal killer (Qaddafi) and the killing of his fellow citizens by hired hit-men.
But the historical record also shows fast, lightning quick responses. When, doing a press conference in 2009, and without knowing the facts (his words) President Obama stated that the Cambridge Police acted “stupidly” in arresting Henry Gates. Most recently, when asked about Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) and the fight with public employee unions, Obama stated that this looked like an “assault on unions.” In both of these cases, the President’s response came within hours, if not a day. In both of these cases, we see where President Obama feels at home. It is obvious that Obama would be more comfortable in Wisconsin than the White House, organizing the people on the streets and shouting bombastic slogans through a bullhorn to bring the collective to a frenzy. It is obvious that the President feels more at home with things that are completely un-Presidential – like speaking without the facts, name calling and trampling on states’ rights.
The President has a problem with timing. He doesn’t know the big moments, he can’t get out of his own way on the nonsense and, as he proved on his last trip to Asia, he can’t close. As any performer will tell you, you can’t have a problem with timing when you’re on the stage. President Obama wasn’t meant for the stage….he was meant for the streets. Luckily for him, he’ll be able to exit the stage on January 20th, 2013.
Obama Must Not Win.
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