I'm holding on your rope
Got me ten feet off the ground
And I'm hearing what you say
But I just can't make a soundYou tell me that you need me
Then you go and cut me down, but wait
You tell me that you're sorry
Didn't think I'd turn around and sayThat it's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late. -- Apologize, OneRepublic
Barack Obama is a petty little man whose grandiose sense of self importance has always far outstripped his abilities and accomplishments. Putting a man such as that in the most important job on the planet is like taking a five year old off an airplane ride at a carnival and putting him at the control of a jet airplane in mid-flight.
Obama, who was so far over his head that he couldn't see the surface from day one, took over the country at a crucial time and then boldly strode forth and made the situation dramatically worse. His whole presidency, from start to finish, has been the living embodiment of that famous Talleyrand quote:
They have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.
The rest of America, however, has learned quite a bit about Obama, which is why his approval rating has fallen like a stockbroker on Black Friday. At this point, not only should Barack Obama change course, he should apologize for what he's done wrong:
1) For lying to the American people: Calling a politician a liar is a bit like accusing a fish of being fond of water, but even amongst politicians, Barack Obama is a particularly hamfisted and prolific liar. Obama's strategy is simple: He promises everything to everybody and then points the finger elsewhere when people are inevitably disappointed. This has led to some jaw dropping whoppers than would even make Bill Clinton say, "Wow, that guy is a shameless liar."
Obama promised not to hire lobbyists and not to raise taxes on people making less than $250,000 per year. He would post every bill online before he signed it and he promised to negotiate health care reform publicly -- those are all lies. Then after going on the biggest spending spree in American history, Obama turned around on a dime and talked about how important deficit reduction was to him. He lied about health care. You can go on and on with these examples. There's not an honest bone in Barack Obama's body and the American people deserve better than that from their President.
2) For the nasty class warfare: Barack Obama must be unfamiliar with the seven deadly sins because never before has an administration so openly advocated envy. Successful Americans have been treated like villains and whole industries have been slimed for no other reason than it's politically convenient. Obama supporter Bill Maher perfectly captured the attitude when he wrote,
The next rich person who publicly complains about being vilified by the Obama administration must be publicly vilified by the Obama administration.
Trying to destroy innocent people for political reasons. Demonizing success. Turning Americans against each other. For all the talk of unity during his campaign, Barack Obama has worked obsessively to divide Americans since he got into office.
3) For Obamacare: Everybody in D.C., Barack Obama included, knew the American people didn't want Obamacare. The polls showed that they hated it. Scott Brown won "Ted Kennedy's seat" by promising to vote against health care reform. There were angry townhalls, Tea Parties, and tens of millions of phone calls and emails spurred by that legislation.
Yet, Obama helped push it through anyway, methodically lied about what the bill would do, and arrogantly claimed people would learn to like the bill in time. This bill will cause the deficit to explode, kill private insurance, pay for abortions with our tax dollars, create death panels, ration medical care, and destroy the quality of medical care in this country. Obamacare would be a bad idea at any point in our history, but creating a massive new entitlement program when America is on the verge of a debt-driven meltdown caused by entitlement programs has set a new standard for irresponsibility. Let us hope, God willing, that no other American President ever matches that standard.
4) For putting our children so deep into debt: Barack Obama's stimulus plan cost more than the race to the moon, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Marshall Plan -- in real dollars -- and it did nothing for the economy. Obamacare is a massive new entitlement program that we cannot afford. His 10 year budget? It will leave America with "more debt than has been accumulated by all previous Presidents in American history combined."
As he did all that, Obama was in public saying things like this,
I refuse to leave our children with a debt they cannot repay, and that means taking responsibility right now, in this administration, for getting our spending under control.
Have you no shame, Barack Obama?
5) For the abuse of power: Obama appointed a staggering number of czars to get around the congressional confirmation process. He spent tens of billions in taxpayer dollars and broke legally binding contracts to give his union pals a fat pay-off from the auto industry. He issued a creepy, dictatorial ultimatum to BP demanding that it give the government 20 billion dollars just because he said so. Obama took over the census process so it could be twisted to help the Democrats. Barack Obama is not a man who respects democracy, the Constitution, the American people, or the rule of law and he should be trusted even less than you should trust most politicians, which is to say, not at all.
6) For the racial polarization of America: The unspoken promise behind Barack Obama's campaign was that his election would enable America to finally achieve its long held dream of being a post-racial nation. Yet, Obama's election has led to a flurry of finger pointing, grievance mongering, and race based accusations.
Some of that has come from Obama's own administration. Eric Holder said America is a "nation of cowards" on race. Barack Obama even publicly sided with his friend Henry Louis Gates based on reasoning that really didn't go much deeper than Gates was black and the cop was white; so the cop must be racist.
That being said, Obama has allowed his followers to do most of the dirty work. In other words, Mr. Post Racial Healer is happy to see anyone who disagrees with him smeared as a racist as long as he gets to keep his hands clean. If you don't believe that, ask yourself, "What has Barack Obama done to stop the tidal wave of false accusations of racism that have been made in his defense?" Absolutely nothing of significance. For that vile and cynical tactic, Barack Obama should personally apologize to the staggering number of Americans who have been falsely called racists on his behalf.
7) For the arrogance: The good news about being President is that it doesn't seem to have gotten in the way of Barack Obama's golf game. Nor his vacations. Moreover, despite the fact that Obama seems to be completely baffled by the fundamentals of governing, it hasn't stopped him from saying things like,
But I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking.
Then there's this story, which is turning out to be one of my personal favorites, given how the election seems to be shaping up,
Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., fears that these midterm elections are going to go the way of the 1994 midterms, when Democrats lost control of the House after a failed health care reform effort.But, Berry told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, the White House does not share his concerns.
“They just don’t seem to give it any credibility at all,” Berry said. “They just kept telling us how good it was going to be. The president himself, when that was brought up in one group, said, ‘Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.’ We’re going to see how much difference that makes now.”
At what point does Barack Obama actually accomplish something not just worthy of the Nobel Prize he was given, but of any worth at all?
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