Obama's Leftist Conundrum

Barack Obama suffers from an inherent policy contradiction, especially in foreign affairs.

On the one hand, as a Leftist, he despises the United States and sees it as a force for ill in the world. On the other, as president, is judged by how well the country fares during his tenure.

Logically, he cannot reconcile the contradiction of these two imperatives: If he wants to be reelected and celebrated as a great leader, he has to forward American interests; but if he wants to implement his preferred policies, he subverts the country and fouls his nest.

Ideology vs. interests; this Leftist conundrum goes far to explain why Obama's Leftist comrades despise his time in office, for he has on occasion ditched his worldview to try to make things work (the base at Guantánamo) or he adopted a muddled middle ground that pleases neither side (the war in Iraq, Arab-Israeli diplomacy).

The same consideration applies to domestic policy as well (higher taxes or lower unemployment?) but not so starkly as in foreign policy. (November 27, 2011)

Nov. 28, 2011 update: This wisp of a blog has stirred some controversy, with numerous readers telling me how disappointed, or even appalled, they are with my casually stating that Obama "despises the United States and sees it as a force for ill in the world." On the other side, radio host Rush Limbaugh devoted several minutes to reading out this analysis and emphatically agreeing with it.

I take it for granted that Obama's far-Left background (most fully documented by Stanley Kurtz in Radical-in-Chief) signifies that he wants fundamentally to transform the United States. But, on reflection, this is not a outlook that liberals share.

Interestingly, while I caught a lot of guff for that description, no one argued with the idea that Obama faces a conundrum.

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