The Toughest Job in the World
This has been a crazy day in the real world. The econo-mess continues to get worse. And the government keeps throwing money at the problem with incredible stupidity.
Obama met with Bush today, and they pretended to get along. It would have been interesting to have sat in on that meeting, but I’m wondering if Obama is asking himself yet why he took this job. It’s not going to be fun.
Between pleasing the people he promised everything to, to pleasing his own party which is full of sharks and wack jobs with their own agendas, he may end up feeling like Eddie Murphy’s character in “Trading Places”, when he gets a luxury apartment and he realizes all his friends are free loaders and scum who are out for themselves.
Yes, Obama may be out for himself, too. But being president isn’t like any other job in the world. Everyone on earth is looking at you and judging you. For the rest of your life, and long after you’re dead, people will judge how you did.
The president’s decisions affect the lives of billions of people. It’s the most important job in the world. Obama may well wish he lost at some point.
He’s going to have to prove himself in ways Bush never had to, because people didn’t expect Bush to perform miracles. They never looked at him as some kind of messiah.
He’s going to feel the kind of pressure only people at the very top feel. The pressure to live up to his own legend.
Obama carefully crafted his story and image. He seems to be very good at it. But his own record as a senator is not one of a hard working politician. He has not done a whole lot of note. Now he will be forced to act or cause havoc and ruin. Ask George Bush how easy it is to be blamed for disasters he didn’t cause, for economies outside his control.
Some of the things Obama has said he wants to do will be impossible now, with the economy where it is. Other things will be a disaster, like bankrupting the coal industry or classifying carbon as a “dangerous pollutant.”
He’s going to have to walk on egg shells.
Yes, it won’t be fun. For anyone.
The people who voted for Obama expect a LOT from him. In fact, the word “lot” is pretty weak tea in this case. I don’t see any way whatsoever he’ll be able to deliver on even half of his major promises (in fact, he’s backpedaling on several of them already, and he’s not even president yet). And the extremists and one-issue voters who put him in office are going to be pissed. Obama has never really know difficulty—his path in life and politics has been a smooth one, greased by money, race, and the MSM. The shock when he starts getting serious flack from those he thought he’d bought and paid for will be severe, possibly even incapacitating. He might turn out to be the George W Bush of the liberals—voted in with the idea he’s going to do what he said, and then pretty much incapable of delivering. The people who put Obama in power are vicious and uncompromising. He may find there is a downside to sharing a bed with such folks.
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/11 at 03:30 PMI think you’re right. However, there is one way he can at least look semi-capable, and that’s surrounding himself with people who are good enough to do the heavy lifting, which is kind of what Bush did, except Bush relied on people like Mineta and Rumsfeld long after it was apparent they weren’t making things work.
Obama will have to get some capable people under him. If he does, he can squeak by. But as it is, he is in for a hell ride.
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/11 at 08:11 PM
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