No Grand Vision

We have the incredible shrinking President. We all remember when he stood in front of those magnificent fake Greek columns in all of his self aware grandeur. The glory of his being could light the dark night. Well, it could if he carried a lantern or two. His soaring rhetoric so astounded a rapt audience that they would have made him emperor, not merely President. Fortunately for all of us, that option was not available.

The man that would heal the economy, lower the oceans, heal all racial divides  and bring America back to it's rightful place as a respected and loved world leader was elected. Upon his election, he said to his minions, "let's do healthcare". Where upon he disappeared back onto the campaign trail leaving scores of minions behind to sort out healthcare.

Our new President was a man that loved reading magnificent speeches from his teleprompter. He felt he was born to campaign. He could switch from politician to evangelical preacher in  seconds, but apparently he cared not at all for the drudgery of sitting in an office doing the myriad of little tasks that a good manager must do. Such work is poor pickings when one can fly off on such a magnificent plane as Air Force One, a wonder of American technology, and stand in front of adoring fans, giving a preachy speech, telling them how they should live. Once that is done, meeting with some rich locals. Grabbing some big checks to help keep the war chest full and flying out that same evening to repeat the same sideshow tomorrow at a different location.

And ultimately his minions wrote a health care bill. It took three long years. In that three years the job market did not expand. The economy did not grow. The middle class shrank and got poorer. Our most immediate problems withered by the wayside because healthcare was king. And Mr. Obama gave daily speeches to large crowds and small, preaching to us of our errors and how he was improving the country, nay the world. But in reality nothing improved except the life of Barack Obama, his family, and his minions.

So at the end of the three years he asked his minions, what is in my healthcare bill? They explained that they did not know, but it was very good. With that Mr. Obama was satisfied. It would be way to much work to read it. So he told Nancy Pelosi to get his bill passed. When some fool asked her what was in the bill, she said, "you have to pass it to find out what is in it". So pass it they did. As people started to find out what was in it, they found they hated it. So the President shrank for the first time.

Then other things came along. His new found love for Gitmo. The New Black Panthers debacle. The "Fast and Furious" scandal. Benghazi. The IRS. The NSA. Scandal after scandal. And with each scandal, the President shrank a little more. It is so bad that when he went back to the Brandenburg Gate to relive one of his great moments of glory, even the Germans abandoned him. Vladimir Putin threw away Obama's reset button and treated him with scorn.

The man who thought himself a great President never understood that one cannot be a great President with no grand vision.