"The Incredible Shrinking Tiger"

By William L. Garvin



"Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket." Barack H. Obama



To be sure, Tiger's back nine in the third round at Pebble Beach was a thing of beauty. Thunderous roars of approval from the crowd urged him to greatness in the final round. While the gallery wanted him to succeed, the mere mortal fell short. But this isn't about a golfer's fall from grace or his journey to atonement. Instead, this is about the shrinking stature of the United States and its presidency.



Warren Bennis, in his writings on leadership, refers to the crucible-the transformational experience that all leaders have had. He notes that some people find times of testing and adversity a great source of strength while others become discouraged and shrivel up. Adversity often separates winners from losers. Last week, America was looking for a leader. America wanted a leader. America needed a leader. Instead, we got a cap and trade salesman.



In the big picture, there's a reason why North Korea feels free to sink South Korean ships. There's a reason why Turkey feels comfortable trying to smuggle munitions through Israel and Egypt's blockade. There's a reason why Iran continues to poke its nuclear finger in Uncle Sam's eye. There's a reason why Chinese generals speak openly about "punishing" the United States. It's because the USA has become a paper tiger that is continuing to shrink throughout this presidency.



President Obama likes to talk. He thinks that he can talk anyone into anything. So he talks and he talks and he talks. He meets, he consults, and he talks. He does very little leading but he talks and he blames. He dithers for weeks on end and then he announces an appointment of a new czar as if this is some monumental achievement. Unfortunately for the President, people are beginning to tire of his act. Chris "tingle up my leg" Mathews, a fawning Obama sycophant, is now singing "The Thrill is Gone." Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow, Democrat cheerleaders masquerading as news people, were equally nonplussed with the latest tone deaf presidential performance. When you lose your Greek chorus, your act is in trouble.



Maybe it was the lack of command presence. Maybe it was the lack of specifics. Maybe it was the vacation in Chicago, the fund raisers in San Francisco, the Paul McCartney concert, the baseball game or the half dozen rounds of golf the President has played during this crisis. (Thank goodness it wasn't Tony Hayward.!) Maybe it was his failure to talk to the aforementioned Hayward of BP until the 59th day of the crisis. Maybe it was the "boot on the throat" of BP. Maybe it was Democrat Congressional threats to "take his hide off, as they should" and that he (Hayward) would be "sliced and diced" Maybe it was the childish phrasing in finding out "whose ass to kick."



More than likely, it was the shallow thinking the President employed in trying to equate the gulf oil spill with the September 11 attack on the United States thereby costuming himself in heroic terms. The oil spill and 9/11 have NOTHING in common! The BP oil spill was an industrial accident that unfortunately resulted in eleven workers being killed. It was not a deliberate, premeditated murder of 3,000 innocent civilians. It was not a deliberate assault on our sovereignty. It was not an act of war. They are similar in neither form nor substance. To equate the two is political chicanery of the most repugnant order.



Desperate times call for desperate measures. Out of desperation, all the power and authority of the Oval Office was vainly used for a sales pitch. Never mind the ten percent unemployment. Never mind the thousands of Louisiana oil workers who are now unemployed because of the drilling moratorium. Never mind the $1.4 trillion deficit. Never mind that the bailout for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (now delisted from the New York Stock Exchange) could reach $1 trillion dollars. Never mind the Arizona border chaos. Never mind the details of containing the oil spill and correcting the insufferable delays. (The Coast Guard stopped the barges from sucking up oil so they could inspect to make sure they had fire extinguishers and life jackets.) Never mind the delays in accepting foreign expertise and equipment. Never mind the reality of today. Just look at this shiny new object of tomorrow. After all, I'm the President! I won and I know what's best for everybody in everything. Just listen to my dulcet tones as I read this teleprompter.