{"id":7662,"date":"2014-07-17T03:19:10","date_gmt":"2014-07-17T10:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=7662"},"modified":"2014-07-23T13:45:44","modified_gmt":"2014-07-23T20:45:44","slug":"2014-obamas-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/2014-obamas-america\/","title":{"rendered":"2014: Obama\u2019s America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scandals now come so fast that each new mess makes us forget the previous one.<\/em><\/h3>\n
by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Online<\/a><\/p>\n
\n
\"Photo
Photo via scaredmonkeys.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T<\/span>he summer of 2014 will go down in history as the season when America fell apart. Let\u2019s take a tour of the disasters.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Germany in 2008 enthusiastically hosted candidate Barack Obama for his so-called Victory Column speech. Now, Germans suddenly sound as if they are near-enemies of the U.S. Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly was furious that her cell phone was tapped by American intelligence agents. She just kicked the top CIA official out of Germany, further enraged that the U.S. had recruited at least one German official to provide intelligence on the German government. Polls show that Germans find Vladimir Putin\u2019s Russian tyranny to be almost as popular as Barack Obama\u2019s America.<\/p>\n

Japan is becoming similarly frustrated with the U.S. It is rearming like crazy to confront an aggressive China. Both Asian powers apparently assume\u00a0<\/b>that Obama won\u2019t guarantee the security of the Japanese as America has\u00a0in the past.<\/p>\n

The Middle East is dissolving. Taking U.S. peacekeepers out of Iraq proved a disaster. The radical jihadists of ISIS are overrunning Syria and Iraq, as they extend their destruction even to the mute stones of religious sanctuaries.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

War looms between Israel and the Palestinians as they exchange rockets and bombs. Older Americans had an idea of what Afghanistan will look like by 2016 after Obama announced a pullout of all U.S. troops. They remember Saigon of 1975 all too well.<\/p>\n

Crimea has become a Russian satellite. The fate of the Ukraine hangs in the balance. In between his conquests, Russia\u2019s Putin openly ridicules the impotence of the U.S. He is often called to the Middle East on the perception that he can address problems that America runs away from.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0From his sanctuary perch in Russia, National Security Agency turncoat Edward Snowden is once again releasing top-secret data that shreds the credibility of the Obama administration.<\/p>\n

Foreign leaders don\u2019t trust the U.S. They are baffled as to whether America is guilty of incompetence in hiring such a roguish dropout snoop in the first place, or guilty of cynically spying on America\u2019s best friends \u2014 or both.<\/p>\n

The economy shrank last quarter. Record numbers of adult Americans are still not working. Zero-interest rates have destroyed the tradition of passbook savings and the very idea of thrift.<\/p>\n

No-interest financial policies ignited a stampede to the stock market that has further enriched the one-percenters \u2014 an artificial boom that everyone believes will soon bust.<\/p>\n

The borrowing of $7 trillion has proved no stimulus. A natural American recovery was stymied by vast federal borrowing, by the addition of more incomprehensible regulations, and by an\u00a0<\/b>Obamacare package that proved to be the opposite of almost everything that was promised. Inflation is said to be manageable, but only by not counting soaring food, gas, and electricity costs that do the most to erode family budgets.<\/p>\n

U.S. immigration law simply no longer exists. Incoming foreign nationals more likely welcome arrest than fear it. Tens of thousands of newly arrived immigrants expect that the cynical coalition of commercial interests, ethnic activists, and political operatives have subverted existing federal law. America is now wide open. Almost anyone can cross the border and receive subsidized sanctuary. If you object, you are a nativist, racist, or xenophobe \u2014 take your pick.<\/p>\n

No one denies that top IRS officials lost or destroyed key documents concerning the agency\u2019s election-time efforts to subvert conservative organizations. The unbiased IRS that we once knew has vanished. It has become an appendage of the ruling government that punishes enemies and rewards friends \u2014 and dodges a high-level audit by lying in the same fashion as the tax cheats it goes after.<\/p>\n

Americans accept the fact that a video never had anything to do with the killing of four American officials in Benghazi and know that the Obama administration knew precisely that when it assured them otherwise<\/p>\n

No one has heard anything lately from Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who was traded for five of the most dangerous jihadists the U.S. had in its custody. The less we know about why Bergdahl went AWOL, the administration thinks, the better.<\/p>\n

The scandals now come so fast and furiously that we no sooner hear of one than yet another new mess makes us forget it.<\/p>\n

What keeps the country afloat this terrible summer?<\/p>\n

Some American companies produce more gas and oil than ever despite, not because of, the Obama administration. Most Americans still get up every day, work hard, and pay more taxes than they receive in subsidies. American soldiers remain the most formidable in the world despite the confusion of their superiors. The law, regardless of the administration, is still followed by most. And most do not duck out on their daily responsibilities to golf, play pool, or go on junkets.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It is still a hard thing to derail America in a summer \u2014 but then again, we have a long way to go until fall.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2014 Tribune Media Services, Inc.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scandals now come so fast that each new mess makes us forget the previous one. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Online The summer of 2014 will go down in history as the season when America fell apart. Let\u2019s take a tour of the disasters. \u00a0Germany in 2008 enthusiastically hosted candidate Barack Obama for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[247,11,46,150,271,196,136,104],"tags":[1021,88,918],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1ZA","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2019,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obamas-predictable-scandals\/","url_meta":{"origin":7662,"position":0},"title":"Obama’s Predictable Scandals","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online The media finally conceded the Obama administration to be inexperienced and inept, reminiscent of the Carter administration \u2014 but, they maintained, not possibly involved in any corruption. Then suddenly scandals erupted on nearly every conceivable front: the crony-capitalist half-billion-dollar loan guarantee to a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Left"","block_context":{"text":"The Left","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/politics\/liberalism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6766,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-tenth-life-of-and-obamacat\/","url_meta":{"origin":7662,"position":1},"title":"The Tenth Life of an Obamacat","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/\u00a0NRO's The Corner\u00a0 An Obamcat administration is given nine, but not ten, lives: 1) The dismal economy 2) Guantanamo, renditions, and tribunals that were to be relegated to the Bush-Cheney ash heap 3) Fast and\u00a0Furious 4) The \u201clead from behind\u201d fiasco in Libya 5) Benghazi 6)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/obama-administration\/commentary-obama-administration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6732,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obamas-fallout-for-the-left\/","url_meta":{"origin":7662,"position":2},"title":"Obama’s Fallout for the Left","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"He will not be harmed by his \"misspeaking,\" but his fellow liberals will. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/\u00a0National Review Online\u00a0 Conservatives keep blaring, \u201cObama lied!\u201d over the president\u2019s serial untruths about the Affordable Care Act. Even liberal pundits now talk of the president\u2019s \u201cmisspeaking,\u201d or even of his \u201cmisleading\u201d statements\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Political Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Political Culture","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/american-culture\/political-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/3963358921_d33ba22354-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9797,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/when-normalcy-is-revolution\/","url_meta":{"origin":7662,"position":3},"title":"When Normalcy Is Revolution","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson\/\/ National Review Trump\u2019s often unorthodox style shouldn\u2019t be confused with his otherwise practical and mostly centrist agenda. By 2008, America was politically split nearly 50\/50 as it had been in 2000 and 2004. The Democrats took a gamble and nominated Barack Obama, who became the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Trump"","block_context":{"text":"Trump","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/trump\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6040,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obama-is-just-obama\/","url_meta":{"origin":7662,"position":4},"title":"Obama Is Just Obama","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson PJ Media Suddenly, half the country is upset with Obama for the recent flurry of scandals. Even some in the media are perplexed. Why the sudden angst, given that Obama is simply being Obama? We, not he, changed the rules. Once Barack Obama was elected to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Retrospective"","block_context":{"text":"Retrospective","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/opinion\/retrospective\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7042,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/when-failure-is-success\/","url_meta":{"origin":7662,"position":5},"title":"When Failure Is Success","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"For Obama's supporters, what matters is not what he does, but what he says and represents. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/\u00a0National Review Online\u00a0 Losing a job is freedom from job lock. A budget deficit larger than in any previous administration is austerity. A mean right-wing video caused the deaths of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Political Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Political Culture","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/american-culture\/political-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/3363573105_f078b402ba-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7662"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7697,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7662\/revisions\/7697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}