Is it just me ,or has the world been short of the wit and wisdom of one, Barack Obama for the past couple of weeks?
Not that anything has been going on of course. Well, unless you count the Constitutionality of seating his replacement, determining how the largest Federal Government give away, ever, will be spent, or that spat on a little spit of land on the Meditteranean Sea.
On the Burris front, what could Obama possibly have to say? It’s not like he should have any concern about whether the people of Illinois are properly represented. It is after all, Chicago and Illinois. Politics and proper, whether voting or representation, are not words that are used in any positive way in those locations. However, I do seem to remember Obama telling us that he was a Constitutional Law Professor. Wouldn’t one think that from this angle, if not from any other, the person who will soon be sworn in for the top position to uphold that Constitution, might have some insight and opinion?
On the stimulus front, Harry and Nancy have vowed to have a check with lots of zeros on it, ready for his signature immediately following his inaugural ball. Problem is, Nancy and Harry are a bit frustrated because Obama and his team can’t seem to decide how they want to use all the zeros:
Democratic leaders are increasingly concerned that they won’t be able to offer an economic stimulus package for congressional debate until late January because they haven’t received a plan from President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team.
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One of the Democrats’ concerns is that when the Obama team does deliver a plan, it might not contain much detail. If it is a broad overview, congressional leaders will have to scramble to flesh it out into a workable piece of legislation.
Details? They are worried about details? Details from the man whose most detailed explanation of what he would do as President was something along the lines of “Hope for the change you hope for?”
As to the situation in Gaza, to be fair, Obama has been on vacation.
Also, there that whole “he’s not yet President” and I’m sure he wouldn’t want to confuse world affairs by appearing to state his policy before he is sworn in. Yeah, except he seems to invoke that right pretty inconsistently. So inconsistenly that even the international world is noticing:
While most prominent U.S. politicians have backed Israel, critics have noted that Obama joined Bush in condemning the killing of civilians in attacks in November in Mumbai, India. They would have liked him to say something about the fate of Palestinian civilians caught in the fighting.
The president-elect also has commented on the global economic crisis and his plans to try to pull the U.S. economy out of recession.
Obama was also on vacation when Russia invaded Georgia. And, wasn’t Obama still just the Democrat cadidate when after three tries, he finally got it right that Russia was the aggressor?
A former US Ambassador to Israel likely found the truth in Obama’s silence on each of these subjects:
“If I were Obama, I wouldn’t want to talk about it either. Frankly, it’s a lot more comfortable to let this one hang on the president,” said Edward Walker Jr., who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel from 1997 to 1999.
I may yet be surprised, but Obama’s choices of when and what to comment on are painting a picture of the consummate Monday morning quarterback. It appears that he’s ready and able to provide an opinion if the issue is one where he clearly will benefit or can avoid any accountability of it i.e. Russia’s invasion of Georgia and second guessing of what has been done on the US economic front. However, as we get closer to the time where his statements will be analyzed against his actions and accomplishments, suddenly he becomes mute.
Mute, not that it should come as any surprise. Wasn’t this the man who has the record for voting “present” in the Illinois Legislature?
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