Tag Archives: Romney

by | October 4, 2012 · 2:38 pm

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS #22

SURPRISED?

Unless you have been hardwired to TV channels like MSNBC, you should not be surprised by President Obama’s poor performance last night. He now has a record to defend. No more soaring rhetoric, promising hope and change. Hope is a wonderful state of being. We all love it. So, no wonder a majority bought into the hope and change thing in 2008.  It helped that his opposition failed to inspire even the Republican base and ran an inept campaign. Who wouldn’t be wishing Obama’s rhetoric would be matched with equally inspiring deeds? Could a people often accused of racism possibly vote for a black man? Even those of us who worried about his lack of experience and his history of associations wished him well. We were proud of our nation for electing a black man.

The years past and the deeds did not match the words. Unemployment remained, maybe even got worse. The deficit  got much worse. The plans for recovery never came.  The man who promised to bring us together proved, in deed and word, instead  to practice divide and conquer. His foreign policy speeches, especially abroad, sound more like pleas to forgive our past mistakes and please like us. We will change under my leadership. Allies and foes alike where confused. The worst thing a President can do as Commander-in-Chief is to create uncertainty in US policy. President Carter, who demonstrated  the same lack of leadership and resolve, failed to act in Iran after the fall of the Shah, and led the Soviets to believe he wouldn’t take action if they filled a centuries long goal by invading Afghanistan on their first step to a warm water port. President Carter wanted the American people to put aside their pride and innovative spirit and put on his doom and gloom hair shirt. Our President must have studied Carterism  at Columbia or Harvard. President Reagan corrected the damage his predecessor  caused in our foreign policy, in the economy, the morale of the people and the readiness of our armed forces. Another four years of Carter who have left irreparable damage.  See a similar danger here?

What does President Obama bring to the table? Given a teleprompter and a prepared speech he will deliver a magnificent  piece of oratory. A performance that few in our history could match. But what else? He may project likeability but he is not. He is quick to anger. Carries grudges even those of his family. His treatment of the Supreme Court Judges in one of his State of  The Union speeches was unprecedented. Remember his treatment of Representative Ryan. Not the work of a kind or gentle man. He cannot think on his feet. You have seen how he does without the prepared speech on a teleprompter. He is very thin skinned and cannot take criticism. He would prefer to do nothing if he can’t have his way. He does not even meet with his
Cabinet, Jobs Council, or Democratic leaders and certainly not Republican leaders. If he ever reaches across the aisle, the opposition better duck.
On top of all that, he doesn’t like hard work. His preparation for the debate shows that. I believe he is causing David Axelrod, the brains behind Obama, and a man who can think on this feet, to lose his hair. His ward is neither bright nor willing to work hard. Just examine his schedule. Almost never working in the White House. Unlike his mentors Presidents Carter and Clinton who both worked hard at the job.

I can’t stand to close this piece without debunking President Obama’s bragging rights. I know something about preparing operations for Presidential approval. I did that for President Reagan for the last two years of his administration.  Take drones. They were developed and flying operations long before Obama’s tenure. All he did was approve the increase in their use. I agree with their use for it saves lives of our men and women in uniform. The only hard part for the President to decide is what is the political and foreign affairs fallout. The same is true of the Usama bin Laden affair. There is political risk in both approving or disapproving the staff recommendation to go. If it fails, ala Carter’s attempt to rescue hostages in Teheran, there will be negative fallout from the opposition. If the staff recommendation to go is disapproved there will be, sometime later, attacks from the opposition. Being President is a very hard role to fill. Sitting around the Situation Room with anxious looks for photo ops is not necessary. The credit goes solely to those who execute and face the real risks. Nor is leaking classified intelligence successes necessary to campaigning for re-election. Last night you saw the real President Obama who is not used to people talking back. Most supreme leaders and emperors are like that. Last night was no surprise.
http://www.factsandfictions.com                               The author of the Jack Brandon thriller series.

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by | August 16, 2012 · 7:31 am

Eight Decades of Insights – 15

YOU MUST PAY ATTENTION WHEN THE OPPOSITION DEVOUTLY BELIEVES THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS.

My last blog emphasized the need to focus on the big picture and not on shifting issues. The president and his whole administration know the goal is to get re-elected: “Nothing else matters. Say anything. Do anything. Never mind the law. Sort that out later. When we win, we will own the courts. Use the full power of the executive office where it is needed. Increase subsidies, extend payments, fight voter ID, sue states, block investigations, try to deny late voting to veterans, leak if it helps build short-term credibility.” These are things the administration is willing to do. And don’t expect a serious effort by the administration to find and punish the leaker.

I have seen real leak investigations. When the president is angry about leaks, the leaker is found and sometimes exposed. These leaks are so spectacular that only a few people could have provided the information to the NYT. The FBI and a counter-intelligence team could find the leaker in two weeks if allowed to do what they know how to do. Mandatory polygraphs of less than twenty people to start. But remember: The end justifies the means. Failing to get four more years is the only thing to fear.

These are smart people. Take immigration. President Obama showed the brilliance of his campaign when he bypassed Congress and issued the essence of the Dream Act by executive order. Senator Marco Rubio lost his unique platform and the Republican Party its chance to make serious inroads into the Hispanic community and to win Florida big.

The Obama brain trust has at least one more ace up its sleeve. They must now be talking about cutting some baggage. Does anyone believe that the vice president is a net gain for the campaign? He is a gaffe a speech and standing beside the president on the platform he looks and acts like he has been or never was politician. Can he debate Ryan? I think not. So, think about it, should this end justifiy the means and should ‘followers of Saul Alinsky’ even think twice about throwing the VP under the first bus?

No! Watch the convention when a tearful VP tells the convention that the campaign and the responsibilities of another four years is just more than he can do. It isn’t fair to the president or the American people and the highly respected financial genius replacing him will help the party and the nation, thereby challenging Ryan’s contribution to the Republican ticket.

That is my prediction. It will happen unless the Obama brain trust believes it can win with Joe. In that case, the Romney/Ryan ticket must have made some catastrophic blunder or blunders.

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