The term the Pres. used to describe it is a euphemism, it's merely a "mid-course correction." And with respect to foreign policy, little correction is needed. Give credit to Obama or H/B Clinton, but they've gotten foreign policy balanced very well.
However, when it comes to domestic policy, economics, and just plain politics, we're talking about a President (and Senate Majority Leader, Chief of Staff, Treasury Sec'y, DNC Chairman) who were on their way into a galactic void - such as the "coal sack nebula." Their mid-course correction requires more than a 180 degree turnabout. If Obama were Cap'n Kirk, he would be shouting: "Evasive Maneuvers, or is that Reverse Engines, and give her all ya' got, Scottie!"
But, unfortunately, the President is not Cap'n Kirk, and Harry Reid is not Scotty. There is no Bones in this Administration, and heaven knows there is no Spock. Reid is simply becoming the man without a voice, a kind of figurehead who stands for practically nothing.
And to make the situation worse, we have a Captain Picard whose top advisor seems to be none other than Tom Daschle, whose voice came booming over NPR today, telling the nation that Obama must develop "chemistry" with Mitch McConnell. He must sit and talk to McConnell, and the two of them must figure out how to govern together.
Can you imagine Tom Daschle beaming onto the Enterprise and telling Picard that he must start to negotiate with the Borg? Even Picard would politely dismiss him from the bridge. Perhaps our Cap'n has a spine that is more jellyfishlike than Picard's, because he tolerates Daschle, and even seems to admire him.
This is the same Tom Daschle who nauseated most of us for years, who couldn't get himself re-elected while Senate Majority Leader, and who saw the number of Dems in the Senate dwindle during his tenure. Daschle was one of the worst leaders of the Senate in living memory. And Obama is so inept that he listens to Daschle.
Daschle speaks on NPR today as if he is a grand fountain of wisdom. He is, in truth, a kind of idiot. As Shakespeare, "The fool doth think he is a wise man."
Daschle should know, by now, that his strategic advice is almost worthless, or at best is the kind of advice that could be used on a tactical level.
Historically, Tom Daschle is analogous to:
General McClelland of the Civil War, who failed miserably despite having 2:1 advantages in battle after battle and was defeated, and who had the gall to run against Abraham Lincoln in 1864. If McClelland had been elected, the Civil War would have been lost, and the union dissolved.
President Obama listens to Daschle in a way that would be analogous to Lincoln "listening" to General McClelland - if he had done so, the CSA would be alive today.
Perhaps, come to think of it, we would all be better off if we didn't need to worry about the red States, and then Daschle would have no function in our government. Daschle would have us surrender or give up & give in, as McClelland would have done. Maybe if we'd given up in 1864, we'd all be better off, because like it or not, Obama is dumb enough to take Tom Daschle seriously. And that means we're all in a sh*tload of trouble.
You know, as Karl Rove himself said today, Bill Clinton is a hell of a lot better politically than Obama is. Obama - for heaven sakes, he couldn't even get a Democrat elected in Illinois or Pennsylvania ! Talk about an embarrassment - the man has no clout at all. Now, it's starting to become obvious that he really doesn't know the hell what he's doing politically.
So, while most of us are to the left of the Clintons, it's starting to become clear that Obama is either to the right of the Clintons, or that he really is too young, too green around the gills, too unsophisticated or unsavvy, or too easily duped. We probably would have been better off with Hillary, don't ya' think?
The only problem with Hillary is that she said some asinine things in 2008. Who we really need for President now is not Hillary, but Bill, ya' know? She could play the proxy role, if she could only keep her damn mouth shut and stop bellowing and threatening to annihilate Iran during her oafish campaign, when it seemed she was going to nuke Obama in June of 2008 - remember her sense of desperation?
Damn - if Hillary could only learn to say Bill's words and turn off her klutzy ego, she could run an effective campaign for the 2012 nomination and win it. But Hillary doesn't have the personal warmth or the chemical connection with the people that Obama has.
Could we perhaps have a brain transplant - putting Kirk's mind into Picard's brain? That would be Bill's mind into Obama's brain. Is there any way to drive the Daschle demon out of Obama? It is like the Borg - the grip on Obama is so complete that you would think he's become a South Dakotan farmer. All he needs is some faded overalls and a pitchfork, a straw hat and some chewin' tobacco, and Tom Daschle's accent of course - that soft, whispery kind of accent that has you feeling like your sense of being is blurring into the vast blueness of the South Dakota skies. It's like Reid and Daschle - Obama is becoming like Reid and Daschle - and they are all fading out into the vast blueness of the midwestern prairie sky.
We will wake up perhaps, two years from today, with a Republican President, Senate, and Congress. We will wonder what happened - how could the dream of 2008 have disappeared so suddenly? Was it just a dream? Why in the world did Obama listen to Daschle? To Summers, Geithner? Why did he appoint Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff? Why did he compromise with the Republicans when they were destroying his Presidency?
And we will become .... the Borg.