A Classless Excuse of a Statesman: Barack Obama

By: Brad Mahlstedt

President: Whittier Republican Council

March 10, 2009

            What is going on with B. Hussein Obama? Is anyone reading the news? It seems as though we have a child in the White House who is totally incompetent with regards to how a statesman is supposed to behave. Obama has only been in office a little over a month and he seems more concerned with his reputation and how the media, pundits, and American politic think about him than he does about running and leading our country.

Last time I checked, but maybe I’m wrong, when a statesman from another country comes to the United States, we host perhaps a state dinner or have a formal meeting where the leaders meet in front of the press in an effort to show some sort of solidarity between the two nations. At a minimum each leader presents gifts to the other. These gifts are not gifts to the individual leaders, as Bill and Hillary later found out when they attempted to hijack some of them from the White House when they departed[1], but rather are gifts on behalf of the giving nation to the nation receiving the gift. What does our little wet behind the ears president do: He gives Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of Great Briton, not a state dinner, but a set of DVD’s. Huh!?

Boy nothing says diplomatic respect like a Star Wars DVD. In fact, Downing Street was so embarrassed by this that they attempted to keep it away from the British press. But to be fair to Obama it wasn’t just a single DVD, or 2, or 3 for that matter; but a whole 25 of them. Apparently it never crossed Obama’s mind that Prime Minister Brown might have more important things to do besides watching 25 movies, such as running a country. All this while Brown, a real statesman, gave Obama uniquely historical gifts, inter alia, “a pen holder fashioned from the oak timber of HMS Gannet, a Navy vessel that served on anti-slavery missions off Africa”. [2]  

Also, typically the President grants a foreign dignitary the honor of standing side by side next to their respective flags for T.V. cameras. Did Obama do this? No. In fact Obama even canceled a joint press conference. Excuse: There was snow outside. “Apparently the 132 rooms in the White House were all occupied or too small to have a photo opp.” as one journalist guessed. To top it off, after Brown’s flight across the sea he didn’t even get invited to lunch.[3] Perhaps instead of reading Lincoln biographies before taking the sacred presidential oath Obama should have read up on American presidential custom.

            Another of example out of the entire plethora of classless examples involves Obama’s lack of respect for the oval office and all the leaders before him. As a sign of respect for the Oval Office and all that it stood for both Reagan and Bush never took off their jackets while working inside the office. What does Obama do? He throws away all the formality and respect for the Office and doesn’t wear his jacket.[4] Being the Messaih and all maybe he is just preparing America for the day he will waltz into the Oval Office in his robe and leather sandals. This devoid of class behavior started on his first day in office.

What about honesty? Barack H. Obama not only fooled voters into thinking he was honest during campaign ’08 but he now is doing an about face and adopting ideas of his former adversary; namely, John McCain. On September 15^th, 2008 Obama began to slam McCain for stating that the fundamentals of the American economy are strong. Instead of exuding class and stipulating that the fundamentals were indeed strong, Obama, seeing the political advantages of pouncing on his adversary, denounced McCain’s remarks as ‘out of touch’. However, on March 13^th, 2009 what does our weasel of a president do? He adopts McCains remarks in an attempt to be positive about our economic situation.[5] Mr. Obama: Were you lying then or now? Were you wrong then or are you wrong now? Was McCain right all along or are you also ‘out of touch’? How disgusting it is to see a president sway in the wind when it is politically expedient and advantageous. Classless it is to pounce on an American hero calling him “out of touch” only to adopt his stance once victory has been achieved.

The examples are endless. In fact, on Obama’s first press conference after the election (not to be confused with his first interview as president which was with Al-Arabiya TV), when responding to a question about whether he has spoken to any of the former presidents, Obama stated that he had. But rather than leave his response at this he couldn’t help but throw in a jab at our formerly beloved first lady, 88 year old Nancy Reagan. He stated that he has yet to get into any Nancy Reagan séances.[6] Making fun of the wife of one of our greatest American leaders? Who does he think he is? Why does he feel that it is appropriate to bash those who came before him? What happened to winning with class? Most of us learn this by the time we start T-ball. But regardless of whether Obama ever played T-ball, there is only one way to describe the way Obama abused his podium that day: Classless. 

The other day Obama gave an interview over the phone with the New York Times. The reporter asked whether his domestic policies suggested that he was a socialist as some conservatives have implied. Obama stated that he was not a socialist. The interview concluded a few minutes later. Our classless excuse of a president then called back complaining that such a question had even been asked.[7] Mr. Obama: Perhaps you need to expand your government even further to include a czar that tells you it is unprofessional for the President of the United States to call and complain about the questions asked after an interview or even during the interview for that matter. You are the President! Quit your wining and be professional! Once again he exudes no class. Even if one thinks it is too harsh to call Obama classless, one can hardly argue that this is behavior befitting of the most powerful man in the world; namely the President of the United States.

How can one respect a man who behaves so childishly in the most powerful office one can hold? I sure hope Obama wises up and realizes that such behavior not only is embarrassing to the office but also an entire nation of citizens as well. If he isn’t careful and doesn’t wise up soon, he will quickly lose the respect of countless mindless drones of uneducated voters…his largest voting base.

Works Cited

Ellis, B. (2008, November 7). Bryan Ellis on Politics. Retrieved March 16, 2009, from www.politics.bryanellis.com: http://politics.bryanellis.com/49/classless-barack-obama-slams-nancy-reagan-seances/

Fox News. (2009, March 16). Retrieved March 19, 2009, from www.foxnews.com: www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/16/obama-team-adopts-mccains-optimism-economy/

Fox News. (2009, March 6). www.foxnews.com. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from FoxNews.com: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/06/obamas-blockbuster-gift-brown-dvds/

Kelly, J. (2009, March 10). Obama Stifs the Brits. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from Real Clear Politics: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/03/obama_stiffs_the_brits.html

LELAND, M. B. (2001, February 8). Clintons Return Household Gifts of Uncertain Ownership . The New York Times , p. Section A; Column 1; National Desk; Pg. 28.

Lewis, M. (2009, January 21). www.news.aol.com. Retrieved March 19, 2009, from AOL: www.news.aol.com/political-machine/2009/01/21/obama-breaks-reagan-bush-jacket-in-the-oval-office-rule/

Zeleny, J. (2009, March 8). A socialis? Obama calls back to insist no. International herald Tribune .