Legacy Dreams
What
is the President doing? To listen to news reports, he is building his
legacy. Possibly by his agreements with Yemen, Myanmar, Cuba, and now possibly Iran, he hopes to show that his
vision of greater good the USA is willingness to co-opt or co-align the US
with old enemies. In the Christian vision, he turns the other cheek -
again and again. He wants to establish the US as a benign partner to all. He seems to want to fulfill a campaign pledge to close Guantanamo facility, accomplishing this by reducing the numbers of imprisoned.
The plan now revealed is to release systematically small contingents
of prisoners to foreign governments, not any of which are US true
friends. As with his reclaiming Sgt. Bergdahl,
we don't know what funds have been transferred or to who. We do know
the target destination countries are mostly insignificant. His view may be that history will record these actions in his favor, payments notwithstanding.
He definitely seems uncomfortable with senior international leaders.
We
see his unwillingness to recognize "Islamic" terrorism by name. The
right leaning press makes this as an important deal. Some indicate
language is important, but it seems not to this President. Critics may
site the reason may be potential deals pending with questionable Islamic interests, notably Iran.
Some
believe his latest actions are to maintain his relevance, to create
headlines, to keep his presence on the world stage. This may be the
case as he originally believed upon entry to his office was of indefinite durability. Yet, he did not realize that power and influence are ephemeral, and his time has come.
It is possible his signature effort, health-care, has been judged by his inner circle as problematic for continued existence
in his preferred form, and therefore he must strike out in other ways
to make a lasting impression, a legacy of the highest order.
In this context it may have been strategically and tactically better
had the health care initiative to have been more successful. His
other measures of regulation in the favor of a "greener" America are
also a part of his legacy dreams. He may believe that no matter how
unpopular these measures are now, no matter how much current industry
may suffer, no matter how many jobs may be lost, history will vindicate his actions.
Basically,
the President believes himself to be on the "right side of history."
This pedantic notion is usually applied in the opposite manner, i.e. to
be on the wrong side of history. For some reason, this "right side" ideal may be foremost in his thinking.
