Not the individual?

Submitted by Peter Herz (United States), Apr 17, 2011 at 18:54

It is also interesting that Dubya Bush ran on a platform of no new nation-building exercises after seeing the fiascos of intervening in Somalia and the Balkans. However, the events of 9/11 cause him to do a radical about face. In this respect, Obama is also like Bush, in that he has been pressed by circumstances to act contrary to his own instincts.

However, I cannot help but note that Obama and Co. saved their loudest criticisms not for Qaida and its allies, but for their Republican rivals. It still seems to be the case that the O's biggest enemies aren't Qaida, North Korea, or the Iranian mullahs, but still the American energy industry, pro-life people, Americans concerned about the US national debt, and the Republican Party. Bush, at least, was faced by a clear national crisis after 9/11, and may be excused a little for succumbing to the American politico's all-too-common "Do Something! Anything! No matter how dumb!" syndrome.

Obama, by contrast, had the whole campaigning period and two years of advice from the government's best generals, intelligence people, and security analysts. Something tells me that the infamous run-in with Joe the Plumber shows that Obama's lack of intelligence and "first class personality" when faced with something other than adulation wasn't sui generis.

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