Obama's words belittle the office He's a Disgarce

The incredible shrinking president: Obama's words belittle the office

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BY ANDREW MALCOLM

Constitutionally, Barack Obama has 427 days left in his second term.

But actually, the Democrat has already abdicated his role in the highest office that his countrymen can ever bestow.

His petty, petulant remarks recently and especially abroad this week confirmed the sadness.

Obama's not even a lame duck anymore. Ironic that he controls the most power on the planet. But stands before us and the world now as a mere shell of an American leader, bereft of any real influence or earned stature. He's ignored by Russia, defied by Iran. Instead of respect, he gets heads shaking.

Growing numbers of Americans, even fellow Democrats, are not just shocked by recent Obama behaviors. They are disturbed. Maybe even frightened for our country, their kids, like many of us facing these last 14 unpredictable months of his reign. Not that they're new Obama behaviors, but the same ones more frequent and extreme.

Obama has always tried to appear detached from events around him. He's not afraid of anything, understand. He's just so much more intelligent than mere mortals that he can't be bothered. Now, Obama's simply detached -- from world events, from political priorities, from reality.

The U.S. economy is roaring back. Not a scintilla of IRS corruption. No national security damage in Hillary Clinton's unsecure private email server. ObamaCare is a huge success. The VA hospital system is fixed. American global influence and approval have never been greater. The Fort Hood shootings were workplace violence. Russia's annexation of Crimea will not stand.

Benghazi was about a video. Global warming is the worst national security threat. Iran will self-police itself from acquiring nuclear weapons. ISIS is minor league. Its forces are contained. The death of 130 Parisians is a setback. Putin is isolated. A deadly Delta Force-ISIS firefight was not combat.

There's no such thing as radical Islam. Yemen is an anti-terrorism success story. Releasing Guantanamo terrorists cripples al Qaeda recruiting. He can change laws by fiat.

Obama's 10,000+ authorized Syrian refugees are all widows and orphans. Each of them will be thoroughly vetted -- trust him and the U.N. -- despite the absence of any documentation, databases or functioning governments there. Just like the refugee Tsarnaev boys. Oh, wait! They were the Boston bomber brothers.

Wednesday in Manila a self-indulgent Obama took his political cynicism to a new level, acting shocked -- shocked, mind you -- that the opposition party (and, psst, leaders in Obama's own party) were voicing the concerns and fears of millions about a wave of Syrian refugees, possibly peppered with terrorists, as occurred in Paris and Boston.

"Apparently," Obama opined during a news conference with Philippine President Benigno Aquino, "they’re scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America as part of our tradition of compassion. First, they were worried about the press being too tough on them during debates. Now they’re worried about three-year-old orphans. That doesn’t sound very tough to me." You can read Obama's other 940 outraged refugee words here.Instead of trying to assuage the fears with facts as a genuine leader might, Obama fell back on petty, political posturing beneath his office.

Obama might have had a point if he or Yawn Kerry had made the slightest bid to explain their peremptory refugee decision at any time in the two months since they arrogantly announced it. As a regal Obama also failed to do when he decided to bring Ebola patients into the U.S., despite widespread public fears. He wasn't worried. So, no one else should be.

One of Obama's numerous dubious legacies will be the historic calculations of how much hope and goodwill the first black president squandered by stooping to cheap behavior more worthy of the Chicago City Council than the Oval Office. Our IBD Editorial Board colleagues commented on that here.

Obama arrived in office with so much promise and so many promises, including bridging Washington's bitter partisan divide. So uninterested was Obama in fulfilling that promise that, for but one example, he took fully 542 days to meet with the Senate Republican leader. But to Obama, the fault always lies elsewhere. As he now claims with this refugee resistance.

As one little-noticed result, in 2012 Obama became the first president since World War II to win reelection with fewer popular votes than his initial victory. Almost 3.6 million Americans changed their mind about him. As more time passes and his delusions and inappropriate behaviors accumulate, those numbers of changed minds are only likely to grow, sadly.

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