A MOMENTOUS WEEK - AT 8:40 A.M. ET

This will probably be the most momentous week of the Obama presidency.

Consider:  First, The Senate begins debate today on the president's signature domestic initiative - a health "reform" bill that is a mess to start with, is facing increasing public opposition, and can't get a consensus within Obama's own party in the Senate.  Great leadership, Barack.

Second, the president makes his already-famous speech on Afghanistan tomorrow, laying out his divine vision for the future of that country and our involvement in it.  He has waited to long to decide, losing the confidence of the defense establishment and depressing morale, not only in our own military, but among our allies.  Further, his own party, especially in the House, is already against him on this crucial decision.  There are already warnings that the left may try to cut off funding, Vietnam style, for the war.  There are warnings from the other side that his presumed strategy isn't a strategy at all, but a political compromise designed only to minimize opposition until he can figure a way out of the war.  More great leadership, Barack.

Third, Iran is coming home to roost.  With its announcement yesterday that it will be starting ten new nuclear plants, Iran, bottom line, has signaled the end of negotiations, unless we make major concessions.  Yet the strongest statement about Iran's continued, outrageous defiance came not from the United States, but from France.  Obama has been so pathetically weak on Iran that the Europeans look like Army Rangers by comparison.  Our entire Iran policy consists of Hillary Clinton threatening "crippling" sanctions, which, so far, no one has agreed to outside her immediate household.  Nice going, Barack. 

The president is in serious trouble.  The internet is filled with articles, both foreign and domestic, reporting that citizens, and governments, have lost confidence in him.  His belief in his own mystical powers, and his own mouth, was clearly misplaced.  He has gotten nothing done.  And, while he could probably win a "king of the senior prom" contest, he can win little more.  His approval rating in some polls has dropped below 50%.  That's not exactly Biblical prophet territory. 

Can Obama redeem himself? 

It is true that many presidents get off to a rocky start.  Reagan's first year was uneven, and he dropped in the polls.  Kennedy's first year was a foreign-policy disaster.  Reagan went on to greatness.  Kennedy righted himself in his second year. 

But Obama is neither Reagan nor Kennedy.  He is a leftist, something now obvious to the public if not to CNN, and yet his greatest opponent may turn out to be the left wing of his party, which is warning him about straying. 

Yet, stray he must.  He must learn from Reagan, and from FDR before Reagan, that no president can become a captive of his party and expect to lead effectively.  We remember Reagan as a great conservative.  Yet, he was careful to maintain a correct distance between himself and the movement, allowing him flexibility in governing. 

Obama's speech at West Point tomorrow night will give some hint of whether he's grown in office, or is simply a small Chicago politician in a job too big for him.  Will he rise to the challenge, or begin his journey to the dustbin of history? 

We'll watch, we'll blog live, we'll see.

November 30,  2009