Is Obama's Strong Gov Weak America Working For U (employment, Putin, Congress)

[gonpostal]

Obama appears more than comfortable with a strong government and a weak America. Although four years have passed since the Great Recession technically ended, employment has yet to regain its prerecession peak. The lag in jobs has been matched by a lack of new investments. According to The Wall Street Journal, “total venture capital invested in the U.S. fell nearly 10 percent last year and has yet to return to its pre-recession peak.” However, the White House appears content to live with this dismal version of the “new” normal, one where all but the wealthiest struggle and the American Dream is a campaign cliché or a fading memory.

To add to his woes, the president is repeatedly stiff-armed, both at home and abroad. Congress defies him at no cost. Try as he may, Obama cannot even get a gun bill out of the Democratic-controlled Senate, let alone the House. The Supreme Court hands the government’s lawyers repeated defeats, and Russia and China openly mock him.

The fugitive Snowden was allowed to leave Hong Kong and fly freely to Russia. Adding insult to irony, Vladimir Putin has ruled out his extradition. If the Cold War is back, then as Michael Goodwin of the New York Post wrote, “my money is on Putin.”

So here Obama is, craving security and adulation, but being denied both. He speaks aloud, but is frequently ignored. With more than two years left in his term, the President is more a creature of history than a driver of reality.