Is Obama Incompetent? No, That Isn't It

Ed at Hot Air picks up on Mark Tapscott in questioning whether or not Obama is incompetent. The concept of incompetence may serve as a convenient catch all for what we're seeing, but it tells us very little about what's actually going on.

So expect in coming months a growing theme in the media questioning the competence of those around the president. For liberals in Congress and the media, such a theme will provide a handy way of diverting blame from Obama's shoulders for the succession of blunders, missteps and embarrassments that is surely coming.

What we are seeing is a combination of two different things - inexperience combined with a hubris that has prevented Obama from figuring out there's a certain humility required to be an effective president. It is as much a job defined to serve, as it is to lead. And that service is owed to all of America, whatever their particular political stripe, or leaning. Perhaps it's his arrogance and youth and fawning press, whatever the reasons, Obama hasn't yet figured it out.

To a degree unobserved in any other recent WH, this one seems to believe its positive press and particular vision as somehow truly better, or more informed than that of anyone with an opposing view. He's in for an even ruder awakening if this keeps up.

While the nation's politics may have shifted some over time, in the end, the American people don't care whether you are black, or white, red, green, brown, or blue. But red, white and blue and mostly in keeping with the traditions for which that stands, America still cares very much.

This czar Van Jones fiasco was initiated by a blatant attempt to end run Congress. Don't think there aren't those on the Hill in both parties who haven't figured that out. At the rate he's going, Obama may continue to get those flappy ears boxed in for a while before he figures out the house he's living in today is far larger than any president, or particular vision of and for America they might enjoy.

Could he face a primary challenge in 2012? As things stand today, yes he certainly could. It happened to Carter by none other than the late Teddy K., don't forget.

Comments

[disheartened]

I'll flat out predict it right now. Barack Obama will be challenged by Hillary Clinton; and she'll win the nomination.

Democrats are tired of Hussein's lies.

He promised he'd close Guantanamo. But it's still open.
He promised he'd end the war in Iraq ... but there are 130,000 troops there.
He promised he'd end the war in Afghanistan ... but he's sending more troops.
He promised he'd end war ... but his killer drones are murdering innocent civilians in Pakistan.
He promised he'd end the AT&T spying, but that program continues listening in on Americans' phone calls.
He promised he'd end torture, but there's still no falafel stand at Gitmo.
He promised to end renditions ... but expanded the program instead.
He promised Van Jones a green job ... but fired him instead.
He promised to cut executive pay ... instead gave new AIG CEO $7 million a year.
He promised no lobbyists ... White House is overrun with lobbyists.
He promised card check ... but scabs still get a secret vote so we can't beat them up.
He promised to end signing statements ... expanded them instead.
He promised millions of jobs ... but now 16.7 million are unemployed
He promised to reduce poverty ... but now 35 million are on food stamps.
He promised to pay my rent and gas money.

Where my check homey?

[reliapundit]

NIT-PICKING LITTLE THING:

EITHER "HUBRIS + INEXPERIENCE = INCOMPETENCE."

OR INEXPERIENCE IS ANOTHER WORD FOR INCOMPETENCE.

A BIG THING:

OBAMA HAS LONG DEPENDED ON THE COMPLACENCY OF THE MSM.

HE NEEDS THEIR ACQUIESCENCE TO ACHIEVE HIS STEALTH GOALS AND FILL HIS ADMINISTRATION WITH LEFT-WING ANTISEMITIC SC*M - LIKE VAN JONES AND POWER AND FREEMAN.

WE GOT FREEEMAN AND JONES, BUT MANY OTHER SC*MB*GS REMAIN.

[JimTheBlackUltraConservative]

Absolutely hilarious! "Where my check, homey?"

[Brett Bellmore]

Actually, I think he's convinced that there's a certain humility needed to be an effective citizen, and too many Americans are lacking it. But he's got a plan to fix that...

[Alan K. Henderson]

Does Trinity United Church of Christ matter now? Doesn't the church home of 70% of his lifetime tell us what sort of people Obama includes in his inner circle?

Does the Annenberg Challenge matter now? Does Obama's willingness to lead an organization that hired a confessed terrorist and rabid anticapitalist to draft educational programs tell us what what sort of people Obama includes in his inner circle?

[Louis]

Obama has been doing exactly what he intended to do. We were forewarned to watch out, not for the cabinet appointments but for the second tier appointments which would go to those who would make real policy but, for whatever reasons (even security clearance was mentioned), could not pass Senate confirmation. This has come to pass - and his cabinet hasn't looked too hot either.

The czars, the advisers, whatever the euphemism, these are the persons who daily grind away at our freedom while the Master is on vacation or off somewhere delivering yet another campaign speech.

[stepper]

Michael Bloomberg for President?

[JadedByPolitics]

It is not incompetence it is narcissism which all politicians have however Obama's is extreme due to the oldstream media having given him cover for 2 years. If the PRAVDA media had done its stated job during the primaries there is no way Obama even wins the primary. So he now has that same media covering for all of the assorted NUTS that Obama surrounds himself with such as such as Ezekiel Emmanuel-advocate of health care rationing that favors those aged 15 – 44 who are regarded as having the best chance to “live a complete life" as well as, John Holdren-who believes our constitution somehow allows for the possibility of forced abortions and sterilizations and finally Cass Sunstein-a big fan of the “quality-adjusted life years” (QALY score) as a basis for health care rationing.

Those aforementioned people are RADICALS in anyone who is not a leftists book. A true media watchdog would have all of these people and indepth looks at them in at the very least in their segments that do an INDEPTH look at an Administration.

The real story here is the state run media had NO stories on this for 10 DAYS and all of a sudden those who watch or read those "news" organizations will be hearing about a man resigning over controversy and wondering to themselves "why". We have a problem in this country and it is the MEDIA!

[syn]

So come 2012 Democrats think that exchanging one Saul Alinsky clone for another another Saul Alinsky clone is going to make all the difference?

I do not think Democrats are even aware that since the day JFK was shot dead it was the day Democrats killed Classical Liberalism; there is nothing in America more illiberal than Saul Alkinsky and The Clone.

Perhaps the reason why Conor and The College-brigade do not see Statism on display today is that they have never experienced, known or understood Classical Liberalism?

[Sean Ryan]

A primary challenge is fun to speculate about, but NFW.

Looking back from the vantage point of 2009, it is difficult to recall the stature Ted Kennedy enjoyed in 1980. The martyrdom of his older brothers was still a relatively fresh memory, and the media whitewash of JFK and RFK had yet to fade. Despite Chappaquiddick, a wide swath of the country continued to feel that he was destined to become President.

Yet even with the halo effect from his brothers still in effect, Kennedy fell short against a very weak Jimmy Carter. The key lesson politicians have drawn from his campaign is just how exceedingly difficult it is to successfully challenge a sitting President of your own party. Recall the idea of a primary challenge to Clinton was discussed in much more mainstream circles in 1994 after the GOP tsunami that year, but never materialized. And surveying the field, there is nobody in the Democratic wings with anything remotely approaching the stature of Ted Kennedy circa 1980.

http://www.pecuniarius.com/blog/?p=166

[FeFe]

Van Jones is a QUITTER!!!!11!!!!11 Hahahaha How irresponsible because I haven't heard there is a replacement in place, and one who has been elected at that.

[eaglewingz08]

It's neither incompetence or inexperience. Obama is a statist, marxist, socialist, communist. Van Jones has been followed by Valerie Jarett and Obama since Van's Oakland commie days. Obama and Jarett knew all about his radical views and fully supported them until they became uncomfortably public. Then like Rev Wright, Van was thrown under the bus. The problem for Obama which this blog and others must keep their eyes focused on is how Van got clearance to serve in the WH in the first place and the fact that Obama and his WH shares Van's views. This must not be lost in pre Labor Day celebrations that another one bites the dust.

[Anon]

The events of the election and Obama's presidency remind me of both the Nazi regime and the Russian Revolution.

The first had a cult of hero-worship for a central leader and it used the existing power structure to subvert and undermine opposition to Nazi goals.

The second had a group of privileged people with money and education who enthusiastically sought the downfall of their society with no thought as to what might replace it.

We have both -- I wonder if we are headed for civil war.

[Huey]

Sorry. He's the opposite of "incompetent."

He is a "true believer." He wants his agenda to be passed. He wants to transform society, i.e., to make it radically different from what it was on the day he took office.

He is a Marxist (or as close to being one as possible without actually embracing Karl...). If your agenda is a Marxist agenda, then you attempt to take over the economy. You attempt to take over health care. You attempt to silence the opposition. You attempt to use propaganda to indoctrinate our citizens (and our youth). You support Marxist regimes. You oppose democratic regimes. You attempt to gather the names of your opponents, even going so far as asking neighbor to inform on neighbor.

And, if you attempt to do such things, who will you select to carry out that agenda? Well, Marxists and radicals, of course.

It isn't a matter of "competence." He's quite "competent" at what he's trying to do. He simply has met with more resistance more quickly than he had hoped for.

Thanks to blogs such as this, talk radio and the FOX news channel.

Without them (you), this country would be sunk, man...sunk.

[rrpjr]

I'm with Huey. And I'm beginning to think the surpassing quality of this guy is his contempt for all of us.

[Travis]

When Obama picked Van Jones to be his "Green Jobs" czar, two questions popped into the minds of most Americans
1.)What is a green jobs czar?
2.)Who is Van Jones?
The answers are as follows: A green Jobs czar is a pay back. A government job which requires no experience, and no actual work is expected. The Van Jones pick was payback to those Black Panther members who stood outside the polling places in Philadelphia and DC with their billy clubs and their inrtimidating looks. The Panthers don't do anything for free.
Van Jones is a Panther. He may deny it and say he's really a member of "S.T.O.R.M." and ACORN and whatever, but he's panther, through and through.
Obama is probably thinking "Hey, my panther bros, i DID what I said I was going to do. I put one of our guys on my staff. HE went and fucked it up. It's not my fault. We're even, right?"
I got news for Obama. He ain't even. He used the panthers, and now the panthers actually feel like they've been used. Obama can't drop the panthers now, and probably not ever. They'll get their payback. And they'll make life for Obama hell until they get it.

[SteveP]

Obama isn't incompetent.
The truth of what he is-a Marxist-was out in plain sight since he stepped onto the national stage.
For anyone who wanted to know the truth is was easy to see. If you read his books and examined his history it was plain that he was a red diaper baby and he has been steeped in communist ideology all his life.
He told us what he wanted to do to the country-"fundamentally transform America"- throughout the campaign and he's doing just that. He and his cabal of advisors are following their game plan, so far mostly with success. Impoverishing the people and instilling fear are prerequisites to socialist revolution. Fascism and socialism are stepping stones to the communist utopia that is their end game.
Their egotism, arrogance and hubris sometimes make them look like boobs but don't be fooled. They are very dangerous.

[John H]

'Van Jones is a QUITTER!!!!11!!!!11'

My thoughts exactly fefe. Let's hope it's a domino effect. I'm disgusted that the msm voted present on this issue-or did they abstain altogether?

[John H]

whoops sorry, that's FeFe not fefe

[J. K.]

He is incompetent. It's not as others stated that he is hubristic, narcissistic, inexperienced - he's all those things. But none of those traits make him incompetent. What makes him incompetent is that he's a socialist/Marxist. The fatal flaw of the Marxist socialist believer is a total lack of understanding of human nature. Were our president capable of understanding human nature, he would know better than to depend on his skills - which are totally incompetent for his ambitions.

[Joseph Brown]

Obama isn't a real president, but he does play one on tv. About 24/7!

[neely]

Van Jones was a trial balloon. Obama has his tax cheaters, he wondered if he could get away with a race baiting, self-proclaimed communist truther. Then Jones became another "distraction". POP!!

[Palin/Bachmann 2012]

"I'll flat out predict it right now. Barack Obama will be challenged by Hillary Clinton; and she'll win the nomination.

Democrats are tired of Hussein's lies.

He promised he'd close Guantanamo. But it's still open.
He promised he'd end the war in Iraq ... but there are 130,000 troops there.
He promised he'd end the war in Afghanistan ... but he's sending more troops.
He promised he'd end war ... but his killer drones are murdering innocent civilians in Pakistan.
He promised he'd end the AT&T spying, but that program continues listening in on Americans' phone calls.
He promised he'd end torture, but there's still no falafel stand at Gitmo.
He promised to end renditions ... but expanded the program instead.
He promised Van Jones a green job ... but fired him instead.
He promised to cut executive pay ... instead gave new AIG CEO $7 million a year.
He promised no lobbyists ... White House is overrun with lobbyists.
He promised card check ... but scabs still get a secret vote so we can't beat them up.
He promised to end signing statements ... expanded them instead.
He promised millions of jobs ... but now 16.7 million are unemployed
He promised to reduce poverty ... but now 35 million are on food stamps.
He promised to pay my rent and gas money.

Where my check homey?"

Well Said!

[Palin/Bachmann 2012]

"I'll flat out predict it right now. Barack Obama will be challenged by Hillary Clinton; and she'll win the nomination.

Democrats are tired of Hussein's lies.

He promised he'd close Guantanamo. But it's still open.
He promised he'd end the war in Iraq ... but there are 130,000 troops there.
He promised he'd end the war in Afghanistan ... but he's sending more troops.
He promised he'd end war ... but his killer drones are murdering innocent civilians in Pakistan.
He promised he'd end the AT&T spying, but that program continues listening in on Americans' phone calls.
He promised he'd end torture, but there's still no falafel stand at Gitmo.
He promised to end renditions ... but expanded the program instead.
He promised Van Jones a green job ... but fired him instead.
He promised to cut executive pay ... instead gave new AIG CEO $7 million a year.
He promised no lobbyists ... White House is overrun with lobbyists.
He promised card check ... but scabs still get a secret vote so we can't beat them up.
He promised to end signing statements ... expanded them instead.
He promised millions of jobs ... but now 16.7 million are unemployed
He promised to reduce poverty ... but now 35 million are on food stamps.
He promised to pay my rent and gas money.

Where my check homey?"

Well Said!

[rwisher]

J.K puts it in a concise statement. We expected a man who has never run anything that created a product other than chaos to somehow understand how to manage a nation. That is like handing a hammer to a three year old and telling him to "fix" the family Porsche.

Oh, it'd be fixed alright, and ready to be used as a front lawn flower planter! The cruel joke on us is Obama knows this. He never even had the slightest intention to do any good during his time as President. He is a radical and radicals only know how to complain, riot and break things. His agenda is to change America into something different.

Just not better.

[Anthony]

Primary challenge? As Sean said, there's nobody of Ted Kennedy's stature in the Democrat Party. (Except possibly Hillary.) Except Ted Kennedy. Democrats have never let death be an obstacle to voting, as any politician from Chicago should know.

[dad29]

What we are seeing is a combination of two different things - inexperience combined with a hubris

I don't think so.

Look again at Goldberg's "Liberal Fascism"--particularly the early section on Mussolini.

Axelrod and Rahmsputin think (along with Obama) that Obama is (or can be made to be) a Leader-- Il Duce. That's why the endless TV appearances.

Without the Leader, the fascism/statism gig is dead.

[mockmook]

'Van Jones is a QUITTER!!!!11!!!!11'

Heh, good catch FeFe -- I'm sure Sarah got a chuckle out of that!

[A. Stephens]

Not incompetent. Dangerous. And that a free press, originally envisioned by the founders as a watchdog would willingly turn a blind eye, is chilling.

To my fellow Americans that consider themselves moderates, independents, non-partisans, to those reasonable people who voted against something rather than for something, what do you think about your vote now? I'm not trying to provoke, it's an honest question. How can anyone not aligned with a hard core radical leftist agenda not be disturbed by what appears to me is the opening act of the hijacking of the U.S constitution and "fundamental transformation" of America?

[Old Trooper]

He is just simply Unfit for Any Public Office due to lack of character and judgment. His overtly racist and socialist beliefs and inexperience are the root cause of his inability to govern. He is just a failure. Period on all accounts.

[Ran]

Look, thank God Obama and his team are incompetent. It's not the incompetence that's the problem, it's their hard-line marxist agenda to "fundamentally transform America".

We must block every piece of legislation at both Federal and State levels and purge all of it of the machinery to complete their objectives. Block every bill, purge every statist clause. The last bloody [I use the term literally] thing we need if for this Administration to "succeed" in it's stated goals.

A Stephens is dead-on target: Dangerous.

[Ran]

"Without the Leader, the fascism/statism gig is dead."

Respectfully but passionately, I see it otherwise... the Teleprompter gig is just a distraction. Look at the nuts and bolts of all legislation. Every clause. Federal and State. Check and purge every single Bill, Reps and Senates.

Challenge every Agency Fiat.

It's not Dear Leader, it's the Orwellian Machine they're building. Jones was - remains - just one engineer on a very big and very dangerous new social engineering project.

[Alle]

Say what you want about Bush...but he understood that the president's job was to lead and to SERVE, not to "rule."

Obama seems to not know the difference between a president and a king, between being a leader and being a ruler.

[John]

Obama's incompetence is based on his personality, which in turn is what was able to get him elected in the first place.

He projected a non-threatening air to moderates and guilty white liberals, who in the privacy of the voting booth, would have never pulled the lever for someone with an Al Sharpton (or Van Jones) type of personality (the guilty white liberals would have pulled for Hillary in the primaries). But his ability to avoid conflict with factions of your core supporters over a quarter-century of adult life also has bred in Obama a fear of making any decisions between those supporters and a fear of telling those people 'no' even if he agrees with them ideologically, because it's bad political strategy.

As long as Obama won't stand up to his own side, no matter what loopy left issue they're trying to push or statement they're uttering, he's never going to get control of his message, no matter how much the big media people try to cover for him (the ironic thing is if Barack Obama was more of an a-hole personality-wise, he'd be far more dangerous of a threat to get his agenda passed. But if he had that personality to begin with, he never would have risen above being a Chicago-area state senator serving only a far left constituency).

[Progressive White Peon]

Obama is NOT incompetent! The God-King is being deceived by his EVIL counsellors, that's all!

[crosspatch]

"there's a certain humility required to be an effective president"

There is when one is elected by a slim margin as Obama was. Obama won by no larger margin than Bush did in 2004. He somehow misread this as some sweeping mandate. He also seems to have misread the Congressional elections. Many seats were won by 5 points or less. Hardly a massive show of support. In districts that had traditionally gone to Republicans, having a Democrat win by less than 5 points says the district is still vulnerable. This is particularly the case where the seat is won by a Blue Dog. In such cases the election result is probably not due to either party "base" but due to independent voters. At the rate that the Democrats are currently hemorrhaging independent support, Democrats should view any seats won by less than 5% in traditionally Republican districts as already lost. There probably isn't anything they can do in the next 14 months to get those seats back.

[Reaganite Republican]

Watch Hillary to do a Bobby Kennedy in 2012- everybody knows there's no real loyalty, and Hill surely hasn't lost any of her blinding ambition... why go down with the USS Obamamania? She sure don't look like a happy camper lately-

Of course RFK turned on Johnson and ran for President in the 1968 primaries. So anyone purporting that the Democrats wouldn't run a serious primary challenge against Obama in 2012 -which I have heard often on lib blogs and elsewhere- clearly has no idea what they're talking about. Could come from the right OR the left, IMO-

The attempted hiring of Sid Blumenthal by Hillary was interesting, to say the least- he's about as loyal a Clintonite Rottweiler as one could imagine... and was to be brought on right as Obama's poll numbers begin to slip. Until the Dear Leader put that kabosh on that, hmmm.

Barack Obama's personality quirks and narcissism bring predictable behaviors and reactions... the kinds of things that one's political opponents tend to take notice -and full advantage- of.

You can be sure that Hillary has- and is planning accordingly to benefit Hillary Clinton first and foremost.

[David R. Graham]

I said just yesterday that I was 90% sure Jones was staying in place. I am not sure I was mistaken. With respect to situational awareness of this administration, I am certain that I was not.

In the broad, situational sense, it is likely that news of Van Jone's demise "has been greatly exaggerated."

Primary challenge in 2012, yes, but also possibility of an impeachment movement, even process, before then, by aroused, self-preserving "Democrats."

A point of order in re Marxist Doctrine. Take over is not the initial goal. Marx was a brilliant existentialist philosopher, a student (as also Kierkegaard) of Hegel, a theologian actually. He had a depth understanding of the sources of personal and group impulses. He grasped dynamics and ambiguities of historical development.

The initial goal of a Communist action is to induce disorder, chaos, deprivation and despair. It is accomplished over time by a "vanguard of the revolution," a concept and methodology lifted from Marxist Doctrine by Sayyid Qutb and placed in Moslem Brotherhood Doctrine. The vanguards of the both the Communist and the Moslem Brotherhood Revolutions have been vigorously active in the United States for a century and a half-century, respectively.

It is understood in Marxist Doctrine that the Revolution's prelude as enacted by its vanguard occurs over a period of time of indeterminate length.

The Cloward-Priven Strategy was a genuine improvement over previously known vanguard tactics and materially accelerated the achievement of chaos and despair. It complements the Alinsky Strategy. Its success also induced an "irrational exuberance" among American Marxists over its ability to foreshorten the prelude period.

However long it takes, Marxist Doctrine declares the vanguard mode -- foreplay, so to speak -- a prelude enabling the follow-on goal of government take-over, the actual Revolution.

American Marxists got a bit above themselves in regard to that Doctrine, which is wiser than they are, in the event.

Securing a flagship personality -- i.e., one possessing near sempiternal powers of delusion ("the gift" s/he calls it, and Jarret and Co. agree) -- they estimated that the period of prelude was complete, the nation ripe for Revolution, and even if it were not quite complete and ripe, they could concatenate whatever remained of the prelude with the Revolution itself, in effect pursuing these Doctrinally and experimentally sequential goals simultaneously.

If American Marxists are incompetent, it is in the sense of impatiently superimposing the Revolution (e.g., Van Johnson) on an unfinished prelude. The vanguard elements feel operationally marginalized while they know, truly, they are still needed. And on the other side, chaos and despair appear to have been insufficiently secured for an easy, rapid Revolution to occur, as was expected and as Doctrine contemplates and experience confirms.

Notwithstanding, the leadership of the Revolution appears mostly disinclined to postpone the Revolution. Public noises are made indicating, effectively, a fall-back to prelude/vanguard mode and at least rhetorical suspension of Revolution mode, but purchasers of that agitprop appear to be few. The face of the Revolution has been seen and believed and was not attractive.

From now on, it will be assumed without doubt that Communist Revolution is what American Marxists are really about, then, now and always. This is a good thing.

American Marxists remain very dangerous. As with both socialists and fascists, they are racists. As the fact of their impatient self-revelation, which for them is self-destruction, grows in their self-awareness, they will grow insistent and nasty. More so than they have shown to date.

They will not accept "No" for an answer. Neither will the Muslim Brotherhood.

[Xerocky]

Listen to this quote and tell me that this man has the brain required to be president...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG56B2et4M8

It's not like it's a blunder, because it's not. He's speaking from his heart, it's what he really thinks. He didn't mis speak. You can't force someone to not eat too much, or to not eat sweets. No amount of Dr.'s or whatever money he's wants to throw at it is going to make that problem go away. I'm a diabetic and I know, you HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR SELF, and everyone knows it.

On the other hand, to flat out say that Dr.'s are cutting peoples feet off because that's how they make money is completely wrong. a) they don't make that much b) from a political point of view, why would he even want to say that about Dr.'s? It's so ugly and wrong.
Imagine being a doctor and having a 2 bit Chicago politician call you unscrupulous?

Yes, as a politician, a thinker, Obama is incompetent.

[WPE]

Perhaps that tin-foil hat's distracted you, Marxist Doctrine hasn't been doing too well of late. I don't think you have a lot to worry about.

[dad29]

'It's not Dear Leader, it's the Orwellian Machine they're building."

Umnnnhhhh...well, yah, kinda. But that's been building since Teddy Roosevelt, more or less.

The Dear Leader part remained vacant until Obama won the audition. It's all a sham, of course. Obama can't lead his way out of a paper bag.

Regardless, he SOUNDS about right, when he's on. And that's the piece that's needed.

[David R. Graham]

@WPE: It's not tin-foil, it's scarlet velvet.

It was the great blunder of my generation to dumb down their students and their students' students and call that education. Baristas and burger flippers cannot support our national security, social security, pension security and medical security. Only productive people can do that and that means skilled people with hands that work and intellects that soar and spirits that enoble. To our dumbed-down student's students, the result of my generation's blundering stupidity, an educated person appears as an alien.

And you think Marxist Doctrine hasn't been there doing that and still is.

My generation betrayed you. On the other hand, you are of age and expected to discern and make up for the dumb stupidity that brought you into the appearance of adulthood. You have freedom as well as destiny and you own whatever loss or lack you are and have.

Reference Dan today with "Be Careful Conservatives."