The Great Destroyer: Barack Obama's War on the Republic (44 page)
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Authors: David Limbaugh
BOOK: The Great Destroyer: Barack Obama's War on the Republic
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When asked by CBS how he would grade his performance in office, Obama modestly replied, “When I look back on what we’ve accomplished in the last 18 months, preventing the country sinking into a Great Depression, two economists, including John McCain’s economist from the campaign, estimated that if we hadn’t made the decisions we’ve made, you would have had an additional eight million people unemployed, and we would be in a Great Depression. So, saving the economy, stabilizing the financial market, saving the auto industry, oh, and by the way, passing health care, I’d say that’s a pretty good track record.”
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Of course, today’s dismal unemployment numbers speak to a less-than-successful economic track record. But not to worry—according to Obama adviser David Plouffe, Americans won’t be judging him on such trivial criteria. “The average American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers,” said Plouffe. “People won’t vote based on the unemployment rate, they’re going to vote based on: ‘How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family?’”
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Vice President Biden wholeheartedly agreed with Plouffe’s analysis, arguing that voters would understand Obama “inherited a God-awful circumstance that wasn’t our responsibility. That doesn’t in any way diminish the genuine suffering of a hell of a lot of Americans. But I think everything gets down to a choice…. Don’t compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative.”
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At a press conference a few days later, Obama offered a revealing glimpse of what he really thinks about the people he represents. When a reporter noted that only 24 percent of Americans believed the debt ceiling should be raised, Obama haughtily responded, “Let me distinguish between professional politicians and the public at large. You, know, the public is not paying close attention to the ins and outs of how a Treasury auction goes. They shouldn’t. They’re worrying about their family; they’re worrying about their jobs. They’re worrying about their neighborhood. They have got a lot of other things on their plate. We’re paid to worry about it.”
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Actually, no, they are paid
to do something about it
—not to mention that Americans understand that the looming national debt affects all these matters Obama identifies as the people’s proper concerns. But the White House thinks Americans shouldn’t bother learning about trifling, esoteric things like debt ceilings. When a reporter at a White House press conference asked Press Secretary Jay Carney why the administration was pressing to raise the debt ceiling in the face of public opposition, Carney retorted, “I think it’s easy to understand why most Americans don’t have a lot of time to focus on ‘What is a debt ceiling?’ I mean, honestly, did anybody in this room—before they had to cover issues like this—have any idea what a debt ceiling was? Any understanding of the fact that a vote by Congress to increase our ability to borrow was simply a vote to allow the United States to pay the bills it incurred in the past?” If the pollsters would just talk down to the people’s level they would support the administration’s position, Carney assured him. “I think every American—certainly a vast majority of Americans, would accept the principle, if asked, that the United States should pay its bills, just like they’re asked to pay their bills.”
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THE OBAMAS HAVEN’T DISAPPOINTED AMERICANS. “WE DISAPPOINTED THEM”to do something about it
—not to mention that Americans understand that the looming national debt affects all these matters Obama identifies as the people’s proper concerns. But the White House thinks Americans shouldn’t bother learning about trifling, esoteric things like debt ceilings. When a reporter at a White House press conference asked Press Secretary Jay Carney why the administration was pressing to raise the debt ceiling in the face of public opposition, Carney retorted, “I think it’s easy to understand why most Americans don’t have a lot of time to focus on ‘What is a debt ceiling?’ I mean, honestly, did anybody in this room—before they had to cover issues like this—have any idea what a debt ceiling was? Any understanding of the fact that a vote by Congress to increase our ability to borrow was simply a vote to allow the United States to pay the bills it incurred in the past?” If the pollsters would just talk down to the people’s level they would support the administration’s position, Carney assured him. “I think every American—certainly a vast majority of Americans, would accept the principle, if asked, that the United States should pay its bills, just like they’re asked to pay their bills.”
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An additional year and a half of hard knocks and failures couldn’t disabuse Obama of his glowing self-assessment. In December 2011, during a
60 Minutes
interview, he blithely ranked himself as the nation’s fourth best president. “The issue here is not gonna be a list of accomplishments,” he argued. “As you said yourself, Steve, you know, I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president—with the possible exceptions of Johnson, FDR, and Lincoln—just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we’ve got a lot more work to do. And we’re gonna keep at it.”
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60 Minutes
interview, he blithely ranked himself as the nation’s fourth best president. “The issue here is not gonna be a list of accomplishments,” he argued. “As you said yourself, Steve, you know, I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president—with the possible exceptions of Johnson, FDR, and Lincoln—just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we’ve got a lot more work to do. And we’re gonna keep at it.”
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Obama’s comparing himself to historical figures wasn’t an isolated occurrence. At a campaign appearance a few months later, while discussing the hard work he was doing to bring change to America, he invoked a few other notables who made similar, herculean efforts at change. “Around the world, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, what they did was hard,” declared Obama. “It takes time. It takes more than a single term. It takes more than a single president. It takes more than a single individual.”
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Columnist Michael Barone described Obama as “profoundly aloof,” noting that while his admirers used to compare him to great presidents, “no one seriously compares him with Lincoln or FDR anymore.” A more appropriate comparison, said Barone, was “Chauncey Gardiner, the character played by Peter Sellers in the 1979 movie
Being There
. As you may remember, Gardiner is a clueless gardener who is mistaken for a Washington eminence and becomes a presidential adviser. Asked if you can stimulate growth through temporary incentives, Gardiner says, ‘As long as the roots are not severed, all is well and all will be well in the garden.’” After citing a few other Gardiner quotes, Barone remarked, “Kind of reminds you of Obama’s approach to the federal budget, doesn’t it?”
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Being There
. As you may remember, Gardiner is a clueless gardener who is mistaken for a Washington eminence and becomes a presidential adviser. Asked if you can stimulate growth through temporary incentives, Gardiner says, ‘As long as the roots are not severed, all is well and all will be well in the garden.’” After citing a few other Gardiner quotes, Barone remarked, “Kind of reminds you of Obama’s approach to the federal budget, doesn’t it?”
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Even some on the Left feel Obama’s self-confidence has morphed into churlish arrogance. Uber-liberal
New York Times
columnist Maureen Dowd, after attending an Obama fundraiser at the Apollo in Harlem, wrote, “For eight seconds, we saw the president we had craved for three years: cool, joyous, funny, connected”—and after that fleeting moment, things went downhill. It’s not just that Dowd belatedly realized Obama was bereft of messianic qualities; she seemed to acknowledge he is an empty shell. Hitting as hard as any conservative commentator, Dowd wrote, “The man who became famous with a speech declaring that we were one America, not opposing teams of red and blue states, presides over an America more riven by blue and red than ever. The man who came to Washington on a wave of euphoria has had a presidency with all the joy of a root canal.”
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New York Times
columnist Maureen Dowd, after attending an Obama fundraiser at the Apollo in Harlem, wrote, “For eight seconds, we saw the president we had craved for three years: cool, joyous, funny, connected”—and after that fleeting moment, things went downhill. It’s not just that Dowd belatedly realized Obama was bereft of messianic qualities; she seemed to acknowledge he is an empty shell. Hitting as hard as any conservative commentator, Dowd wrote, “The man who became famous with a speech declaring that we were one America, not opposing teams of red and blue states, presides over an America more riven by blue and red than ever. The man who came to Washington on a wave of euphoria has had a presidency with all the joy of a root canal.”
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Dowd was particularly disdainful of Obama’s lament that he is only seen as “cool and aloof” because he stays at home with his daughters instead of going “to a lot of Washington parties.” Dowd said that Reagan didn’t socialize with the press either, “but he knew that to transcend, you can’t condescend.” Dowd cited Jodi Kantor’s new book,
The Obamas
, in which Kantor paints a portrait of “the first couple” as people who feel aggrieved and misunderstood and who, in Dowd’s words, “do believe in American exceptionalism—their own, and they feel overassaulted and underappreciated.” Dowd said that the Obamas, in their own minds, haven’t disappointed Americans. “We disappointed them.” The pair, according to Dowd, actually believe the admonition of presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett that Barack Obama is “just too talented to do what ordinary people do.”
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“THEY TALK ABOUT ME LIKE A DOG”The Obamas
, in which Kantor paints a portrait of “the first couple” as people who feel aggrieved and misunderstood and who, in Dowd’s words, “do believe in American exceptionalism—their own, and they feel overassaulted and underappreciated.” Dowd said that the Obamas, in their own minds, haven’t disappointed Americans. “We disappointed them.” The pair, according to Dowd, actually believe the admonition of presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett that Barack Obama is “just too talented to do what ordinary people do.”
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Obama’s frustration is compounded by his inability to please even his own fickle base. His angst trickles down to his spokesmen, who vicariously reflect his narcissism. Then-White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said of the discontented leftists, “I hear these people saying he’s like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested. I mean, it’s crazy.” Unwittingly conceding his base’s end game, Gibbs declared, “They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not a reality.” Note that Gibbs didn’t say such policies were objectionable, only that they weren’t realistic goals.
To Obama and his staff, it’s always all about
him
. President George W. Bush never responded to criticism with that kind of self-absorption, but Obama and his team can’t contain themselves. For them, it’s personal. As
The Hill
noted, “The lack of appreciation or recognition for what Obama has accomplished has left Gibbs and others in furious disbelief.”
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In another telling comment, during a self-pitying speech in Milwaukee, Obama complained that his critics “talk about me like a dog.” In this very speech, incidentally, Obama, as usual, talked about former president George W. Bush like he’s a dog.
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him
. President George W. Bush never responded to criticism with that kind of self-absorption, but Obama and his team can’t contain themselves. For them, it’s personal. As
The Hill
noted, “The lack of appreciation or recognition for what Obama has accomplished has left Gibbs and others in furious disbelief.”
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In another telling comment, during a self-pitying speech in Milwaukee, Obama complained that his critics “talk about me like a dog.” In this very speech, incidentally, Obama, as usual, talked about former president George W. Bush like he’s a dog.
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A few months later, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said that at a meeting with Obama during the Gulf oil spill, the president had warned Jindal not to criticize him on TV. Jindal said it was obvious Obama was more concerned about being castigated over the spill than actually fixing the problem.
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Likewise, after Arizona Governor Jan Brewer published a book in which she claimed Obama had acted arrogantly toward her, he confronted her on the airport tarmac as she greeted him when he visited Arizona. Brewer later said Obama “was a little disturbed about my book” and “a bit thin-skinned.”
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Obama downplayed the confrontation and implied Brewer had fabricated his tone. He tried to write it off as Republican party politics when, “laughing and aloof”—according to
Politico
—he told ABC News, “What I’ve discovered is they think it’s always good publicity for a Republican if they’re in an argument with me. But this was really not a big deal.”
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Obama’s description was not consistent with video footage of the incident or with press descriptions of it.
“OBAMA HAS NOT CONNECTED EMOTIONALLY WITH VOTERS”20
Obama downplayed the confrontation and implied Brewer had fabricated his tone. He tried to write it off as Republican party politics when, “laughing and aloof”—according to
Politico
—he told ABC News, “What I’ve discovered is they think it’s always good publicity for a Republican if they’re in an argument with me. But this was really not a big deal.”
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Obama’s description was not consistent with video footage of the incident or with press descriptions of it.
Obama is a cool customer, curiously detached and unable to empathize with people who are struggling—which makes his professed ideology of compassion notably incongruent. “Unlike former President Clinton, who famously felt the pain of voters during a recession, Obama has not connected emotionally with voters over their worries and fears,” notes
The Hill
.
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The Hill
.
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That doesn’t keep Obama from pretending to identify with the downtrodden. In a backyard meeting in Fairfax, Virginia, he told those assembled he would stand with them in the hot sun and “feel their pain.” But a few verbal bones didn’t convince anyone, including the usual Democratic supporters. “The problem is that he doesn’t seem like he’s always trying to be empathetic,” said one Democratic strategist. “They have been missing the need for the emotional connection people need in times like this—but they’ve needed it for two years.”
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Obama not only doesn’t empathize with Americans, he looks down on them. Just as he implied Americans were too dense or disengaged to understand his healthcare plan or the debt ceiling, he suggested that disaffected Democratic and independent voters moving toward the GOP were succumbing to fear and turning away from science and facts—as if a firm grasp on reality would lead rational people, inexorably, to support his policies. “People out there are still hurting very badly, and they are still scared,” said Obama. “And so part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now, and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time, is because we’re hard-wired not to always think clearly when we’re scared.”
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In his comments he failed to mention a few salient “facts,” including our unprecedented deficits and exploding debt.
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In his comments he failed to mention a few salient “facts,” including our unprecedented deficits and exploding debt.
When former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson criticized Obama’s condescending remarks, Obama adviser David Axelrod defensively insisted that Obama is not a snob.
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But even liberal blogger Mickey Kaus wasn’t buying it. “Clinton reacted to his 1994 midterm loss by acknowledging his opponents’ strongest arguments and pursuing a balanced budget and welfare reform,” Kaus noted. “Obama seems more inclined to just tough it out until the economy recovers and the scared, confused voters become unscared and see the light. Meanwhile, he’ll spend his time in a protective cocoon.”
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But even liberal blogger Mickey Kaus wasn’t buying it. “Clinton reacted to his 1994 midterm loss by acknowledging his opponents’ strongest arguments and pursuing a balanced budget and welfare reform,” Kaus noted. “Obama seems more inclined to just tough it out until the economy recovers and the scared, confused voters become unscared and see the light. Meanwhile, he’ll spend his time in a protective cocoon.”
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Even when stumping for Washington Senator Patty Murray, Obama couldn’t resist basking in self-adulation; when a female reporter shouted out that we have “the best president on earth,” Obama replied, “Well, I won’t say that, but we got a pretty good president.”
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Despite being surrounded by such sycophancy, however, Obama seems upset that people don’t worship him as much as they used to. “No I don’t think there’s a sense that I’ve been successful,” he told Colorado’s 9News. “I think people feel that Washington still is dysfunctional.” But this isn’t his fault, you see, it’s because people confuse him with the federal government. “I think people still feel that overall Washington is about a lot of politics and special interests and big money, but that ordinary people’s voices too often aren’t represented and so my hope is that we are going to continue to work to rebuilding a sense of trust in government.”
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But if Americans are not as prone to praising him as they once were, Obama will always fill the breach himself. At the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiabo, a Chinese political prisoner, in Oslo in December 2010, Obama began by talking about his favorite topic: “One year ago, I was humbled to receive the Nobel Peace Prize—an award that speaks to our highest aspirations, and that has been claimed by giants of history and courageous advocates who have sacrificed for freedom and justice.” After thus recognizing himself as a “giant of history,” he said, with obvious false modesty, that Liu Xiaobo “is far more deserving of this award than I.” Strangely, Obama snuck in another gratuitous reference to himself at the end of the speech, saying, “I regret that Mr. Liu and his wife are denied the opportunity to attend the ceremony that Michelle and I attended last year.”
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