Why, Oh, Why Doesn't Obama Save Us? (Barf Alert!!!)

Townhall.com ^ | June 13, 2010 | Steve Chapman

[Kaslin]

Not long ago, Barack Obama was pilloried for being too activist, too meddlesome and too inclined to see himself as the messiah. He was forcing health care reform down our throats, running General Motors, wrecking the financial system and promising to make the oceans recede.

But that was a different guy, from a parallel universe. The President Obama we all know is a passive, detached do-nothing. Or so we have been hearing since the British Petroleum oil spill gained our attention.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican who once denounced Democrats for scheming to "increase dependence on government," now demands that Washington do more for his state.

Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who recently called on Congress to zero out the Environmental Protection Agency, challenges the administration to "save the Louisiana coast, save the fisheries, save the wetlands."

Funny how nobody said that at the 2008 Republican national convention, where the chant was "drill, baby, drill." Back then, real men didn't protect sea turtles

"For 35 days, he hasn't used the full force of our government," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., complained of the president last month. That's right: a conservative lamenting that Obama is being too cautious and prudent in his deployment of federal power.

What's next? Griping that he's not enough of a socialist?

It may not be a surprise to find Republicans damning Obama when he does and when he doesn't. But it is novel for them to act as though the president is an omnipotent national father, without whose tender care we are all lost.

"America wants a leader, not a politician," proclaims former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, writing in USA Today. He says Obama should emulate former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who after the 9/11 attacks "camped out at Ground Zero" to lead the response. "There is no substitute for being there," Romney lectures the president.

This is part of Romney's ongoing campaign to make sure no one ever again takes him seriously. Obama is not a mayor. He is commander in chief at a time when we are fighting two major wars, confronting a North Korea that recently sunk a South Korean naval vessel, trying to prevent Iran from getting nukes and grappling with an international crisis involving Israel.

He is also responsible for directing policy and making budget decisions involving numerous federal departments and agencies that exist because the GOP, after all, didn't abolish them during its time in power.

To suggest that Obama should devote his full attention to fixing a single problem (a leaking oil well) that the federal government has no competence or responsibility to fix is not leadership but childish fantasy.

Making rules for deepwater drilling is a legitimate function of government, and so is holding polluters accountable for the damage they cause. Plugging oil wells is the function of oil companies.

The federal government does have a responsibility to help mitigate the harm done by the leaking petroleum. But Obama does not need to be on hand for it to carry out that mission, any more than the chairman of Toyota needs to be carrying a wrench on the factory floor. If the president cannot formulate a policy and direct those under him to carry it out, he has no business being president -- because there is no other way to be president.

When his critics accuse Obama of being detached and passionless, they are really faulting him for being calm, rational and realistic. Those qualities, a contrast to the cocky style of his immediate predecessor, are what got him elected. If Americans had wanted a leader to channel rage or grief, they would have chosen someone more demonstrative.

Obama has gone wrong -- as conservatives have often been correct in pointing out -- when he has pressed against the limits of his rightful powers, taking on responsibilities far greater than the federal government should assume. A president who does too much is far more dangerous to life, liberty and property than one who does too little.

So if Obama is erring on the side of circumspection, more power to him. When he was running for the White House in 1968, Democrat Eugene McCarthy was asked if he felt he would be a good president. "I think I would be adequate," he replied. Here is a goal for Obama that conservatives as well as liberals should be willing to endorse: Just be adequate.

[Psycho_Bunny]

lol

[RichInOC]

The problem, Steve, is that he’s failing to meet even that minimal standard.

[hoosier hick]

Steven Crowder made the point very well on Fox News this morning that the president only seems actively engaged in extra-legal government activities: taking over banks, auto manufacturers, healthcare, etc. and not at all interested in exercising constitutionally mandated powers: protecting the American people by securing the border and assisting (rather than blocking) the various state’s efforts to deal with the Gulf oil spill.....

hh

[Da Coyote]

Dumb is bad, but being Obama is worse....much worse.

[combat_boots]

It’s above his pay grade?

[Hoodat]

Barf Alert is right. This piece is so full of untruths, I don’t know where to begin.

[FrankR]

"Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican who once denounced Democrats for scheming to "increase dependence on government," now demands that Washington do more for his state. "

This is a "spin" statement...

The way I hear it...Jindal is asking Washington to "get out of the way" with the roadblocks against building the offshore berms to block the oil from coming ashore.

Washington will not cooperate.

I think it's too late now, the oil is already in La.

[P.O.E.]

Stop! I’m dizzy from all the spinning!

[Don Corleone]

Jindahl doesn’t want the government to “save us’. He wants them to GET OUT OF THE WAY! “O” is using this as another crisis not to be wasted on the road to total government control of our existence.

[Republic]

Now that I know that uhbama and his horrific black hearted soul-less advisors REFUSED help from the Dutch three days after the oil spill happened (the Dutch have ships designed to gather oil from the seas) Then I learned that not only did this HORRIFIC administration REFUSE the Dutch (with a polite and UTTERLY STUPID mail notice to their embassy in DC) but FIFTEEN OTHER NATIONS OFFERED HELP and were REFUISED!

Can someone PLEASE TELL ME WHY IN THE HELL UHBAMA AND HIS BLACK HEARTED CRONIES REFUSED HELP when we NEEDED IT SO MUCH AS NOTHING WAS BEING DONE THEN?????

Then I read on an article here on FR boards that the F'n UNIONS had a lot to do with this decision to refuse HELP from the Dutch and other nations eager to lend a hand.

THE UNIONS...........the UNIONS?

What in the hell do the UNIONS have to do with CLEANING UP THE OIL MESS and HAVING THE POWER TO STOP THE PRESIDENT AND HIS IDIOTS IN THE WHITE HOUSE FROM ACCEPTING HELP FROM OTHER NATIONS OFFERING IT>>>>WHAT????????

Are we NOW led by UNION THUGS???????????? And meanwhile the creatures and businesses in the gulf region SUFFER because our pitiful cowardly president is making deals with the UNIONS who do not want outside help????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

And our MEDIA will not report these facts to our nation...to all of us?

We have to get rid of this administration YESTERDAY. They are the most corrupt and sick bunch of immature later day hippies EVER!

[The_Sword_of_Groo]

To quote Bugs Bunny, Chapman is a "Maroon"

It was only a matter of time before the msm started parroting the new line of thinking....We are expecting too much from Zero. He can't "suck it up with a straw"

Absurd to compare gov't intrusion into DAILY lives with depending on the gov't to protect us from CATASTROPHE.

The point he fails to make is that we would just like to see Zero demonstrate the urgency in the gulf shown in his approach to the GM bailout or healthcare takeover.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“”For 35 days, he hasn’t used the full force of our government,” Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., complained of the president last month. That’s right: a conservative lamenting that Obama is being too cautious and prudent in his deployment of federal power.””

Big difference in protecting our shores from an impending global disaster and writing legislation to do what? Writing any legislation after the fact is irrelevant. Fact is when the pipeline broke a 12 year old could have figured out what to do. Our President chose to play golf and party.

Want to blame someone for this? Go after the NY Times, Newsweek, MSNBC and other LSM outlets for lying to the American people in the name of global Marxism. If they did their jobs, our nation wouldn’t we be in this mess.

We would still be earning a living, going to church, not worrying about drugs, having a family unit and doing what our founding fathers wanted us to do.

One thing sums all this up. There is a disclaimer on our constitution. DISCLAIMER!?!?!

[b4its2late]

The big question is.... Could our President successfully coordinate and oversee a one care funeral?

[Kaslin]

I did not know that the Unions had something to do about the decision to refuse the help of Dutch and the fifteen other nations, but it does not surprise me.

[b4its2late]

Lemme try that again -

The big question is.... Could our President successfully coordinate and oversee a one car funeral?

[way-right-of-center]

What a maroon! Good stuff!

[lowflyn]

You are right. There is a difference between waiting on the government to do it for you, and trying to stay within the law.
Conservatives will mostly try to stay within the law while doing every thing in their power to solve the problem themselves, and yet they rarely turn down offers of help made in good faith.

[Mouton]

But pResident Cannute did go to the GOM and order the well to stop flowing...that was all he had to do in his own mind.
Now he is faced with the prospect that the well did not listen.

Ozero now having said he is in charge, when he thought the matter was resolved, has to resort to TV gamemanship to make it look like he is doing the right thing and always had so he trots out his symcophants to blow the trumpets to herald the boy king.

[Carley]

Does Townhall have a disclaimer on this article?

Or has this website switched sides?