It's His Rubble Now
And the American people want him to fix it.
*
By PEGGY NOONAN
At a certain point, a president must own a presidency. For George W. Bush that point came eight months in, when 9/11 happened. From that point on, the presidencyâ€"all his decisions, all the credit and blame for themâ€"was his. The American people didn't hold him responsible for what led up to 9/11, but they held him responsible for everything after it. This is part of the reason the image of him standing on the rubble of the twin towers, bullhorn in hand, on Sept.14, 2001, became an iconic one. It said: I'm owning it.
Mr. Bush surely knew from the moment he put the bullhorn down that he would be judged on everything that followed. And he has been. Early on, the American people rallied to his support, but Americans are practical people. They will support a leader when there is trouble, but there's an unspoken demand, or rather bargain: We're behind you, now fix this, it's yours.
President Obama, in office a month longer than Bush was when 9/11 hit, now owns his presidency. Does he know it? He too stands on rubble, figuratively speakingâ€"a collapsed economy, high and growing unemployment, two wars. Everyone knows what he's standing on. You can almost see the smoke rising around him. He's got a bullhorn in his hand every day.
It's his now. He gets the credit and the blame. How do we know this? The American people are telling him. You can see it in the polls. That's what his falling poll numbers are about. "It's been almost a year, you own this. Fix it."
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The president doesn't seem to like this moment. Who would? He and his men and women have returned to referring to what they "inherited." And what they inherited was, truly, terrible: again, a severe economic crisis and two wars. But their recent return to this theme is unbecoming. Worse, it is politically unpersuasive. It sounds defensive, like a dodge.
The president said last week, at a San Francisco fund-raiser, that he's busy with a "mop," "cleaning up somebody else's mess," and he doesn't enjoy "somebody sitting back and saying, 'You're not holding the mop the right way.'" Later, in New Orleans, he groused that reporters are always asking "Why haven't you solved world hunger yet?" His surrogates and aides, in appearances and talk shows, have taken to remembering, sometimes at great length, the dire straits we were in when the presidency began.
This is not a sign of confidence. Nor were the president's comments to a New York fund-raiser this week. Democrats, he said to the Democratic audience, are "an opinionated bunch." They always have a lot of thoughts and views. Republicans, on the other handâ€""the other side"â€"aren't really big on independent thinking. "They just kinda sometimes do what they're told. Democrats, y'all thinkin' for yourselves." It is never a good sign when the president gets folksy, dropping his g's, because he is by nature not a folksy g-dropper but a coolly calibrating intellectual who is always trying to guess, as most politicians do, what normal people think. When Mr. Obama gets folksy he isn't narrowing his distance from his audience but underlining it. He shouldn't do this.
it so nice they gave him a full year to fix problems that have been plaguing this country, in some cases, for decades(world hunger). lol
World hunger is NOT Americans problem!!!! Americas hunger IS Americas problem!! How hard is it to realize that when America runs at the top of the food chain the rest of the World runs with it?? Apparently it's too much for a damn democrat to fathom that if you take care of those that put you there,, the WORKING American back,, the whole world will be better for it. :doh2: :doh2: :doh2: :doh2: :doh2: :doh2: :doh2: :doh2:
Obama has only been in office for 10 months,none of this is his yet
But when Bush was in office less then 9 months he had to claim it all :shrug: Could this be racist or is it because Obama is younger or a Demacrat I am sure some one has the answer
QuoteWorld hunger is NOT Americans problem!!!!
HaMer.............for as little as $.33 cents a day you can feed a third world rice muncher. Well. according to the infomertials. :shrug:
You're right Todd!! :yoyo: Well. according to the infomertials. :innocentwhistle:
:roflmao: :roflmao:
But I'll keep my .33 cents a day & spend it right here on something useful. Like my Family!! :yoyo:
Charity begins at home. :yoyo:
I do not recall voting for the IDIOT so let him soak in his troubles.........I will continue to fight for what I feel is right.
Like when I kept my daughter home from school while he tried to force his speech on our kids???????
I will not give in to his Madness .........I want a real Job again and I will pay for my own meals.....
And if given the opportunity to take away his freedoms and force my speaking on his children.....I will pass .....as that would make me as bad as he is......
I do feel he would do well as a CEO for some snobby corp. But he is not qualified at all to run this or any country.
I sent my daughter to school but told her she was not to listen to him. She was to go to a study hall or something. When she got home I asked her about it. She said they aired it for a couple of minutes in the lunch room then turned it off. LOL. Even the teachers didn't want to listen to him.
In regards to world hunger - For those who served in Vietnam, have you ever search the ruck sack of a dead VC or even a NV Regular? Chances are you found a food packet marked "UNICEF" thanks to the UN and our tax dollars trying to feed the children. We feed the children of third world countries so that they can grow up healthy and strong so that they may better prepared to kill our children or grandchildren. As harsh as it may sound I prefer that they meet their maker long before my grandkids have to do battle with them. Let's feed our kids before we worry about feeding others.
Quote from: JohnP on October 25, 2009, 11:21:37 AM
In regards to world hunger - For those who served in Vietnam, have you ever search the ruck sack of a dead VC or even a NV Regular? Chances are you found a food packet marked "UNICEF" thanks to the UN and our tax dollars trying to feed the children. We feed the children of third world countries so that they can grow up healthy and strong so that they may better prepared to kill our children or grandchildren. As harsh as it may sound I prefer that they meet their maker long before my grandkids have to do battle with them. Let's feed our kids before we worry about feeding others.
That's what I'm talking about!!! Piss on world hunger!! Let's take care of our own before we worry about sending food and money to countries that will just keep it and not give it to those that need it. PISS ON THE WHOLE LOT OF THEM!!!
IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, IRAN, all of AFRICA, SAUDI ARABIA, AND MANY OTHERS SHOULD JUST BE NUKED!!! :thumb2: :finger: ;yes;
We should also invade Mexico and completely take over. If we are going to have to pay for their sorry @$$, we might as well get some tax dollars for the trouble. :yoyo:
Bopeye,
Right on!!
Jim
:yoyo: :yoyo:
Obama is gonna be just like that worthless piece of meat Jimmie Carter. A whole lot of talking, but not enough testicles to do anything about it. :sneer:
I'm becoming convinced that Obama is the ANTI-CHRIST!!! :readthis:
He is one evil, self-centered, cocky, anti-american, muslim piece of Kenyan Hyena Dung. ;yes;
You know things are getting bad when the Secret Service is considering giving up their role against counterfeiting just to spend all their time protecting his sorry @$$. :rolleye:
And that birth cert. that HaMer found written in CRAYON is a Joke........ :laf: :laf: Literally where is the real one??