One big ass mistake!

Very soon after Obama got elected  president  of the USA, his republican rivals started calling it "One Big Ass Mistake America"!  A spoof  with racist overtones on  Obama's name and the fact that  donkey (ass) happens to be the democratic party's symbol . Few months into his presidency later a lot more  Americans have started agreeing with this and all of them are not republicans. As his recent electoral reverses show ; people are  just not convinced that his throwing billions at wall street has got  them anything in return. According to a survey 58% Americans are not sure if they can make their next mortgage payment. That is a very very scary  number indeed!  On top of that he is as lost in Afghanistan as he ever was. America has shovelled another  bunch  of billions  into  the bottomless pit that is " Rent-a-Army Pakistan ". All that money has disappeared  too with no  worthwhile results to show against the  Islamic terror machine.   In fact  a large part of these funds  routinely get routed to Pakistan's favourite terrorist groups .  Obama's Secretary of State Ms. Clinton is saying so but US is unable to do anything about it . It is that helpless! America is  forced to fund a war against itself.  Obama's election slogan "Yes we can " is sounding more like " No I can't".  

During the first great war it was considered unlucky for three soldiers to light their cigarettes with the same matchstick. Since battle ground wisdom dictated that when the first soldier lit  his smoke the  enemy saw it ; when the second soldier did  it the enemy aimed his rifle at the light and when the third did - boom; enemy fired at the light.

To be fair to him , Obama is the unlucky  third man on the light. He inherited  this economic/ political  time bomb that was planted during Bill Clinton's presidency and ignited during George Bush's.  Even If we  discount his over promises as an electoral necessity  and under performance as a reality check  ; the fact remains that he is dancing in a mine field and every  bumbling step he takes, some mine or the other blows in his face.  Here is one guy who  can use  a lot of help himself -  Now ! Do not think what Obama can do for you ; think what you can do for Obama!

 That is the reason I  find it strange that so many people in the Indian sub-continent are looking towards him to find solutions for their problems. It was very comical to see the separatist Kashmiri Muslim groups collect signatures in boxes to be presented to Obama ; asking for his intervention on their behalf. I was unable to find in the media what if anything came of this large  meaningless exercise.  Most likely He was probably bringing in a bigger signature campaign of his own from  the  teeming American unemployed asking for an intervention from Manmohan Singh on  their behalf!

Obama's official hosts; the government of India on the other hand had prepared a large wish list of their own. Starting with rollback on H1B visa fee hike to declaring Pakistan a terrorist state. It was  a long list with a lot  of other stuff in between. Except for some flowery prose about his support for India's UN Security Council bid , which will take a long time  to happen if at all ; I did not come across anything specific  that Obama might have conceded.  It is nothing short of hilarious that you are asking him to charge you less money when he is in an economic downturn and can use every cent and dime. Even more  stupid is India asking him  on  their behalf to deal with that very Pakistan   which is  smartly making an ass out  of America  day in and day out and getting paid for it  in the bargain!

Pakistan was not invited to these discussions ; so they decided to hold a discussion among their army and  their civil government. All to present a wish list  to Obama of their own. Starting with '  scale back India's role in Afghanistan'; to 'do not back India for UNSC'; and' tell them to give up kashmir'; and  'we also want a civil nuclear deal ........ It was arguably the biggest wish list amongst all. They continued a constant litany of their woes  throughout  Obama's visit to India but were hampered by the fact that  nobody was  paying any attention.

A witticism on the net goes like this,'' Neither God nor Obama can produce a birth certificate but  God does not think he is Obama'.  Jokes apart , Obama is not God ! not even close. The trouble with people is that we do not wish to take ownership of our own problems . We want a peg to hang our worries . That's the reason  why we are constantly searching for a messiah who will come and deliver us.  It is like  not even wanting to spend a dollar on buying lottomax and hoping to land the jackpot.  What are the chances? Also  since God is  fresh out of stock on messiah's   we   tend to deify  anyone we can . Even just barely better than ordinary people  are given the mantle and  then  we expect them to solve things  for us. Obviously these "chosen ones"  are not able to deliver instant nirvana. We the people are  even quicker to condemn them and go on to find another shoulder to cry upon. Obama  just happens to be  the current  "soup of the day".

Although  many people have commented on how Obama  has got some of his wishes during  his Visit to India and how he gave out stingily himself . They have commented on the respective benefits to  the participating countries and who won , who lost . They questioned the usefulness  of such jaunts or the lack of it . The best  commentary was by Jaswant singh. As a former Indian minister for external affairs his understanding of how these processes work is less than none.  I agree with his take   that  these trips should not be made "destinational" ; rather it should be " directional" . Essentially   manage your expectations;do not expect big results. As long as you are  deepening mutual understanding  and finding common ground , it is worth it.

Obama  is on a help finding mission for his own problems ; Just do not expect   him  to give you solutions to your problems.  Now that would be  one big ass mistake; "mother of all mistakes".