The Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day Ancien Régime: extravagant and out of touch with the American people
The Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day Ancien Régime: extravagant and out of touch with the American people
By Nile Gardiner World Last updated: August 7th, 2010 226 Comments Comment on this article
What the great French historian Alexis de Tocqueville would make of today’s Obama administration were he alive today is anyone’s guess. But I would wager that the author of L’Ancien Régime and Democracy in America would be less than impressed with the extravagance and arrogance on display among the White House elites that rule America as though they had been handed some divine right to govern with impunity.
It is the kind of impunity that has been highlighted on the world stage this week by Mic e Obama’s hugely costly trip to Spain, which has prompted a New York Post columnist Andrea Tantaros to dub the First Lady a contemporary Marie Antoinette. As The Telegraph reports, while the Obamas are covering their own vacation expenses such as accommodation, the trip may cost US taxpayers as much as $375,000 in terms of secret service security and flight costs on Air Force Two.
The Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day A... http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/ni...100050002/the-...
The timing of this lavish European vacation could not have come at a worse moment, when unemployment in America stands at 10 percent, and large numbers of Americans are fighting to survive financially in the wake of the global economic downturn. It sends a message of indifference, even contempt, for the millions of Americans who are struggling just to feed their families on a daily basis and pay the mortgage, while the size of the national debt balloons to Greek-style proportions.
While the liberal-dominated US mainstream media have largely ignored the story, it is all over the blogosphere and talk radio, and will undoubtedly add to the President’s free falling poll ratings. As much as the media establishment turn a blind eye to stories like this, which are major news in the international media, the American public is increasingly turning to alternative news sources, including the British press, which has a far less deferential approach towards the White House.
The First Lady’s ill-conceived trip to Marbella and the complete disregard for public opinion and concerns over excessive government spending is symbolic of a far wider problem with the Obama presidency – the overarching disdain for the principles of limited government, individual liberty and free enterprise that have built the United States over the course of nearly two and a half centuries into the most powerful and free nation on earth.
It is epitomised above all by the President’s relentless drive towards big government against the will of the American people, and the dramatic increases in government spending and borrowing, which threaten to leave the US hugely in debt for generations. It is also showcased by Barack Obama’s drive towards a socialised health care system, which, as I’ve noted before, is “a thinly disguised vanity project for a president who is committed to transforming the United States from the world’s most successful large-scale free enterprise economy, to a highly interventionist society with a massive role for centralized government.”
There is however a political revolution fast approaching Washington that is driven not by mob rule but by the power of ideas and principles, based upon the ideals of the Founding Fathers and the US Cons ution. It is a distinctly conservative revolution that is sweeping America and is reflected in almost every poll ahead of this November’s mid-terms. It is based on a belief in individual liberty, limited government, and above all, political accountability from the ruling elites. The Obama administration’s mantra may well be “let them eat cake”, as it continues to gorge itself on taxpayers’ money, but it will be looking nervously over its shoulder as public unease mounts.
While the liberal-dominated US mainstream media have largely ignored the story, it is all over the blogosphere and talk radio, and will undoubtedly add to the President’s free falling poll ratings. As much as the media establishment turn a blind eye to stories like this, which are major news in the international media...
lying right-wing assholes are everywhere, even blogging in a right-wing UK newspaper site.
what's a lie?
you do realize that she is paying most of her expenses right?
On a trip of this nature the "personal expenses" as defined by law are insignificant relative to the overall cost of the trip.
You simply can't argue that fact.
she paid for her personal expenses... you simply can't argue the fact
No that is an assumption that she and her 40 people entourage are paying for their expenses. No one has stated exactly what they are paying for and what they aren't. However if you had read the article you would have realized that is not what it is about. Perception. Also you liberals harp about the international community and how they view us. Do you still care, Obamabots?
I'm not. So she paid for her ing hotel room and the taxpayers paid for 40 or 50 more for the entourage...
What's your point?
So I am supposed to care because a right winger from accross the pond says something bad about Obama? Oh, ok I feel terrible now...
I will agree that it looks bad, however, the only expenses that the article says that taxpayers would be on the hook for that I can see that would be out of the ordinary would be the cost of gas for AFII. The secret service detail is there and gets paid either way, right?
the great farce of a bipartisan ideology continues
Funny how we shouldn't care what the international media had to say when we started our wars, but now we should definitely pay attention... hmm...
I personally have always found outlets such as the BBC, Deutsche Welle, RAI, and others refreshing in order to get a different perspective from the mainstream circus that is American media.
LOL there's some serious hyperbole going on here.
A right wing polemicist finds fault with a moderate president?
Holy , stop the presses. We have a newsworthy event here.
If you know enough German, there are some excellent newspapers still.
Süddeutsche Zeitung is my personal favorite.
The television/web Deutsche Welle is also a sentimental favorite, as I used to watch it a lot to practice my German when getting a degree.
One of my favorites is Asia Times....very good stuff there usually..
I never cared about the international media. Although would love to see if some of the libs who did have a problem see it. I guess it'll probably get tossed out because it is from a right winger.
The Economist is an excellent read.
I try and read the shumpeter articles of the economist. I run through the rss of economist if I have time.
Who cares? You are the only who seems bothered by it.
I think that's my point.
You Repugs are missing the point. This is not an Obama phenonomena...this is something that we have seen for over a decade now.
Its called having your elected officials bought and paid for.
Its not a Repub/Dem issue...its a two-party system that has been completely commandeered issue.
We really needed another thread about a Telegraph column whining about the Spanish vacation.
and Bush's cabinet was really in touch with the common American ppl
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