For quite a while now, Hugh Hewitt has wondered if OIIOHH:
There is a vast, coast-to-coast recognition of "oiiohh" -- Obama is in over his head. I have offered the T-shirt to my radio audience, and they are moving quite briskly. The "messiah" has become a punch line.
What could he do to turn it around, I asked John Podhoretz, editor of the newly energized and sparkling Commentary magazine. "Things his ideology will never allow him to do," John replied, and we went on to talk about extending the Bush tax cuts and standing resolutely beside Israel in the face of serial provocations.
AJ Strata, as reasonable a Conservative as exists in the blogosphere, who has been vociferous in taking to task those on the Right who would push us too far, has lost all patience with our President:
I know I will get slammed for the comparison, but some times the acts fit the crime. The Obama administration’s PR campaign is mirroring the PR campaign instituted by the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. I am saying mirroring, not identical. We have yet to hit the point where political opponents are more than roughed up by labor union goons. There are no concentration camps out there. But some core methods are eerily similar.
AJ's post delineates a number of issues on which the Obama administration has been behaving in ways that do not comport with their expressed concerns; in other words they have either lied about the various crises we face or do not understand what they are doing. His cri du couer is remarkable in its anger and frustration.
Yesterday Glenn Reynolds linked to a number of posts recently that raise concerns about what our government is doing. Jay Tea wrote about seemingly the inexplicable behavior of the Obama administration concerning the oil spill, especially their lack of urgency:
1) The disaster isn't as bad as we all think it is, and the Obama administration knows that.
If that was true, then their "never let a crisis go to waste" response is understandable. Heinous, but understandable. This is an opportunity for them to push their agenda, and push it hard.
2) The disaster is as bad as we think, but the Obama administration doesn't realize it.
This would be entirely in character with this administration. They are the Peter Principle writ large: they have been promoted past their level of competency. They simply can't grasp that this disaster is a game-changer, so they are simply playing the game that they have played all their lives. Not because that's what they think is best, but because that's all they know how to do. "When your only tool is a hammer, all your problems start looking like nails."
3) The disaster is at least as bad as we think, if not worse, and the Obama administration knows it.
If that is the case, then the only explanation that makes any sense is that they believe that the whole thing is a lost cause, that it is pretty much an unstoppable catastrophe, and they're figuring that since we're all pretty much fucked, they might as well get theirs before it all goes to hell.
4) The disaster isn't as bad as we think it is, but the Obama administration doesn't realize it.
Steve Sailer notes that the primary causative elements leading to the mortgage meltdown have still not been addressed. His post comes complete with government data that the government has completely ignored. In another post, he points out that Canada has a more sound immigration policy than the United States but it cannot be discussed in polite company. In both cases, reality is ignored in favor of a Politically Correct fantasy structure.
Allahpundit highlights an example of White House incompetence and insouciance while Ed Morrissey points to an even more egregious example.
Yet another data point on a not inclusive list is the insubordination of General McCrystal:
General McCrystal will be fired, as he almost certainly should be. That really isn't the problem facing the Obama administration and the country. The problem is that we appear to be losing the war, and now you have an internal distraction the enemy had nothing to do with.
The President made Afghanistan his war when he decided to go with General McCrystal's counterinsurgency strategy and began surging additional troops. I don't want to hear how the President of the United States had no choice regarding Afghanistan and was backed into the corner - because to suggest that is true is to basically say Barack Obama is not qualified to be the leader of the free world. The President has lost his General. Has he lost the General McCrystal counterinsurgency strategy too? Is losing the war not so far behind?
Galrahn rarely makes political comments on his blog. When he does it suggests a level of frustration and worry that is alarming. His conclusion is thus more troubling than hearing similar sentiments from a Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity:
I just wish there was one thing so far during the Obama administration to date I could point to and suggest there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but the lack of direction and focus that is displayed in every emerging challenge this administration has faced to date suggests that a pattern of panic, confusion, chaos, and indecision regarding what to do will become the next phase of the Afghanistan war.
The nascent meme concerning Barack Obama is that he is incompetent, crippled by his ideology, and unable to adapt to changing conditions. As such we are likely to have a terrible vacuum at the center of our government for the next two years, at minimum. Our adversaries, if they are smart, will take advantage of this unique opportunity to advance their interests while America is rudderless. Our enemies, if they are stupid, will over reach and evoke a counter-reaction which will have terrible consequences for the world.
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