Years from now, historians may regard the 2008 election of Barack Obama as an inscrutable and disturbing phenomenon, a baffling breed of mass hysteria akin perhaps to the witch craze of the Middle Ages. How, they will wonder, did a man so devoid of professional accomplishment beguile so many into thinking he could manage the world's largest economy, direct the world's most powerful military, execute the world's most consequential job?

Imagine a future historian examining Obama's pre-presidential life: ushered into and through the Ivy League despite unremarkable grades and test scores along the way; a cushy non-job as a "community organizer"; a brief career as a state legislator devoid of legislative achievement (and in fact nearly devoid of his attention, so often did he vote "present"); and finally an unaccomplished single term in United States Senate, the entirety of which was devoted to his presidential ambitions. He left no academic legacy in academia, authored no signature legislation as legislator.

And then there is the matter of his troubling associations: the white-hating, America-loathing preacher who for decades served as Obama's "spiritual mentor"; a real-life, actual terrorist who served as Obama's colleague and political sponsor. It is easy to imagine a future historian looking at it all and asking: how on Earth was such a man elected president?

Not content to wait for history, the incomparable Norman Podhoretz addressed the question recently in the Wall Street Journal:

To be sure, no white candidate who had close associations with an outspoken hater of America like Jeremiah Wright and an unrepentant terrorist like Bill Ayers would have lasted a single day. But because Mr. Obama was black, and therefore entitled in the eyes of liberaldom to have hung out with protesters against various American injustices, even if they were a bit extreme, he was given a pass.

Let that sink in: Obama was given a pass -- held to a lower standard -- because of the color of his skin. Podhoretz continues:

And in any case, what did such ancient history matter when he was also articulate and elegant and (as he himself had said) "non-threatening," all of which gave him a fighting chance to become the first black president and thereby to lay the curse of racism to rest?

Podhoretz puts his finger, I think, on the animating pulse of the Obama phenomenon -- affirmative action. Not in the legal sense, of course. But certainly in the motivating sentiment behind all affirmative action laws and regulations, which are designed primarily to make white people, and especially white liberals, feel good about themselves.

Unfortunately, minorities often suffer so that whites can pat themselves on the back. Liberals routinely admit minorities to schools for which they are not qualified, yet take no responsibility for the inevitable poor performance and high drop-out rates which follow. Liberals don't care if these minority students fail; liberals aren't around to witness the emotional devastation and deflated self esteem resulting from the racist policy that is affirmative action. Yes, racist. Holding someone to a separate standard merely because of the color of his skin -- that's affirmative action in a nutshell, and if that isn't racism, then nothing is. And that is what America did to Obama.

True, Obama himself was never troubled by his lack of achievements, but why would he be? As many have noted, Obama was told he was good enough for Columbia despite undistinguished grades at Occidental; he was told he was good enough for the US Senate despite a mediocre record in Illinois; he was told he was good enough to be president despite no record at all in the Senate. All his life, every step of the way, Obama was told he was good enough for the next step, in spite of ample evidence to the contrary. What could this breed if not the sort of empty narcissism on display every time Obama speaks?

In 2008, many who agreed that he lacked executive qualifications nonetheless raved about Obama's oratory skills, intellect, and cool character. Those people -- conservatives included -- ought now to be deeply embarrassed. The man thinks and speaks in the hoariest of clichés, and that's when he has his teleprompter in front of him; when the prompter is absent he can barely think or speak at all. Not one original idea has ever issued from his mouth -- it's all warmed-over Marxism of the kind that has failed over and over again for 100 years.

And what about his character? Obama is constantly blaming anything and everything else for his troubles. Bush did it; it was bad luck; I inherited this mess. It is embarrassing to see a president so willing to advertise his own powerlessness, so comfortable with his own incompetence. But really, what were we to expect? The man has never been responsible for anything, so how do we expect him to act responsibly?

In short: our president is a small and small-minded man, with neither the temperament nor the intellect to handle his job. When you understand that, and only when you understand that, will the current erosion of liberty and prosperity make sense. It could not have gone otherwise with such a man in the Oval Office.

But hey, at least we got to feel good about ourselves for a little while. And really, isn't that all that matters these days?

See also: The Era of Confronting Obama at Public Events

Update:

Author's Note. A lot of readers have written in asking me how I came to the conclusion that Obama was an unremarkable student and that he benefited from affirmative action. Three reasons:

1) As reported by The New York Sun: "A spokesman for the university, Brian Connolly, confirmed that Mr. Obama spent two years at Columbia College and graduated in 1983 with a major in political science. He did not receive honors..." In spite of not receiving honors as an undergrad, Obama was nevertheless admitted to Harvard Law. Why?

2) Obama himself has written he was a poor student as a young man. As the Baltimore Sun reported, in:

"'Obama's book 'Dreams from My Father,'....the president recalled a time in his life...when he started to drift away from the path of success. 'I had learned not to care,' Obama wrote. '... Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it.' But his mother confronted him about his behavior. 'Don't you think you're being a little casual about your future?" she asked him, according to the book. '... One of your friends was just arrested for drug possession. Your grades are slipping. You haven't even started on your college applications.'"

3) Most damning to me is the president's unwillingness to make his transcripts public. If Obama had really been a stellar student with impeccable grades as an undergrad, is there any doubt they would have been made public by now and trumpeted on the front page of the New York Times as proof of his brilliance? To me it all adds up to affirmative action.





Mattpattersonline.com



Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/obama_the_affirmative_action_president.html#ixzz1fVAl5PsL

try as they may,, AA or not,, apparently he was not too shabby since he graduated MAGNA CUM LAUDE from HARVARD LAW...




but they can keep referencing his teen and young adult years as an indication of how 'limited' an adult he is


I submit as well, if he was an AA president, he wasnt the first

there are other types of unspoken AA,, like the kind afforded to children and relatives of the powerful and infuential....

How did he become Pres.? The answer is far simpler than ud expect . . Huge corporate backing and tv propaganda .

and getting the votes, like all presidents before him....


makies more sense than the 'because he was black' nonsense,,,considering civil rights is about half century old and he is still the FIRST,,,even though others have indeed ran as well,,,,

Sounds to me like we're talking about Dubya. Talk about a REAL affirmative action president.... :)

Seriously, there's plenty to criticize about Obama's presidency, but nothing in this smarmy screed even begins to touch on it. If anything, this posting makes me admire Obama that much more - if you are annoying people like Norman Podhoretz, you've gotta be doing something right. In fact, this whole thing reads like a fan-fiction alternate-universe sci-fi story, it has that little correspondence with reality.

broken record, apparently Magna Cum Laude from Harvard doth not a great leader make. When are you going to open your eyes and see that he is just like the others before him.

I actually had hope for the guy and liked some of his ideas, that lasted about 4-5 months though. I don't hate him, too strong of a word for someone I don't know personally, but I do think his leadership skills are very weak and he grossly exaggerated the things he was going to achieve.

He became president because the only other choice was an old man with a bad heart who had a crazy woman as vice president and because people were thinking if we survived Bush, we can survive anything.

And if someone shoots him, the vice president looks pretty good.

I also like him as a good public speaker. Not an embarrassment like Bush.

I am not debating whether he is a great leader or not ,, IM just debunking the implication that the reason he attended Harvard was because of AA or that AA is the reason he can get as far as he has. IF and when AA affords the opportunity to attend class, it doesnt place one at the top of the class,, hard work and intelligence does that.

Obama is basically a white man who happens to technically be black. His mother was white, and he was raised by his white grand parents.

He certainly doesn't sound black. Being black by skin color got him the black vote. I was glad we finally elected a black president and pleased that he was not as stupid as George W. Bush.

lol

three things we apparently were both thinking during that election,,,,,

correction, he is a MIXED man who has lived in a culture where he would be seen and treated as a 'black man' , who qualifies for the census label of BLACK because his ancestors(dad) are actually FROM west africa....

he sounds like most black people I know his age who have an education and a career, but probably not like most black people the media put in front of cameras....

Yes I know he is mixed blood. But I believe he was raised mostly in the white world with white parents. (Grandparents.)

I believe that is where he was raised too, but I dont think that is what his adult life has consisted of,,,

much like a white family adopting a black child.. outside of that home, in their adult experience, they will be treated and experience being 'black' in america,,,

Sometimes it is who you know and hang out with that shapes how you experience life. I don't think he grew up in the hood.

love ya jeannie, but being 'black' has little to do with growing up in a hood

I should know, as a black woman who likewise didnt grow up 'in the hood'

I know that. I have a black family.

My X husband was black.

I totally loved his family. His mother looked a little like me, only for the color. She had a dimple and the same nose.

His family was great. He was a bit dysfunctional though. Viet Nam messed him up.

I lived in the inner city of Dothan Alabama. Inside the circle.

well as a white woman who lived in the hood for more than 10 years, don't knock it till u have tried it - my neighbors looked out for each other - no one had the money to be narsacisstic - Obama is as removed from the hood as he is from middle america also

the hood is pretty racially diverse these days BTW - just mentioning that for those who have never really seen the hood

but if race became an issue in his election - which it did - shame on us - we only have ourselves to blame for that - each of us as individuals should not have let that happen within our spheres of influence

Did you really just say that Obama wasn't the greatest president who ever lived?

I think a lot of the dislike for Obama is racist.

well spidercmb, this is exactly the kind of thing that should not be promulgated. I think when he was running for election there was an undercurrent of feeling that if you weren't for him it was because he was black - which is ridiculous. I mean some people may have felt that way - a lot of people didn't like JFK because he was Catholic....but there were plenty of reasons to not vote for Mr. Obama. Race was not one of them - still I did feel an under current every time I said I was not going to vote for him, and I got some dirty looks too....

Now in hindsight I think that most thinking adults can clearly see that there are several reasons to be concerned about his performance, none of which have anything to do with race.

bringing race into the equation shows very poor taste

but I think it needs to be said that we can oppose a candidate who is black, female, catholic, jewish and it is NOT because of their race , gender or religion