The Obama Doctrine of Original Blame

By Ward Smythe | Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 | Policy

When Barack Obama sauntered into the White House he did so with the promise to clean up the mess he had “inherited.” True, a lot of things were going wrong. George W. Bush made some mistakes.

But with the ushering in of the era of Hope and Change the anticipation was that Obama would hit the ground running and start making things happen. Eighteen months later, he’s running. The problem is that he’s still running a campaign against George Bush.

He’s blamed George Bush for the economy, for global warming, for the credit crisis, for the Middle East, for the deficit and for America’s dismal reputation overseas.

Barack Obama promised to get us out of Iraq, out of Afghanistan, out of Gitmo, out of debt, out of unemployment, out of global warming. So far the only thing that has ended is global warming. And that is only because the fraudulent science has been exposed.

At every turn, Barack Obama has been a failure. Plunging the country into more debt and more government programs destined to control our lives.

Still, it’s “Bush’s fault.”

Obama has taken this to such an art form that his disciples are now uttering the same.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi directed blame for the Gulf oil spill to the Bush administration, “Many of the people appointed in the Bush administration are still burrowed in the agencies that are supposed to oversee the [oil] industry,” Pelosi continued, “the cozy relationships between the Bush administration’s agency leadership and the industry is clear.”

Seems Nancy is ignoring the fact that President Obama received $77,051 from BP and is the top recipient BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years.

This week with the news of the marital separation of Al and Tipper Gore, author Sally Quinn told CBS that the Gore’s never got over the 2000 election loss. “He’s obviously suffered a lot. He’ll never get over that and neither will she.”

Read the subtext: “Bush’s fault.”

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m sure that at least once in the last ten years, Tipper has rolled over and said to Al, “Oh stop blubbering and get over it you big buffoon.”

But if Al Gore was really that traumatized by a single loss (granted a big one), all I can say is thank God for the Electoral College.

The reality is that George Bush made some mistakes. He admitted as much himself. He did some things he shouldn’t have. He didn’t do some things he should have done.

But eighteen months later, it’s not his fault that the economy remains in the toilet. It’s not his fault that oil is rushing into the Gulf. It’s not his fault that there has been recent chaos in the Middle East.

No, Barack Obama didn’t create all of those situations either. But he has clearly failed to lead. Far be it from us to say we told you so. But we did. From the beginning we told you he was an empty suit with no experience. We told you he was a media creation.

One of the main characteristics of a leader is the ability to accept responsibility. Barack Obama can’t, or won’t, do that.

The reason is clear: he’s not a leader.

He’s a leading man.

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