The Prodigal Prince

A “prodigal” is a person who is a spendthrift, who spends money recklessly and wastefully; in other words, a person who squanders his or her resources. That Obama is a prodigal, I have no doubt, that he is a prince I have no doubt that he thinks he is. Probably his most valuable asset is his silver tongue. He has a talent for obfuscation, which can certainly be an asset for a politician, especially one who wants to mislead. But his employment of his talent is nothing new. In 1826 James Fenimore Cooper (1789 – 1851) published “The Last of the Mohicans.” The most despicable character in the book is a gifted orator and after one of his speeches, is described by Cooper as follows:

“In short, he so blended the warlike with the artful, the obvious with the obscure, as to flatter the propensities of both parties, and to leave to each subject of hope, while neither could say it clearly comprehended his intentions.. ..The orator or the politician, who can produce such a state of things is commonly popular with his contemporaries, however he may be treated by posterity. All perceived that more was meant than was uttered, and each one believed that the hidden meaning was precisely such as his own faculties enabled him to understand or his own wishes led him to anticipate.”

That description fits President Obama to a “T.” Obama and his speech writers are masters of the art of deception. Even his winning campaign slogan, “Change you can believe in,” defies definition. And his use or should I say abuse of the word “hope,” appealed to enough of the gullible to get him elected. No one can deny that we certainly have change and we can only hope it is for the better in the long run.

I will say this for Obama, he is quick to seize an opportunity and he has been incredibly lucky in politics. The Republican who would have won the senate seat in Illinois, Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race after the details of his divorce from his actress wife, Jeri Ryan, were made public - even though both parties signed legal documents agreeing to keep the details confidential. A California judge overruled the agreement at the request of the news media. Then, after serving in the U.S. Senate for less than a year he sensed an opportunity that only comes once in a lifetime. It was almost a given that a Democrat would be elected to the Presidency. It is rare in American politics for the same party to keep the White House more than 8 years. So, he went for it and as luck would have it his competitors for the democratic nomination made so many mistakes they made him look good. And then the Republicans were dumb enough to nominate McCain, a man who just could not energize the party. He only did as well as he did because of Sarah Palin.

But the press, for reasons I will never understand, looked over the facts that Obama belonged to a radical church, that he had many radical friends, that he really considered himself a Muslim, that he would not or could not produce a birth certificate, that he refused to open his college records, and that he could not point to any significant accomplishment in his life, except to vote “present” for every controversial vote when he was a state senator, and so on ad nauseum. When looked at as a whole, his career has been almost magical. He has had all the breaks fall his way. How many times in the history of this country has one party had a commanding lead in the House, had the magic 60 seats in the Senate and held the White House at the same time?

It is almost too good to be true. He has everything going for him, but I think he will turn out to be the Prodigal Prince. Prodigal, because he will squander it in self-indulgence and a prince because he acts like one. He has already lost his 60 seat margin in the Senate and even if the Democrats keep control of the house and Senate after the November elections, he will have lost his ability to pass everything he wants. So, the question to ask ourselves is what will the remainder of his term be like and does he have a chance for a second term? My guess is that the remainder of his term will be very frustrating to him. He can no longer ignore the Republicans and therefore will have to reduce his expectations. Plus, he has managed to enrage so many people that he now faces nationwide opposition not seen since the Viet Nam protests.

As for a second term, that depends more on who the Republicans nominate than on what Obama does. We can expect more of the same from Obama, but his oratory will wear thin as his ambitious goals fail to succeed. If the Republicans can find another Reagan out there, who has the courage to take off the gloves, Obama will be history. So, I think the Prodigal Prince will ultimately fail as all prodigals do, but Obama will not seek forgiveness. He’ll never be able to get past his own pride. And he will never understand that he is President of all the people, not just the far left.

And that is how I feel today.