The London Telegraph reports new polls find that US voters see the President as more and more of a failure.
There is no doubt that Obama’s handling of the Syria crisis, and his handling of foreign policy in general, is helping drive the president’s unpopularity. According to the Fox poll, 68 percent of likely voters believe the US “should not be more involved in Syria,” with just 26 percent in favour of greater involvement. Only 36 percent agree that “President Obama (has) adequately explained for you the reasons US military action against Syria is necessary,” and just 27 percent “believe President Obama has clearly identified what the US goals and objectives would be in taking military action against Syria.” 55 percent of those surveyed disagree with the assertion that “the reasons for taking military action in Syria are stronger than they are in Iraq,” and 74 percent believe military action against Syria “is more likely to provoke additional violence in the Middle East.” Overall, 60 percent of voters disapprove of Obama’s handling of the Syria issue, compared to just 29 percent who back him.
As the Obama Presidency collapses we should recall the poem from Percy Shelley that perhaps better than any other captures the spirit of the Obama administration.
Ozymandias
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away”.
