A Presidential Trip That Should Have Never Been Made
Another boneheaded move by this Administration. Once again, the advisers for this President seem to be on vacation. It's either that or, as I have suggested before, they are afraid to tell Obama "No".... when they realize something isn't a very good idea. I don't want to believe that these folks are as clueless as they appear to be. That's a little too scary.
This immediately jumped out at me as a bad idea when it was announced a few days ago that President Obama would make the trip. Yes I know other heads of State were there, but this was a first for a U.S. President. This just wasn't the right time for this.
There are just too many pressing issues here at home. From a PR standpoint, I knew this wouldn't look good. And I knew that he was once again providing Republicans with a gift wrapped reason to go after him.
To the average American who is one paycheck away from homelessness, who is hungry, unemployed or under-employed, someone who has lost their home or who is about to lose a job, this trip makes Obama appear out of touch with reality and insensitive or indifferent to the suffering of people in his own back yard......folks who are barely surviving (like me). It makes him appear more concerned about Chicago....than the Country. It gives the appearance of a pursuit of selfish interests. While the unemployment rate is just under 10%, he's in Copenhagen pushing for the Olympics? It just seems a little out of step to me.
He will probably take a noticeable PR hit after this.... bigger than his Gates-Gate flop, and bigger than the idiotic 747 flyover above Manhattan. And he will be taking this PR hit when he can least afford it.
And of course the media will play this up as a big flop.... but Obama sets himself up for this time and time again. It just unbelievable to me.
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6 comments:
Shit like this drives me nuts about Obama. Coming off one of the WORST administrations in this country's history as it relates to foreign affairs, you would think the Prez would devote ANY international travel made to repair our image. Was this trip set up to garner more support for Afghanistan? Nope. How 'bout Darfur? Negative. No: this trip was set up so he could play some freakin' pitchman for the Olympics.
We've seen stupidity with Bush. But we're starting to see a new kind of stupidity with this administration.
AI,
this was paying back a debt. The Olympics were King Richard II's obsession. Now that it's been squashed - YEAH - Obama can throw away a whole bunch of markers. I'm not glad he went, but I understand why he did it.
I think you're right on all accounts, and I agree with your assessment on that other blog: Although denied, he clearly owed people, and wanted to settle a debt.
He certainly owed Oprah Winfrey, who clearly wanted the Olympics for Chicago in 2012, and spent a sizable amount of her own reputation to snare it.
Either way, after the Pubs move on to hammering him on some other front, this will blow over, and all that will be left are "tumbling tumbleweeds."
I agree, this whole thing was stupid. I guess if we had one, this would have been nice, but it wasn't worth the risk. Why give his opponents ANYTHING that they can use against him?
The hardest thing for me watching President Obama fail isn't that i invested tremendous energy in seeing him elected(He is still a better choice than MCCain). It is his failure at governance and politics. Much of it I put on him becuase it's his staff that is failing.
I can't imagine that his WH counsel Mikva let him discuss the Skippy Gate case w/o knowing the facts. I mean who wants a lawyer who defends them by saying I don't have all the facts.
Why are there no staffers whom aren't from Chicago in a postion to say no? Mikva, Rahmbo, Axelrod, Rodgers, Jarrett, Rice. Didn't anyone read about Carter as an outsider? How hard it was for Hamiliton and Jordan to learn anything about DC? How that lack of knowledge crippled them because they became so defensive?
Rahbo speaking of him what can anyone say he has accomplished except keeping some independent thought away from the WH? Or even keep his blue dogs in line!!
Can't Gibbs say Mr President you have to find surrogate you trust and can keep on point(Biden, you lost your mind sir)?
I get those with O-ade and tripping over every perceived slight because many are real but when the man himself says they mean nothing... Being cool in and of itself is wonderful in a salon or lounge but this is national politics where you can be cool by firing back w/ sharp tongue backed by rapier wit, the mailed fist of a knight beneath the diplomats soft cotton glove.
It ain't personal folks but this is feels like a dreadful repeat of Carter
Oprah just did a show on another Country, we should take notes on how they protect their people. They don't have homeless people. We have no jobs, the home you live in can be foreclosed on at any given time, we are just barley making money for food, gas, etc. What needs to be done is BAIL out The AMERICAN people, not the Banks, give everyone in the USA 150,000. To pay off there home , And I mean give the money to the low income people, not to the rich !!!!!!!! Can you not see what is going on here? We have no jobs, live on the edge every day, we have several homeless and hungry Americans, no health care, homes are vacant around us. To top this off there is no money for the working class people. And if you do have a job , how long will that job last?
Come on here people wake up, were all going to lose everything. There is not one happy American unless you're rich, or a lawyer, a judge, or the bank that bought your loan, or the credit card company suing you because you can no longer pay your bills.
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