This book title…
…didn’t age well: The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama.
Then again, part of Obama’s “legacy” is the presidency of Joe Biden. Not only are quite a few of Biden’s advisors Obama administration retreads, but if Obama hadn’t chosen Biden as his VP, Biden would probably either be retired now or still employed as the Permanent Senator from Delaware – where he could do nowhere near as much damage as he’s done as president, no matter how hard he tried.
The irony is that Biden (in all likelihood, nothing more than a puppet whose strings are in the hands of Barry Soetero and his minions) has brought about more chaos and implemented more destructive policies in little more than half a year than the Obama administration could accomplish in eight years. One of the more interesting theories concerning the real wielders of power in our decaying republic is that the choice of the cackling hyena as Biden’s running mate was made precisely because she is so unpopular even within her own corrupt party; thus, no matter how incompetent her superior, no-one would wish for her as a replacement for the senile buffoon.
I’m usually the last person to defend Obama, but I don’t think even he could have bungled the Afghanistan pull out quite as badly as Biden has. It really takes a rare blend of stupidity, incompetence, and arrogance to achieve such catastrophic results. And then to refuse questions and behave as if everything is pretty much fine? It’d be funny if it was so scary, awful, and tragic.
My theory, ex nihilo, is that the real Éminence Grise behind Biden is Hillary Clinton. Who else could do such bone-headed moves? Who else could bear such a grudge against the American people? After all, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Frankly, I think Obama is sitting pretty, and couldn’t be bothered.
Nonapod:
I agree that Obama would have done at least somewhat better. That’s why I say the book title is outdated. But I also think that Obama was very responsible for the elevation of Biden from a has-been to his current position.
It’s interesting that the situation is so bad, so FUBAR, so insane, that the explanation that it all must be deliberate doesn’t seem at all far fetched. If your goal was to surreptitiously do as much damage to America’s reputation in the world, humilate and demoralize its military and citizenry, and elevate its enemies it’s hard to see what you might’ve done differently.
Even if Obama had bungled the withdrawal as Biden has, his communication team would have been much farther out front of events than Biden’s has. From formulating responses, to press coordination, to timing, Biden has been in reaction mode. Obama wouldn’t have been.
As to the topic of the post, I think it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Obama is still pulling at least a few of Biden’s strings, so perhaps his influence is current, instead of foundational. *shrug*
When I was in high school (don’t ask how long ago that was!), James Buchanan was listed by most specialists in American history as the worst president. His low rating was an embarrassment for my home town because Buchanan retired there after he left the White House. He had bought a house called Wheatland in 1848 and lived there from 1861 until his death in 1868. Wheatland was one of the places school kids were routinely taken to visit, partly because it was local and partly because it is a genuinely interesting and well-built Federal-style house.
I have sometimes wondered whether Buchanan’s failed presidency is the reason why no other candidate from Pennsylvania has ever won the White House. Jean Baker, who published a biography of Buchanan in 2004, summarized him as follows: “He was that most dangerous of chief executives, a stubborn, mistaken ideologue whose principles held no room for compromise. His experience in government had only rendered him too self-confident to consider other views.”
(Jean H. Baker, James Buchanan, the Fifteenth President, 1857-1861, New York: Times Books, Henry Holt and Co., 2004)
Does Baker’s view of Buchanan remind you of #46?
PA Cat:
Oh boy, does it ever! I may use that in a future post.
Yes, Buchanan is an excellent comparison for Biden. He had also been around forever before becoming president.
Biden and his puppet masters are simply accelerating the damage that Obama accomplished. Had Shrillery been elected, she’d have done the same.
They regard Trump as a mere road bump on the way to utopia.
PA+Cat,
“He was that most dangerous of chief executives, a stubborn, mistaken ideologue whose principles held no room for compromise. His experience in government had only rendered him too self-confident to consider other views.”
I have never read a more concise description of Obama.
neo and Griffin: Buchanan figures in one of my favorite stories about the pet cats given to Lincoln by his Secretary of State, William Seward: “The president doted on the cats, which he named Tabby and Dixie, so much that he once fed Tabby from the table during a formal dinner at the White House. When Lincoln’s embarrassed wife later observed that the action was ‘shameful in front of their guests,’ the president replied, ‘If the gold fork was good enough for former President James Buchanan, I think it is good enough for Tabby.'”
https://www.presidentialpetmuseum.com/pets/abraham-lincoln-cats/
Apropos of #46’s pet dog: it looks as if Jen Psaki lied through her teeth about how often Major bit other people (eight times between March 1 and March 8, one of those times at Biden’s house in Delaware). “If Psaki had just told the truth about the [dog bite] incidents, they still would have been a minor, one-day postscript to any news story. But the lies appear to have been instinctive, baked into this administration’s approach to anything that could possibly reflect badly upon them, however minor it might be. Even when caught, they stubbornly cling to their strategy of misleading us.”
https://thefederalist.com/2021/08/30/if-joe-bidens-team-will-lie-about-his-dog-biting-people-what-wont-they-lie-about/
Choosing the worst President in history is an exercise that is fraught with peril. There are many candidates. The fact that America survived some of the earlier ones is testament to our institutions, and the resilience of the American people. Of late, our institutions are crumbling and our people are not even in the same league as our forebears. In locker room terms, recent generations could not carry the athletic supporters of earlier ones.
Obama. How do we measure all of the damage that he has done? My wife just said that she trusted the statement of some General who was pontificating on TV. I responded that I trusted none. The current crop of senior Generals, and USN Flag Officers, were all appointed under Obama, for reasons that had little to do with competence or dedication to traditional American values. Yes, I know that I am cynical. No, I do not believe that I am excessively so.
Yes, Buchanan is an excellent comparison for Biden. He had also been around forever before becoming president.
Buchanan was in Congress for 22 years, not 36 years, at a time when Congress was in session only about 1/2 the time. He practiced law into middle age and had under his belt about five years in diplomatic posts and four as Secretary of State. Neither he nor his close relatives were the subject of scandal (just chuckling over his friendship with the dandyish bachelor representing Alabama in the Senate).
Do not overlook SecDef Austin, a black former general (!) whose primary concern on taking office was systemic racism in our armed forces. But he became a general, what racism? Maybe we need a bit more.
Our officer corps have been repopulated with incompetents, drunks, and louts, thanks to Barack Hussein.
Art Deco,
So Buchanan was around for 31 years instead of 36? Those five years matter that much?
Extreme nitpicking and not every detail has to be exactly comparable for a decent comparison to be made.
Plus, he was a month shy of 66 when inaugurated which was the second oldest president at that time and might be comparable to Biden’s age taking other factors into account which I’m sure you will nitpick as that seems to be your favorite thing to do.
In my view or guess, Sundowner is part 2 of Obama, maybe even Obama’s sycophants are calling the shots.
This is what David Horowitz, whom I absolutely trust, had to post today:
“The greatest threat to our military right now isn’t Russia or China.
It’s Washington D.C.
It’s the America-hating politicians subverting our armed forces with divisive propaganda.
It’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin — restructuring the Pentagon’s training to revolve around the doctrines and false history of Critical Race Theory and the 1619 Project.
It’s Bishop Garrison — hand selected by Secretary Austin to lead the military’s purge of conservatives, Trump supporters and patriots like you and me.
It’s Admiral Michael Gilday — pitting white sailors against nonwhite sailors, citing the works of America-hating Marxist Ibram X. Kendi.
It’s General Mark Milley — who sided with violent Black Lives Matter terrorists that torched our cities to the ground, bowing to the Critical Race Theory dogma to keep his job when Biden took office.
It’s Air Force Chief of Staff Charles Q. Brown Jr. (a leading candidate to replace General Milley) — betraying his own country and branch of the military as its top enlisted leader.
And it’s every last bureaucrat that appointed them, nominated them or enabled them.”
Oldflyer,
Traditional American values? From what I’ve seen of their performance, they’re not dedicated to passé things like operational readiness, warfighting, ship-handling, or even morale.
I don’t think you’re cynical in the slightest, let alone excessively. And you’re certainly not alone.
@ j e > “One of the more interesting theories concerning the real wielders of power in our decaying republic is that the choice of the cackling hyena as Biden’s running mate was made precisely because she is so unpopular even within her own corrupt party; thus, no matter how incompetent her superior, no-one would wish for her as a replacement for the senile buffoon.”
IIRC, that was the same rationale given for why Obama selected Biden for his VP: as an impeachment or assassination deterrent, because everyone (including Osama bin Laden) knew Scranton Joe would be terrible.
Of course, that was not a deterrence factor for OBL.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2020/04/24/bin-laden-wanted-to-kill-obama-so-totally-unprepared-biden-would-lead-u-s-into-crisis/
That puts Harris into a rather dreadful perspective.
Are the Democrats going to keep going down this vanishing railroad track?
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.LuTjHsdesRM2pCZk9YukxAHaFc%26pid%3DApi%26h%3D160&f=1
@ PA Cat > “But the lies appear to have been instinctive, baked into this administration’s approach to anything that could possibly reflect badly upon them, however minor it might be.”
Interesting post at the Federalist. My favorite clip:
“[Buchanan] was that most dangerous of chief executives, a stubborn, mistaken ideologue whose principles held no room for compromise. His experience in government had only rendered him too self-confident to consider other views.”
@ Geoffrey > “I have never read a more concise description of Obama.”
Indeed.
Of course, many people (left and right) said the same about Trump (substituting his LACK of experience in government as the proximate cause).
Any discussion?
#StillMyPresident
@ Cicero > This is what David Horowitz, whom I absolutely trust, had to post today: “The greatest threat to our military right now isn’t Russia or China.
It’s Washington D.C.”
Not disagreeing with any of the post, but I can’t find the original online.
Link??
Searching the first phrase got me this post, which was interesting, but not from Horowitz; the answer is still “Washington DC” but the villains are the Congress and its control over funding, which is not always optimally effective.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/us-militarys-biggest-enemy-isnt-russia-or-china-146317
And then there was this prescient post from Powerline, quoting Horowitz:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/06/biden-administration-turning-military-into-left-wing-force.php
Here are a few more on the same topic. Many other good choices on the Main page of Frontline.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/08/impeach-biden-daniel-greenfield/
“He committed treason. 13 Americans died. He should pay the price.”
And so it went, directly from Benghazi to Bagram.
I can think of an appropriate label for all of them that also starts with “B.”
Whether you agree with all of Thornton’s analysis or not (I think the Salon is about evenly divided), his conclusion is apt:
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/08/democracy-and-foreign-policy-bruce-thornton/
Bit cunning of Horowitz to have Bruce Thornton doing the Invade the World shtick and Greenfield doing the Fix up the Domestic Stuff routine!
Damn. Still, I’m gonna be nice and continue to boost Greenfield and pretend Thornton isn’t there. You never know, they might install a paternoster and then there won’t be any elevator buttons needing pushing 🙂
Extreme nitpicking and not every detail has to be exactly comparable for a decent comparison to be made.
You didn’t understand my post, which was perfectly straightforward. One of these men was a working lawyer with a handsome practice, the other was not. One was an experienced diplomat, the other was not. One was free from scandal, the other is the grossest pig ever to occupy the office. They’re not similar. This isn’t that difficult.