The President Retracts, Does not Apologize

I chided the President for suggesting that one group of Americans, Latinos, should consider another group of Americans, Republicans, their enemies. As I stated, we are all Americans, we are not each others enemies. Today the President retracted his use of the word:

Obama, in an interview with talk radio host Michael Baisden, said, "I probably should have used the word 'opponents' instead of enemies."

I agree that he should have used different words, but note that he does not apologize. It is another example that shows that he is unfit to lead. He does not understand that his party was not given a blank check for four years, that working with the opposite party can bring great rewards, think Reagan and Rostenkowski on taxes.

"I don't want the folks who created this mess to do a lot of talking," he tells Republicans to basically shut up. He invites McCain and others to the White House to talk over health care and won't listen, tough I won. He doesn't understand that he is President of all the people and needs to listen. He listens Ahmadinejad more than he listens to fellow citizens who happen to be Republican. His agenda needs to be defeated and he should be made a one term President, like his Democratic predecessors Jimmy Carter and James Buchanan. He displays an understanding of politics rooted in tribalism that doesn't believe that we are first and foremost Americans. His slips of the tongue are revealing, and what they reveal is a man not fit to lead.

John Boehner gets it right when he says:

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a president in the White House who referred to Americans who disagree with him as ‘our enemies.' Think about that. He actually used that word. When Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush used the word ‘enemy,' they reserved it for global terrorists and foreign dictators -- enemies of the United States. Enemies of freedom. Enemies of our country. Today, sadly, we have president who uses the word ‘enemy' for fellow Americans -- fellow citizens. He uses it for people who disagree with his agenda of bigger government -- people speaking out for a smaller, more accountable government that respects freedom and allows small businesses to create jobs. Mr. President, there's a word for people who have the audacity to speak up in defense of freedom, the Constitution, and the values of limited government that made our country great. We don't call them ‘enemies.' We call them ‘patriots.'