I CAN ONLY BE WHAT I AM- A POLITICIAN
Agonizingly, we witness the perpetual tap dance of our political leaders attempting to avoid being pinned down to any position on any issue that will damage political life expectancy. The prospect for real leadership always takes a back seat to political expediency. With all the potential for leading through great vision, President Obama is caught in a malstrom of Catch 22's which are creating impossible leadership challenges that expose him to perpetual ridicule on his presidential decision making. Consider the following:
1. Obama's Wars: As a Senator, Barak Obama voted against the arbitrary decision to expand the War on Terror into Iraq to depose Sadaam Huessein, considered by many international law scholars as an outrageous act of aggression. With the wisdom of twenty-twenty hindsight, legions of Monday Morning quarterbacks are now clamoring for quick military exit from Iraq and Afghanistan. Based on historical attitudes about the invasion of Iraq, the President would love to have ended the dying of our sons and daughters in these box canyon initiatives upon taking office. Here's the rub- early on an image sabotage campaign promulgated the perception of the President being sympathetic to Muslim issues. To avoid the label of being "soft on terrorism" and exacerbate the tragedy of the societal destruction and killing in Afghanistan and Iraq, the President did not have the option of an immediate exit from our two wars given our incomplete (unaccomplishable ), constantly shifting military objectives. After taking the middle road of committing more troops in 2010, Iraq and Afghanistan became Obama's Wars. The very same politians who cherred for military action against the Taliban and Iraq are now lambasting Obama for not getting our troops out fast enough. Catch 22
2. UNEMPLOYMENT: It took two decades for the Free Trade Agreements to transfer U.S manufacturing plants ( AND JOBS ) to forein countries like China, Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Mexico. At present we have limited export advantage and a gargantuan Import imbalance. For profit motives manufacturing executives transferred U.S. plants away from American workers, exacerbating the impact of the financial meltdown that created the housing nightmare. The strain of uncertainty begotten by the economic calamity of high unemployment has generated the ubiquitous political mantra JOBS, JOBS, JOBS as President Obama's number one task. This is a systemic challenge that no one man, president, can erradicate over the short term. Just as it took decades to sell out the American manufacturing workers, it will take decades to develope the new technologies that will spawn new industries that produce significant increases in replacement industries to get the unemployed living productive lives once again. It is disengenous and manipulative of the issues to charge Barak Obama with failure for not getting America back to work. Catch 22
In the final analysis, the President is a politician who complicates his challenge by succumbing to the seduction of "trying to please all of the people all of the time." By not standing for his intellectual analysis of the issues and forthwith making the tough pronouncements and decisions that are the right thing to do, whether they are unpopular or not, he gives greater fuel for criticism for playing the game at which he desires to be most proficient- Politician. Forfeiting the Change We Can Believe In for political expediency has given credence to the conservative detractors and resulted in former supporters to begin slipping off of the support band wagon that got him elected. Catch 22, Again!
Brian H. Settles
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