Mr. Johnson’s ex-business partner has a bit more sense than Mr. Johnson. A lot more sense. But it was a weird, almost scary experience to see my ideas in print, that I’d never even told anyone.
First, he says the obvious:
The scary thing is that many of us believe the President hardly knows much of anything, certainly not economics, and is surrounded by an increasingly paranoid and defensive group of advisers. It’s shades of Nixon, but worse. Tricky Dick, at least, knew what he was doing and could accomplish things. Obama is the biggest windbag to ever ascend to the presidency. He has no idea what he is doing and now things are getting rough.
That’s bad, because Nixon, with his wage and price controls, was one of the most economically illiterate presidents in history. Knowing what I know now, if I could go to 1960 and vote, I’d vote for JFK.
Frankly, I’m worried for our country because this man doesn’t really understand what the public is telling him. He just thinks we’re “angry.” He’s wrong – we’re furious and we’re furious because he blames everyone but himself and seems psychologically incapable of taking responsibility. One can imagine a ninety-year old Obama stumbling around in some rest home shaking his walking stick at George Bush. But for the moment Bush is being replaced. Now evidently it’s the banks fault. The evil bankers are to blame. It’s capitalism, stupid.
Like many people, I too was initially taken in by the clean, articulate black guy with no Negro dialect. But long before the campaign was over, it was profusely evident that the guy was as phony as a three dollar bill.
Problem is, we’ve been there, done that, a thousand times. The alternative to capitalism is socialism and it has never worked. Not once, in all its myriad permutations. In fact, it most often hurts those it was intended to help, bankrupting the society and leaving the lower classes destitute.
But empiricism isn’t Obama’s strong suit. As Roger said in the prior quoted paragraph, he’s incapable of learning anything. And here’s where it gets kind of creepy. Roger said exactly what I was thinking:
I am deeply afraid of that because Barack Obama has never had to deal with any personal adversity in his adult life. He has lived a completely privileged existence. This is a first for him. There’s no telling how he will behave. Watch out, buckle up and hold on to your seats.
Bullseye, Roger! That’s exactly the problem with this dangerous man. He’s never failed at anything in his entire life, because the games have all been rigged! That’s why he’s utterly incompetent at everything he does, and incapable of learning from failure. He’s managed to get almost to the age of 50 without anything ever failing, because the affirmative action elves were always ready willing and able to go in and fix everything. Now, he’s like a six year old going on 50. In charge of the federal government. With a video game concept of economics.
I’m also afraid that Roger’s right about his unpredictability. Nixon, for all of his flaws, was a gentleman, and when the jig was up, he walked away with grace. And for all of his ego, when it came down to putting the country through the kind of turmoil that Al Gore eventually did put the country through or giving the presidency to JFK, he did the right thing. What’s scary about Obama is that his idea of “the right thing” is a childish cartoon of Marxist heroes and Capitalist villains. There really is no telling what he might do when placed in a box. And I think when that time comes, the American people will find themselves pining for the old days of grace and patriotism under President Nixon.
Extra: A Canadian’s take on our Fearless Leader.
It has been a year of fecklessness, amateurism, and posturing. Less that is useful has been accomplished by this president in his first year than by any president since Herbert Hoover, and he was ambushed by the Great Depression after seven months.
However, he has a more upbeat ending than Roger:
For all the claims that the Republicans are too influenced by religious zealots and country club knuckle-draggers, the administration may be in the hands of ‘redistributive,’ pacifistic Kool Aid drinkers. If it is, the Republicans will have to elevate their 2012 presidential candidate this year. The office may, 213 years after the retirement of George Washington, actually seek the (wo)man, but not from what is conspicuously on offer now, from either party.
Amen.
Tags: Richard Nixon, Roger Simon
