Barack Obama on a Roll

I know this sort of summarization will set the fringe full mooners on the right all atwitter but the last month or so has been pretty good to President Obama: 
 
1. He received a rock star reception in Ireland and now in England Barack Obama has made history by becoming the first American president in history to address both houses of Parliament.
 
2. Chrysler pays back bailout loan to the feds: “SERGIO MARCHIONNE, Chrysler: We have received confirmation this morning at 10:13 a.m. from Citigroup that Chrysler Group repaid, with interest, by wire transfer to the United States Treasury and by bank transfer to the Canadian government, every penny that had been loaned less than two years ago: Chrysler Pays Back Billions in Bailout Loans: Is the Comeback Complete?: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june11/chrysler_05-24.html   
 
3. The unwinding of TARP continues with the federal government making a small profit on the sale of part of its A.I.G. stock: Treasury Gets Small Profit From Sale of A.I.G. Stock; http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/a-i-g-underwriters-price-stock-sale-at-29/?scp=1&sq=A.I.G.&st=cse
 
4. In spite of the far right-wing media bleating aloud that Obama had essentially “thrown Israel under the bus”, Benjamin Netanyahu in an address before both houses of Congress indicated that it’s his responsibility to compromise so as to effect a lasting peace in the MidEast.  Cablers Cover Netanyahu Speech to Joint Session of Congress; http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cablers-cover-netanyahu-speech-to-joint-session-of-congress_b68067  While Netanyahu reiterated that he would not support a return to the pre-1967 borders or the wholesale return of Palestinians into Israel, his willingness to compromise is evident in his comments: “I stood before my people and said that I will accept a Palestinian state; it’s time for President Abbas to stand up before his people and say, ‘I will accept a Jewish state. Those six words will change history, With those six words, the Israeli people will be prepared to make a far-reaching compromise. I will be prepared to make a far-reaching compromise.” Netanyahu Gives No Ground in Congress Speech; http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/world/middleeast/25diplo.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=netanyahu&st=cse
 
5. Osama bin Laden dead on Obama’s watch in what represents the greatest triumph of American intelligence since the discovery of Russian missiles bound for Cuba during the Kennedy Administration . Obama was gracious enough to give George W. Bush the requisite credit for the changes made to our national security apparatus in 2005 that contributed to the eventual demise of Osama bin Laden. He also invited Bush to attend the Ground Zero commemoration. However, in spite of this, much of the far right media refused to give Obama any credit at all for the death of bin Laden, choosing to only focus on that aspect of the event that could be traced back to the Bush era. This lack of tact and grace on the part of far right talking heads does nothing to diminish the fact that the actionable intelligence which led to the decision to kill bin Laden came only eight months ago and the ultimate decision to engage in this high risk mission was made by none other than Barack Obama.
 
6. The victory of a Democrat in the N.Y. 26th Congressional District can only be seen as a setback for the efforts by Paul Ryan to restructure Medicare and thus a victory for Obama and the Democrats: “There’s no way to spin this result. Both the reality and the perception are in sync: Republicans’ bet on pushing the Ryan Medicare plan through the House has cost them what should have been a totally safe GOP seat. All the other factors – a third-party candidate and the weakness of the Republican nominee – are meaningless. The crazy thing for Republicans is that they walked the plank for a policy that has no chance to become law as long as Barack Obama is in the White House, much like Democrats did on cap and trade…While it is impossible to predict with certainty, it is clear that like much swirling about in politics today, the outcome of the 2012 election (for both president and control of Congress) will be determined in large part by whether there is a grand bargain on deficit reduction (including Medicare changes), and, if there is such a bargain, what the terms of it are;  An Omen, Not a Predictive Event   
http://thepage.time.com/2011/05/25/an-omen-not-a-predictive-event/#ixzz1NQIJdqBJ 
The Bigger Message From NY-26; http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/05/the-bigger-message-from-ny-26.html

 7. The defeat of the Ryan budget proposals in a procedural Senate vote today that saw five Republican senators side with the Democrats: Ryan Budget Goes Down; http://thepage.time.com/2011/05/25/ryan-budget-goes-down/ 
 
No matter how you cut it, Obama is now on a bit of a roll after having presided over the Democratic defeat of 2010 and the bristling attacks from the far right that have lamely tried to paint him as everything from Fascist to Marxist an angry post colonial black man. His approval rating is the highest it’s been since November of 2009: President Obama Job Approval; http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval-1044.html   Is any of this guarantee that he will be re-elected in 2012, no, but it’s a hell of a lot better for Obama then things have been since the November 2010 Congressional defeat.
 
SJG
5/25/11

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