Obama: Is the president out of touch?
If Obama keeps saying, “I didn’t know,” people will begin to wonder “just how much in charge he really is.”
“For a smart man, President Obama professes to know very little about a great number of things,” said Dana Milbank in The Washington Post. He didn’t know that the bug-ridden Obamacare website had major technical problems until its launch on Oct. 1. He was also apparently “blissfully unaware” that the National Security Agency was bugging the phones of Angela Merkel and other world leaders until this summer. “What did Obama know and when did he know it?” The answer always seems to be, “Not much, and about a minute ago.” Obviously, this law professor turned president is a terrible manager, said FoxNews.com in an editorial. Caught unawares by Benghazi and the IRS’s targeting of Tea Party groups, constantly leading from behind in foreign affairs—that’s our “bystander president.”
Yes, Obama should have been “riding herd on staff to make damn sure” the health-care website worked, said Michael Tomasky in TheDailyBeast.com. But with Obamacare, “the bigger scandal is on the Republican side.” The GOP did its best to sabotage the Affordable Care Act—refusing to create state exchanges in dozens of states, and blocking the appropriation of funds dedicated to the rollout. Such obstinacy is “almost without precedent in American history.” Obama reportedly did try to ride herd on the staff, said Ron Fournier in NationalJournal.com, repeatedly telling aides that if the website didn’t work properly, “nothing else matters.” Obama’s problem is not that he’s disengaged; it’s that a lot of his aides are doing lousy jobs, and he won’t fire them.
Those aides seem to tell Obama very little, said Hendrik Hertzberg in The New Yorker. The NSA was apparently an “avid listener to Merkel’s mobile since 2002.” So why didn’t Obama discover this until a few months into his second term? Intelligence officials or his staff must have decided to insulate Obama from questionable snooping practices. When Obama first came into office, said Peter Baker in The New York Times, he used to pride himself on knowing “the particulars.” Before ordering more troops to Afghanistan, for example, he asked for three months of seminars on the region. Obviously, no president can monitor all of the sprawling federal government’s activities. But if Obama keeps saying, “I didn’t know,” people will begin to wonder “just how much in charge he really is.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
How much can you save shopping secondhand?
The Explainer Many Americans are buying pre-owned items to counteract the effects of inflation
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Downtown St. Louis is in a real estate 'doom loop'
Under the Radar The city is ripe with abandoned buildings and vacant lots, with its real estate market in dire straits
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
TV to watch in May, from 'Bridgerton' to 'Black Twitter: A People's History'
The Week Recommends The return of an HBO staple, a new series from the filmmaker behind 'Tiger King,' and more
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published