It’s been creeping into speeches made by the president and his staff. It litters Barack Obama’s two websites, BarackObama.com and Whitehouse.gov. As rhetoric fades, and the reality of multiple crises sets in, this sorry word is emerging as the plan of action for an administration that looks increasingly incapable of dealing with the challenges before it. The word is “cope” and as “hope” wanes, it seems to be the only avenue President Obama is capable of pursuing.
Are you an unemployed middle class American dealing with a tight budget and a rising cost of living? Don’t worry. Whitehouse.gov has an entire section designed to show how Obama is enacting measures that will help you “cope.”
Are you concerned about America’s future – its rising debt and declining dollar? You shouldn’t be. The commander in chief has assured us he’s doing everything he can to “cope” with these challenges.
Do you live in the gulf? Has the oil spill, or Obama’s decision to shut down your drilling platform, cost you your livelihood? Never fear. The president has sworn that he will spare no expense to help affected citizens “cope.”
The problem is, “coping” implies that the situation isn’t going to change.
We “cope” with tragedy – with the deaths of loved ones, with inoperable terminal illnesses, or the fiery destruction of our homes. Since there’s no way to bring the dead back, to cure the incurable, or to magically reconstruct a decimated residence, we accept the pain, ingest it, and continue on. To “cope” is not to succeed or to achieve. To “cope” is to endure.
Unemployment in this country is hovering near ten percent and, despite the presidential numbers game, is still climbing. Money is tight and many face foreclosure and bankruptcy. When Obama claims that he has a way to “cope” with that problem, it’s a tacit admission of what many already fear. In the president’s mind, the situation we face is the new normal. He has no plan – no desire – to reverse the underlying economic problems causing such strife. If he did, he wouldn’t be implementing tax increases for 2011. He wouldn’t be fighting for the jobs-killer known as Cap & Trade. In Obama’s mind, people facing such difficulties will just have to get used to it. They’ll have to “cope.”
According to Bloomberg, as early as 2012 America’s debt will surpass her GDP. China, the greatest human rights violator on the planet, owns our nation’s future via three generations worth of unpayable bills. There’s not a single economist on the planet who would seriously suggest the country’s current course is sustainable, yet the president continues to squander money we don’t have, to grow our deficit, and to ignore his constituent’s wishes to the contrary. We’re told, without any specifics, that it’s all going to be O.K. We’re a great nation – somehow we’ll “cope.”
Immediately after the BP leak began, fishermen in the Gulf began screaming that the spill would destroy their livelihoods. The cries fell on Obama’s deaf, or uninterested, ears. He’s now spent 60 days playing catch up. Not once in two months has he even offered the appearance of being in a leadership position. He had time for golf, basketball, and Paul McCartney, but no time to return phone calls from the beleaguered region. Instead, he issued the knee-jerk order to suspend deep sea drilling, a proclamation that will cost thousands of jobs. So, in addition to the trawlers, the roughnecks are out of work. The money they normally earn is spent in Louisiana’s bars, restaurants, and shops. Now it’s gone, and the economy of the entire area faces collapse.
An Oval Office speech, designed to assure people that, despite appearances, the president was on top of the situation, offered no guidance, no leadership, and no plan. His only real decision, the suspension of drilling, has made things worse. As a nod to the unions which helped bring him to power, he steadfastly refuses to allow foreign help by suspending the Jones Act. In the wake of such incompetence, how can he have the gall to claim that the government will spare no expense helping Louisiana “cope?”
Mr. President, it’s time to achieve. The idea that Americans are strong enough to deal with hardship is not in doubt. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again. We don’t need you to tell us that we have the ability to “cope.” We deserve better than that.
Whether you believe it or not, we deserve, and are capable of, success.
America is sick and tired of simply “coping.”