Posted by
Curt Day on Friday, July 10, 2009 10:36:07 AM
A leftist friend of mine, who is no fan of Obama, observed that Obama seemed to be in over his head. Both a current Biden statement stating that they did not know the state of disrepair the economy was in along with the economy's response to the first stimulus package indicates that Obama is in over his head. But my friend made her observation while watching Obama perform overseas. So is Obama's swagger staggering?
First, when it comes to foreign policies, there is only one way to avoid being in over your head. That way is to rely on collaboration with other countries and compliance with international law. And though Obama seems to be taking some steps in the right direction by relying more on listening and deplomacy and by addressing Gitmo, his belief in American Exceptionalism, which is deliberately overlooked by conservative critics, puts him in the deep end of the pool without a lifeguard present. Obama is promising that America will lead the world out of its problems and thus he is guaranteeing his team can provide solutions that work.
The problem with American Exceptionalism is that it is so yesterday. Technology is making those who were small and weak strong while it is making those who were large and powerful vulnerable. North Korea is a perfect example. While North Korea is building its stockpile of WMDs, it has a significant deterrrent to keep other nations from intervening militarily. Thus this small impoverished nation is becoming a major player in international relations because of WMD technology. And what if Iran becomes a nuclear power, how would that change the playing field in the Middle East? All of this is because of advancements in technology make proliferation inevitable. And proliferation complicates and even redefines international relations. That is because more and more countries, once they have obtained deterents by possessing WMDs, become more independent. And the more independence there is in the world, the more anyone's head will spin.
Of course, the Republicans solution to our ever more complicated world is to flex America's muscles. When comparing this with Obama's approach, we would call the Republican approach the WWF of American Exceptionalism. Republicans define leadership by how much you can make another country submit to your rules. Thus, American leadership is American dominance. This kind of leadership puts a higher precedence on brawn over brain. But with emerging powers and the proliferation of WMDs, using brawn will only guarantee the eventual payback of a WMD attack on our shores.
Domestically, the problem is the economy. And Obama's problem is not breaking away from his campaign contributers to offer real solutions. Paul Street has done some excellent work identifying Obama's contributers and thus to whom he has given his allegiance. They are the Wall Street investors and others with money. And who has benefitted the most from Obamanomics so far? They are his campaign contributors. And who has not benefitted? It is the American laborer.
What is key to America's economic collapse is that a large portion of America's consumer sector has been elimitated. That portion consists mostly of the working class. They are no longer a consumer factor because their jobs have been shipped overseas. With their purchasing power gone, there are few and fewer people who can afford to buy houses, cars, hi-tech gadgets, clothes, and other stuff. But with working class jobs shipped overseas, there is another problem. Money that Americans spend to purchase wants and basic needs, leaves the country leaving our country deeper in debt. America's consumer power is dwindling thus guaranteeing that any recovery from the world-wide recession will leave America behind.
All of this points to the problem with Obamanomics. The problem isn't necessarily with the spending, the problem is the recipients of Obama's spending. The recipeints consist of the same players that put us in this mess. And while we plunge our country deeper into debt, we have less capacity to work our way out because of the losses in our manufacturing sector and our weakened consumer power will only provide less incentive for investment. After all, why try to sell goods here when you can sell them more quickly in other countries?
Though Obama is in over his head, the pool he dove into was filled by previous administrations. Past work put Obama in a 4th and 99 situation where no matter what he chooses, it is unlikely that he will get a first down to keep the ball. So the question for America is if Obama doesn't succeed in overcoming the odds created for him by previous administrations, will we revert back to the people who created much of this mess or will we travel down a different road?