The Obama Mystery

We used to argue about G. W. Bush--was he shrewd in a vicious way or merely a stupid burned-out dry drunk or perhaps something else entirely? I never found a convincing answer that explained his murderous behavior, other than the obvious fact that he lacked decent parents. (I know I treat the Bush family badly, but so did Mother Nature.)

Now we wonder about Obama. What makes him tick? He's been accused of being racist, Republican, Kenyan, detesticulated, dumb, etc. None of that rings true. But Obama does remind me of Eisenhower, another President whose approach to solving a problem was to seek the middle. We all have lifelong strategies for coping--Obama's is to seek the middle between black and white. Under pressure he reverts to his basic problem-solving strategy.

If you're old enough, you can remember Eisenhower, a Republican, accepting in a half-hearted way the changes of the New Deal. During WW II, Ike's job was to keep a balance between the opposing strategies of Montgomery and Bradley. Ike mediated from the middle. Later he kept us out of wars but sent in the CIA assassins, much as Obama sends in drones. When Joseph McCarthy attacked Ike's beloved army and his mentor, George Marshall, Ike fumed in private but kept out of the conflict, letting others cope with it.

I expect history to find Eisenhower, as President, above average--the modern average being a half-demented ignoramus. Obama is also above average, but doomed to negotiate the middle with the Wall Street Oligarchy who, in turn, have to negotiate with radical right teabaggers too stupid to feed themselves soup.

What a great system of governance we have.