In His Own Words – The Obama Question

“Do I want this job?”

There has been a great deal of discussion about Mr. Obama’s poor debate performance.  This essayist did not see it that way at all.  Mr. Obama delivered a message consistent with his previous words, speeches and actions.  He did it in a way consistent with prior mannerisms and delivery techniques.  He was exactly on message and character.  His opponent came with facts and analysis that either refuted Mr. Obama’s positions or were packaged in a very different message of governance and objectives. 

 Nevertheless, there is much more to be learned about Mr. Obama.   The media in America refuses to go there.  TheFundamentals does it now.

One fundamental is looking back over someone’s career to measure their stick-to-it-tiveness.  How have they persevered over the years; their career?  How have they met challenge and still attained accomplishment?  Met defeat and still come back for more?  Tackled big issues; difficult issues and implemented solutions even if they require compromise and settling for much less than desired?

Here, in his own words, is Mr. Obama speaking to his motivation level, as he knows himself:  

 

 

Any objective analysis of Mr. Obama’s job record shows a move-on type of career ladder.  Sure he has won elections in ever expanding electorate races and sure he has some very notable pieces of glamour and recognition on his resume – Nobel peace prize – senator – president – and a few others.  And he did get his health care initiative through the congress.  No small set of accomplishments.  But listen to him describe his own background; his experience and his skill set. 

 

 

This is what Mr. Obama thinks is important to be successful:

·         Organize resources, both federal and state, and municipal to make a difference on issues that count like education, health care, jobs and economic development

·         Articulate and frame the issues most important to voters

·         Background as an attorney; represented affordable housing agencies; chaired major philanthropic entities; been a community organizer

·         Vision and imagination and hard work  

At no time does he ever mention measurable accomplishments - everything he says is a form of political speech - what we call vagaries - that sound good but have nothing to do with putting food on the table; gasoline in the car and mailing checks in to pay bills.  Not one word of practical, real life experience; not a sentence of increasing yield from a farm; squeezing one more drop of oil from a well or realigning a factory to produce more goods at a lower cost and of a higher quality than the Chinese manufacturers or even the factory in the next state.  No sense of responsibility for specific accomplishments or even targets.

What happens when you strive for lofty, but not measurable, goals?

Well, lets look at his home city and his home state.  He left behind a city and a state in massive fiscal and financial crisis.   Not one task even ventured much less accomplished to balance the budgets in Chicago and in Illinois.  And now he has a similar track record in Washington and his budget for the next four years, which he will not even address, calls for more of the same – trillion dollar deficits – trillions of more debt.  By the time he leaves Washington, if reelected, the country will owe more than $20 trillion.    Education in his home state is a mess.  Pension reform?  Not even touched.  Corruption?  More and more politicians and bureaucrats indicted and jailed. Obama ethics proposals?  Nada.

Obama has built the largest federal government bureaucracy ever and it is in shambles – he cannot even catalog much less manage much less cutback the excessiveness that dominates the homeland security department; the defense department; health and human services and department of state.  His intelligence apparatus is scattered and clueless in most of the Middle East and Asia.  And he shows no interest in micromanaging these out of control bureaucracies. 

He appears to be disengaged.  Not fully present.  Mind drifting elsewhere.  Where? Who knows?  The golf course; pickup basketball games; Bill Clinton like rise above the fray and just let the masses glow as you pontificate on your nonsense – your vast experience – to fawning audiences?  This guy Obama does not have a track record of following through; getting a job done; setting measurable objectives; kicking butt in weekly/monthly follow up meetings; measuring progress or disciplining lack of progress – he is not a manager and he has not one four year stretch of any real job record of accomplishments.  He constantly deflects responsibility to others; he blames others.  He likes to be the top guy – don’t we all?  But he does not like the day in/day out grind that is the necessary requisite of accomplishing something.

We see a lazy guy overwhelmed by the monstrosity that he himself promoted.  We see a fellow who once tried to believe in "community organizing"  and "framing issues"  and "mustering resources"  and bringing his "special vision" now sitting on top of an out of control mess with no energy to backtrack, dismantle or face up to failure.  We see a guy watching his appointee’s line up at the departure window.  Today his vision is that four years out things are going to end badly.  Why not exit now and get a seat on Bill’s “Clinton Initiative” board of directors?  Let the rich eastern boy have a go.

We’ll see.  It is not just TheFundamentals that sees a lazy, impractical man in the white house.   Please take out a few minutes to read this article from a lifelong democrat who sees much of the same:  http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/08/buzz-bissinger-why-i-m-voting-for-mitt-romney.html