Anyone who has read this blog for any period of time knows that I don't agree with President Barack Obama on much of anything. Though I do think Lebron to Chicago makes some sense from a basketball standpoint. In many posts I've alluded to the fact that I don't think he's much of a leader and he doesn't know what it means to be the President of the United States of America.
Today we had another example. Rather than participate in the usual tradition of laying a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day,
Barack Obama is going on vacation to Chicago. Other President's have missed this. In 2002 George W. Bush was in Normandy, France, and in 1992 George H.W. Bush missed it for a campaign event. I give W a little wiggle room there because it was Normandy, but H.W. missing for a campaign event sorta sucks. So, I don't want to beat up Obama too badly over this, but it's becoming a pattern with him. It's as if the act of being the leader of our country just isn't important to him, as long as he can move his liberal/socialist agenda forward.
There are certain things that I believe all good leaders do naturally.
- They inspire people to be better than they otherwise could be.
- They know when they have to address a situation with those they are leading.
- They understand that appearances are important and conduct themselves appropriately at all times.
- They do their best to lead all people, even those they don't see eye-to-eye with.
President Obama, sadly, doesn't appear to posses any of these qualities. Let's take these 4 items:
Inspiration: He certainly doesn't inspire people to be better, instead he tells people to stay how they are and let the government make their life better for them. When was the last time Obama said anything that made you feel better about America and made you want to do more for your country? Has he ever said anything that inspired you to be a better person? He hasn't for me...but really the last President to do that was Ronald Reagan.
Handling Tricky Situations: Obama dropped the ball on the Ft. Hood shooting. Most Presidents would have been on TV that night to address the nation and reassure the people. He waited 3 days. He's acted like the oil spill in the Gulf is unimportant until very recently. If this were the Bush administration, the left would be all over him, but, for the most part they are relatively quiet about Obama's lackluster response.
Maintaining Appearances consistent with the Office of the President: Obama has bowed to foreign leaders, making himself, and by extension America, look weak. He has fallen all over himself to acknowledge America's shortcomings around the world. And now, he's skipping the laying of the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. If this were an isolated incident, I would have let it go, but there's a pattern forming here.
Dealing with people who disagree with you: Obama is terrible at this. His plan is to discredit those who disagree with him rather than really debate the issues and understand the other side of the issue. This is probably because his ego won't let him see other points of view. On the campaign trail, his staff tore down Joe the Plumber after Joe the Plumber embarrassed Obama. With health care, when the outcry was the worst, Obama just kept insisting that he knew better than the American people, but did very little to address real concerns. When Eric Cantor and a few other Republicans asked hard hitting questions about health care, he just got mad. He's told the Republicans to stop listening to Rush Limbaugh. It took him over a year before he went near Fox News. He's called Wall Street bankers "fat cats" and called police officers "stupid."
Leaders don't do these things...leaders listen, learn and make the best decision based on their own intuition and inputs from all sides. Obama makes up his mind and doesn't budge on anything. I'm not saying that he's going to change his mind if he listens to other points of view, in fact, I'd be shocked if he did, but he doesn't even pretend to care what anyone else thinks, especially those who disagree with him.
The man doesn't seem to possess an ounce of real leadership qualities. He gives a good speech, and he's a wizard at the political game, but he's not a leader. Even die hard liberals have to start to face the fact that Obama is really nothing more than a run of the mill politician with a gift for public speaking. Obama's skill set would make him an excellent infomercial salesman, but they don't make him a good President.
