Academic Illusions

Watching President Obama for the last 10 months or so, it has become painfully clear that he lacks many core leadership traits. Perhaps chief among these is the ability to make decisions. Ask any military vet - a good officer will take stock of a situation, evaluate what information is available (even if that information is limited) and decide on a course of action. That course may be modified or later abandoned. But no choice is always the wrong choice.

Take the Somali pirate standoff, for instance. A few teenage punks held America at bay for 5 long days, because our CIC cannot make a decision. Well, he wants to have all the facts in place and avoid rushing to judgement, you might say. In a vacuum, that is a good trait, but the critical distinction our President fails to make is that the real world is not a university campus.

Obama, for all his talk, comes from a sheltered and fluffy life. He carries out his duties as President as if he were president of a university. Roundtables, committees, speeches, position statements. In the world of academia, not much has to actually be accomplished to say you did something. Unfortunately, Obama is more concerned with the appearance of being POTUS than the heavy responsibility it demands. The world we live in is a harsh place with bad people, and they do not respond to the assistant vice provost of student affairs issuing a memo to convene a discussion hour in the quadrangle.

Same thing with the farce of a trial now proposed for KSM. First, Obama insults our intelligence by claiming he had no idea Holder made that decision. Second, this is moral grandstanding, some sort of posturing to showcase our enlightenment. It's as if Obama were writing a paper on the way he'd like things to be, as we the public are the words and paragraphs. Sadly for us, this is not taking place in the cocoon of Columbia...this is real.

Also note Obama's reluctance to take a stand on any subject when he cannot control the outcome. He refused to make anything resembling a clear statement on whether or not he wanted a public option in the healthcare bill. Since the end result was unknown, Professor Obama was not about to say anything concrete. That would pin him to a position he might have to defend. It would require fortitude, steadfastness, an adherence to core principles, and the stones to take the heat for something he truly believes. I can respect a man who states his case, and sticks with it. What disgusts me is a slippery, unsubstantial, constantly shifting person who waits for the certainty provided by better men than himself before he will choose a side.

Just like the French cowards in WWII who were happy to side with Germans when their military might became clear, so it seems our President is content to go with the flow. Straining against the current is awfully hard work.