Word Association Presidential Style

Presidential periods can be summed up in single words, and I don’t just mean presidential agendas. I mean in the broader scope of things. You can define an era using single words and do so remarkably well. At this point, I think we can define Obama’s era, so let’s do that. In fact, I think you’ll find his word to be surprisingly fitting. Read on.

Before getting to Obama, let’s back up so you can see what I mean. The word that described Jimmy Carter’s administration was “malaise.” Everything seemed to be grinding to a halt and nobody cared about anything. There was a real sense that the world’s better days were behind it and everyone was just waiting for the lights to go out. If you don’t believe me, just watch a few episodes of Barney Miller and you’ll get the vibe of the era. . . rundown, resigned, defeated. People even talked about the Presidency being too big of a job for one man.

If I had to pick a word for Reagan’s era, it would be “deregulation.” Reagan privatized government functions, slashed regulations, and devolved power to the people. But most importantly, Reagan instilled the idea that America was a do-it-yourself nation and we didn’t need Washington telling us how.

Then came Bush Sr. His word was “multilateral” because he wanted everyone to hold hands and play follow the consensus on everything from budgets to war, which is exactly how horrible, gutless decisions get made. It’s a thousand points of pathetic if you ask me. Fitting with Bush’s timid mindset, this was the age of “consensus leadership” in management schools, as if there can be such a thing. . . leading from behind.

Bill Clinton’s word was “pretend.” Heh heh. Good old Bill did what anyone married to Hillary would have done... he pretended he wasn’t married and he dragged a $10 bill through a trailer park and a cigar through an intern. But Bill was hardly alone in his peckerdilloes, hence, this word defines his era. Indeed, the people who pursued him so obsessively had likewise been buggering the interns as they pretended they were Christian soldiers in good standing. Bill friends and biggest supporters were all Hollywood types, i.e. the land of make-believe. His foreign policy was make-believe as well as he pretended that launching a couple cruise missiles would wipe out terrorism. The stock market was all pretend too as companies with no prospects of ever making money were valued higher than the world’s greatest cash cows. . . tech-bubble make-believe.

W’s word was “incompetent.” Bush took office under a cloud of incompetence in our electoral system as we got to watch some truly incompetent people count hanging chads. Then Bush stepped in with incompetent political messaging combined with an incompetent defense of conservatism, incompetent handling of regulations, incompetent handling of Iraq and Afghanistan, and incompetent handling of budgets. But he wasn’t exactly alone. Incompetent car companies and banks collapsed after incompetent regulators assure them of bailouts. Why? Because they made loans to people who weren’t competent to pay them back and they traded in these things even though they weren’t competent to understand them and their insurers weren’t competent enough to value what they had insured.

And now we know Obama’s word: “frustration.”

In a broader sense, Obama’s term has been nothing but frustration: people are frustrated finding jobs. They are frustrated that their homes lost value. They are frustrated there is nowhere to invest. They are frustrated that nothing seems to want to get better. Europe is frustrated by its never-ending Eurozone crises. The world is frustrated by pirates, petty dictators with nuclear missiles, and a never-ending supply of terrorists.

Obama specifically has been huge on frustration. He frustrated moderate/conservative whites who thought voting for him would mean a shift to the right for the Democrats, an end to racial strife, and a less polarized political system. That didn’t happen because Obama has zero ability to create consensus or to work with those he doesn’t like. He is polarization personified. Conservatives have been frustrated by a budget that has gone out of control, Obama’s destruction of our healthcare system, and our inability to win the public to our side.

Liberals are frustrated because Obama can’t seem to pass anything they wanted. And some of them are starting to realize that (1) this is because Obama is lazy and (2) this is because the Democrats are lying about their intent to pass things. Think about the things Obama dangled before their selfish eyes:

● universal medical coverage
● an assault weapon ban, gun registration, and an assortment of measures to slowly end the private ownership of guns
● cap and trade
● an end to corporate privilege
● ending too-big-too fail and regulating big banks
● gay marriage
● illegal alien amnesty
● an equal pay law for women
● national back-door unionization through the NLRB
● and so on...

So far, all he’s delivered has been money for big business and a “healthcare” plan that puts people at the mercy of big insurers. . . something even his supporters are seeing as a pending disaster. Beyond this, leftist journalists are getting frustrating dealing with him personally. Late-night comedians have been frustrated by their inability to poke fun at such a soft target. Foreign governments are getting frustrated at the constant sleights and uncooperativeness of Obama’s administration. Leftists are frustrated that they sold their souls to this man with the idea being he would stop things like drone attacks and global warming and now they are being played.

I suspect that looking back at this period in time, future historians will call this period a Dark Ages for leadership, with the exception of Reagan. But even before we get to that, I think we’ve found Obama’s word... frustration. Watch for it as we move to the end of his term.