J. R. Dunn of the American Thinker has a real gem of an article entitled, “Obama Seems To Be Taking His Defeat In The 2012 Election Rather Well” (H/t Conservatives on Fire). The article should be read in full, but I would like to focus on a comment towards the end:
People have seen Barack Obama, have taken in his oddities, his narcissism, his ignorance, his lack of quality. They are unwilling to cut him any more slack. They know what a president looks like, good or bad, popular or not, and they no longer see a president in Barack Obama. Is it possible to imagine Reagan, FDR, Truman, or either of the Bushes pulling the kind of tricks that Obama has in recent days?
A president does certain things and acts in certain ways. He is the modern extension, the most advanced version, of the headman, the tribal chief, and much of his role is played on the most primitive of levels. He must take the punishment the gods mete out and make whatever sacrifices they demand on behalf of his people. Consider FDR rolling unceasingly toward his death with the destruction of the Axis the sole thought in his mind. Consider Eisenhower overcoming heart attacks (in an era where heart attacks were far more deadly than today) in order to continue serving. Consider Reagan smiling with an assassin’s bullet in his chest. Consider George W. Bush prevailing in the face of hatred, invective, and threats that would have broken most other men. And then reverse the question: can anyone picture Barack Obama doing the same?
In so many ways, Obama reminds me of Rehoboam, the heir of Solomon. When Rehoboam came to the throne, the people of Israel were already on the edge of revolt because of high taxes and government interference with their lives. They came to him and asked him what he was going to do now that he was king. He consulted the elders and they advised him to lighten the load, because in doing so he would win the people over forever. He then consulted his childhood friends, and they suggested that he increase taxes and government control in order to prove that he was more a man than all the kings who came before him.
Instead of listening to the elders, Rehoboam listened to the callow youths who surrounded him, and lost most of his kingdom (1 Kings 12).
The American government is being run by callow youths who have never known hardship, who have never been told “no”, and who have never had to work for anything or had a real job in their entire lives. Standing at the top is the most callow youth of all: Barack Obama.
Previous presidents lived through depressions, fought in wars, and were seasoned with age. They may not have been perfect men, but they were forced to come to grips with their own humanity. Even someone as blessed as George W. Bush went through many dark nights of despair and humiliation long before he became president. By going through these trials and difficulties, they learned character–they learned to be men.
My principle objection to the idea of Barack Obama back in 2008–apart from policy–was that the very idea that he was qualified for the job was preposterous, in large part because he had never suffered. Yes, his father may have rejected him, but in every other way everything in his life had been handed to him on a platter.
It is one thing to learn about poverty from a leftist professor at Columbia University. It is another thing entirely to have a house full of hungry children and discover that the only job you can get–despite your education–is flipping hamburgers at McDonalds or working the graveyard shift alone at 7-11.
It is one thing to learn about the problems in the healthcare system in the US via your experience with your mother, who was in fact fully insured and received the best treatment available in the US. It is quite another thing to have a doctor tell you that your son is dying, and know that the only way to save him is to get him to a hospital in the US, but you are broke and do not have insurance.*
It is one thing to learn about taxation policy and economics from a radical lawyer at Harvard. It is quite another to actually try to run a small business and see taxes eat up the capital you need to expand and the money you could use to hire more employees.
Obama was simply to young and too lacking in life experience to be considered credible as a presidential candidate. Now this youth and lack of real-world experience is making its mark in his actions and policy.
A wise man once said,
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.Let him sit alone in silence,
for the LORD has laid it on him.
Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.
Lamentations 3: 27-30
For our next president, can we get someone who has actually suffered hardship (even a little) and had some sort of life experience for a change?
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*Note, our son was saved by American doctors despite us being broke and having no insurance, and we did not go into debt because of it. He is now as healthy as an ox.
Wonderful reminder, it is amazing to me the lengths people will go to make this country look bad, when in fact we have it better here than anywhere else in the rest of the world. The myth that people die without care is just that, mostly a myth. I am sure there are bad apple in the batch, like the hospital that Michelle Obama was working for that had a habit of putting people on the streets, but most hospitals will find a place for you. Poor people here are richer than most middle class people in other countries.
Thanks for the comment. While I do not rule out the possibility of someone dying because they were turned away at some emergency room for lack of insurance (and one heard of such horror stories many years ago before laws were passed to prevent it), I have never heard of someone with a chronic or long-term illness dying in the US because of a lack of insurance or a lack of money, and if it were to happen I would mark it off as stupidity on the part of the person who was ill, as nearly all states in the US require public hospitals to admit patients before checking on insurance. The hospital we took our son to was one of the best in the nation, so not all public hospitals are second or third rate. Certainly, most public hospitals in the US are better than most hospitals overseas.
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I’ve always envisioned Barack Obama as resembling King Ahab more so than King Rehoboam.
Can’t be. Clinton was Ahab in nearly every respect–he was even married to Jezebel.
People generally vote their wallets. The country was in a crisis and the people held Bush and the Republicans responsible. Although the Republicans put up a pathetic candidate, they would have lost no matter who their candidate was. The Democrats had two front running candidate. The Democrat Party machinery was behind Hillary and then that suddenly changed. I’d sure like to know why, not that Hillary would have been any better. I believe things happen for a reason. Hopefully this presidency is America’s wake-up call.
This is very true. The tide was against the GOP in 2008. At the same time, in general, the candidate pool for presidents has gotten very mediocre over the years. The Democrats have not put up a plausible candidate for years (and no, Clinton was not plausible as POTUS–his impeachment alone is proof of that). George W. was an unexpected blessing. While not perfect, he rose to the occasion. McCain would have been better than Obama, but by now he would have yanked so many people’s chains that everyone would be crying for impeachment. Romney and Huckabee for POTUS? Only on April Fool’s Day.
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