Obambo

One of the problems of being in my “age demographic” is that if something happens after a certain time at night, I will probably miss hearing about it.

That was certainly the case with the killing of Osama Bin Laden. We had gone to Statesboro, Georgia to see our son at Georgia Southern University (motto: “Look, we know it is Statesboro, but…”) and that trip always wipes me out. So when Sunday Night fell, I fell too. Do I know where I was when I heard that Osama Bin Laden was killed? Sure: I was sitting in the living room watching the morning news.

It is obvious that I have never been a big fan of President Obama. His election as President was the wrong man for the wrong job for the wrong reasons. He has little if no real understanding of market economics. When it comes to foreign affairs, he seems more than a little worried about what would be said at Harvard than in our own self interest.

That being said, the ‘hit’ on Osama sends a huge message to the bad guys of the world. When a wuss like that orders a “double tap”, you are not dealing with a weak country and you better watch yourself,Dude. To paraphrase Toby Keith, Obama will put a Birkenstock up your sphincter, it’s the American way.

Of course, this poses a problem for those of us on this side of the political river. Obama eating a can of metaphorical spinach and turning into Popeye doesn’t fit into our template of the man. Our friends on the political left are now acting like they have mullets and tank top t-shirts about Obama opening a can whoop-up. They think it assures his re-election.

Triumphs like the Osama take down rarely have any long term traction. In 1917, President Woodrow “Woody” Wilson entered the US “over there” in World War I and helped end the war to end all wars. He was the toast of the Europe. He came home to America and became toast. Winston Churchill saved England from Hitler but was thrown out of office before World War II ended. (Now there’s a bumper sticker: “Churchill-He Saved Western Civilization”)

In more recent times, Jimmy Carter brokered the Camp David accords in 1978. There was a hiccup that threaten it in the spring of 1979 and he straighten it out to much fanfare. (I will always remember the front page of The Atlanta Constitution which should have been called “The Atlanta Carter” in those days, showed a picture of the beaming Carter with the headline “He Did It”.)

Then you have the poster child for how foreign victories rarely work out well: President First George Bush. He ran Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait and enjoyed a 90% approval rating. A year and a half later, he was defeated for re-election by Bill “Sex Machine” Clinton, who turned all the women on by his moony eyed looks and his promise to feel your pain. Turns out he meant something else.

Personally, it really didn’t matter who got Bin Laden as long as he was gotten. If the Left feels good about Obambo, great. It is really a feather in his cap. I just have a feeling his bounce in the polls will only last for about two fill ups at the gas station.