Editor’s Note: Obama drama

We have a national debt of over 14 trillion dollars, troops in Afghanistan, troops in Iraq, a world tragedy in Japan, so bombing Libya would be the next natural course of action.
Only now is NATO taking over control of enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya. Why the organization initially intended to handle this scenario in the first place, along with the fact that we sat back and watched Egypt implode under similar circumstances are issues for another day.
The real issue that should be discussed is that isn’t Barack Obama the same president who ran on campaign promises that included the complete and eventual withdrawal of forces from the Middle East? Now, set aside all of the other promises which we moderately addressed at best and focus on this one alone.
Since making this promise he has still failed to fully pull out of Iraq. He has found it prudent to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and he has failed to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Some of these moves have actually been beneficial. When it comes to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan several advances have been made. Both countries are considerably more stable and they are getting closer to being self-sufficient. For Libya the US led bombings have seriously weakened critical points of Qaddafi’s regime and given the rebel movement a foothold.
The success or lack of success of these actions however is not the issue at hand.
Where the problem ensues is the idea of having a president you can trust. If the country does not believe you will follow through on what you promise, it will only get worse. The American people is not an easy animal to win over. It is an even harder animal to keep happy, and once that animal is out of the yard, it is virtually impossible to get back.
Anyone needing an example of this can simply look back as few as three years ago when George W. Bush was packing up his office. Thrown in the box alongside his favorite photo of his children was his long past floundering 22 percent approval rating. This was the lowest ever in American history.
Obama, according to the most recent Gallup poll is now sitting at 48 percent for his approval rating. While this number sounds like a mountain compared to Bush’s final statistics, there are striking similarities when you look at the roads they have chosen.
Bush actually set a record with a 90 percent approval rating after the Sept. 11 attacks. Obama came in at a meager 60 percent. In Bush’s third year he was midway into his meteoric collapse at about 58 percent. Currently Obama, now in his third year, is at 50 percent and falling.
Bush began one war, which advanced into another country. Obama reentered that initial war and has now chosen to involve our country in another altercation.
Obama, much like Bush, came in riding high on a wave of emotion. That wave can only carry him so far. Eventually he will have to stick to his convictions and truly come through on his promises. If he cannot do that he may end up repeating the unenviable finish to his presidential career as Bush.
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