by Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n
PJ Media<\/em><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n The Obama Meltdown \u2014 Symptoms\/Diagnosis\/Prognosis<\/strong><\/p>\n Strange things are happening to the Obama administration and quickly so. His polls are diving and may not stop at 50\/50, the most precipitous drop in approval of a first-year President since Bill Clinton in 1993 (cf. Hillary care).<\/p>\n What follows are some of the problems the President faces.<\/p>\n Symptoms and Diagnosis<\/strong><\/p>\n 1)\u00a0Healthcare<\/em>. Healthcare take-overs and socialized medicine have terrified not just the right and conservatives, but the elderly of all persuasions who fear their shaky Medicare funds will be diverted to Obama\u2019s new plans. In short, they believe their care will be rationed and given to all sorts of new recipients. And they fear age will be a basis for meriting treatment; as if the gang banger with a long felony record of mayhem at 22 would be more deserving before a federal health panel than would someone at 90 who scrimped and saved for insurance in case of some future need for a hip replacement (and was still active and productive; cf. great octogenarians from Sophocles to Barzun who did their best work in their late lives).<\/p>\n It was an insane political move to demonize these town-hallers, when streaming video showed the participants scared and angry, but not violent, trying to get answers from smug politicos who either cell phoned away, ridiculed questioners in the manner of Barney Frank, or mocked their interrogators. These were for the most part not Code Pink\/Cindy Sheehan type protestors. (And by the way, what happened to Code Pink, given we are still in Iraq and Afghanistan?)<\/p>\n 2)\u00a0The Spell is Broken<\/em>. Cap-and-trade, the mega-deficits, the apology tours, and the sleaze of some appointments and congressional grandees (cf. Rangel, Dodd, Murtha, etc.) were stimulants, but not in themselves enough to awaken the somnolent American people from their collective trance. Yet healthcare was like a shot of adrenaline that jolted the patient out of his slumber. Suddenly hope and change no longer worked like the swinging watch and \u201cyou\u2019re getting sleepy\u201d lingo. Voters are feeling they\u2019ve been \u201chad\u201d and were mesmerized into being used for an extremist agenda.<\/p>\n Who made the following decisions? 1) to propose a 1,000 page bill that no one had read, much less could explain?; 2) to ram down the greatest change in the U.S. economy in fifty years by the August recess?; 3) to talk loosely of the \u201cuninsured\u201d without knowing why they were not insured, how much it would cost to insure them, or whether they currently in fact find some sort of care?; 4) to reference Rahm Emanuel\u2019s doctor brother as a source of wisdom? 5) to demonize the healthcare industry as greedy?<\/p>\n (NB: Does Obama really believe that illegal aliens do not possess 200-300 dollars a month to buy catastrophic health coverage, when they send on average at least that amount back to Mexico on the assumption the emergency room here is free, for everything from injuries to natal care? Does he believe that a 25-year old does not gamble that his robust health means he prefers his iPod, DVDs, and nights out to squirreling away cash each month for health insurance? There are flaws in our system that must be corrected, but the notion of conspirators in black hats who plot to prevent healthcare for the \u201cuninsured\u201d is fallacious.<\/p>\n 3)\u00a0The Counter-attack is not working<\/em>. The Obama shotgun has blasted all sorts of magnum loads \u2014 town-hall and tea-party critics were un-American, Nazis, tools of the insurance industry, dupes, and Astro-turfers. Now the religious argument is thrown out at the 11th hour: those who doubt neo-socialist care are somehow un-Christian and uncaring. But that tactic evokes Trinity-Church politics, where religious piety rings false and serves political advantage. Did not the Christian Right get demonized for just that avenue of political mobilization? And because Obama assumed messianic pretensions, such a prophet suffers the wage of hypocrisy, given the growing reality that he is, on the presidential scale, rather mean spirited, highly partisan, too sensitive to criticism, and surprisingly ill-informed given the emphasis on his Ivy-League education and the whiz-kids around him (who wrote the error-plagued Cairo speech).<\/p>\n The Therapy<\/strong><\/p>\n 1)\u00a0Cool the \u201cthis is our moment\u201d, \u201chope and change\u201d rhetoric.<\/em>\u00a0Obama reminds me of what Wellington supposedly said of Napoleon\u2019s Old Guard at Waterloo \u201cThey came on in the same old way, and we sent them back in the same old way.\u201d Instead, he should quietly follow the 1995 triangulation model of Bill Clinton\/Dick Morris.<\/p>\n Instead of the old sops of welfare reform, school uniforms, balanced budgets, and more police officers on the street (I\u2019m not being entirely cynical here), Obama should concentrate on debt, debt, and more debt. He could freeze federal spending at 2% per annum, and get into the black in two-three years, given his income tax hikes. He could pacify the Left with, \u201cI\u2019d love to pursue our socialist agenda, but we are going broke and cannot right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead of cap-and-trade, he could allot a few feminist, green and gay ambassadorships that would not impact the federal treasury. Given the sudden silence on Iraq, the Left has demonstrated that their furor was always about power lost and hatred for George Bush in the White House, never much about principles or convictions. That Obama is in the White House is more important to most former critics of Bush than anything he does or says.<\/p>\n 2)\u00a0Return to the \u201cno more blue\/red state\u201d bipartisan tropes<\/em>. Consider Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barney Frank as the real challenges, since the animosity that they engender can do far more damage to Barack Obama than Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and all of the Fox News cast put together. Voters are more comfortable with Blue Dogs than Barbara Boxer. Soon the tea-party anger is going to spill over and result in Boxer, Reid, etc. having reelection nightmares.<\/p>\n 3)\u00a0Retire Robert Gibbs<\/em>. He is as disingenuous as Ron Ziegler; as buffoonish as Scott McClellan; as abrasive as Ari Fleischer without the accompanying competence; and as mean-spirited as Bill Moyers. He must be some sort of Republican plant? (David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel seem likewise increasing liabilities. Axelrod is knee-deep in conflict of interest problems (his former firm is paying out his final settlement in part from business generated from Axelrod\u2019s present West Wing influence). Emanuel is the architect of ramming through these borrow-and-spend radical proposals all at once, on the theory that a left-wing government can be institutionalized and permanent constituencies established before the public catches on and the treasury can borrow no more.)<\/p>\n 4)\u00a0Stop the apologies abroad<\/em>. Emphasize the continuance of the war on terror (renditions, tribunals, Predators, etc.). Stay the course in Afghanistan and don\u2019t broadcast our intentions in Iraq. The model is Truman and JFK, not McGovern and Jimmy Carter. Read up on Iwo Jima and Chosun, and cool the victim studies chants.<\/p>\n 5)\u00a0End class warfare<\/em>. End the class warfare against those who make over $150,000 (or is it $200,000 or is it $250,000?), and begin to thank them for creating national wealth and giving so much of it back to the government (state, federal, and payroll taxes already result in a 50 percent plus bite for many). As it is now, Obama\u2019s agenda is not so much against the wealthy (the rich own the homes he vacations in, organized the salons that enriched him in the campaign, and are among his most generous supporters and recipients of insider favors), as it is directed at those who wish to be wealthy.<\/p>\n And the Republicans?<\/strong><\/p>\n 1)\u00a0Mea culpa<\/em>. At some point the opposition will have to offer counterproposals that are the opposite of the financial recklessness of 2001-06. On health care reform, they could offer tax incentives for private health care accounts, craft subsidies for the poor to purchase private catastrophic plans, and insist on tort reform. It won\u2019t do any good to blast Obama for bankrupting the treasury if conservatives still vote in multi-billion-dollar agriculture subsidies, expand earmarks, and dream up new programs like\u00a0No Child Left Behind<\/em>\u00a0andPrescription Drug<\/em>\u00a0expanded benefits. The Republicans gain from the Obama meltdown, but will be embarrassed when voters turn and ask , \u201cAnd you? What have you got for us that is any better?\u201d and they have no detailed reply.<\/p>\n 2)\u00a0Clean House<\/em>. If opponents are to emphasize the Democratic sleaze \u2014 Rangel, Dodd, Murtha, the Obama Cabinet tax-cheaters, Axelrod, etc \u2014 then they must pledge no more Tom Delays, Duke Cunningham\u2019s, Mark Foleys, and Jack Abramoffs. Parts of the success of the old Contract with America were provisions about congressional behavior.<\/p>\n 3)\u00a0Something Different This Time<\/em>. Conservatives must appreciate that Obamism transcends the usual liberal challenge posed by past Democrats. For a variety of reasons, the liberal agenda this time is much more far-reaching and systematic. Obama proposes not just to grow government and absorb much more of the nation\u2019s GDP into the state, but to create a lasting legacy of statism.<\/p>\n His \u201cgorge the beast\u201d philosophy of mega-deficits ensures the goal of \u201cspreading the wealth\u201d (cf. his campaign interview in which he was unfazed by the point that targeted tax cuts and economic expansion brought in greater federal revenue). Income is deemed arbitrary and compensation not rational; thus government is called upon to even things out given its greater wisdom and superior moral sensibility. The rapid growth in the state leads to permanent loyal constituencies of those who grant and receive entitlements \u2014 and could not be undone for generations, if ever. A religiosity surrounds these proposals, and critics (\u201cfishy\u201d) are targeted on email and websites, considered un-American and now un-Christian, in one of the most glaring examples of the utopian ends justifying devious means that we have seen in our lifetimes.<\/p>\n What\u2019s Next?<\/strong><\/p>\n In exasperation I think Obama\u2019s supporters will revert to the race card more often still, which in turn will only take his popularity even lower. Because of his inexperience and unfamiliarity with political hostility, I think Obama will press ahead on the present course, heightening partisan tensions, dividing the country, and ultimately diminishing his presidency further still. Again, the voters wanted youth, charisma, competence, fiscal sobriety, \u00a0non-partisanship, and are getting radicalism with an increasing edge to it.<\/p>\n An inflation-, debt-induced mini-recovery, I think, will help Obama by early next year. But the laws of physics will then catch up to him, as a falling dollar, high interest, high inflation, low growth, and high unemployment return to choke off a return to former prosperity. His political fortunes will hinge on what part of this economic cycles the elections fall, and the degree to which he jettisons the Chicago style (I predict many of us critics will be fully audited by next April or see Team Obama increase the swarm on websites and postings). With savvy Democratic role models like Truman, JFK, and Clinton, it is suicidal that he pursues a Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, or Kerry agenda \u2014 as if he really thinks voters supported him to resurrect such unpopular policies.<\/p>\n \u00a92009 Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Victor Davis Hanson PJ Media The Obama Meltdown \u2014 Symptoms\/Diagnosis\/Prognosis Strange things are happening to the Obama administration and quickly so. His polls are diving and may not stop at 50\/50, the most precipitous drop in approval of a first-year President since Bill Clinton in 1993 (cf. Hillary care).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[653],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-BL","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1898,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/anatomy-of-a-meltdown\/","url_meta":{"origin":2341,"position":0},"title":"Anatomy of a Meltdown","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson NRO's\u00a0The Corner Many saw Obama's polls dropping for a variety of reasons, and can anticipate what's next. People took the candidate at his word of bipartisanship, fiscal seriousness, and centrism, and from day one got instead shady Cabinet nominations of tax cheats and lobbyists, indifference to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "January 2010"","block_context":{"text":"January 2010","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2010\/january-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1134,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-obama-fabulists\/","url_meta":{"origin":2341,"position":1},"title":"The Obama Fabulists","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama was billed as a cool rationalist \u2014 a sober and judicious intellectual so unlike the inattentive and twangy \u201csmoke \u2019em out\u201d George W. Bush, so rational in contrast to the herky-jerky and frenetic John McCain. Like Senator\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "November 2010"","block_context":{"text":"November 2010","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2010\/november-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2270,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/desperately-seeking-a-healthcare-bill\/","url_meta":{"origin":2341,"position":2},"title":"Desperately Seeking a Healthcare Bill","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson NRO's\u00a0The Corner Speeding Over the Cliff It is quite amazing to watch Obama invoke God, call a joint session of Congress, go tit-for-tat with the town-hall movement, and reprogram daily the presidential message over the healthcare initiative \u2014 all in the midst of a recession. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "September 2009"","block_context":{"text":"September 2009","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2009\/september-2009\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1474,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obamas-real-problem\/","url_meta":{"origin":2341,"position":3},"title":"Obama’s Real Problem","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Why the president's poll numbers have declined. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online According to a popular myth, President Obama\u2019s declining poll numbers are a consequence of his failure to be liberal enough. On race, in the wake of the Shirley Sherrod mess, we are told he needs to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "July 2010"","block_context":{"text":"July 2010","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2010\/july-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2754,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/bush-did-it-bush-didnt-do-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":2341,"position":4},"title":"Bush Did It! Bush Didn’t Do It!","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online During the 2008 campaign Barack Obama ran more against lame-duck President Bush than against his Republican opponent, John McCain. The campaign is now long over, and yet President Obama still seems haunted by the ghost of his predecessor. Last week, for example, he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "First Term Policies"","block_context":{"text":"First Term Policies","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/obama-administration\/first-term-policies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1724,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/damn-the-evidence-full-speed-ahead\/","url_meta":{"origin":2341,"position":5},"title":"Damn the Evidence, Full Speed Ahead?","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson NRO's\u00a0The Corner The strangest thing about Obama's gargantuan, trillion-dollar-plus new healthcare entitlement is the timing. 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