When previous administrations have run up against the reality that campaigning is different than governing, there has usually been an attempt to make the best of compromises with the other party and the nations of the world.  The Obama administration, though, just decided to stay in campaign mode.  You're not happy with how project "A" turned out?  Well, did you know that George Bush left a real mess?  There's just no way to move forward because of that dumb ol' George Bush!  From listening to this White House, it would be easy to suppose that this administration is the first one in the history of the Republic to inherit difficulties from the previous one.  I have scoured the history books, but can find no record of Dwight Eisenhower whining and sniveling about the problems left over from the Truman administration.

What, then, was the promise of the Obama administration just a year ago, then?  Well, for one thing, we were assured that he would restore respect for America in the eyes of the world.  A cursory glance at the newspapers from around the globe will show that the President flamed out on that one.  Not only is he regularly ridiculed in the pages of papers in the lands of American enemies--as one would expect, but he's been lampooned in the pages of the London Times and Le Monde.  His clumsy inattention to basic protocol among heads of state has provided a lot of grist for the mill in London and Paris. 

He did "win" a Nobel Peace Prize, but much of the glow came off that event when he ordered thousands of troops to Afghanistan--making it clear that, no matter what he says, American combat forces will be deployed for far longer than anybody hoped.  He also has antagonized our German friends by leaning on them to send troops as well.  The belief, from the words he uttered on the campaign trail, was that American forces would be winding down--and only winding down--combat operations on his watch. 

The President called for a stimulus package in order to keep unemployment below 8.5%.  In fact, he assured Congress that, unless the package was approved immediately, there would be no way to keep unemployment below that figure.  Congress immediately approved it and unemployment jumped above 10%--just as anybody with even a cursory knowledge of markets and history could have told him would happen.  Now, after three "stimulus" efforts in the last few years that have done much damage to the economy--but no good--he is urging a fourth stimulus package.  Naturally, Congress must approve it at once or something really terrible will happen. 

Candidate Obama spoke of the need to close the prison at GuantanamoBay.  His pronouncements on the evils of the place were greeted with the cheers one would expect for truly Solomonic statements.  Holding people without charge for indeterminate periods of time is clearly wicked and unbecoming a civilized country.  His followers anxiously awaited the closing of the prison.  Alas, they are still waiting, and have grown uneasy with the administrations claims in court that the President has the power to hold certain people without charge for indeterminate periods of time.  On the plus side, he has assured the public that some of the men held there will be brought to New York for trial.  Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much point since the Attorney General has made clear that it will be impossible for the accused to be acquitted.  Nobody in the administration has explained how an exercise in forgone conclusions can be deemed a "trial", but perhaps that's just one of those new meanings for the word we'll all have to get used to.  Amnesty International criticized the administration's latest plan to move all the inmates to a vacant federal facility in Illinois.  The spokesman for the group asserted, correctly, that all the Obama administration was doing was changing the prison's ZIP code. 

Now we come to health care reform.  Ah, yes!  The administration would enact a plan to lower costs for everybody while extending coverage to the uninsured.  Assurances by the economically literate that such a plan would be impossible were shrugged off.  Obama's followers enthusiastically embraced the idea that they would receive this wonderful new benefit and "somebody else" would pay for it.  Now, the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget agree that the plan would raise costs and fail to cover the uninsured.  However, it is vital that we pass it as quickly as possible.  Don't even read the bill.  Just vote yes.  It's very important and all hopey-changey.

This President's efforts are failing to meet expectations in a way unmatched in the last half-century.  Despite a HUGE majority in both houses of Congress and incessant cheerleading from his friends in the dominant liberal mass media, he is not getting what he promised he would and his approval ratings are rapidly declining.  Americans do not often fire their Presidents.  In three years, they will have that question put to them.  Perhaps his calls to hurry and do everything quickly stem from well-founded fears that his days in the White House are dwindling faster than anybody thought.