Let’s be honest: President Obama is throwing a good old-fashioned
foot-stomping world class temper tantrum. He is just beside himself that
the stupid American voter elected Donald Trump. How could the country
willfully dismiss the erudite recommendation of nearly every news
organization in the nation – as well as Obama’s personal plea that not electing Hillary would be a personal insult to him?
How could young people not respond to Obama’s call to “bend the arc of
history in a better direction?” It is beyond comprehension.
But it happened, and Obama is having an extremely
difficult time dealing with what may be his first-ever serious setback.
This is a man described by his closest advisor, Valerie Jarrett, as “just too talented to do what ordinary people do.”
More flattering, Jarrett noted that “I think Barack knew that he had
God-given talents that were extraordinary. He knows exactly how smart he
is. …” He is so smart, said Jarrett, that “he’s been bored to death his
whole life.”
Very few people surround themselves with people
capable of such uncompromising adoration. It isn’t healthy. But Obama is
different. He has been told over and over – even by the Nobel Committee
that awarded him their coveted Peace Prize on spec– that he is
extraordinary. So when a man like The Donald bests him, a man Obama
clearly considers a joke, he is undone.
That is certainly the way he is behaving. Not for
Obama the normal gracious withdrawal into political stasis; no, he wants
to prove in these waning weeks of his presidency that he was right all
along. That his agenda is what The People want, even if they
don’t know it. That putting America’s valuable natural resources
permanently off limits is the correct thing to do, because only Obama
can see the future. That taking over vast swatches of the west is in the
best interests of the reluctant residents there, because only Obama
will protect our environment. That publicly confronting Russia for cyber
misbehavior after years of looking the other way is called for, even if
it complicates diplomacy in a number of theaters. Because Obama knows
best.
He also knows what is best for Israelis. Upending
long-standing tradition, he has allowed our only true ally – and the
only democracy -- in the Middle East to be further isolated and
compromised, in the interests, we are told, of seeking a meaningful
peace. The reality is that Obama fully expected that by dint of his
winning personality, superior insight and sympathy for the Muslim
people, to conquer the divides in that region.
He was shocked that his Cairo speech did not cause
the waters to part, and the wounds to heal. And he is angry that, in his
mind, Bibi Netanyahu has stood between him and fulfilling this key
legacy achievement. As he revealed in 2010 to an interviewer with Time
magazine, “[Getting peace in the Middle East] is just really hard”;
notably, this came as a surprise.
Make no mistake: we do need to rein in Russian
misbehavior. Putin is a dangerous adversary and should never have been
allowed out of the penalty box inflicted by drooping oil prices. But,
Obama gave him running room by putting him in charge of the Syrian
debacle and making him a key figure in the Iran nuke deal. So
important were those quests to Obama that our president chose to ignore
Moscow’s serial aggressions and misbehavior. Indeed, after the
conclusion of the Iran accord, Obama called Putin to thank him for his
help. Is it any wonder that an emboldened Putin felt he could act out
his hostility to Hillary Clinton?
Obama is having a difficult time passing the baton,
because he thinks the baton should be his in perpetuity. Unlike most of
his predecessors, Obama intends to stay involved in his party’s
politics, and to continue living in the nation’s capital, better to keep
his finger on the pulse. Whether Democrats want him involved, since
after eight years of his leadership the party’s pulse is barely
discernible, remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin has once again outfoxed
President Obama. His response to Obama’s eviction of 35 diplomats and
other grave-sounding but ultimately unimportant retaliatory measures?
Instead of engaging in traditional diplomatic tit for tat, the Russian
leader has invited the children of U.S. diplomats to the Kremlin for a
holiday party. Who looks like the adult in the room?
Liz Peek is a writer who contributes frequently to FoxNews.com. She is a financial columnist who also writes for The Fiscal Times. For more visit LizPeek.com. Follow her on Twitter@LizPeek.
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