Racist Washington Post Columnist Questions Obama's Competence

All this column is missing is a noose and white sheets.

Where is Casey Stengel when we need him? In 1962, as the manager of the brand new and determinedly hapless New York Mets — 40 wins, 120 losses — he looked up and down his bench one dismal day and wondered, “Can’t anybody here play this game?” That phrase kept coming at me recently as I watched the impressively inept performance of the Obama administration in both foreign and domestic policy. On a given day, this administration makes the ’62 Mets look good.

This is a surprise — at least to me. If Barack Obama has an image, it is of the infinitely cool, cerebral leader. The man can give a rousing speech, but he is, at heart, a planner and a plodder. Both of his presidential campaigns were exercises in micromanagement — digital all the way. Obama was the better candidate, but he had, by far, the better organization.

"If Barack Obama has an image..." Let's pause to consider the absurdity of that.

Where did this image come from? Did Obama have serious academic or business credentials? Did he have a long history as a hands-on, details-oriented problem-fixer?

No, none of these things. He was smart because he wore the Tribal Feathers of the self-styled intelligentsia, and the media praised him for his trouser creases.

Then they further decided that anyone who considered themselves part of the media's class -- the self-styled (but in fact not) intelligentsia -- must be super-competent at all things, because the media considers itself super-competent at all things, and has scarce little modesty about offering hard (but disguised) opinions on every aspect of policy, including in those areas in which they are painfully unqualified to offer much of an opinion at all.

Cohen then discusses Obama's wavering, weaving Syria non-policy, which I'll skip, and gets to ObamaCare:

The debacle of the Affordable Care Act’s Web site raised similar questions about confidence. This was supposed to be Obama’s Big Deal. The president has other accomplishments — navigating out of the Great Recession was no minor feat — but restoring the status quo does not get your face on Mount Rushmore. It takes achievement, a program — something new and wonderful. The Affordable Care Act was supposed to be it.

Something went wrong. People could not sign up. Why? Not sure. Who’s at fault? Apparently no one. An act of God. Something that could never have been foreseen. Another president might have had someone in the White House calling every day — no, twice a day — to make sure the program was going to work. But no, it was a shock to everyone, and when the White House rolled out its gigantic cake — maestro, some music please — no one jumped out.

Pathetic.

Obama's a Gen Xer (I think -- perhaps a late Baby Boomer) but he has the psychological profile of the worst of the Millennials, overconfident and underskilled, over-impressed with himself and under-achieving.

Related: The Wall Street Journal recounts President Me-Time's antagonistic relationship with hard work. The article includes a lot of golf.

I repeat Valerie Jarrett's would-be praise of Obama: "He's been bored as hell his own life." "He can't do the things ordinary people do."

posted by Ace at 02:46 PM

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