Obama--another reason to distrust him

You’ve probably heard by now the “oops” incident with Obama and the Russian puppet (er . . . President) Medvedev during a chat at the nuclear summit in South Korea. In a discussion about missile defenses, Mr. Obama was overheard telling the Russian that "This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility." Mr. Medvedev, who will soon turn over the presidency to Vladimir Putin, replied that "I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir, and I stand with you."

This is a chilling exchange for a couple of reasons. First of all, one of the big issues of this election will be what Mr. Obama might do in a second term once he is unchecked by any future electoral constraints. Would he unleash the EPA and other regulators that he has restrained somewhat (the ozone rule) this past year before an election campaign? Would he use his executive powers to further empower labor unions? Would he continue to pursue people of faith who don’t want to support abortion and contraception on demand?

A bigger reason we should all be worried about this exchange has to do with national security, where Congress has far less power to limit Presidential policies. A bit of background, thanks to the Wall Street Journal, is useful here. Putin wants to limit or kill U.S. missile defenses in Europe and elsewhere. Obama hasn't dared to cut such an arms control deal in his first term, but what about in a second? He has made clear his stance in previous comments. For example, in 2001, he told a Chicago TV station that "I don't agree with a missile defense system."

On Tuesday, Mr. Obama insisted his private exchange with Mr. Medvedev was "not a matter of hiding the ball" until a second term. But for those of us who have been repeatedly confronted with a man who is far more leftist than we imagined, this looks like another attempt to transform America. He won’t quit until we are another Europe—heavily in debt and unarmed.

The failures of Barack Obama (Jimmy Carter 2.0)

OK, I was bored and started thinking of ways Barack Obama has been a huge disappointment. Here are some, starting with foreign affairs. If I have time and don't get too discouraged, I'll switch to domestic disappointments.

First, there's the Arab world. Wasn't he going to get the angry Muslims on our side after repeated abject apologies for being an American? How has that worked out? Well, according to The Wall Street Journal, not so well--this year, Zogby International found that 5% of Egyptians had a favorable view of the U.S. In 2008, when George W. Bush was president, it was 9%. When will we learn that tyrants and crazies respect strength and resolve, not groveling?

How about trade with the world? Bill Clinton signed Nafta in 1994, which helps facilitate nearly $2 trillion in the trade of goods and services between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. George W. Bush helped get free trade agreements all across the world, from Australia to Singapore to Morocco to Bahrain. Number of these agreements signed by the current president: zero.

Then there's Libya. Obama entered this rebellion with the goal to remove the tyrant Gadhafi. Weeks later, the Libyan strongman is still there, and NATO looks like the Marx brothers. That will be seen by the rest of the world as a failure of Western resolve. Gadhafi will loom as a new threat to spread terrorism to the West.

What other stellar jobs has he been involved with? He has mistreated our ally Israel, he has repeatedly snubbed our best ally England, he failed to back Iranian protestors, he has allowed Afghanistan to spiral out of control, he urges North Korea to act better and get involved in multi-party talks (fat chance), he has been rebuffed by Putin when he attempted to set up better relations with Russia, he has not been able to put a halt to Iranian nuclear enrichment, he has allowed Chavez of Venezuela to build up connections with Iran. And so it goes.

His failure to pursue American interests, his inability to proclaim American exceptionalism, his belief that we are a nation in decline which must be gently guided down the path of senility--all these have disappointed me and so many others. But these failures are eclipsed by his domestic disasters, which I'll try to cover next time. We need a change in 2012.