We’ve seen recent media comparisons of our current president to FDR, Truman, Reagan, even George W. Bush.
But the latest Newsweek offers another interesting comparison: Obama as Neville Chamberlain. While right-of-center observers might agree with the notion that Obama’s disinterest in a wholehearted fight against Islamist terrorism bears some resemblance to Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler, the Newsweek piece makes a monumentally different case.
Screenwriter and former Newsweek editor William Broyles labels Obama a modern-day Chamberlain because he hasn’t been enough of a left-wing ideologue:
After each betrayal, after each terribly bad bargain, Obama comes out waving a piece of paper, a one-sided agreement to appease the Republicans—peace in our time. And Obama is always surprised when the Republicans, instead of being satisfied when he meets their demands, up the ante—as they did when they held the American economy hostage in the battle over raising the debt ceiling.
Emboldened by Obama’s appeasement, the GOP has set its sights on dismantling government itself. Its long-range goal isn’t to bring down the deficit. It’s to “starve the beast,” to gut the social programs that both parties have forged over the past century. And Obama has compromised so far in their direction that it’s hard to tell where he might stop.
A despair grips America today, a cold fear that our best days are behind us, that we are adrift and powerless. Yes, the Republicans are to blame. But so is a president who treats core American values as bargaining chips, who won’t fight for anything, who refuses to lead. It turns out hope does matter.
The upshot of Broyles’ critique? He believes the president should drop his re-election bid and support a Hillary Clinton campaign instead. The notion that Mrs. Clinton could play Churchill next to Obama’s Chamberlain gives you a sense of Broyles’ grip on reality.
