Ebbing Confidence

I write on this topic today because I am frustrated by many things. First was the news media assertion that the public has lost faith in President Obama and that confidence in his presidency is ebbing. I’m not sure any of this is true. Allow me to sort through some items before getting to the nut of this topic.

First, there is a hardcore group of citizens who are anti everything. If pressed they would probably speak against their own mother. Like hardcore conservatives, they will not give an inch to anything with a Democrat label; and God forbid they would give any support to their President, especially a black one.

Yes, America continues to be plagued by a racial divide. Our situation is vastly better than it was 20 years ago, but it is still a barrier to true advancement of the health of our society. Get over it!

Second, there is another hardcore group of republicans who will never grant Democrats any credit for positive accomplishments. Together with conservatives this approximates a group of about 30% of Americans. Possibly a little more.

Third, leadership on any issue requires courage to take a stand and work on a common goal. Followers are loathe to form a line. They huddle at the back of the room or on the edge of a crowd waiting to determine if ‘popularity’ will help them decided whether to get involved or not.

Fourth, many of our current problems or issues are made of decades of neglect and political hedging by cowards. They only act when it has an advantage to them, not for the good of the public weal. These problems are intransigent because they have been allowed to fester for so long and accumulate yet more layers of complications. Solving any of these problems is extremely difficult.

Fifth, to lead requires introspection and study. Careful analysis and probing for workable solutions with the aid of countless partners is required. This takes time. It also takes timing. And aplomb and diplomatic skill. In turn that demands patience.

The qualities the last paragraph listed are what are needed in any leader who is focused on long term results. Impatient folk should not apply for such a position. Academicians, researchers, and careful builders of the future are role models we seek for leaders.

In my opinion we have such a person in Barack Obama. He has not rushed off to war. He has not caused new skirmishes internationally or domestically. He has carefully accepted the table of contents left by past leaders of problems unaffected or unengaged. Meanwhile, he accept the horrors of their poor leadership and bumbling and is in the process of fixing those goofs. One is the war in Iraq. Another is the bumbling in Afghanistan. Still another was the persistent disassembly of American statecraft internationally. Diplomatic horsepower and esteem had been badly eroded. Obama is rebuilding it.

Typical of a political nation with sick, greedy power centers, our President is required to do his job with 10-ton weights attached to every appendage! He drags Congress with each step. He is discomfited by countless special interest groups each crying for its pound of attention and solace if not outright treasure. And each power center demands that it is central to the nation’s health in spite of the facts to the contrary. Gun rights, abortion rights, gay rights, or any other interest group’s rights are not central to the nation getting along in a global community. Or finding energy supplies to fuel a future generation or two of citizens. Important issues, yes; central to all else? No!

Mr. Obama soldiers on in spite of all the barricades placed in his way. Some of these are automatic with the passage of time. But others, most of them I think, are manufactured obstacles by people of power and selfishness. They see their situation as all-important. They refuse to place their concerns second to the needs of others and the nation.

Where did America go wrong on this? This is not just a simple matter of small government is best. This is a stubborn tantrum of the self anointed taking center stage from all others in the land. Evidently they think they know best.

I’m thinking they don’t know best. I’m thinking the rest of us need to get into the action of allowing the nation to progress towards solving its problems in an orderly way and accepting a prioritization of those problems in some manner that does not favor the powerful and selfish.

I trust government. I don’t always trust individual people. I do trust this President. I feel certain he has the best interests of the country firmly centered in his being. He is a person of high intellect. He is an analyzer of facts. He is a dreamer of what can and ought to be. He does not power down on others and force his view on them. He accepts the commonality of consensus and democracy. He believes in the American system and allows it to work.

Trouble is there are fools mucking up the works. Thus the work of the nation gets sidetracked and frustrated. And others suffer because of this.

We have become a nation of nit pickers and obfuscators. Like the little kid who sits in his chair, arms crossed and breath held. He turns blue. He wants attention. He wants his will done. Until he passes out and the rest of us walk past his inert body still breathing but still selfish.

Haven’t we matured enough to move on with the important work at hand? Must everything be political or ideological?

We allow this foolishness to continue at our own risk. Have we become such an intellectually lazy nation? Are too many people sitting on the sidelines right now unwilling to get involved and let others do their work? Will we continue to waste opportunities to move forward in history accepting the challenges and making good things happen?

Let President Obama do his job and support the independence of thought and public well being he is laboring so hard to support.

October 27, 2014