Is Barack Obama Really Just a Fool?

Posener: You have said that Barack Obama is a “fool.” If someone had written that about George W. Bush, we would have accused them of anti-Americanism.

Broder: Worse things were written about Bush: cowboy, Rambo, warmonger. And Obama is a fool. He hasn’t managed to accomplish anything that he’s set out to do, not even the silly health insurance. The man is and always will be a community organizer. The president’s job is several times too big for him.

Posener: Obama has led the U.S. out of the recession, which the EU has not done. The poverty rate has decreased for the first time since 2006. At least health insurance is a start. You’re just mad because Obama has messed with Netanyahu.

Broder: Really? I didn’t notice that! All I remember is Obama bowing before an Arab potentate [autocratic ruler/monarch] in whose empire beheadings and stonings are the order of the day. The fact that the recession is ending is not because of Obama. It’s because of an energy policy that Obama opposed. It’s been a long time since a president has been in the White House who has worked so little, played so much golf, and been so lazy when it comes to making decisions.

Posener: Before he does something stupid he would rather do nothing. You call that too lazy to make a decision, I call that wise.

Broder: You have a point there, but with that mindset you can become mayor of Dinstlaken [Germany], not the president of a world power. After the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and the murder of the American ambassador to Libya along with three other Americans, Obama spoke of an “act of senseless violence,” but avoided calling the perpetrators “terrorists” because, shortly before that, he had declared al-Qaida finished. Therefore, he wasn’t allowed to call the perpetrators terrorists or call the atrocities acts of terror. After that, he left to do some fundraising to collect donations for his election campaign. To me, that was just too calm.

Posener: Now, it’s always dangerous to prematurely call out “mission accomplished,” but at least now he’s gotten together a large anti-terrorism coalition. I still find it neither appropriate nor helpful to call its leader a “fool.”

Broder: Here in Germany the chancellor decides what’s appropriate and particularly “helpful.” Even with all the delusions of grandeur to which I’m prone, I don’t think whether I call him Superman or a fool will affect his decisions. I’m not saying he’s evil. He just doesn’t know what he’s doing. He wanted to solve the Middle East crisis in nine months, he’s abandoned the Afghanis and Iraqis, and he’s drawn “red lines” in Syria that he quickly forgot. He didn’t punish Assad for his poison gas attacks on his own people, but rewarded him. To Obama’s credit, he did hunt down Osama bin Laden. I was glad when he was elected the first time. I was terrified the second time around. Now I take comfort in the fact that he’ll be out of office in two years.