Camille Paglia is a woman after my heart. First, there was her delicious and unexpected tribute to the "muscular American feminism" of Sarah Palin. Then, there was her righteous spanking of fellow liberals for backing the Fairness Doctrine.
And, although she was an Obama supporter, she's spent the last four months being brutally honest about the wunderkind executive's protocol and policy pratfalls. Like many Americans, she hasn't lost faith in Obama, but she notes with a hint of increasing worry in each column, that she knew she wasn't voting for an experienced man when she voted for him.
In today's installment, in which she becomes one of precious few non-conservatives to criticize Obama's bow to the Saudi king, she diagnoses the problem without pulling punches:
But we all know how little executive experience Barack Obama has had. He was elected for his vision and his steady, deliberative character, not his résumé...Obama's staffing problems are blatant -- from that bleating boy of a treasury secretary to what appears to be a total vacuum where a chief of protocol should be. There has been one needless gaffe after another
She goes on to say, "I still strongly believe in Obama's promise as a world leader."
If this sounds familiar, there's a reason for it:
On January 14, "Obama's early stumbles" lamented the "mess" he and his staff had made of an otherwise smooth transition by mishandling the Blagojevich and Burris affair, but lauded the "cordial dignity and thoughtful reserve" he brought to the office.
On February 11, in "A rocky first few weeks," Paglia lamented the mess Obama and his staff made of his honeymoon, deferring to House leadership for the crafting of important bills, which became overstuffed pinatas of political favors, but praised his overall "good start."
On March 11, "Heads should roll" lamented the mess Obama's "posse of smirky smart alecks and provincial rubes" had made of the stimulus, Gordon Brown's visit, and the petty attack on Rush Limbaugh, but stipulated "great hope and confidence" in Obama.
Today's column dispenses with "confidence" in favor of belief in Obama's "promise," and lays blame for many of his problems squarely on the shoulders of the chief executive for not recognizing the weaknesses of his staff.
Indeed, widespread belief in Obama's promise was exactly what got him elected. But Paglia's column about the mess of the month illustrates the serious trouble he's had making good on that promise, and the gradual loss of confidence that is the price of failing to deliver the only product he had to pitch. The danger to Obama's message was always the great mangling it was likely to endure in the kielbasa-crafting gears of the capital unless expertly guided by a truly committed and gifted leader. As the right pointed out, his resume did not suggest he had such skills, and his early weeks in office have illustrated the gap between his pledges and his ability (and sometimes, even commitment) to bring them about.
Obama once famously asked supporters, not only to believe in him, but to believe in themselves. I hope they heeded his advice. If he keeps getting tripped up by issues big and small, the latter may be easier to come by than the former at some point.
