Military defeat at Waterloo put an end to Napoleon's rule as the French emperor for good in 1815... and lent us all a useful metaphor in the process.
It's now beginning to appear that Obamacare might turn out to be a crushing defeat for our emperor, too... as observed by Jim DeMint (R-SC) on the Senate floor yesterday. Bonaparte had his political ups-and-downs to be sure, even returning from exile... but at least he got 17 years out of it. Obama's polls are tanking after just five months, an incredible waste of political capital and public goodwill... and he now looks to be facing potentially humiliating defeats on two pillars of his far-left agenda.
Team Obama and congressional Democrats might as-well be operating under the banner "Hope and Change...and do it Yesterday!" as they keep the pedal-to-the-metal, attempting to ram-through both Cap-n-Trade climate change and Obamacare semi-nationalized health-care legislation in rapid succession. They are now employing the same anti-democratic M.O. as with the previous $800B "stimulus" and subsequent $400B omnibus spending bill... voting largely along party lines with no real debate, various shenanigans like 300-page "amendments" dropped in the hopper at 3am, always an extra helping of pork served-up for all at the (think Roman banquet) table... and of course lawmakers have not read much of these 1000+ page bills. Perhaps the reason there's been no plans for debate from the Democratic leadership is that these big-government programs are disingenuous at the core- and have a lot more to do with monstrous tax-and-power grabs than the supposed public-good they exploit as a facade.
Now, with Barack feeling the pressure as poll numbers slip, he brings-on one of his familiar strawmen: "There are those in Washington who say that we should do nothing"- this time on health care. According to Obama, the only viable alternative anyone's considered to his proposal -a radical trillion-dollar-program, including the basis for fully-socialized medicine- is to do nothing. The GOP -nor really anyone else- has ever said anything like that, of course.
And Barack Obama will never say to your face what he actually plans to do -or achieve- with these huge new government programs. The truth is that this administration is out to completely nationalize healthcare... they'll be no private health insurance industry left after five years of Obamacare... but as has become standard practice, the President is lying about it. We are all expected to admire and praise the beauty of the socialist Trojan horses Obama keeps rolling-out, but you're forbidden to look inside or ask any questions that he doesn't feel like answering.
Rather than admit that this is was the goal from the get-go, you get some specious oratory with styrofoam props to wow the plebes and keep them in the ether, like with the tacky greek columns in Denver. To him, the revolutionary ends justify the Alinskyite means- so the Dear Leader tells you whatever he needs to... he knows what's best for you anyway.
In White House and DNC propaganda, it's "Oh yeah, you can keep your old health insurance if you like it". What they don't tell you is that's only until Obama bankrupts the private-sector providers with his Federal soon-to-be monopoly... one with access to almost-free capital and everything stacked in it's favor. As with Cap-n-Tax, this is just another Obamas power-grab with a healthy dose of soak-the-evil-rich. It's all done under the cover of public benefit, of course... just like he used to do it with Rezko and his housing projects back in Chi-town. And as with most scams, most of us don't quite figure it out until it's too late.
As for the American public, the reality that he's both habitually dishonest and not up to the job seems to finally be setting-in; Obama's poll numbers are now headed steadily south. At six months in office, Obama’s 55% approval rating puts him just 10th among the 12 post-World War II presidents at this point in their tenure. When #44 first took office... he ranked seventh.
As noted at Scared Monkeys the USA/Gallup poll finds that more and more Americans have great concerns with Obama's handling of the economy, health care and the federal deficit. For all of the free passes Obama has been provided and MSM support touting him as the savior of the economy and the most liked President ever... just 6 mos later his poll numbers hardly reflect that:
•By 49%-47%, those surveyed disapprove of how he is handling the economy, a turnaround from his 55%-42% approval in May. The steepest drop came from conservative and moderate Democrats.
•By 50%-44%, they disapprove of how he is handling health care policy.
•A 59% majority say his proposals call for too much government spending and 52% say they call for too much expansion of government power.
Instead of the moderation and bipartisanship we should expect from such otherwise humbling poll results -and which was promised during the campaign last year- we still get the Dear Leader's diktats shoved down our throats as fast as we can swallow. Obama's actions betray almost no concern whatsoever for the (lack of) popularity of his outlandish programs... why is that? His reaction when asked why the polls are turning against him is often that he needs to do a "better job" educating us lesser beings... that should show you just what this arrogant Bolshevik thinks of your opinion.
There was also evidence Obama is losing the image war. In March, just 32% said Obama was "an old-style, tax-and-spend Democrat" while 62% said he was "a new-style Democrat who will be careful with the public's money." But the public is starting to catch on to him, and 43% say he's a tax-and-spend Democrat, and now 52% see him as a "new brand" of Dem.
Yesterday, after Senator DeMint had stated that defeat on Obamacare could prove to be the president's Waterloo, Obama -visibly troubled- even mentioned DeMint by name, going-on to to state that "this isn't about me". While Obama is technically correct on that, DeMint's comment was just an off-the-cuff remark... what's worth listening to is his comprehensive rebuke of the Obamacare proposal, where the man made a whole lot of sense:
On Wednesday night, Obama is to employ a prime-time televised news conference (8 pm EDT) to regain lost momentum on this vital element of his planned big-goverment makeover of the United States. But didn't he already try just this on his day-long ABC News infomercial? Perhaps the President has some reason to expect this one will find a more receptive audience... his bit on ABC trailed sitcom re-runs in the Nielsens, rating dead-last amongst network shows that night.
An increasing number of Americans have simply become immune to Obama's soaring rhetoric as the failures mount and broken promises accumulate. Trouble for Obama is, sweet-talking an uncritical electorate is his only real talent, he's a one-trick pony... and in desperation, he'll have to play to strength.
Time for The One to get on TV yet again and lay it on thick, then...
And as Napoleon's Foreign Minister Tallyrand once said:
"Speech was given to man to disguise this thoughts"