Hot Air is Wrong and Obama is Correct! He IS One of the Top Presidents

In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Barack Obama said he was the “fourth-best president.”  The statement wasn't shown in the broadcast version of the interview because (surprise, surprise) they thought it would make their progressive hero Obama from looking bad.

On Hot Air, Ed Morrissey named the Obama's 60 Minutes statement the Obamateurism of the Year for 2011.  I think Ed is not being fair, there are some areas where Barack Obama has surpassed any other President in us History.

Apologies: In his first year as president, Barack Obama broke the Presidential record for apologizing to foreign leaders, breaking George HW Bush's record of one (Bush apologized for puking in the lap of the Japanese Prime Minister). Below are some of Obama's Year One Classics:

• To the Muslim World-Interview with Al Arabiya, January 27, 2009 “My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy. We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect.” 

• To Europe[Strasbourg, France, April 3, 2009. “In America, there’s a failure to appreciate Europe‘s leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.

• To Latin America-Summit of the Americas, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, April 17, 2009 “While the United States has done much to promote peace and prosperity in the hemisphere, we have at times been disengaged, and at times we sought to dictate our terms.”

• For the War on Terror. Speech in Washington, D.C., May 21, 2009 “Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions. I believe that many of these decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people. But I also believe that all too often our government made decisions based on fear rather than foresight, that all too often our government trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions.”

Bowing Down To Foreign Leaders No sitting Commander-in-Chief ever showed subservience to foreign leaders as Barack Obama. He bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, Emperor of Japan, President of China, even the Mayor of Tampa. This President's habit of acting subservient places him head and shoulders above below the rest.

Rounds of Golf: Remember when George W. Bush was criticized for playing too much golf in office? His in-office total was 24. President Obama has long since passed President Bush, during his vacation he played his 90th round of golf (and word is he still can't break 90).  Obama's 90 rounds in three years places him only third to Woodrow Wilson who on doctors orders played about 200 rounds of golf /year and President Eisenhower who played an average of 100 rounds a year during his presidency.

What About the economy you ask? Here is an area of the economy where Obama rises above all others. This chart below, created by the Heritage Foundation, show that Obama has managed to run the highest deficit/GDP President in at least the past 50 years! How's that for an economic achievement.

See what I mean? Just because Barack Obama has created an economic situation where businesses are afraid to create jobs, increased the government control over our lives, especially in the areas of  health care and energy, ignored generals warnings in Iraq and Afghanistan, hurt alliances with Britain, France, Israel Jordan and elsewhere, and is trying to wage class warfare against the people most likely to create jobs--it doesn't mean he wasn't one of the top presidents. You just have to look for what he as excelled in.

Sorry Ed, you are usually one of the last people I would expect to make unfair attacks on the president, but this time you are wrong. Barack Obama is great...its just that he is great at being lousy.