The Year of Obama: 2009 in Review

As the calendar year comes to a close, it’s important to reflect on the challenges and opportunities laid out since Obama took office in January; the critical points of 2009 that will define 2010.

First let’s look at the bad. The two truly dangerous failures of the Obama administration thus far are:

1) The economy: Obama pledged to implement a recovery plan that would yield immediate results. Nearly 12 months later the unprecedented $3 trillion deficit has yet to create new jobs or stabilize the still perilous housing market. Besides being another failed government spending program, the recovery plan has left America with a $13 trillion national debt, which now exceeds the annual GDP. That means America is living on borrowed money more than ever.

The addiction of debt-based spending is a downward spiral that results in more and more American currency going to foreign bond holders, thus devaluing the dollar. Not only does this make all imported goods more expensive (which alone hurts the economy), it forces an increase in interest rates on bonds to make them more attractive to foreign investors.

The debt is fast becoming a existential problem for a government which cannot “outgrow” the problem, and rather than tighten its belt, is planning a new huge spending program for health care. Keep your eye on this as Obama spends even more in 2010.

2) Foreign Policy : By speaking softly and carrying no stick, Obama has essentially jettisoned America’s deterrence vis a vis hostile countries the world over. North Korea thumbed its nose at the US as it test fired its long range missiles, with no American response. Instead, the US was forced to station defensive surface-to-air missiles in Hawaii for its own defense.

Iran continues to build its nuclear-holocaust weapon unabated as the Jimmy Carter of our day also manages to allow a much needed insurrection opportunity following the rigged Iranian elections go wasted.

Even in less hostile waters Obama has shown himself to be a total failure as a diplomat. His much touted visit to China accomplished nothing, and his one-sided approach to the Arab-Israeli has not even yielded the limited goals he hoped for. Instead he has managed only to damage American-Israeli relations and raise Arab hopes - only to be dashed – leaving a sense of heightened frustration.

Afghanistan too, has seen a deterioration over the last 11 and a half months, despite Obama’s build up – a build up which deepens America’s commitment to a conflict that increasing numbers of American’s no longer see the benefit of.

But no, all is not lost, for Year of Obama has also given us hope for the future. Because of Obama’s failures and radical policies, American’s have made an about-face on the president, one going beyond the typical mid-term decline in ratings. A poll conducted by Rasmussen 12/24/09 gave Obama a disapproval rating of 56%, with 44% of respondents “strongly disapproving” of his administration. Compare that to his 65% approval rating with only 16% strongly disapproving when he took office January 20th. Hopefully voters will remember 2009 when they enter the voting booths in November 2010.

The second important development of 2009 was the emergence of the so-called “Tea Parties”. Its been long in coming that average Americans do what the far-left thrived off of during the Iraq War under Bush; make their opinions known. The armchair democracy of relying solely on voting to affect change isn’t enough. To maintain a healthy democracy, the people must be ready, willing, and able to make the kind of demonstrations that gain attention and remind politicians who really is in charge. This is equally true for Republican administrations and lawmakers. They too have been guilty over the last few years of ignoring their constituents. Hopefully this phenomenon will affect real change in coming year.

With or Without You: Iran's Ongoing Upheaval

AP: Witnesses: Iran police fire on protesters; 4 dead (27-12-2009)

“demonstrators fought back furiously against security forces, hurling stones at them and setting their motorcycles, cars and vans ablaze”

“In Tehran, protesters tried to cut off roads with burning barricades that filled the sky with billowing black smoke. One police officer was photographed with blood streaming down his face after he was set upon by the crowd in a blazing street.”

“he protests began with thousands of opposition supporters chanting "Death to the dictator"

These are just a few scenes of the ongoing insurrection underway in Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard has been working overtime since the allegedly rigged elections of the past summer to quell the growing movement of rebellion.

Frustrated over the corruption of the present regime and its stifling adherence to Islam’s Sharia Law and facing severe economic troubles in the wake of Teheran’s vehemently anti-Western stance, hundreds of thousands of Iran’s secular young urbanites have begun to undo what their parents did 30 years ago, when Iran’s pro-Western Shah was dethroned, forced into exile, and replaced with Ayatollah Khomeni’s Islamic regime.

Like then, the United States suffers from an inept and indecisive Democratic President who fails to appreciate the urgency of the situation. In 1978 Jimmy Carter failed to provide the backing to the Shah necessary to stave off the infant revolutionary movement and the reassure middle class Iranians of the stability of the government. In so doing he allowed one of America’s principle allies in the region and a major supplier of oil to turn into one of its worst enemies.

Today Barak Obama makes the same mistake by offering little support to the growing revolution against Ahmadinejad, despite the latter’s plans for constructing nuclear arms and wiping Israel off the face of the Earth; not to mention his support of Islamic terror groups the world over. Obama made no demands of Iran vis a vis the election and continues to refuse to apply pressure, either economic or military, to Iran with regards to its nuclear program.

One can only hope that this time the pro-Western elements will win out despite the utter failure of America’s Democrat president to support them.