June 2, 2014

"Obama is giving more thought to his post-presidency than his aides like to suggest."

"He has spoken privately of his intention to establish a foundation with the reach and influence of the Clinton Global Initiative, the international fundraising juggernaut started by former President Bill Clinton. And despite his deep connections to Chicago, he has told friends he would like to live in New York City."
The president’s political world is more and more beyond his command. Instead, it is driven by Republicans in Congress, potentially power-shifting Senate races in states where Obama isn’t welcomed to campaign, and to speculation centered on Hillary Clinton’s agenda — not his own. Obama tells anxious Democrats that there is only so much he can do beyond fundraising and better implementing the health care law. But he also has told allies that losing the Senate to Republicans would make his last two years in office unbearable.
It's like he's already gone.
This sense of diminished possibilities has infused his governing strategy. 
The life of a megalomaniac is not easy.
Obama is most animated by the enormous challenge of closing the income gap between the rich and poor, but he’s had to rely on only small-ball initiatives. 
Most Powerful Man in the World is just not enough power to animate him — to make him come alive. He looks longingly at a life in NYC — like Clinton — cadging cash from fawners — like Clinton — funding a foundation — like Clinton — and then, maybe then, he could call all the shots. Maybe then, he could be happy. That glorious smile, where has it gotten him? Maybe in New York....

99 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obama likes the trappings of being President, but doesn't like the job. It's hard work and ages people, that's why Valerie Jarrett plays Mrs W. Wilson in the remake 100 years later...

campy said...

"Obama is most animated by the enormous challenge of closing the income gap between the rich and poor,..."

Seem to me Obama is most animated by the easy task of widening the income gap between Obama and everybody else.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

With a little practice, Obama could replace Morgan Freeman, who can't go on forever, after all.

Meade said...

And find he's king of the hill
Top of the heap...

David said...

"It's like he's already gone."

Don't get your hopes up people. He's the President for nearly three more years.

Gahrie said...

I predict that Obama is going to be an absolute disaster as a former president. Think Carter on steroids.

John Borell said...

If he can make it there, he'll make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York..New York New York!!!

PB said...

Just once I'd like to see this man be accountable his failures. He always things he's destined for something great and doesn't need to worry about ordinary things.

President Pippin.

Brando said...

After the way things went for his first term, it's really strange that he even wanted a second term. He passed his signature initiatives--ACA and Stimulus--only because he had big majorities in Congress; once it was clear he wouldn't have those advantages after 2010, he'd either have to figure out how to get bipartisan support or just accept total gridlock.

Sounds like he went with the latter. But he shouldn't be surprised that things are the way they are.

FleetUSA said...

Seems like he only wants the easy path and avoids the difficult choices and negotiations which governing a great country requires.

Just like his life story as apparently everything has been handed to him.

paminwi said...

"In his 2nd term Obama is less concerned about mingling with bold-faced names and wants to take advantage of the presidential perch."

Really? He has waited until his second term to do that? Who does Politico think they are kidding?

After a dinner in Italy he was pissed off that he had to discuss "minuscule things on politics like the Ukraine and healthcare" when the night before he got to talk about art and architecture.

These two examples tell me everything I need to know about this man. He just likes the power, privilege and perks of the White House. Hell and be damned to those idiots who want their healthcare to be available without going broke. Or those idiots in the Ukraine - they once were part of the Soviet Union - who gives a crap if you have to go back to being part of the Soviet Union?

David said...

Depressing article.

Consider this quote: "it fell to the president to take on the role of internal motivator, reminding Cabinet secretaries and senior aides, discouraged after a year that produced no major achievements, that the presidency is “the most powerful force on the planet,” and it was time that they get back to treating it that way."

This may be the root source of all the failure. The presidency is far from "the most powerful force on the planet." There are numerous forces, some well established and others still inchoate, that can overpower a presidency or a president. The best role of the president is not to be the force, but to try to organize, focus and channel the existing and emerging forces, which are broad and deep across the world.

You could say that this is another example of Obama's arrogance. Perhaps. I think it tells us how deeply ignorant this supposedly well educated man is.

Hagar said...

The Clintons have become very rich people. It would be racist to suggest the Obamas are not entitled to the same benefits of office (or out-of-office).

Unknown said...

Once he leaves office, he'll struggle to keep in the public eye - assuming that people want to hear his opinion on the latest racial incident, etc., but they won't.

His backers are embarrassed, everything he does is somehow tainted by fraud, ineptitude and events "beyond his control".

If the senate goes red, he'll be playing defense, only his forte

Patrick said...

He's bored with us. I think we have disappointed him.

madAsHell said...

My daughter worked at the Clinton foundation as an unpaid intern. She asked businesses for contributions to Haiti. The business gets the tax deduction, and the Clinton foundation gets the credit.

Birkel said...

Can somebody please point me to the part of the article that discusses Mrs. Obama? I skimmed the article and saw Alonzo Mourning's name. Plouffe. Emmanuel.

If I were discussing my future plans and I were married, I might discuss the Mrs.

pm317 said...

Hearing the dad at the press conference say cryptic things about the government, I was surprised how much help and support the dad got from Obama administration and wondered why. That sentiment is echoed in this bit from the Telegraph article.

They also hinted at the vast machinery of America's clandestine services that helped secure his son's release, thanking the "parts of your government that you never knew were there".

gerry said...

His glorious smile is completely phony.

Clyde said...

Barack Obama the president has done the unthinkable in making Jimmy Carter the president look good by comparison. I have no doubt that when he leaves office, Barack Obama the former president will also make Jimmy Carter the former president look good by comparison. And that is no mean feat, given what a sour lemon of a man that Carter was when he left office.

tim maguire said...

Imagine how different Obama's life would have been if the demand that he actually accomplish something had come before he sat down in the oval office.

Not just Obama, but all of us, would have been better for it.

Sofa King said...

These beltway-town blues
Are melting away!

pm317 said...

Obama is threatening to invade Clinton territory. I wonder what Bill Clinton will do if Obama really ends up in NYC.

SteveR said...

Well he surely knows that getting anything positive done in Chicago would be as hard as being president, even to as low a bar of his presidency. Much better just to give speeches and do fundraisers.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Poor dopey unimaginative Obama- the best plan he can devise is to do what Clinton did. What it is that Insty calls the leading Dems? Grifters -yeah that is what they are.

Ctmom4 said...

" The life of a megalomaniac is not easy" . Heh.
I wonder how much the Mrs.has driven this. NY is much more glamorous than Chicago. She wants the glamour and the money. He craves the adulation. They are more line the Clinton's than we think.

rhhardin said...

I warned you that he was a piece of shit.

English idioms pretty much cover Obama.

MadisonMan said...

It's like he's already gone.

Was he ever really there?

Honestly, though, the comment that he fears a takeover of the Senate by Republicans so much is testimony to what's wrong with DC. Way too much Us vs. Them mentality.

The Crack Emcee said...

His comment, about "style points," is appropriate here:

I'm fascinated that, even after all this time, whites still can't see the man. They speculate - openly and hilariously - but it's obvious they're not talking about a human being, like they are, still.

You want proof?

Point me to American blacks' white "mystery man" out there. The man we just can't figure out:

Perspective matters,...

dbp said...

You work hard, have a ton of luck, a fair amount of talent and you get the most powerful position in the world. The job turns out to be boring as hell and people start to notice and complain about! the half-assed effort you produce.--be careful what you wish for.

sinz52 said...

"Obama...has told allies that losing the Senate to Republicans would make his last two years in office unbearable."

Great! Maybe he'll resign early.

As Dr. Laurence Peter ("The Peter Principle") noted long ago:

A hallmark of an incompetent person is that while he constantly complains about how impossible his job is, he'll never suggest that someone else could do that job better.

DrMaturin said...

“All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.”

Enoch Powell

Anonymous said...

Commenting on the Wrong Post Drunk Guy says:

Sure, I'm a little drunk, but that doesn't mean I don't have a point to make. My neighbor often changes clothes in her bedroom without closing the shades. I can't see this from my home, but if I cross the street, walk three blocks, turn the corner and climb through the hedges I can see it perfectly clearly. I wear dark clothes and she can't see me in the bushes at night so I know she is unaware of me watching, I wouldn't want to make her self-concious, that would be invading her privacy. I wonder if I should tell her that everyone can see her naked if they crouch inside the hedges, but that might make her uncomfortable that there could be creeps out there looking in her window as she puts on her lacy bra and panties. Sometimes I have difficulty with moral dilemmas. I think it is wrong for you to comment on things you really don't know about.

RecChief said...

It's like he's already gone.

Shit, if only

looking back, at all the talk about his legacy, even during the first term, when hasn't he been consumed with thoughts of his post presidency.

As more and more snippets come out, we find he's really just a cynical robber baron after all.

Wince said...

Let the hagiography begin!

Antiantifa said...

We New Yorkers welcomed the first black President with open arms, why not the first gay one?

Juan Pablo said...

Republicans will owe him reparations after 2016

Juan Pablo said...

Republicans will owe him reparations after 2016

MayBee said...

Obama tells anxious Democrats that there is only so much he can do beyond fundraising and better implementing the health care law.

This could have been said by him in 2009.

Anonymous said...

The Obama slogan is probably "Apres moi le deluge", since he seems to rule be spending money the US doesn't have.

Oh, by reading up on USA federal dept I found that my country, Belgium, is third on the list of Treasury Security Holders, after China and Japan, and that for 381.4 billion dollars, being 75% of Belgian GDP. There is cheery fact for me.

garage mahal said...

Stop Althouse before you lose your soul!

cold pizza said...

"Ex-President" has a nice ring to it. -CP

LarryK said...

Damn you Meade! You stole my comment...

traditionalguy said...

New York City" Isn't that where the United Nations will govern the world from by controlling the new CO2 credits money that is set to replace the dollar?

Poor Michelle. Kings and Queens jobs are never over. But maybe she can enjoy entourage trips all over her United Nations.

Anonymous said...

Commenting on the Wrong Post Drunk Guy says:

Sure, I'm a little drunk, but that doesn't mean I don't have a point to make. When I was a teenager I cleaned people's homes to make extra money. I learned the value of hard work, respect, and that everyone has a secret place. That secret place can be hidden in a bottom drawer beneath some clothing or in the back of the closet in a box or under the bed in a bag, but there is always something that people are hiding. Now, I wasn't trying to be intrusive, I just naturally have an inquisitive mind. Sometimes being inquisitive leads you to see things you wish you never saw: I could never look Mr. Hearns in the eye again after seeing that magazine with the girls and the horses. I think it is wrong for you to comment on things you really don't know about.

BJK said...

...if only he could devote that level of attention to his day job.

Thorley Winston said...

With a little practice, Obama could replace Morgan Freeman, who can't go on forever, after all.

I seriously doubt it. Some people actually like the sound of Morgan Freeman’s voice. Does anyone like the sound of Obama’s voice (other than Obama)?

Hal Duston said...

Even before the 2008 election, I thought that Obama wished to have been president rather that be president.

This is a non-trivial difference, which in my view explains much of the approach of his administration.

NCMoss said...

Obama is most animated by the enormous challenge of closing the income gap between the rich and poor, but he’s had to rely on only small-ball initiatives.

Good idea, let's start by raising the price of energy to the point where only the wealthy can afford it. It's a small price to pay for slowing the rise of the oceans and healing the planet; well symbolically at least.

Levi Starks said...

Pathetic
In Obamas head it's always been about Obama.
It will always be about Obama.
All he ever wanted in ilfe was to be Obama, yet all that life could give him was the the US Presidency.
Two terms.
What a letdown.

garage mahal said...

"Ex-President" has a nice ring to it. -CP

Then what are conservatives and Fox News going to talk about? Obama consumes 100% of their day right now.

Larry J said...

Gahrie said...
I predict that Obama is going to be an absolute disaster as a former president. Think Carter on steroids.


To apply the InstaPundit's quote to Obama's post-presidency: "At this point, Carter is a best-case scenario."

Just as Obama managed the difficult task of being an even worse president than Carter, he will without a doubt be the worst ex-president ever.

Rumpletweezer said...

We need a much smaller government. We've seen what happens when a large government is run by small men.

Simon said...

Patrick said: "He's bored with us. I think we have disappointed him." I think that astute.

Bill Crawford said...

Private ceremony at the White House, Inauguration Day 2017:

Obama pardons, Holder, Clinton, Jarrett, Biden, et al for any crimes and misdemeanors.

Obama resigns.

SCOTUS justice swears in Biden.

Biden pardons Obama.

They all live happily ever after.

Johanna Lapp said...

Shamed for trying to rent the most expensive office space in Manhattan (at taxpayer expense), Clinton ended up in Harlem, trying to revive his Man-of-the-People street cred.

Since Obama has no shame, and no street cred to be propped up, and no real interest in walking among working and poor people, look for him in the most expensive penthouse office suite ever seen.

Kelly said...

George Bush, the first and the second, should be examples for all modern Presidents to follow. Basically, go away. Or else we need to only elect old geizers so they die off soon after they finish their term.

Kelly said...

George Bush, the first and the second, should be examples for all modern Presidents to follow. Basically, go away. Or else we need to only elect old geizers so they die off soon after they finish their term.

Bruce W Griffin said...

Bill & Hillary cashed in the White House for +$100 million net worth. The key question for Barack & Michelle is: can they be the first post-White House couple to cash in their connections for net worth +$1 billion?

They have a better brand than the Clintons, and they have Valerie Jarrett. Why not?

Krumhorn said...

I could never look Mr. Hearns in the eye again after seeing that magazine with the girls and the horses.

Wrong Post Drunk Guy,

Mr Hearns wanted you to find them. He may have been inspired by Barack's poem, Pops. He wanted to share a few intimate moments of heavy breathing with you.

- Krumhorn

MaxedOutMama said...

Oooh. Did you REALLY mean to call the president a megalomaniac? REALLY?

A narcissist probably, but surely not a megalomaniac!!!

Well, that was my first reaction, but after looking up the Wiki entry for megalomania, which referred me to narcissistic personality disorder, maybe you're right:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder
Symptoms of this disorder, as defined by the DSM-IV-TR, include:[1]

Expects to be recognized as superior and special, without superior accomplishments
Expects constant attention, admiration and positive reinforcement from others
Envies others and believes others envy him/her
Is preoccupied with thoughts and fantasies of great success, enormous attractiveness, power, intelligence
Lacks the ability to empathize with the feelings or desires of others
Is arrogant in attitudes and behavior
Has expectations of special treatment that are unrealistic
.

About half of that fits pretty well. He may not think he's Napoleon, but, well.

Doug said...

I seriously doubt it. Some people actually like the sound of Morgan Freeman’s voice. Does anyone like the sound of Obama’s voice (other than Obama)?

Zerobama's whistling S (an affectation shared by two other notable douchewads, Garrison Keillor and Dan Rather)is the most grating sound I can think of.

George M. Spencer said...

"The absence of an official, rules-based cooperatively managed, monetary system has not been a great success. In fact, international financial crises seem at least as frequent and more destructive in impeding economic stability and growth....Nor would I reject some re-assessment of the use of a single national currency as the dominant international reserve and trading vehicle."

That's Paul Volcker speaking May 21, 2014, at the annual meeting of the Bretton Woods Committee.

Hear what he's saying? He would not oppose consideration of the replacement of the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

This would be bad, very bad, for U.S. consumers.

Now there's a legacy for Mr. Obama.

mccullough said...

He should go back to Columbia. His worldview is perfect there. It doesn't work outside Columbia and he won't face any criticism or have to rethink reality's repeated rejections of his long-held beliefs.

Better his stubborn tenacity reside on the college on the hill than the White House.

mccullough said...

Crack

I nominate Obama as black Americans' white mystery man.

mccullough said...

Someone should tell Obama that liberal policies exacerbate the income gap. Republican ones of the last 25 years are nothing to write home about either.

How about both parties agree that no one should become rich of their government connections?

Anonymous said...

I've read that he's said he wants to stay in DC. Which doesn't surprise me because Afghanistan will start melting down when he leaves office & the reality behind the scandals will start to hit everyone. I think he wants to stay in proximity so he can defend his "legacy". Also, he'll need to raise an income for himself by starting a liberal foundation & going on the talk show circuit.
Bush retired out of the public eye. Don't expect the thing in the House House to do the same.

mtrobertsattorney said...

So we've disappointed him, huh. Well, all is not lost. He's got three more years for payback.

Gahrie said...

Point me to American blacks' white "mystery man" out there. The man we just can't figure out:


Well..we'll start with LBJ, and follow n with every pandering liberal politician since then......

Anonymous said...

Instead of a foundation, I'm thinking an Obamatron:

Funded by Hyde Park Industries, the Obamatron will be an interactive, educational, in-the-round experience harnessing the latest technology to deliver awareness to all ages.

Strategically placed buttons will be labeled 'activate.'

What do they do?

Visit 'Echo Canyon,' where the voices of partisan hacks reverberate ceaselessly off the walls.

Join the chorus!

Visit the 'Wall Of Infotainment" and get 'celebrified'
You'll see what it means.

Kids, track "Bessie the Bureaucratic Brontosaurus" from room to room.

Is this one of her droppings? Dad, it's still warm!

It's over 2,000 pages long!

Follow the red tape and see what ol' Bessie's up to next. Probably munching on next year's budget already in 'Boomertown Gulch.'

That's our girl!

With human rights-based liberty and social justice for all.

jacksonjay said...

So, he no longer dreams of hosting ESPN Sportscenter? What a shame! I was really looking forward to seeing him do something he might be good at!

HoodlumDoodlum said...

garage mahal said...
"Ex-President" has a nice ring to it. -CP

Then what are conservatives and Fox News going to talk about? Obama consumes 100% of their day right now.


Benghazi, obviously--or don't you read your own posts? Hey, if a guy won't even listen to himself, why should anyone else?

HoodlumDoodlum said...

garage mahal said...
"Ex-President" has a nice ring to it. -CP

Then what are conservatives and Fox News going to talk about? Obama consumes 100% of their day right now.


Benghazi, obviously--or don't you read your own posts? Hey, if a guy won't even listen to himself, why should anyone else?

Birches said...

Hey, at least Carter built houses for poor people. I can't see Obama getting his hands dirty.

Robert Cook said...

"'I predict that Obama is going to be an absolute disaster as a former president. Think Carter on steroids.'

"Just as Obama managed the difficult task of being an even worse president than Carter, he will without a doubt be the worst ex-president ever."


What has been wrong with Carter as an ex-President? He has been a fine ex-President, and, for all his faults while in office, he was preferable as President to all who have followed him.

readering said...

If Obama is a megalomaniac he's a pretty modest one. His national security practices do not seem to conform to the diagnosis.

Boltforge said...

garage mahal said...
"Then what are conservatives and Fox News going to talk about? Obama consumes 100% of their day right now."

Mainly about how to fix the mess the progressives like you have left us in. We move on.

Unlike you [insert Captain Kirk scream face: BOOOSH! BOOOOOOOSHHHH!].

Projection. The world that Progressives live in.

Brando said...

Maybe we've reached a point of "Peak Lame Duck." The President no longer has power to actually do anything (unless it's illegal), and now he has apparently given up on even trying. We might as well stop discussing him and move on to other topics (as it's really too early to discuss the 2016 elections).

The country reached the same state at this point in Bush's second term. Maybe this is an argument for no more second terms. When's the last time a president even had a better second term than their first?

1) Bush--lost Congress, support from his own party withered, domestic initiatives fizzled, financial disaster on his watch.

2) Clinton--impeached, tech bubble burst, annointed successor humiliated by losing a very winnable race.

3) Reagan--Iran-Contra. Though relative to other presidents, not that bad a second term.

4) Nixon--oil shock, inflation, long recession, crime rate increasing, and resignation.

5) LBJ (though technically a first full term)--race riots, Vietnam, annointed successor losing a close but winnable race.

6) Ike--painful recession, U2 incident, annointed successor losing a close but winnable race (though like Reagan, not that bad relatively).

7) Truman (like LBJ, first full term)--Korea, loss of China.

8) FDR--1937 recession, court packing scheme.

Maybe we need to change the Constitution to allow a single term . . . unless, the cursed second term is due to the Prez not being eligible for reelection, in which case we'd be back where we started.

alan markus said...

As Bill Clinton said to the late Ted Kennedy, "A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee,"

Obama a few years from now to a potential donor to his foundation: How would you like your coffee?

richard mcenroe said...

Patrick said: "He's bored with us. I think we have disappointed him." I think that astute.

"The German people have failed me. They do not deserve to live."

The good ideas always seem to come around again...

Anonymous said...

This is what happens when you have an affirmative action hire. It's fine to hire in such a way when it's McDonalds, but when it's your doctor, or the President of the United States, you may want to rethink that policy.

The fact is, and will become much clearer after he leaves office and perhaps once it's not considered so racist to note it, the man is lazy. Not that he's physically lazy. He's a lazy thinker. He's a lazy doer. He just doesn't want to put the mental effort into doing his job.

He's happy to be there. It's good to be the king.

But actually running the show? That's for the other guys to do, I'm going to play golf.

Kirk Parker said...

Somebody had to link this -- might as well be me! :-)


MadMan,

"Honestly, though, the comment that he fears a takeover of the Senate by Republicans so much is testimony to what's wrong with DC. Way too much Us vs. Them mentality."

In contrast, GWB, for all his faults, engaged in lots of bipartisan stuff such as Ted "Swimmer" Kennedy's brain child No Child Left Behind. (OK, ok, so yeah that's Yet Another One of Bush's faults.)

Unknown said...

The more he sees it all winding down to an extended lame duck ending the less he will give a fuck for appearances. The Bergdahl thing smells like don't give a fuck. He's been saying, more or less, "oh yeah? what are you gonna do about it?" for years. Especially since his reelection.

Maybe soon he will be openly daring anyone who thinks they've got the nuts for it to try throwing him out. I think he would get more satisfaction unleashing his arrogance in full throated indignation and open acts of vandalism than he's ever going to enjoy if he behaves reasonably and tries to govern without the Senate. Vandalism is in his nature.

garage mahal said...

Mainly about how to fix the mess the progressives like you have left us in. We move on

Why yes! Like two raging wars and and an economy on fire losing 700,000 jobs per month.

averagejoe said...

Hey Crackhead- Has the "black community" figured out Donald Sterling yet? First the racists at NAACP were gonna give him a big award, then he said he didn't like black people, so no award, followed by the fainting spells and demands for reparations. Then today I read he was the honored speaker at a local black Baptist church. LMAO! Mystery Man! LOL! I know someone whose got black Americans figured out- the democrat party, to the tune of 90%+ of the vote every election. How's that working out for the "black community"?

Biff said...

mccullough wrote: "He should go back to Columbia. His worldview is perfect there. It doesn't work outside Columbia and he won't face any criticism or have to rethink reality's repeated rejections of his long-held beliefs."

Hmm. When Obama's term ends, Lee Bollinger, the current President of Columbia University, will be 70 years old and will have been in office nearly fifteen years.

Biff said...

mccullough wrote: "He should go back to Columbia. His worldview is perfect there. It doesn't work outside Columbia and he won't face any criticism or have to rethink reality's repeated rejections of his long-held beliefs."

Hmm. When Obama's term ends, Lee Bollinger, the current President of Columbia University, will be 70 years old and will have been in office nearly fifteen years.

Phil 314 said...

Wasn't this a Coen brothers movie:

"The Man who wasn't there"

Phil 314 said...

Wasn't this a Coen brothers movie:

"The Man who wasn't there"

gk1 said...

Maybe people should be comparing Obama to Grant instead? Completely corrupt and marginally competent administration. At least Grant actually did something like defeat the Rebel army. All obama did was lie his ass off during political campaigns and won.

richard mcenroe said...

averagejoe — they're doing great! As long as the EBT card computers don't crash again or the Dems don't decide they need more $$$ and House seats for immigrant latino voters...

Quaestor said...

I predict that Obama is going to be an absolute disaster as a former president. Think Carter on steroids.

I seriously doubt that. Life-long behavior patterns don't change that easily. Obama has always liked the adulation and the fringe benefits better than the work. Consider is career as a law student -- top grades without much study, presidency of the Law Review -- versus his career, or more precisely his non-career as a lawyer. Then consider his short term in the Senate -- more absence than attendance.

The post-presidential Obama? Think Carter on 'ludes.

Bill S. said...

Please don't come back to Chicago.

Brando said...

gk1--I don't think that's fair to U.S. Grant. From most accounts he was personally honest, but naive regarding his scoundrel friends and associates who engulfed his administration in scandal.

Obama seems naive as well, but his greater failing seems to be that he stopped caring about how his administration was running a long time ago. This is why he is repeatedly surprised by scandals in his own organization--IRS, VA, NSA, ObamaCare rollout....he just sticks with soaring rhetoric and lets others manage things.

Not that we'd want a micromanager in the White House--Carter showed us what that would be like--but if you're going to delegate, you have to delegate to the right people and keep enough of a handle on things to prevent mismanagement. Political leanings aside, this has been Obama's biggest weakness.

Bob Ellison said...

What's with the ",..."?

JPS said...

Robert Cook:

"What has been wrong with Carter as an ex-President? He has been a fine ex-President"

FIne ex-president as far as building houses for the poor. I won't get into all the nasty partisan stuff.

How about this: He got nervous that the Clinton Administration was going to take military action against North Korea to stop their nuclear weapons program. He was convinced that the Norks were misunderstood, and responding entirely reasonably to our aggression.

Skating perilously close to the line dividing private activism from conducting private diplomacy in place of the government (I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and suppose that Clinton sent him to be good cop to his administration's bad cop), he was instrumental in brokering a deal with North Korea to head off military action and allow them to keep their Peaceful Nuclear Program (™).

North Korea peacefully detonated their first nuclear weapon about ten years later.

Any chance you'd agree there's something wrong with ex-presidents of the United States facilitating such developments on the world stage?

The Crack Emcee said...

averagejoe,

Hey Crackhead- Has the "black community" figured out Donald Sterling yet?

God, whites can be stupid:

Sterling Raises Eyebrows By Attending Services At Predominately Black Church In South LA

Dude, if you don't think blacks understand whites - after 400 years of whites showing their ass - then you're stupider than we think,...

gerry said...

The post-presidential Obama? Think Carter on 'ludes

Carter on 'ludes. Oof.

Obama will get fat fees just for being black and having sat in the White House.

"Mabel! The first black president of the United States is coming to a local college campus near us in two weeks! We MUST see him!"

Maybe he'll end up opening for a heavy metal band at a high school gym?

Drago said...

garage: "Why yes! Like two raging wars and and an economy on fire losing 700,000 jobs per month"

Has garage figured out yet that a negative GDP means the economy is not growing?

Those kinds of basics seem to flummox him so.