President Obama makes enemies

The intelligence leaks that have been occurring for the past few months are a classic example. Maybe he is not directly responsible. However, they are happening on his watch. This is extremely sloppy, at the very best. And they have a disturbing pattern of being to his political advantage. These leaks are damaging our relations with our allies and certainly will not buy us any new friends, particularly in the vital Middle East. Is the United States CHANGING sides? (Not exactly how you make allies, but it does make new enemies) Our allies are not going to become openly hostile to us. What is going to happen will be a chilling of the flow of sensitive information simply because we cannot be trusted to keep that information private. At least this is one place where President Obama is fulfilling his promise that his administration was going to be one of the most transparent governments we have seen. Yet these leaks can potentially jeopardize our national security. This is not exactly where I wanted him to be open. This will certainly make domestic enemies, even among those who are firmly in his camp. This is a pattern that is becoming all too familiar. The resistance that is now being seen against his policies has become so great that he cannot get much if anything, done at all. While this is not all that uncommon in politics, what is uncommon is his continuing to double down on his policies when most politicians adjust their positions to become more accommodating. I had been told that this was strength of his. I have yet to see this and we have had more than a year and a half since the 2010 elections. In other words, a year and a half of opportunities to demonstrate President Obama’s famous ability to ‘bring us all together’. This moderation is vital for a representative form of government so that the work of the people can continue. And President Obama claims that he is listening and accommodating while his political opposition is not? The result can only be what we are seeing today: Gridlock. This is an election year, so some of this is expected. Politicians naturally tend to push issues off until after the election, this way they cannot be held accountable until after the following election. But if he is faced with the possibility of losing, he will be forced to act. With his domestic enemies so entrenched, it will leave him with little else except foreign policy. This is where national security enters the picture. While I like to think that our President really wants what is best for our country, President Obama’s past behavior leaves me with little to no confidence that the next six months will be very good for United States interests. (At least what I see as being in our interest.) I hope that this ends here. What concerns me is that this may not be the end of it. We still have almost 5 more months until the election. We already have plenty of enemies. We don’t need any more.