Alternate Reality
Neverland was originally the home of Peter Pan, a place where a dreamlike, magical childhood never ends and imagination is reality. Not surprisingly, Michael Jackson borrowed the fairytale creation for the fanciful hideaway he called Neverland Ranch. Michael may be gone, but Neverland is alive and well at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue where reality is only limited by extremely fertile imaginations.
Take for example the recent statement out of the White House that the results of the $800 billion Economic Stimulus “exceeds our expectations.” That pronouncement followed the release of a report claiming a mere 30,383 jobs had been “saved or created” by all the government spending that was supposed to “rescue the economy from catastrophe.” Never mind that the stimulus was supposed to “save or create” 4 million jobs, not 30,000; never mind that since Obama took office another 3.4 million Americans have lost their jobs; never mind that Obama promised his stimulus would “keep the unemployment rate below 8%” and since he took office it has risen from 7.2% to the current 9.8%. And, never mind that those 30,000 saved-or-created jobs came at a cost of $533,000 taxpayer dollars each; more than five times what Obama’s Economic Advisers promised as recently as May of this year.
Never mind, as well, that over the past year the US dollar has weakened dramatically, and some experts worry that “with the massive deficit spending in the U.S. there's concern the dollar could go lower." Never mind that world media outlets are buzzing with rumors of moving away from the dollar as the globe’s benchmark to a “basket of currencies, including the Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, the euro and gold.”
Never mind that the EU – not the United States - just clipped a free trade coupon with South Korea worth an estimated $26 billion in business in real economic growth. As reported byInvestor’s Business Daily, “The U.S. had already negotiated a trade pact of its own that was ready to go in 2006. Details of the EU-Korea treaty are nearly identical, so it's obvious the Europeans just Xeroxed the U.S.-Korea pact and will now walk off with the spoils.” Since the Democrats took majorities on Capitol Hill in 2006, several free trade agreements are left to only gather dust as Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and now Obama pander to the whims of the liberal left and their Big Labor friends who universally object to trade.
Never mind all apparent somber doses of reality, because speaking from the Rose Garden at Neverland, Barack Obama announced that, “we've rescued our economy from catastrophe, we've also begun to build a new foundation for growth.” All is therefore well.
The Crown Prince of Neverland has been perpetrating a few more fantasies. He heralded the Max Baucus health insurance reform plan as a “critical milestone” in his quest to implement ObamaCare and dismantle what remains of a private sector and patient choice in health care. Never mind that Baucus is based on what even The Washington Post blasted as a $245 billion “shell game for disguising health care costs” – a reference to an accounting sleight of hand whereby Baucus “pretends that doctors take a 25 percent cut in reimbursements…and then stay at that low level forever.” Never mind that the Baucus Plan is founded upon a phantom claim to suck $500 billion of savings out of Medicare – something no objective person believes can become a political reality – plus, $400 or so billion of new fees, penalties and taxes that will ultimately be passed on to consumers. Never mind that as a result of Baucus, a PriceWaterhouseCoopers analysis determined family health insurance premiums will increase $1700 per year beyond existing estimates – although during the campaign Obama-Biden promised to reduce family premium costs by $2500. Just never mind.
The Norwegians apparently drank the Neverland Kool-Aid, too, and awarded Obama the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel committee is convinced the Obama’s aura alone has not only enhanced America’s National Security, but so too that of the entire world. Amazingly, he accomplished this in only his first two weeks in office, but then in Neverland all things are possible.
Never mind that his “war of necessity” in Afghanistan has him tied in a just-make-a-decision-knot with his generals, McChrystal and Petraeus, pulling on one side and pacifist Democrats including Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry and his own VP Joe Biden on the other. (See Cong. Tom Cole’s and William Moloney’s features articles in this issue.) Never mind that casualties mount, the war worsens, and Pakistan is erupting as Obama spends time thinking about whether to follow the advice of his military experts or politicians. Never mind that Lyndon Johnson chose the advice of politicians over field commanders in a tragic mistake in Viet Nam.
Never mind that Obama’s plan to appease the Russians and create a new beginning with Vladimir Putin blew up in his face. After unilaterally rescinding the planned missile defense shield in Poland and Czechoslovakia designed to protect our allies from a potential Iranian nuclear threat, the Russians handed Hillary Clinton back a scorpion by refusing to even discuss economic sanctions against the nuke seeking Iranians. Never mind, that Obama said Iran had to show compliance by November with United Nations resolutions or be subject to “sanctions that have bite.” Never mind, because now we’re back to just talking as per the Russian’s plan, which Obama likes to do anyway, while Iran goes along with business as usual.
Never mind that while Obama dreamily talks of a nuclear free planet at the United Nations, Iran is busted for a second secret nuclear plant, Venezuelan thug Hugo Chavez openly flauntshis own nuclear desires that are being aided by his Iranian friends, Brazil’s Vice-President Jose Alencar says they want a nuke, and a couple weeks later Despot-in-Chief Kim Jong Il fired off five more missiles just to make sure we all knew he was still around. Never mind that a UNreport released this month confirms what many intelligence and military experts had long come to believe, that Iran now possesses “sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable” nuclear bomb. Never mind that even The New York Times noticed that this alarm sounded by the normally milquetoast crowd at the UN goes “well beyond” the position of the Obama Administration.
Never mind that all this happens as Obama bounces between the Middle East, Europe, and the United Nations apologizing for all of the times “America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.” As well as the times “America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others.” Never mind that America’s foes are flexing their muscles as Obama forfeits America’s lone world Super-Power Status with the singular statement, “No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation. No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed.” Never mind, because that’s the stuff of which Nobel’s are made.
Never mind that Obama’s “dream” of disarmament was ridiculed by Nicolas Sarkozy. "We live in the real world, not in a virtual one,” the French President said boiling over with frustration at America’s timid reaction to a growing crisis. "I support America's 'extended hand.' But what have these proposals for dialogue produced for the international community? Nothing but more enriched uranium and more centrifuges. And last but not least, it has resulted in a statement by Iranian leaders calling for wiping off the map a Member of the United Nations. What are we to do? What conclusions are we to draw? At a certain moment hard facts will force us to make decisions." Never mind, that the President of France (for heaven’s sake!) displays greater resolve than America’s Commander-in-Chief.
Obama seems perfectly comfortable in his childlike, blissful dream world. Meanwhile by both his actions and inactions, the Great American Economy is reeling, and families are struggling with prospects of more bad news to come metered out by Washington politicians. Our national security and that of our allies is being put at ever greater risk. Tossed aside is President John F. Kennedy’s pledge that America stood prepared to “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
Of the many virtues often identified of a leader, “weakness” never makes the list. Yet, in a matter of months this President has seen fit to bow to Arab kings, placate tyrants sworn to destroy us, our closest allies and our culture, ignore the reality of ominous present danger, and expose more vulnerability and weakness to our enemies.
Obama invests a great deal of his voluminous devotion to rhetoric with a typical populist’s professed desire to lift up the poor in America as well as the needy of the world. He talks a lot about “spreading the wealth” which is his code for government to seize from those that have, and give it to those that want.
The new President might want to reassess his plan after pondering a guiding principle of perhaps our greatest President, Abraham Lincoln who understood that “You cannot strengthen the weak, by weakening the strong.”
Obama might also want to think about the wisdom of Ronald Reagan who memorialized the doctrine of “Peace through Strength,” and once observed that “Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.”
The next time Obama has a little quiet time at Neverland – maybe while he is polishing his Nobel trophy – and hopefully before he is once again inclined to offer an apology for American transgressions, or caving in to the bluster of some tyrant, he might think about the advice of someone else who understood real leadership and what it takes to answer the call of destiny and just do the right thing, Winston Churchill: ”Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
