I’ve always wanted to use that word, ever since reading it on a friends blog lo these many years ago, and it literally means contemplating ones navel often in overweening self absorption.  And so it seems to be the problem with the Obama Administration in general and President Obama in particular:  being so self absorbed that getting what you want is more important than doing the job you were hired to do.

The last nine months and a few days have seen extremes from rejoicing over the election of an African American and hopefully the final nail in the coffin of the laws that kept blacks from voting or even holding public office in the South and in much of the rest of America to massive political protests over the attempts by the Obama Administration to force a health insurance issue down the throats of America disguised as a moral crisis in health care.  Indeed, it is in part that because of the folk engaging in massive protests in town hall meetings over the congressional recess and “TEA Parties” held across America that the “navel gazing” has become so obvious.  And this is because the vast majority of folk in the administration seem less inclined to learn their jobs than to push their agendas.  And this seems to be set in place by none other than he whom some call the Narcissist in Chief.

So what about President Obama?   First, it is obvious that he is uncomfortable speaking in public without a prepared script without being questioned that the concept of a “TOTUS” (Teleprompter of the United States) has become,  if not a cliche, than at least a comment about Mr. Obama’s image as a masterful speaker.  For example, during last years primary, America’s premier orator stated, and “forcefully” I might add let alone quite clearly:

“Now look, the, the, ah, ah, ah, I mean the uh first of all uh I, I, I am not vetting any VP search committee for their mortgages so you’re going to have to uh, d-direct… Well, nah, I mean it becomes sort of a… um… I mean this is a game that can be played everybody… It who is tangentially related to our campaign I think is going to have a whole host of relationships.  I would have to hire the vetter to uh vet the vetter..”

But even then, lets not take anything away from Mr. Obama, with a script and a teleprompter he comes across as serious, highly intellectual and forceful.  That is until you take a look at his style.

I watched the Presidents speech to the joint session of Congress concerning the health care/health insurance issue and you could almost set your watch with three distinct behaviors:  1) look to the left and deliver a well rehearsed line or three, 2) point with his left hand (resting over his right hand on the podium otherwise) and 3) look to the right and deliver a well rehearsed line or three.  Rinse and repeat.

In addition, after a line that needed particular emphasis, he would tuck his chin down a little bit to give it that illusion of gravitas.  Since that speech he has inserted himself into five (count ‘em F.I.V.E.) news shows this last weekend and the David Letterman show last night.  It is almost as though he has had more on screen appearances since being sworn in than say Mickey Mouse (and that is saying a lot) or perhaps even Oprah.

President Obama has a history of tossing aside friends and colleagues that have for some reason or another become toxic to his image.  Reverend Wright, his grandma, his “just another guy in the neighborhood” pal Bill Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn, Father Pfleger, General Wesley Clark, and so many more.  Currently, he may soon toss General McChrystal under the bus for daring to mention that the General needs more troops to accomplish what President Obama set before him as task number uno.  In fact, the “new” Mid-East Policy also sets aside our long term relationship with Israel in favor of a nascent Palestinian state, attempts to coax Iran into doing something (giving up nukes) that Iran has repeatedly said, in word and action that it absolutely has no intention of doing.  Then, THEN we get a former member of the Carter administration (arguably the worst administration in modern history) Zbigniew Brzezinski suggests that the US may need to shoot down Israeli Jets should Israel decide that Iran’s nuclear weapons program is a significant threat to the region and to Israel itself.

In fact, during last years primary season, then candidate Obama averred that the most important aspect of keeping America safe was taking on the Taliban in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan.  So much for the importance of war in Afghanistan.  Today, not so much.

Obama has spoken, again during the primary season, of the importance of burnishing our relations with our allies, and indeed, the rest of the world.  Yet, in a blatant “surrender” to Russia and Iran, he cancels the missile defense set for Poland and eastern Europe.  From the Wall Street Journal:

The decision was attacked by [...] Bush-era defense officials, who questioned the new intelligence estimates and accused the administration of putting its relations with the Kremlin ahead of the security of NATO allies in Europe.

The U.S. about-face was a major diplomatic coup for Moscow, which has fiercely opposed the previous plan to put a battery of 10 ballistic missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic.

Moscow said its own nuclear arsenal was the target, rather than any threat from Iran as the former Bush administration said. In November, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev threatened to station tactical missiles on Poland’s border if the U.S. system were deployed. Mr. Medvedev on Thursday gave no indication that Russia would respond to the U.S. shift with greater cooperation, for example in pressuring Iran over its nuclear-fuel program. Other Russian officials said explicitly Thursday that wouldn’t happen.

Our Navel Gazer In Chief has also managed to turn American diplomacy in South and Central America topsy-turvey by electing to oppose the elevation of Honduran President Miceletti according to the laws of Honduras in favor of a rapscallion, Manuel Zaleya.  And, to and insult to injury, he is effectively supporting the wishes of such fiercely democratic individuals as Cuba’s Fidel and Raul Castro, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Bolivia’s Evo Morales.

We have had such what should have been obviously ham handed behaviors as refusing to acknowledge the aspirations of the people of Iran and decrying an obviously fraudulent election to giving moral equivalence between the IDF and Hamas and the PA.

Indeed, many on the right, in the center and on the left are worried that President Obama’s inability to understand the motivations of those with motives inimical to the interests of the United States may cause grievous harm to this great land.  And that doesn’t even include spending us into the poorhouse.

Navel gazing – how to destroy a Presidency!

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Tags: Allies, Democrats, Domestic Policy, Enemies, Foreign Policy, Health Care, Obama, On-The-Job-Training, Political Absurdities

This entry was posted by GM Roper on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 9:56 PM and is filed under Afghanistan, General, Israel and her Enemies!, Obama, The Obama Deficits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.