President Obama Must Be More Positive and Lead!!

I think these criticisms have merit. .

Contentions has a series of posts and links to the concern that the administrations attitude is having on affairs both foreign and domestic.

This pattern is getting concerning. For instance doesn't President Obama need a huge Commander in Chief Moment to buoy up the troops ,our allies and to serve notice on our foes?

In their post Buck up, Team Obama :
Robert Kagan supports the ramp up of forces in Afghanistan but sounds a note of caution:

The only worrying aspect of administration actions so far has been the (largely self-serving) tendency on the part of some key officials to declare the situation hopeless, which raises doubts about the administration’s staying power. The worst thing the administration can do, both strategically and politically, is to give the impression that it doesn’t have the stomach for this fight. Then support, both in the U.S. and, even more, such support as still exists among NATO allies, will begin to evaporate.

But that has been the pattern for the Obama team on virtually every major policy front. The economy is a heartbeat away from catastrophic failure. Afghanistan is near hopeless. All the war on terror policies are “very complicated.” The mix of fretting and fear-mongering seems to be the automatic reaction to every difficult challenge.

and further it appears that Bush might be able to teach a thing or two:

But, if you think the Obama team is above mere politics, the alternative explanation is even more troubling. What if they really are overwhelmed and uncertain, lacking confidence in their own abilities? That’s what it sounds like to domestic and international audiences. It sure comes across as “we know this may not work but…” Let’s be honest, not even the best actor could look as bedraggled and uncertain as Tim Geithner during his bank bailout-plan’s roll-out.
Much hay was made of George W. Bush’s refusal to express doubts and question his own approach to hard policy decisions. But perhaps he understood something fundamental to leadership which the Obama team has yet to master: unless you project confidence, others won’t follow you.

In a follow up at Re: Buck up, Team Obama this contributors notes in part:

Jen, the funny thing is the one positive that even Barack Obama’s detractors counted on was that Obama would get Americans excited about America - something George W. Bush ultimately failed to do. By January 20, even the most hardened anti-changeists had bought into the “right man for the times” line just a little bit.

But what the times demand - above all else - is certainty. The markets are screaming for certainty; our men and women in uniform, fighting two wars overseas, only need to hear some resolve from the commander in chief; our allies, as Robert Kagan notes, need to know that we still believe in the fight we’re asking them to join. And yet, within his first month, panic, ambivalence, and procrastination, have become the pillars of Obama’s governing style. Everything is at once dire, not of his own making, and, incidentally, under review until further notice: this is incoherent.

We’ve quickly reached the point where even the wrong decisions would be preferable to another day of scaring, equivocating, and blaming Bush. Markets know how to handle bad decisions, but they go into freefall when faced with no decisions. World leaders resent aggression or appreciate cooperation, but they don’t respect indecision.

I think there is wisdom here. Also things are noit helped that Team Obama it appears not only had the answers of the Hope and Change back last years but they the Emperor truly has no clothes. See This Seal is Real.


No one reaches for the snooze button more frequently than Barack Obama. He has a genius for delaying confrontations with reality. Earlier this week, the president approved 17,000 additional U.S. troops for Afghanistan, but today he’s found a way to blur the significance of the decision and keep alive the suspense about a proper troop “surge”:

President Barack Obama says the additional troops he’s ordering to Afghanistan are necessary to stabilize that country in advance of upcoming elections. And he says just how many U.S. troops will be needed, and for how long, will become clearer after a review of the Afghan mission is completed.

The list of things that will become clear after a review is growing: the future of America’s commitment in Iraq; the fate of Guantanamo detainees; a system for trying non-state terror suspects; and the future of tough interrogations all come to mind. Maybe after having invested so much in the festoonery of “The Office of the President-Elect,” Obama is not yet willing to relinquish his delicious on-deck status.

Also see Obama Meets the Real World and this alarming Washington Post column Obama's Supine Diplomacy