The American Spectator

John| 12.23.08 @ 11:41AM

From all indications, the One is going to have a muddled indecisive mess of an administration. He is a sock puppet (my son calls him a power tool). His "backers" - those who paid the bill for his unheard of and hypocritical half trillion dollar political campaign will come a knocking soon enough.

If the One has the spine to stand up to more than half of his patrons, he will still be short a few feet of backbone when the big donors show up with their wish lists.

I have seen organizations hire promising quota employees to postions of responsibility. None survived their first year. They were overwhelmed by the work. They lacked the decisiveness and self-reliance to do their jobs, and then burned out as they either micromanaged their way to failure or merely evaporated into organizational irrelevance.

Of course they couldn't be fired, but they did eventually quit. Or I quit... and moved on to better smarter companies.

The One completely inexperienced at running much of anything. His handlers all do that sort of stuff... leaving him to ponder, pontificate, expound, and generally spread awe around. Not an ounce of it is related to actually operating much of anything other than his mouth.

We are in for four lost and insanely disorganized years of pinging back and forth between polls, and the shock of events.

We, as a nation - I certainly didn't vote for him - hired a game show host to run a nation in dangerous times... not much good can come of it.

Regards and may God have mercy on our souls.

John

Robert Stacy McCain| 12.23.08 @ 12:34PM

John, I don't think Obama's failure will be due to character deficit or lack of political ability on his part. It's simply that his economic agenda is warmed-over Keynesianism, which suggests to me that we can expect the economy to get much, much worse over the next few years. As much as Americans love "hope," they won't abide a long recession, and nothing Obama has announced holds any promise of economic recovery.

Roy| 12.23.08 @ 2:20PM

If Obama does nothing the economy will come back just fine. If all he does is pass some idiotic "stimulus" that will screw things up plenty but not enough to prevent some recovery which of course will be glorified to the skies by the media.

Obama will have to try very hard(eg, as hard as Herbert Hoover and his devoted follower, Franklin Roosevelt) to prevent SOME recovery from happening.

Bob| 12.23.08 @ 2:31PM

Roy is absolutely right, and RSM, you are again putting belief above reason. The economy will achieve a bottom when the housing market levels off. That is the underlying economic base that caused the collapse in the mortgage market. We should see that by the middle of next year to the beginning of 2010. As is typically the case, the stock market will precede this event by 6-12 months as it usually does. We are seeing a base form in the stock market right now.

A stimulus package is not just Keynesian in nature. Even supply side economists support some sort of stimulus under these circumstances. I'm concerned with how much pork will be in Obama's package, however.

Obama has not spent one day as President yet, so this economic mess will continue to be blamed on Bush and the Republican congress over the past 8 years.

RSM, you also need to read a bit of history. FDR initiated bunches of stimulus programs and also made mistakes, like increasing taxes. But he was one of the most beloved Presidents by people of that time for giving the country hope. Remember, the economy didn't get back until the war. The downfall was, and is still blamed on Hoover.

Neil Thomas| 12.23.08 @ 4:16PM

We need a true intellectual and fiscal conservative like Bobby Jindal. Palin is not going to appeal to the masses, like the youth, African Americans, latins and the independants.

John Carpenter| 12.24.08 @ 12:51PM

The president elect has already made at three jawdropping miscalculations that suggest what at least 45,000,000 americans suspected and doubtless, although they voted for him, numerous
democrats considered is true: Barack Obama is in way over his head.

Incredulously, he appointed Sonal Shah--an Indian connections to a Hindu extremist group--VHP-- to his transition team which raised a few eyebrows in Pakistan. Evidence strongly suggested the VHP was responsible for the deaths of Muslims in Gujarat.

On the heals of that gaff, while making his obligatory calls to world leaders, Obama stiffed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but chatted with Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari.
You don't have to be Disraeli to guess that India read this as Obama possibly angling with Pakistan for a deal to cross its borders in the hunt for Osama with America taking Pakistan's side on the
explosive Kashmir issue.

Then, of course there has been Obama's incomprehensible promise to leave Iraq in 16 months, ostensibly to go back into a worse hell hole, Afghanistan (again to pursue Obama). Has anyone told him that there is a vast difference between the boiling anvil of Iraq and the mountainous, lunar terraine of Afghanistan? The surge which worked in Iraq will take YEARS to put in play in Afghanistan and another successful outcome is hardly a slam dunk.

Then, too, there's the distant thunder of the Blagojevich disaster, at best a P.R. nightmare for a guy that hasn't even had a chance yet to put his feet up on the desk in the Oval office. (Yeah, yeah:
an "internal" investigation cleared up the whole thing. I'm sure Patrick Fitzgerald is going to say, "Well, I guess that's that ."

My guess is, as Dennis Miller put it, Obama is just not that bright or just not paying attention. How the hell could a state senator not know that his governor was the object of a major federal investigation and involved in fraud, and if he did know, why didn't he contact Fitzgerald before the trail of bread crumbs led back to his chief of staff?

The economy is the least of his worries.

Judi| 12.25.08 @ 6:18PM

I'm a Christian conservative, but a Pentecostal in a war bonnet is not my idea of Christianity much less conservative. Does she understand that war is not her Christian duty? I think not since she seems to combine it with her religious beliefs.

"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against FLESH AND BLOOD, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Eph 6:11-12

A true conservative knows, understands and great respect for the Constitution. Palin was already looking to go beyond the Constitution during the campaign.

As far as I can tell, Bobby Jindal would be a more sensible choice. For one thing, McCain DIDN'T choose him, so he's gotta be doing something right.

If Republicans don't get out of the Bush mode quick, I don't think they stand much chance of defeating anybody.

Lou Epstein| 12.25.08 @ 11:09PM

Sarah Palin has something noone else has, she has beauty, charm, charisma, and an overwhelming appeal for the average person. NO Jindal, Romney, Huckabee, or Pawlenty can compare with her. Sarah has Magic. -- And she was singlehandedly able to resurrect the sinking McCain Campaign, and the Chambliss campaign.-- The GOP needs to get rid of all those old geezers that are a stumbling block for a nation as diverse as America.-- Sarah Palin 2012 !!!

Judi| 12.26.08 @ 3:31AM

Bill Clinton had beauty, charm, charisma and evidently an overwhelming appeal. I don't believe in magic, but I do believe that every person that would vote for Palin already did this November and she didn't win because when the Independents finally made up their minds they went Democrat. I think that's because Independents are all about jobs which with them, believe it or not, beats beauty, charm and charisma. The GOP needs to get it's hands clean, because right now they look as dirty as the Democrats' and many, many people are sick and tired of it no matter what ethnic group they are in.

Lou Epstein| 12.27.08 @ 3:44AM

It matters none what past personalities where evident, i.e. Bill Clinton, what does matter is a morally clean, value oriented person, and if they happen to be beautiful, like Sarah Palin, even the better. --It also doesn't matter what ones party affiliation is, one should always vote with one's heart, because thats where the true meaning of life is.--Sarah Palin 2012 !!!

CJ| 12.27.08 @ 3:58PM

Whether you want to blather on about Keynes or Hayek or whatever economic flavor of the month or year you choose, what none of you seem to grasp is that the Market is run on emotion specifically fear. If Obama can get Americans to believe that things are going better, then they will tend to spend more, hire more, expand their business, invest in R&D;etcetera. Whether that takes a stimulus package or doing nothing is really immaterial.

Regarding Sarah Palin, she may have beauty, charm, charisma, and appeal, but unlike Bill Clinton she has nothing else to offer. I want a Statesman not a Hockey Mom running the most powerful nation in the World. The President can't be trading recipes or talking about car pooling kids with the likes of Putin, Pakistan's Zadari or the Juntas and Despots of the World. Zardari summed it up when he said she was lovely in person and that he wanted to give her a hug. Our President should command respect and reverence and not make world leaders gush. As far as going with your heart, when you're voting for someone who is either going to be the most powerful person on the planet or because of someone who is a heartbeat away from being the most powerful person on the planet, the last thing you need to do is go with what your heart tells you because it's really an organ that pumps blood and doesn't really speak to you much less extoll the true meaning of life.

Lou Epstein| 12.29.08 @ 4:39AM

Hm, you are looking for a statesman to be strong and a leader , eh? What about whats on the docket right now ? Doesn't look like much to me; no strenghth, no leadership, never made a decision in his life, never even run a hot dog stand, no experience, and on we go. -- But oh yeah, I forgot, he was chosen by the dumbest electorate the country had to offer.... IQ subzero...

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