An opportunity to look good

    So far it seems that President Barack Obama has had some success in his effort to climb out of the hole that he dug for himself during the first half of his presidency.

    A poll that showed up in the Wall Street Journal last month indicated that his move to the center is repairing his credibility with the middle. Fewer than half of those identified as independents in the poll now believe President Obama is a leftist. There’s a saying, part of which goes, “You call fool some of the people all of the time,” and I guess this poll shows that it’s true. Back in 2008, Barack Obama the candidate fooled lots of people into believing he was a moderate, even though his minimal voting record was solidly left-wing. Now, he may once more get away with fooling people into thinking he’s a centrist, even though his policies during the first half of his administration indicate that he’s a left-wing ideologue.
    The mass shooting out in Arizona also helped President Obama by giving him the chance to look presidential. While liberal “Democrats” and left-wing pundits were attributing it to conservative rhetoric, ignoring the fact that rhetoric from the left is also pretty hot, President Obama gave a speech and correctly stated that it had nothing to do with the current state of political dialogue in the U. S.
    Now, President Obama has a foreign policy crisis on his hands. The situation in Egypt gives President Obama another major opportunity to look presidential. It also gives him the opportunity to look as stupid as  Jimmy Carter did after the Shah of Iran was overthrown and replaced by a radical Islamic regime. As I have great confidence in President Obama’s ability to handle this situation  with the same level of incompetence with which he has handled everything else in the last two years, I’m expecting Jimmy Carter.
    There could be some very ugly consequences should Egypt end up being run by Islamic extremists. Along with installing a government that would be hostile to the United States, this outcome could leave Israel convinced that war is inevitable. That, in turn, would mean the Israelis would use less caution when dealing with their Arab neighbors than they presently do. The result would be another big Arab-Israeli conflagration.
    But, maybe that won’t happen. Attempts by Hezbollah’s leader in Lebanon and Iran’s supreme leader to endorse the uprising in Egypt have received a “butt out and mind your own business” reaction from the the Egyptians seeking a quick exit for Hosni Mubarak. This includes the Muslim Brotherhood. A spokesman for that organization was quoted in the Wall Street Journal last week as saying," The revolution in Egypt has nothing to do with any outsiders.” Protests have included Muslims holding copies of the Koran and Coptic Christians holding crosses.
    It’s possible that this may have a positive outcome in spite of President Obama’s inept foreign policy.
    Another factor is that America’s armed forces and those of Egypt have had a positive relationship for three decades. It’s been reported that Robert Gates, our secretary of defense, and his Egyptian counterpart have been communicating. It’s possible that the Obama Administration may actually have a good handle on what’s going on in that country.  President Obama may actually deal with the situation wisely, although I suspect that much of the credit for that may have to go to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, much as I hate to admit it.
    In this case, it will certainly help President Obama in his effort to avoid becoming a one-term president.