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Obama Wars Title: Who's afraid of Barack Obama? Nobody Who's afraid of Barack Obama? Nobody S.E. Cupp Wednesday, June 9th 2010, 4:00 AM Many great thinkers have written about power and fear, and more adroitly, about the power of fear. There's Michel Foucault, who asserts the power of surveillance (or, at least, the power of the threat of surveillance). Then there's Machiavelli's sobering advice to Lorenzo de' Medici, about using fear to maintain stability. Even Gandhi reflected on the power of fear, opining that the "power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment." No offense to the Mahatma, but he'd have made a terrible President of the United States. The question of the moment is whether Barack Obama understands the power of fear, or if, like Gandhi, he prefers the power of love. If the last month is any indication, he doesn't seem particularly effective at either. After outcries from the left and the right that the President hasn't been an effective leader on the oil spill, he seems to have read those cries as a push for, well, more profanity, telling aides to "plug the damn hole" and the "Today" show that he wants to know whose "ass to kick." While his momentary turn as foulmouthed intimidator (I can't recall a time when another President had to be bleeped during a televised interview) may reveal he knows the value of bravado, there is much evidence to show he hasn't quite mastered the power of fear and intimidation to actually get what he wants. Obama may be walking loudly, but he is carrying a very small stick. Proof? Joe Sestak and Andrew Romanoff. While the controversy over alleged job offers to the Democratic candidates in return for their bowing out of crucial elections may not stick come 2012, what it reveals about the limits of the President's influence paints a far more ominous picture for Obama. "As a scandal, the whole thing is a joke," said Democratic political consultant and Forbes columnist Dan Gerstein. "But it does reflect poorly on the administration in a different way. It shows that this White House is not very adept at wielding power or instilling fear." And fear is key. "That Sestak and Romanoff, along with David Paterson, were not scared at all of telling Patrick Gaspard and Jim Messina to stuff it," Gerstein says, could be a big problem for Obama. Yes, it's true that these sort of offers are made - and turned down - all the time. Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, put it to me this way: "The administration didn't succeed in its goal in either case. That's obvious. But in how many other cases did it succeed? We don't know that. The batting average counts." But when you look at Obama's batting average, it's clear he's no Ted Williams. He wanted a public option in health care - and didn't get it. He wanted Europe to follow us into stimulus oblivion - and it didn't (Britain and Germany, in fact, announced major spending cuts just this week). He wanted meaningful climate change legislation - and didn't get it. He wanted Israel to end settlements in East Jerusalem - and was offended when Joe Biden's mere presence in Israel wasn't enough to stop them. And now he wants a new jobs bill - but hasn't been able to effectively corral Democrats and Republicans into action. This isn't just an issue of Republican obstructionism - his clout abroad and among Democrats is clearly waning. As one GOP House leader I spoke with said, "These instances are clear evidence Obama does not control the left, but was created by it." Fear-mongering and skillfully using fear are not the same thing. Other Presidents knew this. Gerstein mentions FDR, Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson. But increasingly, presidential historians and political pundits are comparing Obama to Jimmy Carter - hardly good news for a President who has a lot yet to do and a reelection looming. "Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved." Machiavelli may sound a touch paranoid today, but his words are still a meaningful comment on the political economy of fear, and suggest that the President should be afraid - very afraid - for his future. secupp@redsecupp.com Read more: www.nydailynews.com/opini.../index.html#ixzz0qNMsy6Av
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(laughing) Only kool aid drinkers deny the Owe-bama to Carter comparisions that are all over the place these days. Its a very good way of identifying them.
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