Three Key Issues – The Paradox in the Obama Administration

There are three key issues facing President Obama today. All of these issues have been around for a while yet each issue is being handled in opposition with popular belief. The issues facing the Obama Administration (in no particular order) are the threat of Iranian nuclear weapons, the ongoing war in Afghanistan, and healthcare.

Despite dozens upon dozens of speeches from the President, 60% of those surveyed in a Gallup Poll either disapprove of or are uncertain about the President’s and Congress’s proposed changes to the nation’s healthcare laws. Yet, this issue is the one garnering the vast majority of the Obama Administration’s time and effort (as it would appear publicly).

The continuing efforts of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan are yet another key issue facing the Obama Administration. However, the current leadership in Afghanistan has asked for up to 40,000 more troops yet, the Obama Administration has had to tell Congress that a complete troop withdrawal from Afghanistan is not an option. But, an immediate surge of forces is not expected and as it stands right now a meager increase of 10,000 troops is expected (a quarter of what the General on the ground has asked for). Without any polling data I would speculate that 100% of the American voting bloc wants US forces out of Afghanistan as quickly as possible. The difference comes in the means of making that happen and even then I would be willing to assert that 65% of the US voting bloc wants the mission in Afghanistan to be successful thus thwarting another 9/11 versus a complete withdrawal of US forces as quickly as possible. This issue is garnering a great deal of time (as it would appear publicly) but, many Americans think a decision should be made faster (as in now).

The third and possibly most devastating issue the Obama administration faces is the development of an Iranian nuclear weapon. Again, without any polling data, I would say that 95+% of US voters do not want an increase to the number of nuclear weapons on this planet. Therefore, I do not think it is a stretch to say that 100% of US voters would NOT want the Islamic Republic of Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon be it developed internally or purchased from another nation. With that being said, it would appear that the issue of Iranian nuclear weapons development is getting a level of attention that is far lower than what is required given the potentially devastating nature of the detonation of such a weapon in a region of the world that provides the rest of the world with much of its energy. The attention this issue is currently garnering will have to be tripled or perhaps quadrupled should the detonation of an Iranian nuclear weapon happen on the soil of an ally to the United States. Paying that needed “attention deficit” down now by taking off the kid gloves with Iran will save the current or perhaps future administrations a lot of headaches.

The paradox comes into play when looking at these three issues against the actual/perceived polling data and the amount of time being given to these issues. Healthcare 60% opposed/uncertain is getting the vast majority of the Obama Administration’s attention. The ongoing war in Afghanistan where I would say 65% of US voters want us to clean up any and all terror threats before we pull out is a distant second behind the healthcare issue. Finally, Iranian nuclear weapons development, which could be the single greatest terror attack ever foreseen ever in the history of humans ever (extra “evers” added for good measure), would be next to invisible on a pie chart of the time time spent by the Obama Administration talking on these three issues. The priorities of the Obama Administration concern me and I am sure many others; multi-tasking is something the Obama administration as a whole needs to get better at. But, vectoring the right amount of effort to the right places first would settle my nerves quite a bit.

Originally written for chrisshort.net