Cry me a river

MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) - A year after his historic election, President Barack Obama sought to remind Americans on Wednesday the biggest problems he is grappling with -- from the economy to the war in Afghanistan -- are the legacy of his predecessor, George W. Bush.

With his approval ratings down from once-lofty levels and Tuesday's Democratic election losses raising questions about his political clout, Obama held no special ceremony to mark the anniversary of his election as America's first black president.

He instead traveled to Wisconsin to appear before a friendly audience in a school gymnasium and promote education as a pillar of his economic recovery efforts.

Obama was elected on a promise of sweeping change after eight years under Bush, but many Americans are increasingly expressing impatience that his pledge has yet to bear fruit.

He used the preamble of his speech to insist his administration had indeed had important successes and also to remind Americans of the litany of daunting challenges he inherited when he took office in January.

"One year ago, Americans all across this country went to the polls and cast ballots for the future they wanted to see," Obama said.

But he said his administration was also confronted with a "financial crisis that threatened to plunge our economy into a Great Depression, the worst that we've seen in generations."

"We had record deficits, two wars, frayed alliances around the world," Obama added.

President Obama, or the manchild as Rush calls him, is emotionally incapable of accepting responsibility. Credit he will claim even when it is not due him, but responsibility is alien to him.

This is why Mr. Obama's crybaby whinging about the mess the previous president left him with has to be examined closely.

The Financial Mess. It is true that exercised almost no restraint on a Republican congress that was determined to spend like Democrats. It is also true that Bush authored some big spending programs of his own. But here are some facts.

One, while it is true that the first big budget-busting chunk of money to be spent by the government to help the financial markets recover (TARP) was a Bush administration program it enjoyed more support among Democrats than Republicans. Then Senator Obama supported and voted for TARP, as did the entire House and Senate Democrat leadership.

Two, the meltdown in the mortgage lending industry which triggered the current financial crisis was caused by government policies which were authored by Democrats. The idea that people should be given home loans that they have almost no chance of being able to pay back because everybody has a "right" to a house was something so stupid that not even a RINO like Lindsey Graham could have come up with it. Ultra-left legislators like Barny Frank acted as human shields to protect Fannie Mae and Fredie Mac from the kind of regulation (which George W Bush wanted to impose on them) which might have prevented the current crisis.

Three, Obama complains about Bush's deficit but he has increased that deficit by orders of magnitude and is seeking to increase it even more. If the problem is that Bush spent too much isn't the answer to spend LESS?

Two Wars. Yes we are fighting two wars in response to an attack on American soil which killed more Americans than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Afghanistan was not simply sheltering Osama bin Laden he was acting as an unofficial participant in the Taliban government of that nation. And Saddam Hussein was writing large checks to the families of suicide bombers, giving more and more young men - and women - incentive to strap on an explosive belt and murder innocent people.

Frayed Alliances. If Mr. Obama is so worried about our relationship with our allies then why is he offering a series of calculated insults to those same allies? Obama has insulted the British people as a whole and both the Prime Minister and Queen individually. The French have been so disappointed with Obama that they have largely given up on trying to forge a closer relationship with the US and are now looking to do military and nuclear deals in Asia and the Middle East. And in the latest flipping off of a European ally Obama is boycotting the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The reasons for Obama's refusal to acknowledge the significance of the event which symbolizes the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany are not entirely clear but among them are probably these.

The defeat of the Soviet Empire was done before Obama became president and in Obama's world the USA only became capable of doing anything good when he was elected president.

Ronald Reagan was responsible for the final victory over the Soviets and Obama hates Reagan because Reagan, as a free market capitalist and enemy of big-brother nanny state government, is the exact opposite of Obama.

The celebrations will be held at the Brandenburg Gate which is where Ronald Reagan made his "tear down this wall" speech. The Gate's reopening is a symbol of German reunification which was only possible because of the fall of the USSR. As a Marxist Obama resents the fact that the world's first communist nation was beaten by the capitalist West.

And finally, and with what we know about Obama's massive narcissism perhaps the most likely reason for Obama's refusal to attend the festivities in Germany is that Obama had wanted to address the German people from the Brandenburg Gate during the campaign but had to back off after too many objections were raised about his plan to use such a potent German symbol as a prop in a campaign speech. Having had his whim denied Obama is still in a snit and he won't go unless they beg him.

And we won't even talk about how Obama has alienated the Israelis (one of our strongest allies in the world and the only true friend we have in the region).

For a president who was supposed to heal the damage allegedly caused by the Bush administration in our international relationships seems to be doing little more than driving away our closest friends.

I like the fact that Obama keeps trying to play the "Bush card". Every time he does he simply makes himself look smaller and less to be taken seriously. In the short term this is bad for America because as our enemies take the measure of the insignificant little punk that sits in the Oval Office they will be emboldened. However in the long run this is good for the country because it will pave the way for an easy GOP victory in 2012 as Sarah Palin, or any other conservative Republican, will win simply by demonstrating to the nation that they are a fully functioning adult.