The Three Obamas

Hope and Change was left behind long ago.

by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online
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30 thoughts on “The Three Obamas”

  1. And while he leaves a mess behind on the global scene, he and his cronies will take on more wealthy and powerful positions around the world continuing to stir the pot for social unrest, and in America, the entire governmental infrastructure will be dramatically more infested with socialist rats in every corner of every wasteful department.

    We will need God’s hand to help and bless us if we are to recover the effects of this Loser of a President and his supporters.

  2. Claude Lumpkn

    The gap between Obama’s self-assessment and the reality of his inept and incompetent performance is stunning. Another superlative analysis by Dr. Hanson.

  3. You forgot to mention his lying in bed at the outset with the Muslim Brotherhood and have many of their operatives still in the WH, especially at his conference earlier this year which is ridiculously called, “Violent Extremism,” as opposed to “Radical Islam.”

  4. When did the nation vote to spend funds for education to replace the 1776 to 1900 “Tragic-Liberty Worldview” education… with mandatory K-12 and university “Progressive-Serfdomite Worldview” education?

    Why is “Progressive-Serfdomite Worldview” education (i.e. Common Core) like a low-flush Eco-toilet, where you have to keep flushing over and over, and still it won’t go down?

    The answer is clearly to elect representatives who will defund “Prog-Serfdomite” education, since Obama is a perfect example of that dangerous, false-reality, group-suicide sub-teaching. The answer is to return to “Tragic-Liberty Worldview” education K-12 and university. (Progtard ruination can thus be reversed.)

  5. Barak is Enabler- in-Chief. He has a preternatural ability to sense what is most self destructive for America and Americans and enable that. He is so good, he can accomplished this with his eyes closed, his hands tied behind his back, while playing golf.

  6. I have always thought of Obama’s terms as president in a Walter Mitty kind of vein…just Walter actually gets the chance to do the things he dreams of. But he’s still Walter Mitty, not some grand, decisive leader.

    He certainly is a true believer in the University-inflected brand of progressivism he espouses.

    But at the end of the day, he’s not a leader. He’s a failed community organizer. He’s a do-nothing back-bencher who rose to power faster than we could arrive at a consensus about who he is. He’s a blank canvas onto which we can project whatever relationship we have with his ideology.

  7. Donald DaCosta

    “Hence his presidency proved entirely predictable:”

    Predictable to you and those paying close attention in the run up to 2008 but, on the basis of the incontrovertible evidence of 2012, unpredictable to, and undetected by, a majority of American voters mesmerized and rendered incapable of sound judgment by a media enthralled with Obama’s charismatic image; “his catlike descent down the stairs of Air Force One” for one of many instances of widely publicized images of physical prowess and glorification.

    Obama, “The One,” is perhaps the greatest, most successful and most devastating political con job ever perpetrated on a nation of complacent, disengaged, disinterested patriots exercising their constitutional right, however superficially, to vote. Contrary to the popular admonition to vote, no matter what, Americans would be well advised not to vote unless they are well versed on current events, the major issues involved and the candidates approach to deal with those issues. A few hours of attention given to review the favorite local or national news sources in the last week or two before the election in order to form and solidify an opinion (set the hook trolled by biased news sources) is grossly inadequate as two terms of Obama proves. Of course, as a pragmatic, effective solution to the problem of voter ignorance this approach leaves much to be desired.

  8. Obama is not the only U.S. president to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
    Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were both awarded
    Peace Prizes, in 1906 and 1919 respectively. Two secretaries
    of state, George Marshall and Henry Kissinger, have also
    been awarded Peace Prizes.

    Of course, many Americans pay little attention to history
    and could well believe that Obama is the only one.

  9. Number one is mostly the fairy tale of Hope and Change that the MSM and Obama’s supporters believe is the truth.

    Number two would be the most accurate description and evaluation of Obama if one applies the necessary critical thinking.

    Number three is really an addendum to number two.

    Saying Obama is a Neo-Socialist who is hellbent on imposing a state controlled, massive central government is not an overstatement. The damage his Justice Dept. and EPA are inflicting on States, municipalities and individuals, nevermind the alphabet soup of scandals that have been put in service to maintaining power, is ample evidence of not just his detached amateur leadership but of an ideologue who doesn’t respect the rule of law. It’s utterly astounding to me how a majority of Americans could have failed to notice his far-left intransigence after the associations with Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers and Frank Marshall Davis were revealed by Fox or other conservative news outlets during the 2008 election cycle, or his glaringly thin resumé of voting “Present” 129 times in the Illinois state legislature and of achieving very little either as a US Senator or as an Ivy League educated lawyer/community organizer. The MSM certainly played a critical role – eg: why did we only find out AFTER the election that he had been a chronic stoner in high school, and why is the LA Times still refusing to release the video of Obama honoring Israel hater Rashid Khalidi? – and continues to carry water for him and Hillary. Another interesting lead the MSM could have followed up on was how did he transfer into Columbia university as an undergrad? My father-in-law went to Ivy League schools and says it’s highly unusual for them to accept transfer students, especially stoners for whom high school was a blur. There are also the related issues of his transcripts and, as VDH has pointed out in the past, his dearth of outstanding essays while editor of the Harvard Law Review.

    With respect to his narcissism and arrogance, I’ve often wondered what our country would have been like had our Founding Fathers chosen a parliamentary system of government instead of a Montesquieuian form. A french style ceremonial presidency would suit Obama and his wife as they would be free to jet around the globe, entertain dignitaries at the WH and generally pretend they are important while leaving the serious business of governing the nation with the more democratic House of Representatives. The Senate could also be largely ceremonial too, just like Britain’s House of Lords, it would rarely obstruct the will of the people. This may give a Nancy Pelosi temporarily a frightening amount of power, but with an active opposition and votes of No Confidence, you would have more fluid shifts in power and a government that can express the will of the people and speak with one voice. I think this would be far preferable to the current gridlock that has failed to repeal Obamacare and produced the CRs that have lead to massive budget borrowing and nearly $19 trillion in debt. A parliamentary system would also give us a more coherent, grown-up foreign policy, instead of the casual ideologically driven mess we’ve been suffering through for the past 6.5 years and to which our adversaries are taking full advantage. Another benefit would also be better oversight and accountability of government. A demand for a proper independent inquiry into the asinine activities of a Lois Lerner or a Hillary Clinton wouldn’t be left up to the purview of the president’s buddy running the Justice Dept.

    I grew up in Britain for about ten years during the 70’s and 80’s. Although I was only a teenager at the time, I do remember the fierce exchanges between then opposition leader Margaret Thatcher and PM James Callaghan that forced a vote of no confidence and saved the UK from looming financial disaster. Before she came to power, Britain was at the mercy of the Unions and the socialist Labour party. Strikes were rampant, unemployment was high and Britain was even forced to take out an IMF loan in 1976 as bankruptcy became a distinct possibility. I sure wish we had a leader today who understood the danger we are in and had the courage to speak truth to power.

  10. chewed extension cord

    Those who wrecked the country were those who were foolish and blind enough to vote for him not just once, but twice. They would vote for him a third time, but they can’t, so they will take whichever candidate they see as the closest example. I don’t see much changing and being that there were enough voters to easily put him in office, plus the pathetically horrible job the Republicans have done twice, why should I feel confident for our future?

  11. Do you all think that the rest of the world only likes or dislikes the USA because of our presidents? Don’t be foolish. People around the world have poor views of the American people by meeting them. Unfortunately, these views are based primarily on encounters on foreign soil, where Americans who can afford to travel meet people in other countries. Monolingual, self-centered, and insensitive to cultural differences are often the regular opinion.

    What do you expect, then? And, what do you all recommend to solve our countries social problems? Should we gas the illegals? Should we stop funding public schools? What about all that hate floating around? Why don’t we just kick everyone out of the country that is NOT a millionaire?

    People get what they deserve.

    1. Why should being “monolingual” be counted against anyone? I can express myself in French and read elementary Latin, so does that mean I’m more acceptable? I don’t think Americns in general are any more “self-centered” or “insensitive to cultural differences” than anyone else in the world who is travelling abroad, but if you have some evidence to support these outageous claims then by all means share it with us. I would love to see it.

      And who is suggesting “we gas the illegals” or “stop funding public schools”? Again, provide your evidence. I would love to see it.

      If you want to have a serious discussion about illegal immigration and its effects on our education and healthcare systems, or why the educated, bilingual immigrant with capital to invest is more desirable to our nation than the uneducated, welfare dependent, semi-literate who paid a Drug Cartel to smuggle him into the country then first dispense with the cheap, odious rants.

      1. I have traveled to many countries where the local population likes to have USA tourist come because they spend a lot of money. But, the general opinion that I have encountered is a “dislike” for the way they behave.

        In your internet browser write, “what does the rest of the world think of the united states” or “what does the rest of the world think of americans” and you can peruse a variety of blogs and sites.

        And, by the way, I take it as a personal offense to your comment about the semi-literates smuggled into the USA. I have been an English as a second language teacher in urban public schools for 20 years. You obviously have had little contact with these “human” beings.

  12. Portraits II and III absolutely must incorporate the recent disclosure that Obama, as a result of his PSD-11 (Presidential Study Directive) ordered that his administration’s foreign policy in the Middle East should prioritize alignment with the interests and goals of the Muslim Brotherhood. This is a huge development with ominous implications which hitherto was apparently held secret. It helps to explain Obama’s surreptitious arming of rebels in Syria- with gun-running through Turkey- the overthrow of Gaddafi, the fall of Libya into hands of al-Qaeda spinoffs, the failure to come to the aid of the four Americans in that country during the Benghazi attack, Obama’s refusal to share intelligence with the el-Sisi regime in Egypt on terrorist threats to both countries and endorse his call for a “revolution” in Islam, pressures on Israel to return to pre-1967 borders, and his attempt to convert Iran from sworn enemy to “neutral” ally by easing its path towards the acquisition and launching capability of nuclear weapons. Worse yet, the shift in U.S. policy provides a blueprint for a potential Clinton presidency, since both Clintons aided and abetted the strategy of PSD-11, reaping handsome rewards through their Foundation in the process.

  13. sirs:

    put simply, obama is a shit head, and a wanna be bolshevik shooting people in the back of the head, in deep dark basements. but, he hasn’t the balls to do so.

    but, the bleakest assessment of the truth, is that we haven’t had the balls to hang him from the yardarms by his heels, (any lamp post would do.)

    stand off.

    john jay

  14. I take issue with take III, over characterizing Obama as a “sad pretender”. He’s not pretending, or sad. He’s a hardcore ideologue basking in the glow of accomplishing the transformation he promised six years ago. America has become unrecognizable in 10 years, take II is much closer to reality than either of the other takes.

    As an aside, I always regarded the election of 2006 as the birthing of tha TEA Party, when a significant part of the base stayed home as protest of a well established Republican congress spending the people’s money like drunken sailors. Anyway, it might not be the TEA Party was named as such 10 years ago, but the spirit was stirring. Happy Anniversary TEA Party types!! We’re pretty much screwed now, they wouldn’t/won’t listen…

  15. buybuydandavis

    Obama is the usual Progressive.

    He wants to punish and humiliate his enemies. Beyond that, there’s nothing he particularly wants to *accomplish*.

    Progressives are driven by dreams of *status*. They have nothing they particularly want to *do*, they just want to *be* somebody.

  16. There’s a fourth choice: Obama as Trojan Horse, sleeper agent, Manchurian candidate, the Destroyer, inculcated with Marxist ideology mixed with Third World Nationalism and equal doses of Islam and Liberation theology; bred and raised to bring down an America and Western civilization based on the God-given natural rights of man and the Nation-State by Communist grandparents, and to replace national, racial, and economic hierarchy with an all encompassing global socialist governance structure led by the international elite.

    If you take Obama as he was presented at the 2004 Democrat National Convention and as a 2008 presidential candidate, and see him at that time as a wholly fabricated image marketed to appeal to Bush fatigued America by the Democrat Party, itself a Marxist organization, as transcending race, nationality, a non-threatening messiah, as the best chance to affect non-violent, Cloward-Piven-style socialist revolution upon an unsuspecting America since at least the fall of the Soviet Union; and then juxtapose that with Obama the moment he gained entry to the White House- undermining the constitutional government of Honduras in favor of a Chavista dictator, banishing a bust of Winston Churchill from the White House, and his consigliere, Eric Holder, calling America “a nation of cowards”, while the DHS declared that returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans may be domestic terror threats – and it seems less likely that this is but a ship of fools engulfed in their folly, but a designed plan. Why, anyone would want to destroy America by racking up $20 trillion in publicly held debt, $200 trillion in unfunded liabilities, hiding fiscal insolvency through printing money and Quantitive Easing, creating a false reality with a sycophantic media, by dismantling the United States military while ratcheting up global tension through appeasement and capitulation, releasing terrorists like Ali Daqduq or the Taliban 5 and prosecuting Navy SEALs for punching them in the face, setting the stage for World War III, all while importing ten’s of millions of illegal aliens threatening racial and ethnic balkanization, and undermining the very fabric of American law, culture and cohesion embodied in the US constitution, is beyond me. But, Obama has done exactly that.

    Obama knew when he was elected that he entered the White House on a heretofore unknown wave of popularity and wishful thinking, well wishes held even by many Republican’s and political opponents. Obama could have done anything he wanted for, he could have been the best president ever, if he had just stuck to tried and true practices of governance. But, Obama decided to rule as a tyrant against common sense and over 200 years of history of America as a nation that held freedom and liberty as sacrosanct moral purposes, even to the point of violence and civil war. Obama knew that going in, and sought to “fundamentally transform” the Country nonetheless, and as such, he has largely been a success to the detriment of those of us who love it.

    I think it is safe to say that the Obama administration is the most evil and insidious in American history, and that mere incompetence does not explain the situation America finds itself in by virtue of just pointing to the regime’s maniacal administrative proficiency and executive accomplishments. This analysis fits with Obama’s history, his affiliations with Bill Ayers, Frank Marshall Davis, Saul Alinsky, the Nation of Islam (organizing the Million Man March), Valerie Jarrett, George Soros, Rashid Khalidi, Khalid al-Mansour, and his still obscure past and ideology. Obama and his cabal know exactly what they are doing, the question is why are they being allowed to get away with it?

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/09/bombshell-no-wonder-obama-bowed-to-the-saudis-they-likely-funded-him-at-harvard/

    http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/the-daqduq-dilemma/

    http://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/timeline-ali-mussa-daqduq

    http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2014/11/30/50-years-after-none-dare-call-it-treason-david-horowitz-rises-to-the-occasion/

  17. I would personally opt for II. The Majority Take.

    Obama’s impact has gone beyond just bad policy and lawlessness.
    His influence has been almost insidiously demoralizing, damaging the spirit, the very soul of our society. It has grown to become something beyond Orwellian.

    As an example, my brother and sister-in-law, through hard work and sacrifice, have become relatively successful. They have also now become, under Obama and I presume Clinton, enemies of the state: convenient scapegoats for all the nation’s ills.

    These are people who have done everything traditionally considered “right”: overcame single-parent, financially-challenged upbringings; loved and served our country; are very diligent and caring parents and have always treated everyone with dignity and respect.

    But in Obama’s America this is not right but wrong. Their unpardonable crime is that
    they are financially comfortable…and white. End of discussion.

    This is one case reflective of countless throughout the country.
    One can only imagine the long-term ramifications of this.

  18. Bart Hall (Kansas, USA)

    I’m astounded you missed this. Obama was the *second* US President awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, the first (in 1905) being Theodore Roosevelt, who negotiated an end to the Russo-Japanese War.

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