The Obama Strategy

A fellow blogger Radaractive was questioning what lies behind Obama's actions in response to the BP oil spill. It soon became apparent from my response, that Obama seems to follow a pattern, which I have dubbed as the Obama Strategy...

Q: So what is it? Is the President stupid and indecisive, or is he simply pursuing a course of action that would dynamically and completely change America into Venezuela North?

A: I believe that there are/were a number of things running through Obama's brain.

1) Find somebody to blame. If something goes wrong, make sure you have someone to blame... and it's never yourself. Economic problems? Blame Bush. War in Afghanistan? Blame Bush. Health care problems? Blame doctors and insurance companies. Big bonuses for financial execs? Blame Wall Street "fat cats".

2) Arouse your base against the perceived "culprit". Give a speech or two vilifying the "bad guy" and get some photo-ops with people cheering and clapping. Never stop campaigning.

3) Shake down the "bad guys" for money. Evil "rich" people? Tax them. Nasty health insurance companies? Impose taxes. Greedy Wall Street "fat cats"? Cut their salaries and get them to return their bonuses. BP? Make them put $20 billion in escrow.

4) Take care of your friends. Stimulus money available? Make sure it goes "overwhelmingly" to blue states and districts that voted for you. GM going bankrupt? Seize money from the bondholders and give it to the union. California wants to cut the pay of SEIU members? Threaten CA to cut off stimulus funds. Oil spill? Don't waive the Jones Act.

5) Punish those who resist you. Tea Party people? Call them racist, right-wing, extremists. Stimulus money available? Make sure as little as possible goes to states and districts that voted for McCain. Need to close some Chrysler dealerships? Make sure they belong to Republicans. Red states along the Gulf of Mexico? Let them eat tarballs.

6) Never let a good crisis go to waste. Economic crisis? Use it to seize banks. Auto companies in trouble? Seize them. Health care costs skyrocketing? Seize 1/6th of the US economy (and the student loan industry while we're at it). BP oil spill? Use it to push "green energy" and "cap-and-tax".

7) Be persistent. Health care stalled? Keep pushing. Polls running against health care? Shove it down their throats. Scott Brown win in MA? Use reconciliation. People still not convinced about "green energy" after the oil spill? Shut down all the oil rigs in the Gulf.

8) Hide your lack of executive experience. Lots of issues to deal with? Appoint czars. Need legislation? Let Pelosi and Reid come up with it. McChrystal asks for 40,000 more troops? Say you need time to "re-evaluate the strategy". Oil spill? Let BP and the Coast Guard handle it. People crying for action? Appoint a commission.

9) Enjoy yourself. Play some golf. Have a few parties. Host some celebrities. Go out on date night at the taxpayers' expense. You've "earned" it.