The Un-friendliest President
There is a classic book the president might want to read, perhaps to pass the time on one of his countless flights hither and thon: “How To Win Friends And Influence People,” by Dale Carnegie.
This president promised to repair all the damage George W.’s cowboy diplomacy purportedly did to
Domestically, he has governors of at least three to five states enraged. I doubt former President Clinton is a fan at the moment, after being used as Obama’s bribery boy and left hanging out to dry. Obama has vilified and made enemies of corporate leaders in several of our largest industries. (Not to mention millions of small business owners – we despise him.)
He’s not doing much better with his natural allies. Liberal-left supporters are, one after another, expressing their disappointment in his failure to follow-through on promises for their pet causes, most notably the closing of Gitmo and ending of the war he argued was unwarranted, as well as the one he claimed as his. His old minister of many years, Rev. Wright, has spoken of being wronged – “thrown under the bus” is the phrase I believe he used. Obama is ever so slowly losing the mainstream and liberal media as well. Even Mr. Matthews’ famous thrill up his leg has been replaced of late with whining about Obama’s feckless, tardy response to the oil spill.
Obama’s friends – and
The spill of ill will made by this White House throughout most of this society and abroad may very well take as long as the shameful national bankruptcy he is engineering to clean up – both taking longer than repairing the Gulf’s waters and beaches will.
Obama’s standard operating procedure has been to pick an enemy – fat-cat bankers, greedy insurance companies, greedy doctors performing unnecessary surgeries for money,
But the tactics just aren’t working like they used to. Like most bullies, the president is unaware of the deep resentments he is creating in so many, here, abroad, to his right and to his left. And he’s ignoring the cautionary principle: friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.
In an interview, the president said he would fire Mr. Heyward, were Heyward working for him. Obama loves firing other peoples’ executives. Funny that he hasn’t fired any of the incompetent twits that are working for him. Odd too that General Motors very recently recalled 1 million or 2 million cars (who counts small numbers anymore?), but Obama has not dragged its executives drug before Congress to be threatened and pilloried like Toyota’s. Nor has he vilified the union auto-workers shoving the dangerously defective beasts off their assembly line. Obama’s outrage is quite selective.
I believe un-friend is a verb of the new media. Maybethe time is right for a new book: “How To Un-Friend People and Destroy a Nation: The 3rd Autobiography by a One Term President of Ill Repute.”
Dan Kennedy is a serial entrepreneur, adviser to business owners, sought-after speaker and author of 14 books. His latest, “Make ‘Em Laugh & Take Their Money: A Few Thoughts on Using Humor as a Speaker or Writer or Sales Professional for Purposes of Persuasion,” contains a lelection of his BMI essays. More information about Dan can be found at www.NoBSBooks.com, and a free collection of his business resources including newsletters and webinars at www.DanKennedy.com.<?xml:namespace prefix = u2 />
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