Obama's Oily Opportunity: Slick, Toxic, Rhetoric.

                                                  


He claimed it was about Cleanup, Restoration and Prevention.

But not so.

Opportunism.  Deception.  Lack of vision.

Each of those words characterizes the President's Gulf Oil Crisis address to the nation last night. Before moving on, I want to be clear about one thing: I am not interested in making this post into a partisan POTUS slam. In fact, I was rooting for Obama last night because I was rooting for Americans. Against all of my rational understanding of what he was likely to deliver, I prayed that he could inspire the nation to rally behind our fellows in the Gulf, and to finally be a leader for all Americans distressed about the worst environmental disaster in American history.

He failed. 

Instead he used the filthy Rahm Emmanuel tactic of turning crisis into political opportunity-- and last night the Oval Office was little more than a platform for Cap and Tax, anti-business Energy Policy.

Instead he was dishonest with the American people.

Instead he exposed his lack of vision for the American future-- the most appalling, and alarming reality of all.

I am certain that there will be a plethora of bloggers attacking sundry particulars of Nobama's speech (e.g., his disingenuous invocation of the military and terrorism, misuse of God and prayer, not suspending the Jones Act, lack of specificity in what we are doing to solve the crisis, and his lies about the reality of the disaster and his administration's late, inadequate response to it).

I will address these issues in future posts, because what I want to focus on today is his lack of vision. Here is an excerpt that should have all Americans outraged, up in arms, and fiercely determined to overthrow this man:

...what has defined us as a nation since our founding is the capacity to shape our destiny – our determination to fight for the America we want for our children.  Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like.  Even if we don’t yet know precisely how we’re going to get there.  We know we’ll get there.  

Let me ask you a question: Do YOU know what you want the future to look like? Good God Yes! You're an American! Do YOU know how to get there? Of course you do! It was laid out in our founding documents and upheld by great American leaders, the likes of Ronald Reagan. If we don't know what we want America to look like, or how we want to get there, then how can we get there?

I'm going to start calling this guy Captain Crook, because he's like a blind pirate with two eye patches.

He's got no vision.

Now listen. I'm not interested in just bashing the man, because it is in the best interest of America to proffer solutions, not complaints. As Frank Luntz said last night:

....we’ve now reached the point where we’ve become so divided that we’re not even listening to what our leaders are saying if we disagree with them.

 --and that's un-American. We need reasoned debate, solid conclusions and action. That said, there is a serious, fundamental question that we must ask ourselves and our government:

How can the American President have the audacity to broadcast himself on live television to millions of citizens and profess that he doesn't have the time to contemplate where the nation is headed or how to achieve our national goals of freedom and prosperity?

We need a man of Vision to sit behind his desk and guide our nation like Washington did his boat across the Potomac. Last night Nobama showed precisely the type of criminally lackadaisical leadership that he showed in his response to the oil spill-- and we, like the Louisiana coast, are caught in the sludge while he spews his slick, toxic, rhetoric.

Now don't get me wrong, I believe that the actions of local officials like Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindall exemplify the Federalist approach to small government, which says that we don't need a bloated bureaucracy to bungle matters that States are apt to handle themselves. However, the President of the United States should be there for support immediately. He should inspire confidence. He should have the compass when the ship is buffeted by storm.

But it is we conservatives who truly have the correct vision for the future, and we must sail into 2012 with a capable leader that can work for us to deliver it.

We know what we want out of our future: a return to the values that made us the greatest nation the world has ever seen. 

We know what we want to bequeath to our children: a nation rich with opportunity, liberty, and pride.

It was Ronald Reagan who said the we conservatives are not trying to return America to the past, but simply trying to refocus our vision with "a past way of viewing our future." That is an integral ingredient we are in need of today. And if we don't have all hands on deck to steer our nation out of troubled waters, we'll run aground, capsize, or be lost in a sea of post-American disaster.

Watch Nobama's speech here if you haven't already, and give your own feedback. Let's ignite this important discussion.

Stand Tall Patriots,

SP