Posted on 08/23/2009 2:57:59 PM PDT by neverdem
We could call it doubling down on a mistake. Or drawing a partisan line in the sand. But this is Barack Obama and his favorite movie is - I'm not making this up - "The Godfather," so let's stick with the mob theme.
The Obama Family is going to the mattresses.
With his charge that critics of his health care overhaul are "bearing false witness," the holy roller President has declared war on the GOP. It's another sign his White House can't shoot straight because Obama is unloading on the wrong target.
Republicans don't have the votes in Congress to block anything, so they can't possibly be the sticking point. Democrats have huge majorities in both houses, but it is centrists and conservative Dems blocking the health bills.
They are also saving Obama from making a huge mistake. The vast overhaul he favors is unpopular and unworkable. He ought to be thanking the refuseniks instead of twisting their arms.
But when a President is determined to squander an irreplaceable mandate of public trust, as Obama apparently is, even his friends aren't safe. His threats to have Dems only pass a budget-buster, industry-wrecker bill the public doesn't want makes no sense for him or his party.
Unless, that is, you happen to be a President who admires the style of leadership Marlon Brando displayed in "The Godfather." Then respect, or disrespect, is worth a war with rival Families, no matter the cost.
That's the way Obama sees the movie. Last year, when Katie Couric of CBS asked Obama and John McCain to name their favorite flicks, McCain went with "Viva Zapata," where Brando (a bipartisan favorite), dies for his country. Obama went with "The Godfather," saying, "I love that movie."
Asked by Couric if he had a favorite scene, the President-to-be said:
"... the opening scene of the first Godfather where the caretaker comes in and, you know, Marlon Brando is sitting there and he's saying, 'You disrespected me, you know, and now you want a favor.'
"You know it sets the tone for the whole movie ... there's this combination of old world gentility and you know, ritual with this savagery underneath. It's all about family."
Now "The Godfather" trilogy is about many things, and family is surely one of them. But it's also a cautionary tale about arrogance, and perhaps that's the lesson Obama should heed.
Our young President is at a crossroads. A mere seven months after taking office, his historic election already seems like ancient history.
He's sinking in the polls, headlines about chaos and incompetence are becoming common and oddsmakers are predicting the public will punish his party next year for its zealous embrace of liberal causes.
And voters ain't seen nothing yet. After the health care debacle is resolved, an energy tax known as cap-and-trade waits in the wings. Then comes the divisive topic of immigration.
All this while we're fighting radical Islamists in two countries and the economy continues to hemorrhage jobs.
The danger for Obama isn't just that most voters don't like his health plan. The real danger is that he is digging a trust deficit with ordinary Americans of all political stripes.
With as many as 70% of respondents effectively telling pollsters they don't believe any of the inflated claims he routinely makes about an overhaul, the President is at risk of permanent damage.
It's compounded by the fact that he has spoken publicly so often to push his view that he's no longer welcome in many living rooms. One poll found half the country thinks he's on television too much, which is a polite way of telling the President to buzz off.
If those attitudes harden and the distrust becomes fixed, even his own party will see him as an occupational hazard. With his power diminished, nobody will be afraid of him.
Absent a Monica Lewinsky moment, none of this happens instantly, of course. A political fall from grace is a slow-motion train wreck, with a lag time between growing public doubt and a checkmated presidency.
George Bush's second term is the perfect example. He won reelection, then never had two good days in a row. Once he fell to 30% approval, recovery was impossible.
Obama is nowhere near that trough, but he is sliding remarkably fast and the big-government plans he has set in motion are certain to increase taxpayer discontent.
Maybe he can use his vacation to watch the "The Godfather" again. This time, he should focus on Don Corleone's warning against making too many enemies.
mgoodwin@nydailynews.com
LOL! Now that's funnier than Barry's "bearing false witness" gig.
Hey Obama, kiss my fanny
His half-brother in Africa will probably be thrilled to “go to the mattresses” because from what I’ve heard, he hasn’t got one!
Pretty good summary. Why can’t the useful idiots on cable TV see it?
Prez tries to make us an offer we can’t refuse
Sounds like an f-ing Chicago politician.
Obama is a loser.
Dammit!! “The Godfather” should not be blasphemed by being in the same sentence as Barry Sotero.
Michael Goodwin is on Fox News quit often. He is a liberal but at least he isn’t a mean liberal and he is not stupid.
Amazing! The POTUS going up against half of his “fellow” countrymen. The country he’s supposed to protect and defend as accorded in the once useful constitution. Simply amazing!
Interesting — Zero and Saddam Hussein both mentioned it as their favorite.
Here’s the link to see reader’s comments.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/columnists/goodwin/index.html
I blame Senator Barzini.
Maybe he needs to watch Monty Python’s The Life of Brian. “He’s not the messiah! He’s a very naughty boy!”
I hope our next African-American president is more like Morgan Freeman...or maybe James Earl Jones.
I’m shocked to see this coming from the NY Daily News
Why am I not surprised that “The Godfather” would be Obama’s favorite movie.
I happen to think it’s a great movie, too, and there are lessons to learn from it. But it doesn’t mean you should take Don Corleone as your real life model.
But after years with the Chicago mob, it’s not surprising that Obama does. And it fits in perfectly with his narcissism. Nothing is worse, in his view, than disrespecting The Holy One.
I'd prefer Thomas Sowell or Walter E. Williams -- both of those gentlemen understand economics.
Sowell and Williams are a bit like bronzed bookends, rather than the glossy black of ebony both out and in, there exudes and radiates a certain polished luster that reassuringly whispers security rather than clattering echoes of unbalanced, crashing painted porcelain.
Obama may end up having the shelflife of a shooting star.
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