Cool Hand Barack

By Distributorcap

"What we got here is... failure to communicate."

-- Captain, Cool Hand Luke (1967)

It should come as no surprise that I, as a card-carrying member of the professional left (and like many others of the same progressive political persuasion) think President Obama has done a pretty lousy job since his inauguration in January 2009. Yes, there have been accomplishments (though I for one would hardly call the watered-down and insurance-friendly HR 3962 Affordable Care Act much of an accomplishment, the few positive aspects of that law would put it in the win column), but for the past 28 months, I feel like the presidency of Barack Obama has been more about preventing Republicans from completely destroying this country and turning it into a 21st-century aristocracy than turning the USS America around and setting it on some sort of course toward hope and recovery.

From broken promises (Gitmo, taxes) to capitulation on key policy initiatives, from an expanded war in Afghanistan to his continued tacit and blatant support of the greed in corporate America, Barack Obama has been at best disappointing and at worst a Republican lite in the way he has handled the job and his relationship with the progressives and others who put him in office.

Many, like myself, have completely given up on him. In my mind, the only thing Obama has going for him is the fact that he isn't as maniacal, nuts, immature, or deranged as every person on the right or in the Republican Party has become. Compared to such raving madmen and singing assholes as Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, T-Paw, and S-Pal, Obama looks like the only sane adult in the room. In other words, 2012 is shaping up to be another election where many of us will end up voting "not Republican."

No one (including me) expected Obama to follow through on all of his ideas, policies or goals -- not one politician ever has. Even doofuses like George W. Bush had to snub his nose at many of the people and constituents who supported him both financially and electorally. That is just the way politics works. What is maddening about the Obama presidency is how fast and how far many of failings have been, some in the name of keeping the Republicans at bay (aka compromise, a word the GOP has banished from the dictionary), but many as a direct result of Barack Obama's fear of imposing any sort of pressure or power on the legislators and leaders of the government. This from allegedly the most powerful man on the planet.

Barack Obama is letting the lunatics run the asylum. And they are succeeding beyond their wildest dreams. If you think back to how demoralized the right was just after the 2008 election, in just 2 1/2 years they not only made a comeback but are actually at a point where the opposition (Democrats) is not only listening to their points but is about to incorporate and accept some of their most insane and destructive ideas.

Talk about failure to launch.

In my mind, the aspect of Obama's leadership that has proven to be the most disappointing is his complete and utter failure to communicate. I don't mean simply talk to America -- Obama has done plenty of that. I mean adapt to the fast-changing environment, manage the advent of instantaneous information, use the bully pulpit available to him, and take advantage of some of the greatest oratory skills ever gifted on an American leader. Obama's startling inability to grasp the concept of communication and engagement is (in my humble opinion) the biggest reason his presidency is falling into a sink hole of mediocrity or perhaps even failure.

We live in an age of instantaneous sound bites, wild statements to get attention, a 24/7 socially connected world, and a lot of polluted speech clogging up the media outlets. Both sides of the political spectrum are constantly fighting for the most valuable real estate to get their message across to the greatest amount of audience. This is Advertising 101. You need a lot of people to hear you (reach) and a lot of times (frequency) to influence behavior and choice (buy your product). Americans are bombarded with 50 thousand messages a day from 10 thousand sources. It is hard to stand out from the clutter, unless you are wildly insane, wildly good-looking, or wildly connected. Even media whores like the idiot Sarah Palin and the reprehensible Eric Cantor still have to fight with the likes of nincompoops like Marcia Blackburn and Louis Gohmert for a parking spot near the movie theater.

There is one person who does not have to fight for time. That is the President of the United States. He can readily command time (I mean command time, not speak at an arena and hope the major media outlets show up) at will and use that time to sell. Barack Obama has done so little of that. Obama has ceded control of the sound bites and media influence to lunatics and douchebags like Michele Bachmann and other assorted teahajdists. Frankly, Obama barely tries.

Obama cannot stop them, nor can he make them go away -- he shouldn't. But where this president fails is that he barely tries to counter them, he barely tries to call them out, and he barely makes an effort to truly sell his ideas and products. I am sure his "handlers" sit and fret about his "image," the possibility of over-exposure and the potential for mistakes or misstatements. But this is not 1956, when three news organizations dominated the airwaves and a few newspapers set the tone. This is not even 1984, when cable news was beginning to take root. And frankly it ain't even 1996, when a bunch of Al Gore-invented connected tubery called the internets were starting to shoot out 1s and 0s in micro-seconds. It is 2012 and you have 300 million people with TV sets, 200 million people with smart phones, 100 million people banging out 140 characters to 100 million followers (including pics of bulging underwear and stuffed bikini tops), and 1 billion people on Facebook. Hell, even the Queen of Media Whoring herself, Sarah Palin, isn't even concerned about being over-exposed. She loves every minute of it, and under this atmosphere of hate, change, and technological takeover, she is actually thriving off it.

Forget dignity of the office (I think the concept of a dignified president lost all meaning when we had a bumbling inarticulate former drunk, coke-addict rube with 30 brain cells in office from 2001 to 2009), forget playing it cautious to charm the media (that stopped with the morphing of news into gossip courtesy of Rupert Murdoch) and forget nuancing the public to death. The rules have changed -- in fact, the game has changed. Being in front especially when you can command the front row and having the best ideas with (sadly) the best message is what counts. Worrying about image, over-exposure, and mistakes has gotten Barack Obama stuck in the mud. And it has put the country even deeper in the cesspool started by Ronald Reagan.

Sadly, one of the greatest speakers of his generation who actually has the ability to win friends and influence people has not. He sure hasn't won me as a friend or even influenced me. Or at least his handlers have stopped him. Obama's failure to communicate is unfortunately pushing the country more and more down the river of no return.