President Obama’s First 100 Days
The past few weeks have been full of talk about President Obama’s first 100 days in office. Not surprisingly, Democrats are giving him rave reviews while Republicans are predicting the End of Days. My take? Nothing really. It took over two hundred years to get where we are and it surely can’t be fixed in 100 days. Last week a close friend of mine who absolutely despises Obama asked me to sum up the job he’s doing – but tried to limit me to 2 or 3 words. Seriously. Ask me in a year, maybe two or three. The guy’s not making cookies here – he’s trying to fix a country. Professor George Friedman of Stratfor sums up the big picture nicely:
U.S. presidential candidates run for office as if they would be free to act however they wish once elected. But upon election, they govern as they must. The freedom of the campaign trail contrasts sharply with the constraints of reality.
The test of a president is how effectively he bridges the gap between what he said he would do and what he finds he must do. Great presidents achieve this seamlessly, while mediocre presidents never recover from the transition. All presidents make the shift, including Obama, who spent his first hundred days on this task.
Of course, this is only the first hundred days. Presidents look for room to maneuver after they do what they need to do in the short run. Some presidents use that room to pursue policies that weaken, and even destroy, their presidencies. Others find ways to enhance their position. But normally, the hardest thing a president faces is finding the space to do the things he wants to do rather than what he must do. Obama came through the first hundred days following the path laid out for him.
Personally, I’d like to see some bold moves – not the usual nuance approach to policy that we get administration after administration. Let’s shake it up. Need an example? Immediately strike down the ridiculously wimpy Clinton legacy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” regarding gays in the military. We’re fighting two (arguably three) wars right now – let’s stop hamstringing ourselves and throw out a policy based on religious superstition and bigotry. Then sign an executive order legalizing gay marriage in the United States. Every time I hear the opposition argue their side I can’t help but think of “separate but equal” and “Jim Crowe.” Message to the far right: you’re embarrassing yourselves and forfeiting future elections based on these ridiculous positions. After that, how about universal (and yes, I mean universal) health care for all Americans? Yes it can be done – but we’ll have to make some bold moves elsewhere (i.e. foreign policy, military spending, etc.)
Is Pakistan a Democracy or not?
How much longer will we continue to ignore the overt corruption, thuggery and support for Islamic fundamentalism in the Pakistani government? Pakistan is a nation-state specifically set-up as an Islamic Republic (with a population that prefers sharia law by 60%) and we’re trying to pretend that someday it will resemble Canada.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that not only did the Pakistani government scrap a regional truce with the repulsive Taliban – but they vowed to uphold Sharia law it its place. Huh?
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s army abandoned a fragile truce with the Taliban in the Swat Valley on Monday after militants attacked an army convoy…Islamabad hasn’t officially said it scrapped the pact with the Taliban, which have refused to lay down their arms and last week declared the peace deal “worthless.” Instead, the government said it will continue to implement Islamic law, or Shariah, in the area. Officials say that by doing so the government will rob the militants of their main source of popular support, a campaign for rule of law.
Sharia law is inherently incompatible with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international law, and plain human decency. It subjugates women, discriminates against non-Muslims, and smothers social progress with its religious superstition and bigotry (noticing a trend yet?)
I appeared on The Opium Den and all I got was this crummy link
Obviously, I’m joking. I enjoyed my live appearance on Political Candidate/Author/Drug Reformer and all around great guy Daniel William’s show. Listen to my interview about terrorist involvement in the drug trade through the link on this post.
How do I book Randall H. Miller for a lecture or debate?
It’s easy. You just go here and let me know what you have in mind.
See you next week.
About the Author: Randall H. Miller is an American college educator/blogger. He is also a former U.S. Army officer (82nd Airborne) with a M.A. in Diplomacy (focusing on International Terrorism) and a B.A. in Criminal Justice. Use the form on the right to sign up and receive notifications of new content. The words and ideas expressed here are 100% his own and not those of his employers or affiliated organizations.
David Cobb | May 8, 2009 | Reply
Obama is doing great, given the crappy hand he was dealt. 100 days is an arbitrary number. The proof will be at the mid-term elections. If the Democrats can expand their lead in both houses, that will be a real stamp of approval.
Pakistan is such a basket-case. Literally. A basket of different tribes all thrown together into one country. The country was set up to fail. All the benefits of colonialism just keep coming…Rhodesia…Congo…Pakistan.
The Middle East is the grave-yard of Empire. We should get out of Afghanistan and Iraq as soon as possible. We are not welcome and the situation will never improve. We never learn from history.
Kara | May 8, 2009 | Reply
Randy, the best blog yet. Not because I wholeheartedly agree with you, but because you took a stand, said it plainly and didn’t nuance anything. As you said, we need more boldness (if that’s a word) around here. Well done.
BW | May 8, 2009 | Reply
It holds a creese, can you rip it, sure…
It took me 25 years to design this card…
I guarantee crowds, results…what do you guarantee?
RHM | May 8, 2009 | Reply
@BW Nobody has any idea what you’re talking about. So, let’s fill them in:
BW | May 8, 2009 | Reply
stratmore stock, 60 gage…
and don’t let it be your trepidation…
RHM | May 8, 2009 | Reply
Watch him back peddle a little bit on Fox. – RHM
JPS | May 9, 2009 | Reply
here is a link to a convocation address that Obama gave at my alma mater, Carleton College, in 1999. Yes I was there…but I didn’t go. It is amazing how little his message has changed even after 10 years.
http://apps.carleton.edu/news/audio_video/?item_id=443057&av_file_id=443035
Major Mark Tromblee | Jun 3, 2009 | Reply
Where has all the Soft Power gone?
To this date, the Obama administration has yet to fulfill its lawful requirement to submit an annual National Security Strategy (NSS). This is of no surprise as the last such document was published in March 2006 and even the Bush administration as well as others were unable to fulfill this annual mandate. Among other things, this document outlines how the United States will use the four elements of national power (Diplomacy, Information, Military, and Economics). Joseph S. Nye, Jr., a Harvard professor that served under both the Carter and Clinton administrations, as soft or attractive power, has referred to one other aspect of power. Nye loosely defines soft power as ‘getting others to want what you want’. Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States emerged a global hegemon. Due to its economic scale, scientific and technical leadership, location between two major oceans, military forces and alliances, and a universalistic culture it is almost assuredly certain that our nation was the envy of others and that other nations wanted at least some of what ‘we’ had.
Over time, our soft power has dwindled. Beginning with the so-called ‘brain drain’ when students from other nations received advanced degrees in medicine, the sciences and other disciplines from U.S. universities and then exported this knowledge back to their own country; to now where we have an economy in turmoil, practices by the government to increase government control over what used to be private industries, and decisions to act unilaterally versus as part of a coalition in what some may call an aggressive manner. Although some may disagree based upon continued tourism by ‘foreigners’ within our country or illegal immigration and workers within our borders, it is safe to say that our soft power has indeed decreased.
President George W. Bush’s NSS read much like Thomas P.M. Barnett’s theories about the functioning core and the non-integrating gap and the need to export democracy and globalization to the non-integrating gap to ensure peace and stability for the core. President Bush’s last NSS focused heavily on the use of Military and the use of economic sanctions to be used in the fashion of global meliorism. This NSS ignored both diplomacy and information of power and therefore was completely lacking as a grand strategy.
So, the question remains, what ‘soft power’ does President Obama have available to use, and how will he use all elements of national power to meet the goals of the United States during his tenure?
Major Mark Tromblee is currently a Student at the U.S. Army’s School for Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, KS. The statements, views, and opinions are of the author alone and do not express the policy, views, or opinions of the Department of Defense, the United States Army, the Command and General Staff College, or the School of Advanced Military Studies