...But I Won't Be Holding My Breath

Sometimes the hypocrisy of the Left is so funny to watch sometimes. Remember how they howled at George W. Bush "dragging his feet" on Katrina (FEMA and federal law be damned!)? Well, with the oil spill near the Gulf Coast occurring on Earth Day, Barack Obama has surpassed even the seemingly egregious delays the Left pinned on Bush. And what has the Left said about it?

Nothing.

They've stayed quiet, and I'll bet they're already working on a backstory about how Obama "wanted to review all the options on the table before acting." Dude, it's an oil spill. You fix the hole and clean it up. No need to convene the Cabinet or some think tank to figure that one out. All it takes is action.

And that's where Obama has been lacking in leadership. On relatively simple matters, he's slow to act, which isn't a virtue no matter how much the press and Obama's supporters try to make it one. If you delay on a simple problem, it gives the impression of insecurity, which can be devastating to one's image as a leader.

Then, there are the big issues, like health care reform. Obama was relatively quick to act on that, but only to hand off the issue to Congress. That's not a sign of good leadership either because it gives the impression that you're only good at coming up with what needs to be done, but lack the ability to see it through to the end. Congressional Democrats were clearly upset at the lack of direction from the White House during the health care reform debate, as they should have been. It was Obama's idea to push health care reform during his first year, so he should have been the one making the arguments in favor of it. Aside from a couple of infomercials and the occasional town hall meeting talking about it, Obama's leadership on the issue was lacking.

But it goes beyond a lack of leadership. After the Left attacked George W. Bush's delays in addressing the Katrina situation, they set themselves up as being better capable of handling a major issue, and I would think an oil spill counts as a major issue. A failure to act in that context shows the hypocrisy of the Left as clearly as anything I could post.

Of course, the Left could surprise us by criticizing the President for not acting quickly enough. But I won't be holding my breath waiting for it...