Obama Has Been Marked As President without a Way

Velma Hart, a former soldier who today occupies a central post in a veteran’s service organization, attended a meeting a week ago with President Obama, arranged by the NBC network, to address the way in which the economic crisis affects the middle class.

Her question was carefully worded and contained an equal measure of fondness and appreciation, but also burning disappointment with Obama. “Quite frankly, I’m exhausted,” Hart told Obama, “I’m exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now.” She also reminded Obama that he had promised to change, in a meaningful way, the daily struggle of the middle class. “I’m waiting, sir,” Hart said. “I’m waiting — I don’t feel it yet.” Naturally, within about a minute and a half, Hart has become an all-American hero.

Obama’s Wars

When Bob Woodward publishes a book about an American administration and an American president, Washington quakes. Woodward already gained immortal fame when he exposed, together with Bernstein, the Watergate affair, leading to a presidential resignation, the first and — so far — the last in the history of America.

But he is not a one-story reporter, and the field in which he has specialized for the last few decades is analysis and in-depth exposure from within the decision-making circles of American presidents. Washington corridors are treating his books — justifiably or not — with holy reverence. The reason is simple: Bob Woodward has broad public legitimacy for writing the most important judgment of an American president — the one that will determine if he has been “A Great President.”

Woodward is granted, by virtue of his non-official status as the journalist historian of his generation, unrestricted access. Access is the currency conveyed to a salesman, to a lobbyist, and to a journalist in Washington. And, in these currency terms, Woodward is a billionaire. The Obama administration understood well the importance of the first book this journalist will publish on the White House; therefore, Woodward enjoyed exceptional treatment. This was not only a political-governmental interest, but also a personal one: Everybody wanted to look good. This was, of course, the beginning of the catastrophe. Definitely, all, more or less, came out looking bad.

Obama has been in power for 20 months, but it looks — surely for him — as if it’s been dozens of years. His hair has gone gray, and his figure is stooped. He is on the peak of distress and at the bottom of the chasm of the midterm crisis. Yes, he has introduced great, historical reforms, but Americans have lost confidence in his ability to do simple things: to create jobs, for example.

When he was appointed, Obama used to say that “America is grappling with a world recession; it’s undergoing two wars in parallel,”* and emphasized the tremendous challenges his administration faced. These are the texts for the beginning of an American president’s journey; he has the authority to blame his predecessor.

Obama, who was compelled to cope with the catastrophe brought about by George Bush’s eight years, had legitimacy in explaining how bad the bad situation of the U.S. was. In the end, everyone knew he was right.

But now, no one cares. He is the president. And, when Americans go to the polls in the elections for Congress in November, they are expected to punish him. For isn’t it his responsibility to set up work places? It was his responsibility to make sure the stimulus plan he passed would be big enough. He is the commander in chief of the American forces, and when the U.S. is wallowing in the Taliban mire in Afghanistan, this already is Obama’s war, not Bush’s. This also is the title of Bob Woodward’s book: “Obama’s Wars.”

From Washington to Camelot

Obama thinks of himself in terms of Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy. They said about Kennedy that Washington was, during his time, a “Camelot”, the conceptual capital of King Arthur. It was a modern legend, meticulously created, its purpose being to give the impression of an enlightened, sophisticated administration with all its parts operating in unity of purpose to realize the vision of the warring king-philosopher (Kennedy): to improve the status of America and the whole world.

However, Camelot is a story for the Knights of the Round Table, not for Washington of the 20th century; after Kennedy’s death, the truth became apparent about Washington, which was perhaps full of good intentions, but also of less pleasant matters. Obama’s problem is that the truth about his Camelot becomes clear after fewer than two years. The book describes the murky relations between the members of the president’s close staff.

Joe Biden, the vice president, is positive that Richard Holbrooke, special envoy for Afghanistan, is “the most egotistical bastard I’ve ever met,” as the Telegraph pointed out this week; Biden has 40 years’ experience in Washington, and when he calls someone the biggest egoist he has met, it certainly says something. David Petraeus, the general who was in charge of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, avoided contact with David Axelrod, chief strategist, whom he considers a “spin doctor.” The national security adviser, James Jones, was regarded by all parts of the administration as insignificant and lacking sparkle. Robert Gates thinks that Jones’ deputy, Thomas Donilon, is a “complete disaster.”

The quotations Woodward brings, from the most sensitive of discussions, portray Obama as a president confronting military ranks on a regular basis and the kind of guy who attributes supreme importance to withdrawal from Afghanistan, rather than an actual victory there. The American Army did not provide Obama with an “exit strategy” to pull American forces out of Afghanistan in a limited time — so, therefore, he did an extraordinary thing. He tried the strategy himself: reinforcement of 30,000 soldiers (not enough to smash the Taliban) and a public promise to start exiting in July 2011.

Certainly, there is a very complicated double message here — so it’s highly doubtful the Taliban will get it. Purportedly, Holbrooke told several people that Obama’s plan “can’t work.” And this is the president’s special representative.

In the meantime, the surge of departures intensifies. Today, Rahm Emanuel is supposed to decide whether he will abandon his position of power, the most important in the U.S. (except for the president’s), in order to run for the mayor of Chicago. Obama’s senior economic advisor, Larry Summers, gave notice that he’s leaving for academia. He is the third economic advisor to leave within six weeks. David Axelrod announced that he’s going to leave the White House soon in order to run the 2012 presidential campaign. No doubt about it: He’s got a lot of work to do.

*Editor’s Note: Unable to verify quotation.