The Flailing President

At the very beginning of the Obama Regime, Rush Limbaugh made a statement that earned him heaps of derision from leftists, moderates, and even a few conservatives:  “I hope the President fails.” Well, the President didn’t fail – he’s been remarkably successful at doing the sort of damage we conservatives feared most – right out of the gate, he passed his (now, undeniably wasteful and ruinous) stimulus bill,  took over banks, the automobile industry, and finally in March of this year, the health care industry. All of those battles were hard-fought, ugly, corrupt processes, which in the end, couldn’t be hidden from the public.

So now, much of the public is on to the lies, bullying, corruption and far left agenda of his administration, and thanks to the BP oil spill, they’ve noticed that he’s an incompetent manager in a crisis, to boot.  They’ve also, no doubt noticed a disturbing shift away from our friendly relationships with traditional allies like Israel and Great Britain…towards more despotic regimes. As a result of all this,  the President is in freefall in the polls, and while he may not be failing, exactly, he is flailing…and flailing badly.

Here are some latest poll numbers from the Economist, a  poll of all adults, not registered or likely voters, which as Jennifer Rubin points out, “normally would tilt more to the Left. In other words, among likely voters Obama would probably be doing even worse”:

The results show a president struggling. On the oil spill, 28% approve and 42% disapprove of his performance. On taxes, government spending, immigration, gun control, national defense, and terrorism the respondents say they are closer to the Republican Party than the Democratic Party. On gun control and national defense there is a double-digit gap. Democrats do better on regulating business (but within the margin of error), the environment, abortion (also within the margin of error), gay marriage, health care (by four points) and energy policy. In an enormous turnaround since Obama took office, the parties tie on the economy.

38 percent support the goals of the Tea Party movement; 27 percent do not. In a slew of areas (the Middle East, Afghanistan, energy policy, the environment, the economy, job security, health-care coverage, education, entitlement programs, the financial system, and Wall Street) the public thinks we are worse off than two years ago. There is no area in which the public thinks things have improved. They disapprove of Obama’s performance on Iraq, the economy (39 percent strongly so), immigration (41 percent strongly so), the environment, terrorism, gay rights, social security, the deficit ( 57 percent strongly or somewhat), Afghanistan, and taxes. On education they approve, but within the margin of error. Overall 44 percent approve of his performance and 49 percent do not.

What does a malignant narcissist do when subject to public disapproval and criticism? Does any amount of self reflection take place? No. He doubles down on the same tactics that earned him the public’s scorn in the first place. Hence, more blaming, self-pity, and bullying of opponents:

Obama on BP: I want to know “whose ass to kick” 6/7/2010

Obama on the spill: “I can’t suck it up with a straw” 6/11/2010

and the latest:

Obama to Tea Partiers: See! The Gulf Disaster is What Smaller Government Will Get You 6/12/2010

The president also implied that anti-big government types such as tea party activists were being hypocritical on the issue.

“Some of the same folks who have been hollering and saying ‘do something’ are the same folks who, just two or three months ago, were suggesting that government needs to stop doing so much,” Obama said. “Some of the same people who are saying the president needs to show leadership and solve this problem are some of the same folks who, just a few months ago, were saying this guy is trying to engineer a takeover of our society through the federal government that is going to restrict our freedoms.”

Doug Powers asks, incredulously:

Is the president saying that he didn’t react quickly because he was trying to placate Tea Party activists, thus blaming them for the slow response? Obama almost makes it sound like he let the Gulf die to make a point against those who are for smaller, more responsible government, doesn’t he?

Besides, the whole argument is bogus, desperate, and perhaps eventually counterproductive for Obama.

Yes, I think the public is on to the desperation, as well.

Tom Maguire notes:

Let’s see – BP is drilling on Federally leased site in a Gulf which borders five states and several other countries.  I see an Federal role there that is a bit different from the Feds bailing out the guy down the street who over-extended himself when he bought a house, or taking over health care, but maybe that is just me.

No, it’s not just you. It’s not just conservatives, either… He’s losing the left on this issue, as well, and respect, overseas:

Neither the executive branch of the U.S. government nor BP PLC can be proud of the way they have handled the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Barack Obama’s escalating tough talk against BP, in particular, is a weak political manoeuvre that only magnifies his administration’s inaction on the big questions that have arisen from the oil spill.

Things are going badly – oil is still gushing and washing ashore, birds are dying and an entire fishery and way of life is at risk – so the public is looking for someone to blame. In a television interview, Mr. Obama said he wanted to know “whose ass to kick” – better it be someone else’s than his own – and directed his foot at BP CEO Tony Hayward, saying he “wouldn’t be working for me.”

Mr. Obama’s rhetoric is unbecoming and ineffective. His apparent anger is rising in direct proportion to demands that he must appear angry. That Mr. Obama has yet to even pick up the phone to speak to Mr. Hayward shows the extent to which the comments are damage control, albeit not of an environmental kind.

Where the President has actually failed is in his ability to fool people….and that’s why he’s now flailing. The old techniques no longer work.

How this will all end, I don’t know. I just want it to end.