Obama “too tired” to focus on foreign affairs… time to quit the campaign trail?

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In a surprising Telegraph article today, a number of sources close to the WH are commenting on their worry the POTUS isn’t getting enough rest.

The piece, written by Tim Shipman in Washington, was meant to focus on the British puzzlement and perceived slight by the Obama WH during PM Gordon Brown’s visit last week. Forget the ballyhoo about gifts… there was also the customary full-blown press conference and a formal dinner that wasn’t offered up.

Instead Shipman offers a stunning view of a WH that alternates between excuses for Obama’s work load and lack of focus, it’s own admitted naivety on protocol, and in fact puzzlement as to why there is such emphasis on such “niceties”

i.e. Brown, that press conference and formal dinner?

British officials, meanwhile, admit that the White House and US State Department staff were utterly bemused by complaints that the Prime Minister should have been granted full-blown press conference and a formal dinner, as has been customary. They concede that Obama aides seemed unfamiliar with the expectations that surround a major visit by a British prime minister.

But Washington figures with access to Mr Obama’s inner circle explained the slight by saying that those high up in the administration have had little time to deal with international matters, let alone the diplomatic niceties of the special relationship.


Allies of Mr Obama say his weary appearance in the Oval Office with Mr Brown illustrates the strain he is now under, and the president’s surprise at the sheer volume of business that crosses his desk.

A well-connected Washington figure, who is close to members of Mr Obama’s inner circle, expressed concern that Mr Obama had failed so far to “even fake an interest in foreign policy”.

A British official conceded that the furore surrounding the apparent snub to Mr Brown had come as a shock to the White House. “I think it’s right to say that their focus is elsewhere, on domestic affairs. A number of our US interlocutors said they couldn’t quite understand the British concerns and didn’t get what that was all about.”

Instead we get a stunning assessment INRE the Obama admin’s ability to multitask.

The American source said: “Obama is overwhelmed. There is a zero sum tension between his ability to attend to the economic issues and his ability to be a proactive sculptor of the national security agenda.

“That was the gamble these guys made at the front end of this presidency and I think they’re finding it a hard thing to do everything.”

Naw, really? What about that “ready to lead” bit?

But wait… it gets worse as a State Department official gets testy about the cool reception…

The real views of many in Obama administration were laid bare by a State Department official involved in planning the Brown visit, who reacted with fury when questioned by The Sunday Telegraph about why the event was so low-key.

The official dismissed any notion of the special relationship, saying: “There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.” The apparent lack of attention to detail by the Obama administration is indicative of what many believe to be Mr Obama’s determination to do too much too quickly.

OMG… is this to be our “reset” with international relationships? Reducing our closest and strongest allies to a homogenous position of obscurity with the rest of the world?

I feel ill… and worse yet, highly embarrassed.

In the meantime, most appear to be fretting about Obama’s schedule (which appears to consist of more campaigning than anything at the moment…) and his noticable fatigue.

A Democratic strategist, who is friends with several senior White House aides, revealed that the president has regularly appeared worn out and drawn during evening work sessions with senior staff in the West Wing and has been forced to make decisions more quickly than he is comfortable.

[Mata Musing: bet he’s missing that “present” vote option big time now…]

He said that on several occasions the president has had to hurry back from eating dinner with his family in the residence and then tucking his daughters in to bed, to conduct urgent government business. Matters are not helped by the pledge to give up smoking.

“People say he looks tired more often than they’re used to,” the strategist said. “He’s still calm, but there have been flashes of irritation when he thinks he’s being pushed to make a decision sooner than he wants to make it. He looks like he needs a cigarette.”

I can understand that the schedule of a POTUS can be frenetic. But I also think that Obama didn’t inherit problems that were also not on the mind of the previous WH occupant. So what’s the difference?

First of all, Obama is tackling a much larger bite of “remaking America” than he needs to at the moment. Instead of focusing on the housing/credit/banking crisis, he’s piling on with every other Democrat welfare social cause simultaneously. His ability to triage, and space out reforms is severely lacking. Instead of rowing across the pond, he wants to pole vault the dang thing.

Second of all, quit with the parties, Mr. Obama. You don’t need weekly cocktail soirees and music concerts. Substitute a cocktail meet and greet with those you work with all week for a nap, if need be.

Last of all, quit the campaign trail, fer heavens sake. There is no need for you to fly to Ohio for a PR speech against the backdrop of saving the jobs of 25 police recruits for one year. It’s not only an embarrassing argument in support of the stimulus, it’s a moot point. You got it passed. Damage done. What the hell do you want from us now?

Obama needs to understand that older men than himself have tackled the tasks of the Oval Office… and with similar negative conditions (i.e. Reagan and the Carter economy, and FDR’s genuine Depression, followed by WWII). Neither, however, attempted to spread themselves so thin… instead triaged the issues, and applied a concerted focus. They didn’t get sidetracked by extraneous goals that can be addressed in smaller increments down the road.

It may take some time for this ambitious novice to understand what he, along with his czars and minions, can and cannot accomplish in a period of time. He does so want to have it all right out of the gate. But I can only say if he’s so fatigued by his domestic over reach that he cannot pay attention to foreign affairs, we be in for a world of hurt.

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Right! Forget our current friends like England, and focus on our traditional friends like Iran!

Stunning and highly disturbing….

“”Washington figures with access to Mr Obama’s inner circle explained the slight by saying that those high up in the administration have had little time to deal with international matters, let alone the diplomatic niceties of the special relationship.

The official dismissed any notion of the special relationship, saying: “There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.”

And what is worse?

“Allies of Mr Obama say his weary appearance in the Oval Office with Mr Brown illustrates the strain he is now under, and the president’s surprise at the sheer volume of business that crosses his desk.

A well-connected Washington figure, who is close to members of Mr Obama’s inner circle, expressed concern that Mr Obama had failed so far to “even fake an interest in foreign policy”.

And Obama is so overwhelmed that

“He looks like he needs a cigarette.”
I wonder how President George W. Bush will react when he reads this news?

“So you inexperienced poseur thought you were so smart hunh? How’s it feel now tough guy?”*

*of course I realize President Bush has far too much class to even think such a thing, but I sure do.

BO can’t stand to have anyone else in the spotlight – he still believes in his own press. He needs to go sit in a corner and STFU! Every new pronouncement of BO reversing Bush’s programs etc., just shows how out of touch he is and how stupid he thinks we are!

Mr. Karaoke knows how to RUN for President.

He knows nothing about how to BE President.

This is. Amateur. Hour.

Roll the tape:

The official dismissed any notion of the special relationship, saying: “There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.”

Unfrakkin’ believable! So our relationship to all countries is created equal? It’s a symptom of the moral equivalence-line of thinking.

Wish we had the name to that State Dept. official.

Hey, I’m sure dear leader will figure out the niceties in time for Ahm-a-nut-job’s or OBL’s visit to the White House. They will get the deluxe treatment, no doubt. Allies like Great Britain, not so much.

the bastard has cost me $30,000 since he has been in office, i wish he would stop what he is doing

Just reminding people that the “gracious” Brits burnt Sarah Palin in effigy during their last Guy Fawkes day, so, karmic retribution:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/sarahpalin/3332316/Sarah-Palin-effigy-burned-on-bonfire.html

@Aye Chihuahua:

Gee, Aye, I kept looking to see if anyone had five o’clock shadows.

Has anyone read this? Ed Lasky and Rick Moran link portions of recent columns about Obama and wonder:

Is Obama lazy?

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/03/is_obama_lazy.html

One of the paragraphs:

Moran’s take:

Ed’s evidence is compelling. I would add that during the early stages of the campaign, his “keepers of the body” – probably Axelrod at that point – overextended the candidate. His gaffes about 10,000 dead in a Kansas tornado came at the end of a long day of campaigning. They never made the same mistake again and limited his access to the press and reduced the number of events per day. This would seem to indicate the president doesn’t have much stamina.

Indeed.

@Missy: I could swear, I heard it mentioned about, that McCain, at his age, was doing longer hours and hitting the campaign trail a lot harder than Obama was.

Approaching two months into his presidency, and Obama is already winded.

@Wordsmith:

How about his vacations in the middle of campaigning?

I’m a newbie here, so you’re just going to have to take my word for it that I agree with what Rush had to say about Mr. Obama in his excellent and spot-on speech to CPAC. Nonetheless, I’m cheering for Obama here (which is not the same as supporting what was done). Here’s why.

1. If you think about it, it’s unlikely that the State Department wouldn’t have any input on protocols, etc., when a foreign head of state comes visiting.

2. We’ve seen that this very inexperienced executive apparently wants to surround himself with a lot of experts he can rely on to help him out.

3. What better expert could there be for Gordon’s visit than a Secretary of State who also happens to be a former First Lady with plenty of experience in greeting, wining and dining heads of state?

4. Now then…just what sort of advice might Hillary have given her former rival–who is sitting in the house she and her husband once occupied for 8 years and wanted to occupy again, starting this year–concerning the visit of our strongest ally, considering that our history with Britain, unlike just about any other country, is strong enough to survive some strains now and again? Think about it.

I’m not saying she sabotaged the visit. But after seeing the Clintons in action for 8 years, such utterly deniable ruthlessness is not impossible to imagine. And it *is* hard to think what else might have happened that would lead White House insiders to publicly put forward the excuse of inexperience. That’s the last thing the inexperienced use as an excuse.

Maybe, if there were an exercise in ruthlessness here, Obama’s nominees would indeed start bailing out on all sides, because they figured the Clintons want to surround the “king” with their own people and run the country at secondhand for the next 8 years, and it’s not a good career move to get in the Clintons’ way.

As for the nation, and the national interest, well, Rush was right. For the next 4 years, though, we have President Obama, and this may just be the test of his presidency right now: own or get owned. If it really has come down to that now–and nobody outside the closest centers of DC power just now can know that for sure–well, I’d like to have a President who owns himself and is not ruled by advisors who surround him.

@MSCatLady: Thanks for your comment and I hope to hear more from you, but I don’t see how a Secretary of State is really in a position to be calling the shots on the protocol of a foreign visit. The State Dept. may advise on certain matters, but nothing like the catalog of incompetance we witnessed with the Brown visit.

That was all coming from inside the White House where it is now painfully obvious that the adults are no longer in charge.

If W had been this stupid, they’d have called for impeachment over this. Actually, if I recall, when the Queen came they made a big stink over his remark to her about the American Revolution. Kinda seems stupid to bitch about that now, eh?

One word for Obama…

COFFEE

So why does this come to mind ?

MSCatLady: My BIL thinks the Clintons both are giving Obama bad advice On Purpose because They want him to fail as a president.
They hold grudges very well….and Hillary NOT giving Obama proper advice re: Brown’s visit falls right into place with my BIL’s theory.

One does have to wonder…..

@wordsmith:

Yes, that’s right.

Great Britain is no different than any other country in the world.

I mean really now.

Consider the reaction of the Palace to 9/11.

Roll the tape: