23.1.12

Creeping Trepidation


By John W. Lillpop


Not that long ago, routing Barack Obama from office seemed like a lead-pipe cinch. His approval/disapproval numbers were upside down with approvals headed even further south, his gaffes were of the sort one would expect from an inexperienced, unprincipled dolt, and his ill-begotten policies managed to offend nearly everyone, including those constituents generally regarded as democrat-friendly.

Everything The One touched from foreign affairs to mismanagement of the economy, to the degradation of American values and culture, went bad, very bad, from the very moment his fumbling hands got involved.

For conservatives, 2012 was going to be a banner year. On the heels of the humiliating “shellacking” administered to liberals in the U.S. House and, to a lesser extend, the Senate, the Republicans seemed to be in control, with the very real possibility that the executive and legislative branches of government would be returned to we the people through GOP wins in November.

However, events over the past several months have resurrected, at least partially, the Obama magic from 2008.

Mind you, its not that Obama is suddenly performing effectively or anything nearly so radical. In fact, Obama’s recent rejection of the Keystone pipeline project is one of his most inexplicable failings to date.

What with unemployment still rampant, oil soaring above $100 a barrel, and the possibility of all out war in the Middle East rising with each new centrifuge fired up by the Islamic Republic of Iran, now would seem an awful time to reject a proposal for importing oil from a friendly neighbor (Canada) which would add perhaps 20,000 new jobs for Americans, reduce dependence on middle east oil, and provide a common sense approach to meeting America’s energy needs.

Yet reject that offer is exactly what this president did, in spite of his ringing oratory about jobs, jobs, and jobs. NOW, NOW, NOW!

Apparently, jobs are cool, except when environmental extremism needs to be served.

Thus it was YES to the environmental whackos, and NO to American jobs!

More ammunition to use against this fumbling, bumbling loser, right?

Yes, of course. However, the problem is that candidates for the Republican nomination have spent the past year fighting among themselves and acting like the Special Olympics children that Obama loves to mock and ridicule.

Indeed, the GOP debates have been a disappointing display of amateurism, cynicism, and mockery of those moral principles for which the GOP is known.

Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and others have blemished the GOP brand.

The big question: Can the remaining candidates, or an as of now undeclared candidate, restore the image of the Republican Party as the conservative, patriotic, family values choice?

Or is American doomed to another four years of Barack Obama by virtue of default by the GOP?

Creeping trepidation becomes more intense with each passing day!