Listing Obama's Fears

By Alan Caruba

I suspect Barack Obama, thanks to an ego the size of Jupiter, is one of the few people in the White House who doesn’t realize he is going to be defeated in November. Not only have his socialist policies of the past three and a half years in office failed him, events outside the United States or beyond his ability to control all seem to be conspiring against him.

The chatteratti have picked over the bones of the massive rejection he, the Democratic Party and the public service union movement received in Wisconsin. Nothing is going well for Obama and that, dear friend, is the good news.

As the hurricane season begins, he has to pray that a Category 5 hurricane like Katrina does not occur. His handling of the BP oil spill left him hiding in the White House bunker feeling the heat of public opinion and it got worse after his only solution was to shut down oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico that posed no threat, further ruining the economy of several states.

His fund raising efforts have drawn the mockery of New York Times columnist, Maureen Dowd, who noted that “His campaign is offering Obama 2012 car magnets for a donation of $10; cat collars reading ‘I Meow for Michelle’ for $12; an Obama grill spatula for $40, and discounted hoodies and T-shirts. How the mighty has fallen.” And, of course, the news is that Mitt Romney is raising more money than him.

Another unemployment report such as was released by the Department of Labor on June 1 will further sink his chances of reelection. Wall Street went south the same day as the market reacted to the bad news, but typically rebounded.

Obama, who has never so much as run a lemonade stand, looks clueless in the face of the European Union’s continent-wide problems. A defection by Greece would have disastrous effects and would undermine Spain, Italy and other EU member nation’s banking systems. Obama can only watch from the sidelines.

At the risk of being an unrelenting scold, this is what happens when nations choose socialism as their economic model.

He is equally hamstrung by the prospect of the war inside Syria could spread beyond its borders evoking an Israeli military response. The bases of Iran’s proxy military arm, Hezbollah in Lebanon would be attacked by the Israelis who might also decide to level the presidential palace in Damascus. The Israeli 2006 war with Lebanon draw considerable criticism, but there has been peace on its border ever since.

In an address on May 20, Israeli Defense Force Maj. Gen. Yair Golan told a military conference at Bar-Ilan University that “We are indirectly waging a daily war with Iran. It doesn’t matter if it’s through (Islamic) Jihad in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran is here, and its negative influence is significant. It isn’t a question of maybe. Its influence in Syria is too discernible.”

“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to picture Syria becoming an additional front line for Hezbollah,” said Gen. Golan. “Things that seem unlikely today could take place in a few months.”

It’s one thing to be waging a political campaign at home and quite another to be faced with a decision to support Israel against Syria if it comes under attack by Scud D missiles from Hezbollah’s Lebanon bases.

A president who has taken pride in the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan is an unlikely candidate to want to get involved in a new shooting war in the Middle East, least of all five months before Election Day.

Meanwhile the release of information about secret projects has backfired in Congress and among a public asking why such obvious leaks have occurred. Attorney General Holder hurriedly appointed two staff members to track down the culprits who gave The New York Times everything short of the blueprints to CIA headquarters.

The event Obama must be dreading is the likelihood that the Supreme Court will rule Obamacare unconstitutional. This was his “signature” legislation in the effort to “fundamentally transform” and its rejection would severely damage, if not end, any chances for reelection. As he campaigns non-stop, he never makes mention of it or of his failed “stimulus.”

No doubt, Obama is very angry at Americans for failing to appreciate his brilliance and his leadership.

© Alan Caruba, 2012