by Rachel Wells on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 1:23am
The idea of America endures. Our destiny remains our choice – Barack Hussein Obama January 25, 2011
This line is from the very end of his painful , disjointed, confusing address to Congress and his only true statement. Barack Obama’s title is what? For sake of argument he is, Honorable President of The United States – tonight if you did not know one would think he was a confused actor who needed cue cards. This speech ,for the first time, objectively, was his worst. An epic fail. Why? Because as I have constantly said for the past three years now, he has no connection to this nation – he has no idea who we are or what we stand for and you can not fake it. The Emperor has no clothes.
If Obama had done well, I would of said so – to the chagrin of some here and every where. He did not do well. The speech fell flat. The audience of Congress that was there seemed stunned , not like in years past, overwhelmed by the mere presence of his majesty and his words, rather lost from ‘ my fellow citizens’ onward. I commented that they looked stoned, I must rephrase that – they were in shock. What was it that he was trying to say? When do we clap? Who is this guy sitting next me? Where is my Leader? Why is TOTUS bigger both in symbolism and in reality than the President? The seats were not comfortable for them. For a man that feeds off the audience, whose tone and inflections rise and fall with their approval and disapproval – the setting was his own failure. Americans sat there and tried to follow a man who was lost the moment he opened his mouth.
Howard Fineman on MSNBC said, (prior to the speech), that this read more like “the state of the President than the State of the Union,” he was correct. And what we saw was that both he and we are not just on a collision course we are on divergent roads. The infamous bus? He ran himself over. His own supporters immediately began searching for something, anything they could to salvage this speech, instead of lines of “American Exceptionalism” – they reached for what he did not say (no cuts to social security) – refusing to accept what he did say, nothing. Empty words . How did this happen?
If you believe in something, from a speech to mere words or phrases, the person hearing it, knows it. When you are acting, lying, when you have no connection to the audience of which you are speaking, words are empty, they fail. When a President crashes and burns in a speech of such magnitude – it goes from comical to dangerous. He spoke is short phrases, twitterspeak.. He has no core, no reference, no touchstone. We have no common history. We do not share the same common ground. Yes, it is as I had thought three years ago, he does not understand who America is or how to connect to who we are. He spoke like a Senator, not a President. He spoke like a rambling man on the floor of the Senate, young, at 3am just given index cards. His suit was too big for him, the job too burdensome.
His main job is what? The President’s main job is what? To protect the nation. Her defense. Yesterday Russia went through what could be a horrible terror attack, Lebanon now being run by Hezbollah, North Africa in utter turmoil, Europe in an economic emergency , riots developing all over the globe with Islamofacism filling the void. Our troops are at war, Iraq and Afghanistan in flux, secrets being leaked, military not sure of the mission – no mention of substance. For the first time ever, no mention of our dearest and parallel partner in this world, Israel. No mention of the Middle East at all. I am ashamed of who this man is and that he dare call himself Commander in Chief. The world saw a President who cannot lead, we saw a President who has no idea what he is leading.
At home, we have a deficit and debt out of control, states going bankrupt, unemployment at over 10% real numbers, citizens angry and losing trust if not lost, in all their governments, from local to federal, real fears about the rising costs of food, gas, oil.. you know the issues, the list goes on… What did he do? He talked about the ever liberal dream of high speed rail Europass style – salmon, and the wonderful world of Facebook and Google (the latter being actually applauded!) The disconnect is not humorous it is disaster, for us all.
A rambling leader, reminiscent of King George III ? Is Obama becoming truly a man who can not lead, who has no idea of who or what he is leading? He is more concerned about I phones and face recognition than the wars and real enemies of our nation. He did not inspire, he did not give hope, he gave a chilling sense of a man and a nation who is wandering the desert lost – but at least we will all have Iphones?? The more I write the more I know that our cries of warning of this man were not strong enough. He must be removed from office, he is leading this nation off the proverbial cliff, Thelma and Louise style.
I realize that asking for Churchill is out of the question. There was only one and will only remain one. But when America is at her lowest, when the odds are against her, we look to the President to ..take up a bullhorn and pick us up. We rise, we brush ourselves off, dry out tears and lift each other to whatever we need to do. I am still on the couch wondering what he said! From FDR to Bush (sans Carter) each President has had those moments, he was our President. He called upon us to that American exceptionalism, our can do spirit, our common goals both spoken and unspoken……. Obama can not do that… he has no common reference …. he has no experience in who we are or who he is………
If someone asked you to describe what it means to be French, could you? What does it mean to you to be German? We may have a common ancestory, we may have a common knowledge of customs or even names.. but in your gut, in your national DNA you can not connect. This does not mean one who was born here or there, I am talking about what you believe.. what you know to be true as a national identity. I often get asked by those from other nations , ‘why are Americans so patriotic?’ My answer is not as complicated as you would think, ‘why are you not?’
We see the flag and it is there, deep within… we here Dixie, we smile, we hear the Battle Hymn of The Republic and we get a chill.. we do not ask or blame ourselves or question why.. we just know this is who we are.. Instead for those who see the world like Obama, not connected to a land, a home, a nation, but rather an anger of knowing what he is NOT.. how can he lead a nation whose very existence he still does not understand.
We are in serious trouble America.
Our Destiny remains our own. This is why I am so hard on the Beck’s and the Bachmann’s of the world.. not because of them but because of what I saw in those tonight, disillusionment. We assumed Obama got that in 2008, as a nation of voters, but we forget to listen to what he was not saying instead of hearing what he was saying. Even they are searching for a reason to applaud the speech, they when pressed will say, ” it was not his best effort.” If being President is constantly an effort at a time when this nation is truly in need… then maybe it’s time to truly consider that he is unfit for office. We can not afford it anymore.. We need an American leading us, not some man who is still figuring it all out. I know some in other countries more American than Obama and most who would die, literally, for the chance to be. Now is not the time for rehabilitating a President, it’s time to demand one.