Well, I’m just going to come right out and say it. President Obama is arguably the worst president in American history. Never have the American people been sold such a bill of goods as they have with this man.
Yes, I consider myself to be politically conservative, and no, I did not vote for Obama. I’m sure this surprises no one.
Full disclosure is important. But if you think I’m harsh in my dislike of the man’s conduct in his duties as the commander in chief, you can’t imagine how much more upset I would be with him had I actually voted for him.
Maybe I can put that into better perspective.
In 2004, fewer than 60 days after returning home from a tough tour in Iraq, I was absolutely furious with the Bush administration. So this lifelong Republican marched down to the polling place and cast my vote for John Kerry.
I did not vote for him because I was suddenly a born-again Democrat, but rather because I believed then, as I do now, that when leadership failure occurs, it is the people’s obligation to hold elected officials to the highest standards. Sometimes the firing is far more important than the hiring.
If I was one who viewed Obama as an inspiring leader, a unifying force or even the man of destiny that the president obviously feels he is, I would still be extremely puzzled about what’s going on in his mind.
Where are the successes?
Right now, the prevailing narrative coming from White House officials is essentially, “We just need more time. Everything was worse than we thought.” During his latest speech in Cleveland, the president explained that recessions like the current one historically take more than a decade to sort out.
I’d like to know who put that on the teleprompter. Apparently the president has such a low opinion of the American public that his best argument, his most inspiring pep talk to the voters, essentially amounts to, “Don’t expect much.”
I do not hate Obama. On the whole, he seems like a very charming and personable fellow. However, he is absolutely falling down on the job, and our country is suffering for it. Therefore, I hold him responsible.
Conversely, I hold no great love for his opponent, Mitt Romney. In many ways, he seems very similar to Obama; only he does seem to know how to operate a calculator, balance a budget and manage something other than a celebrity fundraiser.
Speaking of fundraisers, the president has done more than 140 of them; twice as many as the next most prolific presidential fundraiser, George W. Bush. If each gala runs at about two hours in length, that equals seven full workweeks. This is disgraceful, even if you don’t consider the expense to the taxpayer for his travel and security details.
The only thing I would say to this very charming and personable fellow in the White House is that yes, President Obama, America is watching you.
Everything he does seems to be painted as “historic,” and for good reason. No president has ever proven to be this historically disengaged, so historically absent or so historically incompetent to meet the challenges of his office.
I’m therefore predicting a historically bad night for him in November because Americans understand, this time now more than ever, that the firing is more important than the hiring.
I know I’m hoping for some real change.
Joshua Fonzi is a microbiology and cell science and entomology and nematology senior at UF. His column appears on Thursdays. You can contact him at opinions@alligator.org.
