Alan Caruba
The worst president ever
By Alan Caruba
All through George W. Bush's two terms, the Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi and others claimed that they represented "a culture of corruption" and yet I cannot recall any significant examples, nor does a look back at those years reveal any scandals resulting from his administration's governance. It was not perfect, but it was not corrupt.
This term, however, marked Barack Obama's first term and now his second which is currently imploding from a confluence of scandals involving Benghazi-Gate, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Justice. Let's not forget "Fast and Furious."
The very first example of the changes that would mark his administration was the announcement of Obama's "czars," a shadowy group of advisors whose power to set and influence government policy without any congressional oversight appears to have transcended that of his cabinet members, many of whom would contribute to lengthening the recession he "inherited" as the result of the 2008 financial crisis while increasing the national debt and deficit to heights never before seen in the history of the nation.
What we have come to learn in his first term was that Obama had scant regard for the Constitution, the guiding instrument of governance. It was in his view an "imperfect" instrument and yet, with amendments, it has guided the nation to superpower status since its ratification in 1791, a process that took four years from the 1786 Annapolis Convention that called for a Constitutional Convention.
What we learned through is first campaign and first term was that Obama lies about everything, starting with his personal life. What we have learned is that his answer to everything is to give another speech, hold another press conference, issue another executive order, and to dismiss any criticism as "a sideshow," and to host a number of dinners to give the impression he is willing to work with Republicans in Congress. In truth, he rarely interacted even with Democrats in Congress.
In short, Obama has never addressed his duty to govern. He has instead maintained a non-stop process of campaigning and fund-raising. It did not work in 2010 when voters returned power to the Republicans in the House and now he is doing everything he can to regain Democrat control there in 2014.
His priority on September 11, 2012, the night in which he was informed of the attack on the Benghazi consulate in Libya, was to go to bed in order to get a good night's sleep before flying off to Las Vegas for more fund-raising the next day, skipping his daily intelligence briefing. An American ambassador had been killed along with three other personnel, but it did not alter his schedule.
This is a President who spent his entire first term blaming his predecessor, George W. Bush, for every problem that crossed his desk and demanded his attention.
This is a President whose foreign policy in the Middle East failed to address events there while delegating responsibility to his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton who as of 2 AM the morning of September 12th knew that it was an orchestrated attack by al Qaeda. And then, in concert with the White House, told Americans that it was the result of a video and was a "spontaneous" event.
This is a President who has withdrawn U.S. troops from Iraq, a nation now wracked with daily bombings and has set in process the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a nation that will fall once again under the control of the Taliban. The alleged ally of America, Pakistan, now fears for its stability from the same threat. Both wars, the longest since the Vietnam War, were and remain unpopular, but both were intended to reduce the role of al Qaeda in the Middle East. That role has now expanded into the Syrian civil war and was manifest in Mali.
His response was to depend on isolated drone attacks in Yemen and elsewhere, and of course his authorization of the assassination of Osama bin Laden for which he took total credit despite the fact that the effort had begun in the Bush years.
In the years prior to Benghazi-Gate we have now learned that Obama was using the Internal Revenue Service to harass organizations associated with the Tea Party movement, that identified themselves as "patriots," or had a pro-Israel agenda. In a similar fashion his Environmental Protection Agency was denying Freedom of Information inquires to organizations opposed to its policies while granting access to those who supported it.
In his first term, his Department of the Interior pursued policies that denied access to drilling for oil and natural gas on federally owned lands and while his Department of Energy wasted billions on "renewable energy" companies manufacturing solar panels no one wanted to purchase, going bankrupt one after another. At one point the President advocated using algae – pond scum – as a source of energy.
This is a President who promised his "stimulus" program would put Americans back to work and revive the economy.
This is a President who has continued to tell Americans that global warming is the greatest threat to the nation and the world despite a sixteen-year cooling cycle in progress.
The current scandals, derided as being "politicized" by Republicans, suggest that impeachable offenses have been authorized and committed by branches of the administration he leads. The current makeup of Congress in which the Senate is still controlled by Democrats suggests that impeachment would be difficult to pursue, but the 2014 midterm elections could and should change that.
The worst of his offenses is Obamacare, described by members of his own party as "a train wreck," and a program to be administered by the IRS!
It is not hyperbole to say Barack Obama is the worst President in the history of the nation.
Ask the millions of Americans who are still unemployed more than four years since his first inauguration.
Ask the millions of new graduates from colleges and universities who cannot find jobs commensurate with their degrees.
Ask the millions of Americans unable to retire due to the agonizingly slow recovery of the economy.
And ask the mainstream media, after years of ignoring his failures have suddenly awakened to the seizure of Associated Press phone records after acting as mere stenographers for his daily "talking points.."
The question is how long before he is either impeached or forced to resign as the dream of "hope and change" has turned to hopelessness and the change has become the "transformation" of America from the greatest economy the world has ever known to a debtor nation disrespected by allies and enemies alike.
© Alan Caruba
May 18, 2013
All through George W. Bush's two terms, the Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi and others claimed that they represented "a culture of corruption" and yet I cannot recall any significant examples, nor does a look back at those years reveal any scandals resulting from his administration's governance. It was not perfect, but it was not corrupt.
This term, however, marked Barack Obama's first term and now his second which is currently imploding from a confluence of scandals involving Benghazi-Gate, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Justice. Let's not forget "Fast and Furious."
The very first example of the changes that would mark his administration was the announcement of Obama's "czars," a shadowy group of advisors whose power to set and influence government policy without any congressional oversight appears to have transcended that of his cabinet members, many of whom would contribute to lengthening the recession he "inherited" as the result of the 2008 financial crisis while increasing the national debt and deficit to heights never before seen in the history of the nation.
What we have come to learn in his first term was that Obama had scant regard for the Constitution, the guiding instrument of governance. It was in his view an "imperfect" instrument and yet, with amendments, it has guided the nation to superpower status since its ratification in 1791, a process that took four years from the 1786 Annapolis Convention that called for a Constitutional Convention.
What we learned through is first campaign and first term was that Obama lies about everything, starting with his personal life. What we have learned is that his answer to everything is to give another speech, hold another press conference, issue another executive order, and to dismiss any criticism as "a sideshow," and to host a number of dinners to give the impression he is willing to work with Republicans in Congress. In truth, he rarely interacted even with Democrats in Congress.
In short, Obama has never addressed his duty to govern. He has instead maintained a non-stop process of campaigning and fund-raising. It did not work in 2010 when voters returned power to the Republicans in the House and now he is doing everything he can to regain Democrat control there in 2014.
His priority on September 11, 2012, the night in which he was informed of the attack on the Benghazi consulate in Libya, was to go to bed in order to get a good night's sleep before flying off to Las Vegas for more fund-raising the next day, skipping his daily intelligence briefing. An American ambassador had been killed along with three other personnel, but it did not alter his schedule.
This is a President who spent his entire first term blaming his predecessor, George W. Bush, for every problem that crossed his desk and demanded his attention.
This is a President whose foreign policy in the Middle East failed to address events there while delegating responsibility to his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton who as of 2 AM the morning of September 12th knew that it was an orchestrated attack by al Qaeda. And then, in concert with the White House, told Americans that it was the result of a video and was a "spontaneous" event.
This is a President who has withdrawn U.S. troops from Iraq, a nation now wracked with daily bombings and has set in process the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a nation that will fall once again under the control of the Taliban. The alleged ally of America, Pakistan, now fears for its stability from the same threat. Both wars, the longest since the Vietnam War, were and remain unpopular, but both were intended to reduce the role of al Qaeda in the Middle East. That role has now expanded into the Syrian civil war and was manifest in Mali.
His response was to depend on isolated drone attacks in Yemen and elsewhere, and of course his authorization of the assassination of Osama bin Laden for which he took total credit despite the fact that the effort had begun in the Bush years.
In the years prior to Benghazi-Gate we have now learned that Obama was using the Internal Revenue Service to harass organizations associated with the Tea Party movement, that identified themselves as "patriots," or had a pro-Israel agenda. In a similar fashion his Environmental Protection Agency was denying Freedom of Information inquires to organizations opposed to its policies while granting access to those who supported it.
In his first term, his Department of the Interior pursued policies that denied access to drilling for oil and natural gas on federally owned lands and while his Department of Energy wasted billions on "renewable energy" companies manufacturing solar panels no one wanted to purchase, going bankrupt one after another. At one point the President advocated using algae – pond scum – as a source of energy.
This is a President who promised his "stimulus" program would put Americans back to work and revive the economy.
This is a President who has continued to tell Americans that global warming is the greatest threat to the nation and the world despite a sixteen-year cooling cycle in progress.
The current scandals, derided as being "politicized" by Republicans, suggest that impeachable offenses have been authorized and committed by branches of the administration he leads. The current makeup of Congress in which the Senate is still controlled by Democrats suggests that impeachment would be difficult to pursue, but the 2014 midterm elections could and should change that.
The worst of his offenses is Obamacare, described by members of his own party as "a train wreck," and a program to be administered by the IRS!It is not hyperbole to say Barack Obama is the worst President in the history of the nation.
Ask the millions of Americans who are still unemployed more than four years since his first inauguration.
Ask the millions of new graduates from colleges and universities who cannot find jobs commensurate with their degrees.
Ask the millions of Americans unable to retire due to the agonizingly slow recovery of the economy.
And ask the mainstream media, after years of ignoring his failures have suddenly awakened to the seizure of Associated Press phone records after acting as mere stenographers for his daily "talking points.."
The question is how long before he is either impeached or forced to resign as the dream of "hope and change" has turned to hopelessness and the change has become the "transformation" of America from the greatest economy the world has ever known to a debtor nation disrespected by allies and enemies alike.
© Alan Caruba
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
