President Obama is fond of comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln. As enjoyable as such ruminations might be for the president, some comparisons to more recent U.S. presidents might better serve.
Those of us old enough to have been around during the Lyndon Johnson administration remember first-hand what happens when a president loses the trust of the American people.
In the case of LBJ, outright falsehoods concerning American involvement in Cambodia during the Vietnam War so cost the president, that no one believed him when he told the truth about the 1968 Tet Offensive being a victory for U.S. forces. The media spun Tet as a defeat and that narrative became the de facto narrative of the Vietnam War. Johnson had the good sense not to seek re-election.
Having lost the office due to a forfeiture of trust, LBJ was succeeded in office by Richard Nixon. The trust deficits only deepened.
Nixon lied to the American people concerning break-ins at the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. and he lied about dirty political tactics undertaken by close aides and campaign officials.
The lies hounded Nixon from office. He remains the only U.S. president ever to resign. No president since has enjoyed the level of trust that American presidents once could count on.
Poll numbers now strongly suggest that Barack Obama has forfeited the trust placed in him as the “hope and change” president. As scandal after scandal washes over the White House and as administration officials are caught lying almost on a daily basis, the president’s poll numbers have dropped, most notably and most precipitously among the very voter groups that at one time were his most ardent supporters.
Against this backdrop we are treated to the scene at this week’s G-8 summit at which Russia’s Vladimir Putin — on the subject of mass murder in Syria — more or less told the President of the United States right to his face to go home and pound sand.
That’s because Putin knows his history. He knows that when a U.S. president loses trust, as Lyndon Johnson did, his hands are effectively tied when it comes to vigorous prosecution of U.S. foreign policy.
No president can be president without the trust of the American people. Through Obamacare, fiscal cliffs, sequesters, endless debt ceiling fights with Congress and a bruising re-election campaign, the majority of Americans still said that they liked and trusted President Obama.
If the polls are to be believed, that is now coming to an end.
If so, it’s going to be a very long three and a half years for the president.
And for the country.
Arrogance, Chicago-style thuggery, Alinsky taught scruples will lead Obama to much more & much bigger things that have as-yet not come to light.
As was noted before, Obama was totally bored during the election & ‘gone’ during BenGazzi….herefore an uninterested onlooker. Why???
If our lowest recruit was ‘gone’ during a period of time; that would be punished harshly.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander;
but trust me there is MUCH more to come.
Obama is too arrogant & like his ‘vacations’ he only gets the biggest &the best outsize items as a finger in the eye to his detractors.
Unlike Johnson & Nixon , Obama does not revere & love this country.
Obama is hoping the next 3 years will buffer all complaints & he will be unscathed or even singed by righteous USA fire.
Paul,
The problem with your analogy is that the Press of the last generation still had some credibility with the American people to expose Liars-in-Chief, even if they were the President.
That is not the situation today. The Press is a direct arm of the Washington-Socialist propaganda arm of this Marxist President and will NEVER consistently expose his duplicity. The “trust-gap” in the polls is only transitory. The Press has failed to follow up on the numerous scandals of this regime and have already had the audacity to carry the water of excuses and spin to help him escape accountability at every opportunity.
The so-called “free press” is ultimately going to attack the “truth tellers” that expose the deception of the Obama regime. They don’t have to explicitly defend Obama with hard evidence (that doesn’t exist), only create doubt, confusion and distortion of the facts. All they have to do is not report the evidence that comes from the “free-lance alternative press” and hope it goes away.
Real journalism has become an endangered species. Without a vigorous and respected “free and unadulterated press” the nation is left to “rumor and speculation” to form its opinions. The Socialists whose currency in speech is the BIG LIE know this and are not concerned. How else can you explain their arrogance?
Outposts of real investigative journalism do exist. The problem is how do we help them penetrate the veil of false journalism in charge, today?
There is a difference between LBJ and this man who calls himself “president” and that is the media favortism. You see, as stated in your article, the media spun LBJ’s victory as a defeat. The media has yet to do anything but cover for this person in the whitehouse! The media keeps the American people ignorant of the fact that obama is nothing more than a puppet. It seems to me, that before the last so called “election”, obama’s numbers were way down. Yet he came out victorious in the “election”. Nothing was mentioned much in the media about how voter fraud was key to this “victory”. Oh, I agree that obama resembles LBJ far more than ole Abe because LBJ was notorious for stuffing ballot boxes. Times were different back during LBJ’s time because there were people still around who had a conscience. This person in the whitehouse now has none, nor do the people he has surrounded himself with. The media has completely gone in the sewer and we, the American people have been thrown to the wolves! As far as Nixon is concerned, yes, he lied about the break-in, but there is no question in my mind about Nixon’s love for this Country. The person in the whitehouse now, has no loyality but unto himself and that puts a vast difference between Nixon and obama. obama has been given many chances to do the right thing and come clean about his birth and many other issues and has done nothing but stonewall, lie and bribe…not to mention his loving adoring media covering up for him! Nixon was far more the better man here! What Nixon did is absolutely nothing compared to what obama has done to this Country and the people!
“If so, it’s going to be a very long three and a half years for the president.” – And a very long three and a half years for the American people with years of repercussions. The president will retire but we will live with many of his decisions.
Actually, we’ll be the ones to live with the president’s decisions. He gets a nice pension and free health care while we carry the load he’s piled on our backs.
The foundational mistake many conservatives continue to make is to assume that President Obama wants the country to prosper. Actions speak louder than words! Does he even take into account the will of the people? Has Obamacare EVER had a majority of support from the people since even before it was forced down our collective throats? He has proven time and time again that he is committed to fundamental transformation! When we begin to understand that he means the undermining of the Constitution, the devaluing of the economy, the eradication of morals, the total destruction of the fabric of society, the removal of religious freedom – THEN we can see the meaning of fundamental transformation. But will it be too late by the time we wake up to the truth?