That headline, or ones similar, exploded in the news last night while I was having fun with Gypsies and the Ayatollah. "Secret" or "surprise" or the equivalent, were the emphasis and when I first saw the first headline I trained on "secret" and "deal" and immediately thought "Iran." There was some new revelation about the nuclear negotiations. When "trade" registered, I felt a little disgusted, First the Iran negotiations are all confused, all behind closed doors, "secret," is there a deal or not? It too is being "fast-tracked" and now this trade deal, it really blindsided Congress, Democrats and Republicans, they were off-put, some were pissed. So that's two big, important negotiations, back-to-back: "Is this how Obama is going to do things for the remaining year and three-quarters?" I don't like it. It's sneaky. This is the public's business and we ought at least to have our representatives not blindsided; they ought to be given time to study these things before voting. They shouldn't be rushed. This is deliberate on the Obamas part, undoubtedly because they view Congress as obstructionist. On Iran and, God knows, on everything else, the ACA, immigration, the government shut-down, Holder's replacement at Justice, the Congress has reflexively opposed Obama. But that was the Republicans; it is the Democrats, the president's natural allies, who he has sandbagged here on trade. He kept what he knew about NSA secret from our allies whose phones he was tapping. The Cuba opening was sprung on lawmakers and the country. Serious people on serious matters of public importance don't like surprises sprung on them, don't like secrets. Nobody likes to be tricked. President Obama and his team have had to resort to secrets and surprises and trickery because he does not get along well with anybody. These things are not going to help him get along with anybody. You have to get along with somebody. You can't fight everybody.
Last year, Vladimir Putin took a question on his yearly citizen call-in. Relations with the U.S. were at their nadir and a caller asked Putin, "If you were drowning would Obama try to save your life?" It was a cute, sweet, question, typical of what a common person would ask. What do you think Putin's answer was? A joke and a dodge, right? Putin said with deadly seriousness, "President Obama is a good and a courageous man. Of course he would save my life." That was a response of transcendent generosity of spirit, it was truly remarkable. It got me right there.
Would he though? Would Obama reprise Lenny Skutnik and dive into freezing water, risking his own life, to save the life of Vladimir Putin, seconds from death? Are any of us...besides Putin...confident in our knowledge of Barack Obama to say?
Now, I ask you this: If Barack Obama somehow, God forbid, spontaneously combusted in the Rose Garden, how many senators and congressman would so much as leave their offices to go piss on the president to put the fire out? (Unlikely scenario, I concede, but its extremity is the point of emphasis.) "Well, I would have, I just didn't have to pee at that particular moment in time." "Fuck him, get me some marshmallows and hotdogs and we'll make the best of it." There is a dearth of affection and an absence of a willingness to go the extra mile, or the extra bladder, for Barack Obama. There are some who hate Obama, few who love him, more who really don't know the guy and after 5 1/2 years they've given up on having a relationship with him. That is the greatest surprise of all in the Obama presidency.
I am Benjamin Harris and this is Public Occurrrnces.
Last year, Vladimir Putin took a question on his yearly citizen call-in. Relations with the U.S. were at their nadir and a caller asked Putin, "If you were drowning would Obama try to save your life?" It was a cute, sweet, question, typical of what a common person would ask. What do you think Putin's answer was? A joke and a dodge, right? Putin said with deadly seriousness, "President Obama is a good and a courageous man. Of course he would save my life." That was a response of transcendent generosity of spirit, it was truly remarkable. It got me right there.
Would he though? Would Obama reprise Lenny Skutnik and dive into freezing water, risking his own life, to save the life of Vladimir Putin, seconds from death? Are any of us...besides Putin...confident in our knowledge of Barack Obama to say?
Now, I ask you this: If Barack Obama somehow, God forbid, spontaneously combusted in the Rose Garden, how many senators and congressman would so much as leave their offices to go piss on the president to put the fire out? (Unlikely scenario, I concede, but its extremity is the point of emphasis.) "Well, I would have, I just didn't have to pee at that particular moment in time." "Fuck him, get me some marshmallows and hotdogs and we'll make the best of it." There is a dearth of affection and an absence of a willingness to go the extra mile, or the extra bladder, for Barack Obama. There are some who hate Obama, few who love him, more who really don't know the guy and after 5 1/2 years they've given up on having a relationship with him. That is the greatest surprise of all in the Obama presidency.
I am Benjamin Harris and this is Public Occurrrnces.
