Maureen Dowd, "Who Do We Think We Are?": Knocking on Hell's Door

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

- Dante's Inferno (circa 1314)

"And tonight, despite all the hardship we've been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I've never been more hopeful about our future. I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to sustain that hope."

- Barack Obama, Victory Speech, November 7, 2012

Ah yes, hope. More than a year and a half after being reelected to a second term as president of the United States, Obama is fervently awaiting 2017, when he will again be able to play golf to his heart's content (see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-obamas-political-bogey-on-the-golf-course/2014/06/24/6111e3b0-fbd1-11e3-8176-f2c941cf35f1_story.html) and return to writing books about himself.

But is it really that bad?

So what if America's national debt has risen to some $17.6 trillion from $10.6 trillion when Obama took office in January 2009? Of course, this debt will never be returned, but the problems will only bubble to the surface when the Chinese demand the return of their $1.3 trillion.

Of course, that $1.3 trillion could have been returned to the Chinese if Obama hadn't decided to escalate the Afghanistan War, but why cry over spilled milk?

The IRS scandal? The Benghazi scandal? The VA scandal? As former White House press secretary Jay Carney used to say, these scandals are all "fake." Carney, by the way, is now waxing critical of the press corps' "shallow approach" concerning his beloved president (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/magazine/jay-carney.html?_r=0).

Obama's neo-isolationism and its disastrous consequences in Syria (9 million refugees out of a total population of 22 million) and Iraq (establishment of the ISIS caliphate)? Out of sight, out of mind!

And then there was the recent Quinnipiac University National Poll, indicating that Obama is considered the worst president since World War II (http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2056).

How are Obama enthusiasts at The New York Times responding to this tsunami of devastating news?

In her latest New York Times op-ed entitled "About Those Presidential Polls" (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/05/opinion/gail-collins-about-those-presidential-polls.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region), Collins responds to the Quinnipiac Poll by observing that "Opinions about presidents change," and explains that even history's perception of Warren Harding has lately been the subject of revision, notwithstanding his affair with his wife's best friend, who was alleged to be a German spy.

Great! In another hundred years, history might also think more kindly of Obama! I can't wait to read about it!

In her latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Who Do We Think We Are?" (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/opinion/sunday/maureen-dowd-who-do-we-think-we-are.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0), Maureen Dowd observes the despondency that is gripping the United States. As America celebrates the Fourth of July weekend, Dowd writes:

"For the first time perhaps, hope is not as much a characteristic of American feelings.

. . . .

Barack Obama vowed to make government cool again, but young people, put off by the dysfunction in our political, financial, military and social institutions, are eschewing government jobs. Idealism is swamped by special interests. The middle class is learning to do more with less. The president, sort of the opposite."

Hope? A thing of the past.

In fact, it's over: No one is going to be able to undo the economic and foreign affairs damage wrecked by Obama (admittedly, Bush also had a significant hand in it), but it remains for the Chinese to demand repayment of their debt in order to shatter the illusion.