Amateur Hour at the White House

The Obama administration seems to be in the midst of a perfect storm of bad news, continued gaffes and bumbling, and some actual (albeit belated) vetting in the form of several biographical sketches that display the darker side of the president. Although I have no doubt that David Limbaugh’s newly released book Crimes Against Liberty is a devastating and factually correct review of Obama’s disastrous term to date, Ed Klein’s The Amateur may be even more potent.

Unlike the conservative Limbaugh, Klein is a liberal who is the former foreign editor of Newsweek and former editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine. Therefore, it’s tougher for Obama’s leftist allies to defend him against Klein’s well-researched and documented findings. If you haven’t read the book, I’d highly recommend it—and then give it to any friends or relatives who made the mistake of voting for Obama in 2008. After reading The Amateur, they will probably not be so inclined this time. Some people apparently are reading it, as it just passed three weeks in first place on the NY Times bestseller list (a fact that must annoy the heck out of the NY Times).

It’s been said that the Clintons were terrible users of people; they saw them as disposable as soon as they were no longer of use to them or if, heaven forbid, they crossed them. Well, President Obama and the First Lady have doubled down on what the Clintons did, as they have with their political agenda. From Reverend Wright to Oprah Winfrey to James Jones to Rahm Emmanuel, Obama has been quick to throw people under the bus when they impede his agenda in any way, or if they cross or displease him, his wife or his chief adviser Valerie Jarrett.

Speaking of Jarrett, the Machiavellian influence this woman has on the Obamas apparently dwarfs that of many supposedly Svengali-like figures in past administrations—Karl Rove, James Baker, Henry Kissinger, H.R. Haldeman, Chuck Colson, to name a few of the more notorious, at least in the eyes of the press. If you wonder why Obama has so often ignored calls, even within his own party, to moderate his positions on health care, the environment, spending and taxes and instead doubled down, it was Jarrett (and the First Lady) who stiffened his resolve to “stay the course.” Obama supposedly liked Oprah and was willing to listen to her advice; however, Jarrett and the First Lady wanted no part of the charismatic Oprah invading their turf.

And the First Lady, despite her protestations to the contrary, is apparently every bit an “angry black woman” behind the scenes. Not only that, she is every bit the radical leftist that her husband is, and perhaps even more so—and that’s saying a lot. Sounds like Hillary on steroids. But, as Klein deftly points out, the Obamas, no doubt with the help of their media minions, have kept the First Lady’s massive influence—as well as her temper—completely out of the public eye, unlike the Clintons who boasted of “two-for-one.”

Rush Limbaugh has been railing from the time Obama exploded on the scene about his overblown personal popularity when, as Obama’s physician states in the book, Obama is so cold and detached personally that he is not fit to be the leader of the free world. Just because he has a winning smile, sense of humor, and a “hipness” to him in public appearances does not mean that he is truly a nice guy. Not that the president necessarily needs to be—but he does need to be able to relate to people and get them to work together. And many of the off-teleprompter mean and nasty quotes have accumulated over the last few years should have convinced people by now that Obama is, in reality, a ruthless, calculating product of the Chicago political machine.

To paraphrase one of the First Lady’s outlandish quotes from the 2008 campaign, for the first time in a few years, I’m starting to feel hope again about my country. In the wake of Scott Walker’s convincing victory in the Wisconsin recall, Democrats as well as Republicans in the Senate and House calling out Obama on national security leaks that may go all the way to the White House, and Romney out-fundraising Obama and running a solid if not spectacular campaign, things are indeed looking up for our side. Now we just need to hope and pray that these trends continue through Election Day—and beyond.