Thinking Out Loud - Obama, the Hollow Man

Barack Obama has once more shown his ability to be an enigma. A dangerous one.

I want to start off by stating that although I am mostly conservative in opinion, I am not from the anti-Obama camp. In fact, I first saw this junior Senator back during the 2004 Democratic National Convention and was duly impressed. I found his public speaking to be intelligent and passionate. I thought he might be a bit much for the average Democrat during that convention as he was talking about true bipartisanship in government. His speech was laced with all kinds of references to reaching across the aisle and doing the job the public had elected them to do; which was to govern by the will of the people, for the people.

Very impressive.

But I have been less than impressed during his run for the Democratic nomination this Presidential season.

He has energized the public in a way that has not been seen since Kennedy. He has touched the nerve of many disaffected voters across a wide array of demographics; young, old, black, white, wealthy and lower incomes. He shows a seasoning one might not expect from someone with his limited political experience.

Yet he continues to let loose with statements that show his naive side.

Recent of these is his comments concerning Iran and his willingness to talk with the leader of a country who is openly anti-American and sponsors terrorism within and without his borders. Obama had said US enemies such as Iran, Cuba and Venezuela were "tiny compared to the Soviet Union." Then Obama noted that the US still negotiated with the leaders of the former Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Where Senator Obama's naivete shows in this statement is his lack of understanding of basic diplomacy. He mentioned that the Soviet Union had / has nuclear missiles pointed at the United States, yet we still held talks. What he fails to realize is that we also had / have nuclear weapons pointed at the Soviet Union. This is called, in layman's terms, a deadlock, where both parties will lose if the other initiates open hostilities. It resulted in detente, the lessening of said tensions through summits and negotiations.

The difference between the old Soviet Union and Iran is that there is no standoff. If the Russians launched their nukes at us, we would launch ours, ensuring mutual annihilation. A situation as undesirable to the Russians as it is to us.

Iran, on the other hand, has sponsored terrorists. They have taught groups how to build, and supplied materials for, improvised explosive devices (IED) that have killed American troops. They have the ability to export terrorists to other countries and explode "dirty bombs." All without the clear cut ability for any reprisals by the countries they attack. Thus there is no deadlock, no standoff. Which means there can be no detente, no summits nor negotiations. Any such negotiations would be done at a disadvantage and would be seen as a weakness. A sort of "oh please mister terrorist, don't hurt us" situation.

Other comments continue to show he is bending under the stress of a bid for the White House.

He has waffled on the abortion issue. In one week he told pro-life groups he wants to stop late term abortions, unless it was for health reasons. He discounted mental health as a valid reason for this life ending procedure. Later, that same week, he responded to abortion activists who didn't like his comments and told them he was for late term abortions, even if it was because of the mental distress on the woman.

In one statement, he says:
"I have repeatedly said that I think it's entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions as long as there is a strict, well-defined exception for the health of the mother," Obama said. "Now, I don't think that 'mental distress' qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term. Otherwise, as long as there is such a medical exception in place, I think we can prohibit late-term abortions."

Yet later his aides replied to the mounting pressure from abortion activists:
"Senator Obama believes that while 'mental distress' should not be covered by a health exception, there will be cases where carrying to term a pregnancy may seriously damage a woman's mental health and those cases should be covered," Obama spokesman Shapiro said.

Another waffle has come from the hot issue of the Iraq War. His plans to withdrawal troops have shifted and changed as quickly as the winds. He states he would get troops out immediately by removing "one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months." Yet this is an impossible task as seen by the commanders on the ground in Iraq.

He stated, on a campaign stop in North Dakota, that "My 16-month time-line, if you examine everything I've said, was always premised on making sure our troops were safe. And my guiding approach continues to be that we've got to make sure that our troops are safe, and that Iraq is stable. And I'm going to continue to gather information to find out whether those conditions still hold."

Immediately following this statement, amid comments from his detractors that he was changing the position that got him to this point in his campaign, he called a hasty press conference to deny he was doing so. He said he was still committed to the plan of getting combat troops out in 16 months. Except for a few troops to maintain a counter-terrorism force.

So which is it? Will he TELL the Joint Chiefs to get the troops out, per his plan in 16 months? Or will he "gather information to find out whether those conditions still hold," and get the advice of ground commanders to implement a safe withdrawal?

It seems that Barack Obama has become a Hollow Man. When I first saw this junior statesman from Illinois in 204, he was full of promise and conviction. Now it seems he has become a Washington politician, all empty words to get elected. He will tell whatever audience he is speaking to what they want to hear. Then he will backtrack later and say that he did not say that. Gone is the man of passionate conviction. All that is left is the plastic shell his handlers in the Democratic Party have cast. The inside is all gone, scooped out by political expediency.

On issue after issue, Senator Obama seems to be losing more and more focus. And the voters appear to be noticing. His one time double digit lead over McCain has slipped to a tie (per the latest Rasmussen poll).

With the choices facing the American public in November being this slick version of Obama, the wishy washy Republican-lite McCain, the often boisterous but never listened to Ralph Nader or the other flip-flopping Libertarian nee Republican Bob Barr, we are in a sorry state.

Sources:
Obama's Call For Unity Faces Abortion Test, CBSNews.com
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/08/politics/main4243015.shtml
By Brian Montopoli (July 9, 2008)

ABC News: Obama's Iraq Plan: Mission Impossible?
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=5351864&page=1
By Martha Raddatz (July 11, 2008)

Rasmussen Reports
http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
July 13, 2008