President O Where art Thou?

Since the beginning of your term I heard so much from your various spokespersons ranging from strategists, and advisors, to politicians. Of course, I get a regular tap form Move-On as well. After about three months, I asked aloud, “Does President Obama not know that he won? Can he ratchet back the campaigning and get to work?”

Well, no doubt my President Obama is as bright as I figured. He has tackled the big Bush messes that surely take time to repair – a long time – probably more time than it took to create the problems because some economists and political scientists will tell you that there is a compounding of difficulties – a multiplier effect, if you will.

Many more months into the administration and I began to ask, “Why are we still in Iraq? Why are we not concentrating on al Qaeda?”

Of course the dominant theme has been stimulus for job creation, and stabilizing the economy.

On all these scores, I have to say that the President O that I expected is coming up short. A big part of this has to do with his management approach, I think.

First, a president must come to grips with the nation’s capacity for change and improvement. It is not open-ended and today America has serious constraints.

Therefore, if we don’t stop the bleeding in Iraq and Afghanistan, we will never have the resources to address the domestic agenda, beginning with affordable healthcare for everyone. As long as we see troops on the battlefield in the Middle East, we can know for certain that the economy will continue to be exacerbated and ability to meaningfully address run away healthcare costs will go unabated.

I see congress going through the motion of coming up with legislation to address the President’s priorities, though I lack confidence in legislation being fundamentally effective because I doubt the President’s management approach. There is too much political processing and not enough executive leadership and specific direction that are essential to produce meaningful solutions.

For example, while the Cash for Clunkers gimmick may have created the illusion of progress, most people know that until manufacturing industry returns to America, there is no economic footing to pay for all of the domestic improvement that we need and want. So, I am just rambling on here, but I am prepared to delve into details if anyone wants to talk about it.