Many Americans, including myself I admit in the name of full disclosure. misunderstood the man we helped elect to the presidency in 2008. We thought we were electing a fighter who would change the way the government and the economy operated. Silly, silly us.
It’s now clear that the man we sent to the White house doesn’t see his role that way at all.
He seems to think he was elected to be a kind of king in a constitutional monarchy. That his primary function (other than the purely ceremonial) is to allow parliamentarians in the House and Senate to take whacks at each other on important issues, and only then, should they become deadlocked, should he step in and goad them to come to an agreement, any agreement.
He might, in certain cases, suggest a direction they should take. This would only be done, however, in a way that doesn’t appear partisan, this being inappropriate to someone like himself who after all should stand above the fray and not get too deeply involved in the tawdry business of politics.
A story in today’s New York Times perfectly illustrates reveals that this is the way Mr. Obama’s sees his job. It reads: “On the budget dispute, Obama casts himself as mediator.”
A mediator?
Well, sir, allow me to offer a different view of your job. The view of those who actually voted for you in 2008, but might not bother doing so again next year. You’re not only the head of this country, your the head of a political party and should fight like hell for that party’s objectives. You’re supposed to lead in specific real world ways, not just offer touchy-feely “hope and change” placebos. You’re not supposed to play Mr. Above-the-Fray mediator. You’re supposed to be in the thick of the fight on the side you believe is right.
If you fancy you’re too good to do this kind of thing, fine. Maybe you are. Maybe your proper place is mediating moot court debates at Harvard Law School. Harry Truman knew where the buck stopped and didn’t seek to parcel out the change. LBJ took the heat in the political kitchen and thrived on it. These men were sometimes wrong but they understood that a president leads, he doesn’t merely preside.
Our economy staggers. Our political system is rapidly stumbling down a rabbit hole. Our relationships with the wider world unravel. Our president mediates. This will not end well.
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