Tea And Sympathy

Watching bits and pieces of Obama's speech last night, I once more find myself feeling sorry for the might mite. Yes, I am partisan but I can also be a coldly objective political commentator. No matter the situation, that coldly objective analyst screams (silently in my head) whenever Obama does anything. "Isn't anyone advising this guy? Isn't anyone offering him some common sense guidance?"

I used to be a fan of prize fighting. I liked to watch young fighters work their way up the ladder. In 1976 both Ray Leonard and Howard Davis won gold medals for the US Olympic team (as did the Brothers Spinks.) At the time of the Olympics Davis and Leonard were of comparable ability even though Leonard was a weight class up from Davis.

The two fighters found different management and as they say, the rest is history. Davis's people padded their fighter's record with unworthy opponents. He ascended quickly but the Peter Principle set in early. He was unprepared when he finally met up with real fighters.

Ray Leonard's people meanwhile, played him like a Stradivarius. Each opponent was a little bit better than the next and each foe was different. Leonard found himself matched against diffferent physical prototypes and boxers with every style imaginable. He was a welterweight but his people matched him against journeymen middleweights. The result: A career that some writers still use words like "legend" and "legendary" to describe. When he is discussed today, it is often to compare him to the greats of other eras.

Obama is Howard Davis. He always had someone pulling strings for him. The Illinois Senate race, the US Senate Race, the 2008 campaign and general election. To go back to Sugar Ray once more, his handlers sometimes fought him in front of crowds that could be gently described as partisan.

Obama never faced any opposition in life and when he finally ran into resistance he was not prepared for it. The media stacked the deck for their guy and in the long run, they might not have done him any favors. I don't know who lobbied for The Pampered One's Nobel Prize but they might have done more harm than good. Now, as their guy faces slings and arrows and atrocious poll numbers, they scream for him to fight. Fact is, Obama has never learned skills like negotiation and leadership. He was thrown into the limelight without ever paying his dues. The results are pathetic.

Thirty one or so years ago P. J. O'Rourke wrote that he wanted Ted Kennedy to defeat Jimmy Carter as he did not feel guilty making fun of Ted Kennedy because he could probably give it right back. Jimmy Carter, on the other hand, was just pathetic. Barack Obama is the new frontier of pathos. I won't be sad to see him go but part of me feels sympathy for his ineptitude and contempt for the people around him.

Barack Obama: Sad But True.