Obama: The Ineffective "Leader"

            These past few weeks Obama has shown himself to be a remarkably incapable and timid leader. Instead of making a decision about Libya when the violence first started, he waited until the last possible second to form a coalition and allow NATO to take the lead. But what is America’s goal in Libya? Who are these rebels fighting against Gaddafi? Whether it be Obama himself, Attorney General Eric Holder, or Hilary Clinton, the White House has been laughably incoherent regarding its foreign policy endgame in the Middle East. Is the main goal to throw Gaddafi out? Is it America’s job to intervene in all foreign affairs similar to this? If so, looks like Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain are next, right Mr. President? Vice President Biden is quoted as saying that unless there is a “direct and imminent threat to America” not only is there no reason to go to war (forget about getting Congressional approval or following the War Powers Act, the “Anointed One” is above that, obviously), but also Biden claims he would move to impeach any president that disobeys this principle. Obviously, this quote was in regard to Bush’s wars, and shows blatant hypocrisy from the current White House administration, yet again. Obama delayed his talks on Libyan policy for a week due to “scheduling conflicts.” (really?) Yet he was still able to pick his March Madness brackets on ESPN and go golfing. After finally addressing the issue to the public, which seemed more like a campaign speech, Obama changed his policies yet again. By “transferring” command to NATO, Obama is just covering up possible failures while continuing to put our troops in harm’s way. Yes, there could be a case made for the Libyan war, but Obama is simply not able to articulate any such reason for it in a coherent manner that doesn’t make him look like a hypocrite.

            Aside from these foreign affairs, there’s another battle going on right at home: the battle of the budget. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was recorded on a phone conversation telling his fellow democrats to label Speaker Boehner as “extreme” and link him to the Tea Party so that they might get a better compromise on spending cuts. That being said, liberals are willing to cut about 20 billion dollars for the rest of the fiscal year. Seeing as America BORROWS 4 billion dollars per day, the fact that Chuck and his fellow liberals are trying to turn saving this country into a political game is utterly ridiculous. 20 billion dollars is nothing when Obama’s budget calls for a 1.5 TRILLION dollar deficit. All Republicans are asking for is to return to the spending levels of the Clinton years, which still isn’t enough, but at least it’s a start. Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) plans on releasing the Republican budget soon, which is reported to have much more serious cuts, thankfully. Rest assured, 2012 will be an epic battle of spending cuts centered primarily around entitlement programs. Obama needs to step up and take control of his party. America is at a crossroads and trying to play politics with the opposition will get us nowhere.