From the Bully Pulpit comes a papal bull on bullying. It’s bad. Argument? I didn’t think so, and of course neither does Obama. That’s what the gentleman likes; consensus. Unanimity. Preferably that sentiment would adhere to  more substantive actions like the late (or nearly so) healthcare reform we knew as Obamacare until the thousandth waiver, but it is not to be. The peevishness this law has stirred in the nation threatens to muddy the man’s cuffs and we can’t have that so this is dealt with by a quiet, adamant change of name. But even Obama’s impressive stable of gunslingers know they cannot count on the tactic indefinitely or universally, this is why the President now does not even vote Present on any remotely controversial topic. That might be interpretted as support. Or opposition. Can’t have that, either. It smacks of a clarity that went out the door with the Grinning Rube and is as unmissed. Indeed, the clarity and decisiveness of that previous seat-warmer is most of what Senator Obama ran against in his predecessor and in his opponent. Decisions? Oh, you’re behind the times, my friend! The Decider is gone. The Denier is here. Or hereabouts.

This is no Rightwing slur but a bipartisan observation. Reliable liberal Ruth Marcus puts it as well for the Code Pinkoes as she does for the neo-Constitutionists when she asks, “Where’s Waldo?” Today though, we know where he is. He is hosting a conference with his able and lovely wife addressing the urgent crisis of bullying in our schools and on our internets. They are moved, they say, by the recent headlines of youngsters committing suicide due to harrassment of various sorts, some sexual, some just stupidly vicious and some even committed by supposedly responsible adults. There is no question that this is a serious issue affecting a large number of Americans. There is also no question that this is more the duty of an association of high school principals than the Chief Executive of these United States. So what gives? Is the President out looking for projects because he does not have enough to fill his work day?

Possibly so. His press agents (comprising nearly all the Press Corpse) told how his unique and unprecedented genius would make the Presidency look like a trifling chore, especially compared to the dufus in exile. It is possible that he is engaged in a practiced tactical pause on nearly every issue confronting the nation today. It would be the sincerest fulfillment of his promises, wouldn’t it? since he took such a solid stance against cowboyism. Certainly his actions, or calculated INaction in non-response to Obamacare being struck down was no mere stall but a cunning delay that materially aided the appeal that is now being prepared. Certainly his voicelessness during Iran’s Green Revolution was a statesmanlike posture that bore some fruit behind the Iron Burkha. No doubt his Interior Department’s refusal to allow any expanded drilling domestically, although they claim otherwise, is some long term play on gas prices, but out in the PR world he is absent from the one task everyone agreed he was up to: the salesmanship.

The guy is just not there. He is AWOL although he has probably given himself leave. He is perpetually either on vacation, anticipating a vacation, planning a vacation or just back from a vacation so hey! cut the guy some slack! But the slack is all taken up. The reins are as tight on the Left as they are on the Right. No one is satisfied, even the Matt Damons of the world are scraping the O stickers from their Prii and Obama’s one recent move with any snap; stitching Romney to himself with the bonds of healthcare, can benefit only himself and that is uncertain. Bush Sr often said, you only get the chance to be two things in politics, a bitter dissappointment or a pleasant surprise. But where are those pleasantly surprised? Lately the continued operation of Guantanamo and the endorsement by Obama of all those nasty “war crimes” he took so seriously as a candidate is cause for some joy from the darkest, smallest corner of the foreign policy Right, but come on! Since when have they counted for anything?

On matters acute and chronic, fiscal and foreign, Right and Left Mr. Obama is simply absent. Out to lunch. Gone fishin’. W was not infrequently derided as “an empty suit”, and perhaps in absolute terms, with some justice, but who in the nation now does not yearn for the steady sleeve of the empty suit on the tiller of State? In Libya they cry out Save us Bush! and yes, they know damn good and well what year it is. But even in that far corner the simple fact persists; the empty suit has left the building. In its place we have an empty dry cleaner’s bag, or so we might wish. The bag also proves immaterial, the hangar is smoke and the hook has fallen to the floor. Behind the doors to the Oval Office one finds only a smallish dent in the drywall as evidence of the Great Man’s presence. Skeptics smirk to find it so. Believers fold and weep.

Neither response is laudable. For those of us who saw the pitfalls Mr Obama would inevitably tumble into, the comic relish of that is gone (well, nearly). It is time to be helpful to the office if hurtful to the man and to soft-pedal the inevitable pleasures attending. Ideology is still troublesome but not unsurmountable. Does anyone believe that Obama has significantly altered his ideological compass? No way. Yet he has radically altered his behaviors. While he did endorse Afghanistan in the campaign to the chagrin or willing blindness of his pseudo-pacifist base, he denounced Iraq with as much bitterness as any grade-school diplomat, right up until inauguration. There is little doubt that his Iraq position was sincere and on Afghanistan, cynically opportunistic. Yet has he abandoned Iraq as he implied? No. Has he undermined the war effort there? No. It may be as simple as Iraq transfering to his account from Bush’s but the result is as if this growth were based on the same forceful confidence in the universal appeal of American liberal ideals Bush so deeply held. Like the man too foolish to know he is in danger, Obama may display functional courage if events dictate. And events are the true dictators.

Middle East events speak most loudly but these same lessons are applicable to energy, spending, law… nearly any controversy. Iraq and Afghanistan both actually fit quite well into a classical liberal mindset. Each attempts to alleviate the condition of folks in desparate straits. The Liberal objections to both were always on practical, not moral grounds. Of course if Iraq could possibly work, it would be worth the effort. It would be worth nearly any effort. But Bush muffing the whole operation was taken as rote. And in any case, the fact that American national interests were also attended is a disqualifying factor for this crowd as it makes our intentions suspect while it makes the enterprise more plausible to everyone else. As the fool was wont to say, we have some opportunities here where our practical national interests are aligned with our mushiest liberating sentiments. And man, that NEVER happens.

Except it did and has happened again, in Libya. For Lockerbie and older offenses, Khadaffy has well earned a high-tech ticket to the next world. Of course he also is slaughtering his former and possibly future subjects. Other than a modish respect for any dedicated foe of America there is NO reason to forebear on the Libyan loon unless it is that other crippling sop from campaign days, a reflexive opposition to “unilateralism”. Hillary is publicly waiting for NATO or some other multi-whatsis talking shop to take action forgetting that action is just not in their vocabulary. If he is not careful Obama may find himself bested by a Frenchman, which may be enough of a shock for even he to find his inner cowboy but then it may be too late for him to benefit in the polls and it will certainly be too late for more than a few emaciated Berbers. If Obama were to actually take some action in the mold of that even older cowboy, Reagan, he may find he has a taste for it after all. Much of what ails Obama, and therefore ourselves, is a lack of confidence. This deficit may be very well founded for Obama and us but we will never know without testing our ablities. The President feels himself jinxed and so is jinxed. Neither he nor we can progress far in such a state. The logjam must be broken even at much risk though in general the risks are not as large as they appear. If Obama were to take up the real duties of his office with vigor he might find he can have a genuine impact on bullies, not in the locker-room but on the world stage. Those who hate bullies will love him, those who fear bullies will follow him. Those who ARE bullies will fear every open space in the trees and at that we will be truly grateful while Barack Obama can be justly proud.

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