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The Obama Watch
A Nation Adrift
Reflections on a depressing yet reascendant Obama presidency.
In the fantasy novel The Life of Pi, a young Indian boy is shipwrecked and somehow manages to survive 227 days at sea in a lifeboat with a 450-pound Bengal Tiger.
I can’t help thinking of “Richard Parker” — that’s the tiger’s name in Yann Martel’s novel — when I think of the strange relationship between our 44th president and the American people.
Who is this president and how does he relate to the popular novel? Is he the man-eating tiger, or the potential victim in the little boy named “Pi”?
I would say that he is something else again: the spinner of the tale not as it was told in the book, but as it played out in the American psyche over the past four years.
He conjured up a tiger — and kept him terrifyingly alive in many peoples’ minds — in order to effect “transformational change.” He wanted to obliterate what is left of the age-old national ethos of self-reliance and individual responsibility… and replace it with the social democratic mush of endless whining about “fairness” and “social justice.”
Like most of Obama’s creations (cf. Dreams from My Father), his all-devouring tiger was a composite: a combination of predatory capitalism and rampant greed; and of uncaring and non-interventionist and non-redistributive government.
Never mind that this tiger is a total illusion. It is not what produced the subprime housing crisis or the financial meltdown of 2008.
Over the past four years, Barack Obama has made heightened fears and low expectations the norm for more and more people — beginning with the college-educated young, who are his most steadfast and enthusiastic supporters, even though half or more of them are unable to find anything other than unskilled jobs.
That said, yesterday the president snatched an electoral victory from the jaws of an economic and fiscal defeat — winning a second term as president despite the obvious failure of his policies to produce jobs and income growth over his first term in office… and despite the explosive growth in national debt caused by those same policies.
This is a deeply depressing defeat for conservatives. But it is far from unprecedented in annals of history. It is always easy for progressives — or for demagogues, to give them another name — to make promises they can’t keep to people who will mistake the leader who promises the most for the leader who cares the most. It happened in ancient Greece. And it has happened again in modern Greece (and many other states besides).
We don’t expect it to happen in the United States. But it has. It has.
Here, then, are some notes on the Obama’s first term — some tell-tale examples of his administration’s facility in finding useful ways to neutralize unpleasant or embarrassing realities and, in some cases, to turn them into political successes.
The Jobs Disaster
In his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention in late
August 2008, Obama promised the sun, the moon, and the stars,
saying, among other things:
I’ll invest $150 billion over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy — an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can’t ever be outsourced.
However, as soon as he was sworn into the presidency, he began — simultaneously — to turn up the spigot on federal spending; and to bad-mouth the economy. This created a heads-we-win; tails-you-lose scenario, allowing the president to accept credit for any possible economic gains while blaming any disappointments on George W. Bush or previous presidents going back to Ronald Reagan.
About the Author
Andrew B. Wilson, a frequent contributor to The American Spectator, writes from St. Louis.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (55) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Andrew B. Wilson
More Articles From The Obama Watch
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/11/07/a-nation-adrift
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 11.7.12 @ 6:10AM
The takers have overwhelmed the makers. Invest in gold.
Von Mises Jr| 11.7.12 @ 7:31AM
There is nothing to take. We have a service economy that does not manufacture and create wealth. We are not makers anymore.
What they have done is not taking, but gives away their freedom and disposable income.
If the House refuses to implement a France-like marginal rate on the high earners and Obama allows the Bush Tax Rates to expire, everyone's taxes necessarily skyrocket.
At $50K AGI, taxes go up next year by $6,738 or $561 per month. Social Security tax goes back to 6.2% or an increase of 2%. At 50K that is another $1,000 or $83 per month. That is $644/mo. less in disposable income starting January for a rich guy making $50K after examptions and standard deduction. That means a married couple making about $35K each.
For $50K AGI, your total taxes will be $11,738 plus $3,825 for your half of SS and Medicare, or a total of $15,563. For that, you will get an IPAB Board to refuse your health care procedures.
A. C. Santore| 11.7.12 @ 10:55AM
You are correct. Andrew Wilson is wrong - although "misguided" is a more accurate word.
Obama's policies have NOT "failed." To believe that you do not understand what his true polices are - and believe that they what he deceitfully and duplicitously says they are.
He has intended every single result, intended not to save, but to weaken - if not destroy - our economy, our constitutional government, and our culture.
Nor are we "adrift." Once again, you can believe that only if you believe the subterfuge. We are instead being driven at flank speed to the triple disaster I note above, so he can institute the kind of economic/governmental/cultural world he sees as perfect.
Von Mises Jr| 11.7.12 @ 11:24AM
I'll bet Soros shorted the dollar yesterday.
TLP| 11.7.12 @ 3:30PM
We are hardly a Country adrift.
We are SINKING.
And, SINKING fast.
Toinfinityandbeyond| 11.7.12 @ 9:21PM
It's god's intention that GOP lost.
It's time to shut down GOP!
SUBVET| 11.7.12 @ 10:09AM
Load the waggon......the mule is blind.
AmericanCynic| 11.7.12 @ 5:33PM
No, the TAKERS of B.S. have had enough and they have kicked the MAKERS of it to the curb. Invest in an education.
Toinfinityandbeyond| 11.7.12 @ 9:21PM
It's god's intention that GOP lost.
It's time to shut down GOP!
Appleby| 11.7.12 @ 6:38AM
Keep your head down, your powder dry, your lamps filled and wicks trimmed, and prepare for the deluge.
Hardcard| 11.7.12 @ 7:13AM
michelle is now proud again and I'm ashamed. now we can get back to the x factor,dancing with the stars, american idle,msnbc,cnn,nbc,more abortions,gay marriage and the moslem spring,that's all folks.
arlo price| 11.7.12 @ 7:33AM
Hustlers always just barely win, that's how they keep you in the game.
Swindlers /scammers are liars who play upon the marks greed.
Thank you NEA, MSM & Hollywood for being successful at dumbing down America, and a special thanks to all the irresponsible parents who let the aforementioned baby sit for them.
A stolen election in Minnesota (franken), likewise in Nevada (reid, (seiu has the maintenance contracts for the voting machines)) were 2 of the more notable dhim testbed elections for this one.
Even more obvious was the old adage of 'follow the money'.
Do you think that Warren Buffet is buying up newspapers because he's sentimental? Internet censorship will be here before you know it (fairness doctrine?).
Do you think Buffet bought a railroad because he had a Lionel train set when he was a kid? Does CSX really need to advertise about how fuel efficient they are? Cost prohibitive fossil fuels are right around the corner.
Pay attention people.
Let's roll
AmericanCynic| 11.7.12 @ 5:23PM
What are you smoking, Arlo?
"Hustlers always just barely win"
With close to 3 million more votes in the Popular Vote count and a 303 - 206 Electoral College victory (until FL is decided), how is that barely winning?
In 2004, Bush's re-election was 279 - 252 (Kerry) and he and Cheney acted like it was a freaking mandate!
Only a person who's partisan loyalty trumps his own intelligence would say that there was more money flowing into the Dem side of the 2012 election!
So when you say "Let's roll" you forgot to add "another one."
;)
arlo price| 11.7.12 @ 8:45PM
Commentary from an obvious amateur who has been outed.
AmericanCynic| 11.8.12 @ 7:07PM
Amateur smoker?
LOL!
correction: I was using CNN's number from election night in 2004. Once the dust settled Iowa went to Bush making it 286 - to Kerry's 252. Speaking of dust settling Romney conceded FL. President Obama's re-election: 332 - Romney's 206.
Purp| 11.7.12 @ 7:46AM
America Won! The Middle Class Won! The Constitution Won! Gay Rights Won! BIG MONEY lost! You can't buy an election, and that's good news for America.
For all those who are sad, I have to say Romney gave a classy concession speech. As the last political thing he does, it's a good way to end after a loss to President Barack Obama.
AmericanCynic| 11.7.12 @ 5:28PM
Agreed, Romney surprised me with his grace and class. Too bad it's not spreading through-out his party. :(
Joellen| 11.7.12 @ 7:53AM
The unborn, ill & elderly lost, small businessess lost, the American taxpayer lost, the family unit lost, non-union workers lost; mom & pop stores lost, The Catholic Church and in the future all christian/judeo faith based institutions lost - America is lost for now.
Purp| 11.7.12 @ 1:18PM
Clueless, aren't you?
Al Adab| 11.7.12 @ 2:49PM
Thank you Joellen:
It is likely that we have been weighed in the balance and found wanting with similar results
arlo price| 11.7.12 @ 7:57AM
PS: Israeli investments would not be wise unless it is a burka manufacturing firm!
Dean V| 11.7.12 @ 8:34AM
The American eagle has been replaced by that ignorant, loud-mouth, fat-ass entitlement parasite Obamaphone woman.
Purp| 11.7.12 @ 1:19PM
Why do you trash America?
AmericanCynic| 11.7.12 @ 5:29PM
and women?
Mike G| 11.7.12 @ 8:59AM
I keep hearing about polls that say that over half of voters think the country is headed in the wrong direction. Yet, over half the voters chose to keep going in that direction. That tells me that over half the voters are truly ignorant, and the rest of us are in a heap o' trouble. Anybody know where I can find a nice deserted island to buy?
Purp| 11.7.12 @ 1:19PM
No, it's a stupid question to ask... it doesn't really answer a complicated situation.
Bob K| 11.7.12 @ 9:06AM
Mr. Wilson,
Obama didn't govern when he had a large majority in 2008. He refused to govern after he lost it in 2o1o. And he won't be able to govern now that he barely won the popular vote by the skin of his teeth.
He is riding your tiger, Mr Wilson! And he can't get off! Relax, sit back and watch!
Purp| 11.7.12 @ 1:20PM
Sure he will... with the Executive pen, like GW Bush did. He taught Obama how to do it.
AmericanCynic| 11.7.12 @ 5:30PM
That's some thick skin on his teeth! LOL!
C Smith | 11.7.12 @ 9:22AM
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
And the Man of God Wept
On the day after the first Tuesday in November, the reality is becoming clear. Our defenses are to be destroyed, our young men who guard them, little more than fuel for the fire, and our little ones, ripped from their mothers and dashed to the ground:
... and the man of God wept. And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child....
http://popularapostasy.blogspo.....-wept.html
A. C. Santore| 11.7.12 @ 10:59AM
Perfect. Thanks, CSmith.
Al Adab| 11.7.12 @ 1:58PM
Already every Leftist special interest group (that is those who want money from the trough) are claiming the election a mandate for their cause. The president is most likely to react with a monomaniacle burst of executive orders, demands and legislation all designed to further the social agenda of The Left. He will demand action on his spending and taxation programs and will emasculate the military. We can only hope that what remains of the GOP will have the courage to maintain its opposition to these plans and programs even in the face of massive public demand.
AmericanCynic| 11.7.12 @ 5:26PM
You mean like how Bush's 279-252 victory over Kerry was a "mandate" to tackle Social Security?
GobBluthe| 11.7.12 @ 7:47PM
It was 286-252
AmericanCynic| 11.8.12 @ 7:09PM
Correction: I was using CNN's number from election night in 2004. Once the dust settled Iowa went to Bush making it 286 - to Kerry's 252.
Speaking of dust settling...
Romney conceded FL.
President Obama's re-election: 332 - Romney's 206.
That's a big f#@kin deal!
Kwan| 11.7.12 @ 9:57AM
Now that Obama has been elected to a second-term the deceivers in the MSM will have to try to convince us, that the disasters that will surely result from 4 more years of Obama and his policies of mayhem and destruction, are not actually happening. Obama's failures we will be told are surely a figment of our imagination, due to the fact that we don't understand what the meaning of is is.
A Grin without a Cat| 11.7.12 @ 10:15AM
There's something I don't understand. Two years ago, enough people had figured out his O-ness that the Republicans picked up 65 seats in the House, 6 seats in the Senate, a number of governorships, and over 900 state legislative seats.
Has the electorate changed that radically in two years? I smell a rat.
KennesawJack| 11.7.12 @ 12:37PM
I smell it, too, Grin but ain't a damn thing you or I or anyone else can do about it.
Immortal 600| 11.7.12 @ 5:18PM
Isn't it funny that there were about 10 million less votes in this Presidential election than the last one? That has never happened before! Also there were supposed to be 10 million MORE eligible voters this time around. Could it be that masses of people voted but machines somehow didn't count their votes. Romney didn't even get as many votes as McCain did last time. Strange.
Also, does anyone else have the problem that when there are a lot of comments on an article the ones down at the bottom start appearing as jibberish?
KennesawJack| 11.7.12 @ 11:45PM
Immortal, I think the problem was too many white voters (evangelicals and conservatives who would rather lose than vote for a moderate) sat this one out. We lost for that reason and that alone. Was there some hanky-panky going on in Philly, Chicago, Detroit, et al? Does a Hobby Horse have a wooden dick? Of course there was but, at the end of the day, we formed a circular firing squad.
RCV| 11.7.12 @ 6:45PM
Turnout in 2010 compared to 2012 was miniscule. That's how you "won".
Bill8472| 11.7.12 @ 10:17AM
If I were to think of President Obama using literary similes, I'd think he was more like the Cuban fisherman in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. Obama has caught the great fish, all right, and now the sharks are nibbling away at its flesh while Obama watches helplessly.
Tom Kyba| 11.7.12 @ 11:02AM
Repeat after me. The MSM! The MSM! The MSM!
Artman| 11.7.12 @ 11:11AM
Historical perspective is the necessary ointment now not arcane fantasy.
I'm sure there was a moment in time when a terrified but brave 18 year old, pinned down on a Normandy beach or a field in Flanders , saw sure death and defeat under the rain of enemy steel. Saw his buddies blown to pieces. Imagine that horror. Here, we just had an election that didn't quite fall our way. Let's fight on. Let's persevere. We can do that. People died for us to do that.
TerryJ2| 11.7.12 @ 3:41PM
Copy that, I will answer the call.
Al Adab| 11.7.12 @ 4:50PM
Gentlemen:
During the MA ratifying convention Theophilus Parsons said, "An act of usurpation is not obligatory, it is not law. "Resistance to such law is justified." Have we the stomach to envoke the "alter or abolish" clause?
Al Adab| 11.7.12 @ 4:53PM
in re: Flanders
"The torch be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not rest though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."
PolishKnight| 11.7.12 @ 3:48PM
When we talk about the American people giving Obama a second chance, about a 1/3 of the people who voted for him were simple entitlement seekers either in the form of elitist public sector unions, cronies, or race entitlements. It's as simple as that. They don't care about his performance or making the country better. They hope he'll rob middle and working class whites and give them the goodies. He's like a Jim Crow era Democrat.
The other 1/5th or so of American people that voted for him are either hardcore marxists who drank cool aid and don't care about the consequences (they hope if the turn the USA into Mexico, it will magically transform into Sweden. "Imhotep! Imhotep!") or naive marxists who want to be "cool" and finally the outright ignorant. Those who went through a storm, got some hot cocoa from FEMA, and voted accordingly.
AmericanCynic| 11.7.12 @ 5:14PM
Right, President Obama "conjured up a tiger "
LOL!
Or maybe it was "tiger" conjured up by 1) over 30 years of an inflexible "tax cuts are the only way to grow the economy" philosophy 2) relentlessly NEVER admitting a GOP defeat and NEVER fully acknowledging a Democrat victory 3) replacing graciousness and "honeymoon" periods with divisive excuses and attempts to "De-Americanize" their opponents 4) Refusing to recognize that women are more than "brood-mares" that deserve less freedom when their womb is involved 5) refusing to recognize that demographics have changed in America and 6) that American Muslims are entitled to every single right that any other American is entitled too. Period.
But sure, it was all an "illusion" created by Obama!
LOL!
Kingofthenet| 11.7.12 @ 7:27PM
or...
...I been
sayin' that shit for years. And if
you ever heard it, it meant your
ass. I never really questioned
what it meant. I thought it was
just a cold-blooded thing to say to
a motherfucker 'fore you popped a
cap in his ass. But I saw some
shit this mornin' made me think
twice. Now I'm thinkin', it could
mean you're the evil man. And I'm
the righteous man. And Mr. .45
here, he's the shepherd protecting
my righteous ass in the valley of
darkness. Or is could by you're
the righteous man and I'm the
shepherd and it's the world that's
evil and selfish. I'd like that.
But that shit ain't the truth. The
truth is you're the weak.
Bob Grant| 11.7.12 @ 9:07PM
Spoken by the Ultra Racist Samuel L. Jackson.
Datsun 2000 Mark| 11.7.12 @ 8:00PM
Andrew,
Let's have some fun while we're at it:
Let's impeach Osama over Benghazi and put that baffoon Biden in charge. Oh what fun to see him fumbling in the night.
AmericanCynic| 11.8.12 @ 7:11PM
Osama was killed by Obama, Datsun. ;)
Toinfinityandbeyond| 11.7.12 @ 9:12PM
It's time to shut down GOP!
Suzyqpie| 11.10.12 @ 10:25AM
The Federal Government of the United States of America has betrayed the American people. We are the brokest nation is the history of the planet. There is plenty of blame to go around. The blame allocation does not mitigate the financial disaster that looms over every last one of us.