Message to Obama from Left, Right, and Center: Cool It!

Wearing out his welcome?

Talk about pearls before swine, true lefty Harvey Wasserman, author of Harvey Wasserman’s History of the United States, has a diary up at the Cheeto today. It hasn’t been very well received so far–only four recs, including mine; and the tip jar has two HRs (troll ratings). Like lots of other people across the political spectrum, Wasserman has something to say about President Obama’s “stunning rejection” by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) yesterday in Copenhagen. Wasserman draws a parallel between Obama’s condescending treatment of the IOC and his attitude toward the War in Afghanistan.

Ignoring fierce grassroots resistance in Chicago itself, the Obamas flew to Copenhagen with Mayor Richard Daley to “persuade” the International Olympic Committee to give the games to the Windy City.

Imagine yourself a member of the Olympic Committee as the almighty President of the United States and his entourage, with the world media in tow, swoops down from Olympus to tell you how to make your decision.

Are we surprised Chicago was summarily bounced?

Imagine yourself an Afghani villager as the almighty President of the United States shoots down from Olympus those murderous drones that kill your family and your neighbors, to be followed by heavily armed troops who—after eight years of brutal slaughter—now want to “help.”

Obama’s decision on Afghanistan will define the rest of his presidency—and the fate of our nation.

I wonder if Mr. Wasserman would like to write for The Confluence? I think we would give him a much better reception than the desperate Koolaid addicts at the Cheeto. Can you believe some of the Obama loyalists over there are accusing Wasserman of spreading Republican talking points?

From the right side of the political spectrum, Jay Cost at Real Clear Politics is also disgusted and fed up with Obama’s self-centered arrogance:

What should have been a story about Chicago – or better yet, Rio (good for you, Rio!) – is now a story about…Obama. Of course. Because just about everything in the public sphere must, must become a story about Obama. Because Obama injects himself and his campaign appartus/mindset/worldview into everything. And so, in this case, what would otherwise have been a “mere” rejection of Chicago and Mayor Daley has now become a rejection of the entire country. Why? Because of his decision to perpetuate the permanent campaign while holding the power of the executive.

I was hesitant to place a bet on the outcome of the health care debates, but I’ll place one here. Sooner or later, the American people are going to say, “Enough is enough” with this constant, incessant politicking that is inevitably built around the specialness of Barack Obama. This is not the way past presidents have behaved, and I believe for good reason: the old way is the way the people like it. If this President continues to inject himself into every little thing – such as he did with this Olympian blunder – at some point he is going to exhaust the country, thereby losing the goodwill of his fellow citizens that he still enjoys today.

Mr. Obama: please remember that you’re just the President. It’s a big deal, but it’s not that big of a deal. Chester Arthur was President. For goodness sake, Warren Harding was President, and his share of the vote was much larger than yours. Thomas Jefferson’s tombstone doesn’t even mention his eight years as President. Your current office isn’t discussed until Article TWO of the Constitution. Take the hint, and tone it down!

And from the mealy-mouthed middle, even Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, frequent guest on Obama loving MSNBC, begs President Obama to stay off the tee vee for awhile.

Despite his many words and television appearances, our elegant and eloquent president remains more an emblem of change than an agent of it. He’s a man with an endless, worthy to-do list—health care, climate change, bank reform, global capital regulation, AfPak, the Middle East, you name it—but, as yet, no boxes checked “done.” This is a problem that style will not fix. Unless Obama learns to rely less on charm, rhetoric, and good intentions and more on picking his spots and winning in political combat, he’s not going to be reelected, let alone enshrined in South Dakota.

The president’s problem isn’t that he is too visible; it’s the lack of content in what he says when he keeps showing up on the tube. Obama can seem a mite too impressed with his own aura, as if his presence on the stage is the Answer. There is, at times, a self-referential (even self-reverential) tone in his big speeches. They are heavily salted with the words “I” and “my.” (He used the former 11 times in the first few paragraphs of his address to the U.N. last week.) Obama is a historic figure, but that is the beginning, not the end, of the story.

This is an open thread.