The Obama Years: Taking Stock

Obama’s Legacy—————————————————–

                A commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

 

As President Barack Obama’s eight-year reign winds down, it’s time to take stock of his accomplishments. This won’t take very long. The most remarkable one was his victory over Hillary Clinton for the nomination, becoming the first black American to be elected to the world’s most powerful office. To his credit, he filled the office with proper grace and dignity. He is a polished speaker and presidential in demeanor. I’m certain his presence and influence will be felt in world councils long after his presidency ends and we should all wish him well.

 

Each president hopes to leave the country in better condition than it was when he began his stewardship. He inherited some problems from his predecessor. Every president does. So will his successor. But is America in better shape now than then? The feeling that the country is headed in the wrong direction seems pervasive. Mr. Obama sought to create a legacy that reflected a reduced American international role or at least a less dominant one so he focused more on domestic goals. He expedited the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and implemented the novel concept of leading from behind, always seeking international approval and acting only in concert with our allies.

 

He clearly believed that all conflicts are amenable to diplomatic solutions and that good would always triumph over evil if we just remained on the moral high road. He wanted to close the detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay naval base and to end harsh interrogation methods which he characterized as torture. His crowning international achievement was the controversial and flawed agreement with Iran to halt, temporarily at least, the development of nuclear weapons.

 

Domestically, his major achievement was the Affordable Health Care Act which was rammed through a Congress that didn’t even bother to read its complex provisions and which most of the people didn’t want. It passed with no GOP support or input and became law, affecting nearly a sixth of the economy, facilitated by a remarkable Supreme Court ruling that redefined a penalty as a tax. During his tour as commander-in-chief, gays and transgender people became eligible to serve openly in the military and women earned the right to experience the horrors of hand-to-hand combat. Universities became centers of progressivism and political correctness which spread beyond their ivied walls. The federal government declared war on fossil fuels and environmental activism became a virtual religion, propagated by federal subsidies and regulations. The long reach of the federal government extended even farther through regulations and standards that drove up the cost of doing business in America, and drove jobs overseas.

 

His administration sponsored numerous stimulus programs under the misguided impression that government-funded projects and government jobs actually create sustainable economic growth. He sought more restrictive gun control measures as the answer to violent crime and terrorist attacks, in spite of the lessons of Chicago and other urban battlegrounds with strict gun laws. Harsh criticism of police enforcement actions and federal intrusion into local law enforcement matters before all the facts were known contributed to the demonization and demoralization of police, resulting in police becoming targets. Policing became more dangerous and violent crime increased in major cities, especially in black communities, as police used more caution in responding to incidents. Racial tensions grew to levels not seen since the 1960s riots.

 

Mr. Obama never really had a strong mandate for his progressive agenda. He won the presidency largely on oratorical skills, the skillful use of social media and because people were tired of an unpopular war in Iraq which was labelled “Bush’s War”. The Bush years ended with a word-wide financial crisis and people desperately wanted hope and change. They’re still hoping. Although Obama won a second term, Democrats couldn’t keep control of Congress and four years of government gridlock followed with Mr. Obama attempting to bypass Congress and push his agenda by executive order. The Affordable Healthcare Act turned out to be anything but affordable and his promise that you could keep your health care plan and doctor turned out to be a false one.

 

So is America, on balance, in better shape after nearly eight years of hope and change? Not that I’ve noticed. The economic recovery is anemic. The Muslim world is still a mess only more so, not least because of a premature troop withdrawal from Iraq, a complete misreading of the Arab Spring and an absence of strong American leadership, creating a vacuum which Russia appears eager to fill, and giving rise to Islamic State. The Syrian War has taken a horrific toll on civilians and is flooding Europe with immigrants, mostly un-vetted. Our own borders remain porous. We still have anchor babies and sanctuary cities. Meanwhile, China is militarizing the South China Sea, vital to world commerce, over which it claims sovereignty in spite of an international court ruling which denied its claim. Our Navy fleet is the smallest since the Great Depression in spite of vastly increased commitments. The Benghazi fiasco, resulting in the sacking of our consulate and the death of four Americans, including our ambassador, also occurred on Mr. Obama’s watch. His then-Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who now seeks the presidency, lied about the circumstances and also lied about her use of a private server to send and receive classified and sensitive government business.

 

On balance, the record is not impressive. Under a Clinton administration, we can expect more of the same and quite possibly worse, given the slant toward the left she had to take in order to barely defeat a formerly little-known socialist. Do you wonder how the nation can survive four more years of growing entitlements, spiraling debt and substandard growth? Unfortunately, the only alternative to the return of the Clintons to the White House is Donald Trump. Please tell me that it’s all just a bad dream and that we’ll soon awake to find that the primary season is only just beginning and we can make a fresh start, hopefully getting it right this time.

 

August 28, 2016

 

Words and Judgment Matter

Words and Judgment Matter—————————
A commentary
By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

 
The election campaign has dominated the news, opinion pages and talk shows, overshadowing other important news. The world, however, does not remain static while Americans debate who will lead them for the next four years. Turnovers in the White House are not entirely seamless and adversaries sometimes take advantage of them to test the new leader. Look for Russia to do so in Ukraine and perhaps elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Watch for China to test a new U.S. president’s resolve to maintain complete freedom of navigation in the South China Sea that it claims is its own.

 
I don’t hear much of substance from either of the two major candidates on these and other critical issues like the national debt which is approaching 20 trillion and spiraling out of control. Hillary Clinton’s list of freebies like college for everyone and entitlement increases will accelerate the race to doomsday when we can no longer afford to pay the interest on that debt or borrow at low rates. Nobody knows what a Trump spending plan would look like and I doubt that he does, either.

 
Meanwhile American influence in the volatile Middle East continues to wane under a lame duck president and the United States is feared less by our adversaries and seen as a less-reliable ally by our friends and so-called friends. Turkey, many of whose citizens somehow seem to blame America for their army’s coup attempt, is cozying up to Russia. Turkey has the second largest military in NATO and is home to our Incirlik air base from which U.S. airstrikes on Islamic State are flown. Denial of overseas base rights could result in greater reliance on Navy aircraft carriers which are already heavily committed. The Navy’s pivot to Asia has not deterred China from island building in the South China Sea and pursuing its claims to sovereignty in spite of an international court ruling denying such claims. What are the candidates’ plans for dealing with these issues and rebuilding the U.S. Navy fleet, still at its lowest numerical level since the great Depression?

 
Instead, both candidates have focused on personal attacks which the media feast on to the neglect of real issues of importance to the nation. Americans are trying to decide between two deeply-flawed candidates, untrusted and disliked by a majority of potential voters. The main reason to vote for Clinton seems to be that she is the non-Trump. The main reason to vote for him seems to be that he is the non-Clinton. Whoever wins, the outlook for the next four years is grim. Clinton will continue the tax-and–spend approach to economic growth which failed to provide enough growth for Obama and will fail for her as well. And if she can’t get Congress to act on her liberal agenda, she will, like Obama, rule by executive decree. She will appoint liberal activist judges and justices who will ensure that her actions are never unconstitutional.

 
If Trump, by some miracle, should win, we will have, as America’s ultimate decision-maker, an unpredictable, uninhibited, egotistical blowhard who is unfit by temperament and unqualified by experience for the most important job in the world. Respect for American leadership will plummet.

 
Every week brings new evidence of the shortcomings of these candidates. Clinton continues to lie about her lies in the face of clear evidence that she did. Does she think we are all fools? Her pathetic responses during and after the Chris Matthews interview showed again that she seems incapable of accepting the truth if it casts her in a bad light. She will say or do anything to gain or retain power and apparently thinks she is justified in doing so since she is the only alternative to Trump. Effective leaders must be trusted by those they lead. Her use of a private server to conduct sensitive State Department business may or may not have warranted criminal proceedings but it clearly demonstrated horrible judgment. America’s ultimate decision maker must have superior judgment. She does not. She talks the talk but does not walk the walk. She does not deserve your vote.

 
Nor does Donald Trump. First, he is not qualified. Making real estate deals, even great ones and hosting a reality show does not prepare one for running the most complex nation and economy in the world. Second, he lacks the temperament and judgment. He has trouble with words. His meanings are unclear. He seems to speak before engaging his brain. Words and judgment matter when you are a world leader. Bloody conflicts have been caused by ill-chosen words. Trump does not have what it takes to do this job and he does not deserve your vote. He would do the nation a favor if he would claim that the system is rigged against him and withdraw his candidacy. There is still time, Donald. You don’t want to be a loser, do you?

August 21, 2016

Who Will You Be Voting For?

So Who Do You Plan to Vote For?

                A commentary 

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

 

                I’ve been asked that question so many times lately that I’ve gotten very good at giving evasive answers, sort of like politicians do. I do get somewhat testy when people tell me that refusing to vote for either major party presidential candidate is a vote for Hillary Clinton. No it’s not. It’s just one more vote that neither candidate gets. It’s a decision not to cross a certain moral line that voting for either would mean, at least to me. But I fully intend to do my democratic duty and cast a ballot, although I may not vote for either of the two turkeys the major parties have nominated for president. And please, fellow Republicans, don’t blame me if Trump loses. Trump supporters created this mess all by themselves. I would have supported any of the GOP candidates other than him.

 

Moreover, I don’t need to be reminded anymore that a Clinton victory would result in a liberal majority in the Supreme Court and possibly both houses of Congress. That’s not my fault, either. Primaries have consequences. Is retaining control of the Congress and a conservative majority on the high court worth having an unpredictable, uninhibited buffoon in the White House? You decide. I can’t. At least not until I see what happens between now and November. Whatever does, I believe that a decision to vote for neither presidential candidate while still voting for the other offices and propositions on your ballot is a perfectly defendable one and don’t let anyone tell you differently.

 

In the past week, both candidates managed to live down to our lowest expectations. In an interview with Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, Hillary Clinton lied again regarding whether or not she lied before about sending and receiving classified and sensitive State Department material using her unsecured private email account in spite of FBI Director James Comey’s testimony and the State Department’s own internal investigation report. Politicians often deny or rationalize past departures from the truth but Mrs. Clinton has elevated the practice to an art form. How can she ever be believed or trusted as president?

 

But instead of focusing on this and other Clinton vulnerabilities, Mr. Trump went ballistic over a campaign speech at the Democrat convention by the Muslim father of an Army Captain killed in action. The father, Khizr Khan, strongly condemned Trump’s alleged position regarding Muslim immigrants to this country. Instead of just thanking both Gold Star parents for their sacrifice, praising their son as a hero and stating, accurately, his position on better screening of Muslims entering this country from certain other regions, he just wouldn’t let the matter go for days, defending his unnecessarily harsh response and even managing to insult the still-grieving mother, earning the criticism of still more members of his own party as well as veterans.

 

Next, he said he wasn’t ready to support House Speaker Paul Ryan and Sen. John McCain in their campaigns for re-election. Ryan is the senior elected GOP officeholder. McCain is a highly-respected former candidate for president. Trump needs all the support he can possibly get to improve his slim chances of winning. This is juvenile stuff. Who will he insult next, the Pope?

 

Mr. Trump never seems to learn from his campaign blunders and I doubt he will achieve a mental breakthrough in the short time remaining before the election to determine who will occupy the most powerful position on earth. One has to wonder if he’s even serious anymore about winning. Already he’s talking about the election itself being rigged. Does that mean he expects to lose and is already formulating excuses?

 

How I wish the candidates would discuss some of the largely ignored real problems like the $20 trillion national debt that continues to spiral out of control, the interest on which will soon crowd out most discretionary spending. Or how they are going to rebuild the military, especially the smallest Navy since the Great Depression when it takes up to five years or so to build a ship, or how they plan to win the war on terrorism or even keep it from our shores, or how to deal with Chinese sovereignty claims and island building in the South China Sea that flaunt international law and may impede commerce, or how they plan to deal with a revanchist Russia threatening its Eastern European neighbors, or the threat of cyber warfare attacks on the grid and other vital infrastructure.

 

So who are you going to vote for? Consult your conscience and ask yourself if you can live with your choice. Frankly, I wish the two vice-presidential candidates were heading their respective tickets. They seem at least basically qualified and fit to govern.

 

August 4, 2016

Election 2016

A Dismal Choice—————————–

                A commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

 

It’s over at last. Republicans and Democrats have finally nominated their choices for president. Unfortunately, both have accepted their party’s nomination. One must ask if this is the best the parties could come up with after such a lengthy and contentious primary season. The voters are now stuck with the two most disliked and distrusted of the original field of candidates and must decide on one of them to occupy the most powerful office on earth. How could this have happened?

 

I blame my fellow Republicans most. Hillary Clinton’s coronation by the Democrat establishment has been a forgone conclusion from the start. The hacked Democratic National Committee emails were revealing in this regard. It was simply her turn after an embarrassing 2008 defeat by an upstart Barack Obama and no amount of scandal was going to deny her. The Democrats wanted to be the party that gave us, not only the first black president but the first female one as well. She was also essential to preserving the Obama legacy.

 

Republicans knew from the beginning who their opponent would be and had ample time to rally around a candidate who could beat her in November. The polls gave a pretty good indication of who that might be: just about anyone except Donald Trump. After the candidates tore each other apart in an ugly series of debates and rallies, Republicans chose the one with the highest negatives and the one most likely to lose in November, especially given his unpopularity with the two most critical demographic groups, women and Hispanics. Brilliant!

 

In the likely event that he does lose, Republicans have only themselves to blame. And if, in defeat, they lose the Senate and perhaps the House as well, and Mrs. Clinton is able to fill Supreme Court vacancies with Ginsberg-like liberals intent on re-defining the Constitution to implement their liberal agenda, we will all suffer the consequences of this unwise choice of nominees. For the GOP, a golden opportunity was lost because voter anger over the perceived failures of establishment politicians overcame strategy and common sense. They won a battle but lost the war.

 

In their anger, what GOP primary voters failed to understand or accept is that in order to reverse eight years of the country’s leftward drift under Barack Obama, who used executive orders to undermine the authority of Congress, the party had to control both the executive and the legislative branches and maintain a conservative majority in the judicial branch. All of this is now in jeopardy.

 

Mrs. Clinton is clearly favored by the demographics and has the more favorable electoral college path to victory. Mr. Trump speaks of putting traditionally Democratic states like California, New Jersey and his home state of New York in play. He is delusional. California is terminally liberal. Most New Yorkers would vote for a donkey if he were the Democratic candidate. Democratic campaign advisors would love to see him waste his time campaigning there. Remember, it’s the electoral vote, not the popular vote that matters. Mrs. Clinton will win big among women and Hispanics. The only question is by what percentage. The black vote is predictably 85 to 90% Democrat.

 

These advantages are hard enough to overcome with an experienced, competent and qualified candidate which Trump is not. Worse, he is unpredictable and volatile which Clinton is not. She may be boring, devious, untrustworthy and tainted by scandal (Whitewater, travelgate, remarkable commodity trading profits, Benghazi, use of a private server to conduct classified State Department business and lying about it, accepting funds for the Clinton Foundation from foreign governments while Secretary of State, etc., not to mention husband Bill’s sexual encounters) but at least she seems in control of her emotions, is not given to shooting from the lip and is the very picture of competence next to the blustering Trump who seems to have trouble speaking in complete sentences, putting them together in logical sequence and answering questions without straying off subject.

 

Most people who are undecided will probably hold their noses and vote for the candidate they consider the lesser of two evils. What a depressing thought as we approach the most critical election in our lifetime. How do you justify voting for someone you feel is either unqualified or who lacks the integrity and trustworthiness to assume the awesome powers of the presidency? Ted Cruz advised GOP convention attendees to vote their conscience in November. He was roundly booed, but that advice seems very reasonable to me. The problem is trying to figure out what your conscience is telling you.

 

August 1, 2016