An administration incapable of acknowledging, and learning from, its mistakes

There’s an emerging pattern in the administration, which is the willful refusal to acknowledge realities they don’t like, especially their mistakes.  This goes for the whole administration: the White House and both sets of Congressional leaders.  Examples of this are the refusal to acknowledge the tea parties, the refusal to acknowledge that the fall of Communism (achieved without Obama’s help) matters, and the refusal even to admit to watching Tuesday’s election results.  Indeed, Pelosi has gone so far as to announce victory, despite the fact that one swing state and one reliably Democrat state slapped the Democrats in the face.  With that definition of victory before you as an example, you can excuse any horrific missteps you make in your life.

The smart money when you’re getting slapped around as the Obami and Democrats are is to examine your conduct.  You then decide what are important matters of principle that can’t be changed and what are thinking and behavior errors that must be changed.  (A perfect example is Bush’s willingness to adopt Petraeus’ Surge technique in Iraq, which resulted in a completely turnaround in the region.  Bush was smart enough not to through good money after bad, not to get stuck on stupid, not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, not to continue long after he reached the point of diminishing returns.)  The one thing you don’t do is stick your fingers in your ears, close your eyes tightly, and holler, “I caaan’t hear you!  I caaan’t hear you!”  Yet this self-destruction tactic is precisely what the Democrats in power are doing.

One of the places in which both the administration’s failures and its refusal to engage in course correction are most obvious, is the Middle East.  Jennifer Rubin does a scathing take-down of the horrible mistakes the Obama administration made in dealing with the Israelis and the Palestinians.  By instantly adopting and trying to enforce against the Israelis one of the more extreme Palestinian demands, the Obami first alienated the Israelis and then, when the Obami had to concede defeat, alienated the Palestinians.  Now, no one in the Middle East wants anything to do with Hillary and the nation she comes from.  But has that changed things in Washington?  No, explains Rubin:

This is the “smart diplomacy” set. This is Middle East strategy brought to us by Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, the sage gurus of international diplomacy who we are told egged Obama on and figured they might outfox Bibi Netanyahu or, better yet, orchestrate his downfall. For this they give the Nobel Peace Prize.

In many administrations, heads would roll. You’d see a shake-up of the advisers who presided over this debacle. But so sign of that yet. Emanuel and Axelrod have moved on to running the Afghanistan war, Clinton is “reasserting herself,” George Mitchell is racking up the frequent-flyer miles, and James Jones is doing whatever it is James Jones does. Should the mainstream American Jewish community be pleased with this display? Well, they’ve gone a bit mute, perhaps abiding by the advice that if you have nothing nice to say, better to be quiet. Nevertheless, those who vouched for the Obami’s brains and Zionist credentials were, we now know, duped.

As for the country as a whole and our allies, it is a sobering sight — the full extent of the Obami’s incompetence and arrogance and the results of both, that is. For those hoping to “restore America’s place in the world,” it’s about time to realize that our standing, at least in the Middle East, has never been lower. And let’s not forget: the same underachievers are supposed to be devising an Afghanistan-war plan and working to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. Do you feel safer yet?

It’s pretty much like having teenagers run your world, something that should be a scary thought for any sane human being.