How to Squander the Presidency in One Year

As we know its been a tough year to be an idol, but there is nothing more pathetic than someone publicly crying in their beer when they come to the realization that their idol is not what they thought. Should you empathize or just go ahead and laugh your ass off with the knowlege that hubris inevitably brings all idols crashing back to Earth crushing the hopes and dreams of the idolitors? I vote for a good laugh.

Here, Hofstra University Political Science Professor, David Michael Green gets all wee-weed up over Obama's performance one year in.

The Thesis:

Barack Obama has now, in just a year's time, become the single most inept president perhaps in all of American history, and certainly in my lifetime. Never has so much political advantage been pissed away so rapidly, and what's more in the context of so much national urgency and crisis. It's astonishing, really, to contemplate how much has been lost in a single year...

The Evidence: (condensed version)

* He does not lead.

* I have never seen a president so utterly lacking in passion.

* He has therefore let Congress ‘lead' on nearly every issue, another surefire mistake.

* Another possible strategic move even stupider than deferring to Congress to write major legislation is to cozy up with the least popular people on the planet.

* Another brilliant presidential tactic is to be such a Mr. Happy Nice Face (This is a College Professor?) acknowledge no enemies for the country, or even yourself.

* While you're at it, if you're trying to run the most failed presidency ever, a really good idea is to campaign in the grandest terms possible, and then deliver squat.

* Even more importantly, if you're trying to run your presidency into the ground you'll definitely want to avoid mobilizing the general public behind your agenda.

* A successful president is one who articulates a strong and compelling narrative for the nation. So, in your quest to avoid rising even to mediocrity, be sure to leave a great big gaping canyon where that whole narrative thing is supposed to go.

* As long as you're walking away from the grand narrative, why not let the opposition define you as well? ... Never engage, never respond, never preempt, never attack, never fight back.

* In general, you'll also want to take the most important power the president has - the bully pulpit - and totally piss it away.

* Another great trick for crashing a presidency is to pick all the wrong priorities to ‘fight' for.

* And, finally, perhaps the most important thing one can do - and the thing that helps explain many of the other items above - is to adopt really, really pathetic policies.

The Conclusion:

And thus - while anything's possible, of course - I am hard pressed to see how the Obama administration is anything but finished.

I pity the fool that has to endure one of Professor Greens lectures this semester. He obviously got caught up in the same herd mentality that he should be teaching his students to identify and avoid. If I was paying tuition I would want my money back.

The extended version of "How to Squander the Presidency," can be found HERE.

Illustration: "The Lament For Icarus", by Herbert James Draper