Posted by
Patrick Henry on Tuesday, June 01, 2010 11:58:01 AM
What a difference a year makes. One wonders how a hip, attractive young leader
who won election with a 57% majority and enjoyed early approval ratings in the
mid to high 60's could, in such a short time, see those ratings plummet to the mid-
40's, his vaunted agenda categorically rejected by a clear majority of Americans,
his party facing mammoth losses in the upcoming election and media pundits
already referring to him as a "one-term president?"
Such questions are best answered on two levels. One is that his "solutions" to
the nation's problems have plunged it so deeply into debt, and engendered so
much resentment and dissidence as to make the man who was to be the "great
uniter" into a virtual autocrat, divorced from the will of the people, alienated
from the media whose darling he once was, and presiding over the greatest
polarization of Americans in history. Politics is pragmatics, and when a leader's
policies either don't solve problems or actually make them worse, he won't be
leader for very long. Government is, as the Declaration of Independence correctly
states, "by the consent of the governed."
A second and more fundamental cause of the current malaise is that Obama
purposely misled American voters about his true intentions. When he said "hope
and change" a war-weary, mistrustful electorate who scorned the Republican
incumbent hoped for peace, prosperity and honor. When he spoke of "fundamentally
transforming America" they heard new opportunity, better international relations,
energy independence and a dedicated focus on persistent internal problems like
illegal immigration, fiancial regulation and a crumbling housing market. That's
what he said, and that's what we heard. But it's not what he meant! What he
meant was the unprecedented intrusion of government into the private sector,
renunciation of America's honor in favor of a contrite posture before the world,
a confused, politically correct national security apparatus in which the right
hand doesn't even know there is a left hand, a broken justice system that enforces
the law selectively, a wink at borders so porous that even terrorists come and go
at will and the alienation of our strongest interational allies. Obama's radical
plunge in popularity and the pending demise of his party from power signifies
the disconnect between his verbiage and his intent that is now reflected in his
policy. It is the top-down imposition of socialism on a nation that rejects it.
Realizing that his days of unlimited power are rapidly waning, Obama is futher
compounding an ugly situation by trying to ram through a ruinous cap-and-trade
bill, union card check and so-called "immigration reform" before elections can
sweep his supporters from office. He does this because he knows that laws like
Obamacare are much harder to repeal than to pass, and he is determined to leave
a permanent socialist mark on American society.
But let's be clear: because of this systematic dishonesty by the president, and
the ruthless means he has employed to assert and consolidate his power, America
has never been closer to civil war since the mid-1800's when it actually fought
one. Americans will simply not permit government to run every aspect of their
lives, plunder the fruits of their labor without limit and bow in subservience before
their enemies. They will not permit it, and they will do whatever is necessary to
seize back the reins of power and reverse this course to oblivion. The Tea Party
movement is just a shot across the liberal bow. They can mock it all they want to,
but it is simply the steam escaping from the simmering rage of millions who want
nothing more than for America to be America again, and are motivated to levels
of involvement unheard of in recent history.
Obama's hope was never America's, nor his change the change America wanted.
Voters desperately wanted to believe, the way children only reluctantly surrender
notions of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. But like the latter
myths, Obama's promises sounded like something they never were.
So America's hope today is the hope it can survive Obama's presidency, and the
change it seeks is a change in leadership, philosophy and direction. It must be noted
that the drift toward a socialist fantasy is not entirely the fault of Barack Obama,
but also that of his predecessor G.W. Bush. And Republicans in congress poll no
better, on the whole, than do the Democrats. So when the change comes, the house-
cleaning is liable to be complete. America will start over, start reading the
constitution again before making laws and that's how it will renew itself. When
Obama reflects on his legacy, he will realize that he, more than anyone, was the
catalyst for that transformation. But it will be the opposite of what he intended.