Deep in the doldrums of a second term, this White House is turning into a ridiculous parody of itself.
Earlier today President Obama kept a threat he made during the State of the Union address by unveiling his “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative.
This effort will “take action with foundations, businesses, and others to make sure that every young man of color who is willing to work hard and lift himself up has an opportunity to get ahead and reach his full potential,” according to the White House. It is all part of the larger effort “to make good on the President’s pledge to use his pen and phone to make 2014 a year of action.”
Setting aside the lunacy of divvying up mankind based on the hue of their skin, it is truly a rich irony that generous Americans must suffer through a sermon from this president on how to better be our brother’s keeper.
Most of us struggle along and help the best we can no matter how much trouble our brother or our neighbor or our friend gets into. Most Americans don’t sit around waiting for yet another goofy federal program to help our brother.
But since Mr. Obama brings it up, let’s talk about taking care of our brothers, both literal and figurative. Let’s start with literal.
George Hussein Obama is the president’s half brother who lives in a tin shack in a Nairobi, Kenya slum, struggling with addictions to booze and drugs, according to numerous news reports. What, Barack Obama, have you done to help a brother who shares your blood?
Not a thing, according to brother George, who reportedly had to hit up anti-Obama filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza for $1,000 to cover medical expenses for his sick child. Way to be your brother’s keeper, Mr. President.
Even Cain might have mustered up a twinge of guilt over treating his brother so shabbily.
Now let’s discuss the president’s record of being his brother’s keeper in a more figurative sense.
He made big promises to his brother Americans about “hope” and “change.” All we got were more massive debts, lost doctors, and rising health insurance premiums.
His brothers in the Democratic Party have been sent out to their slaughter after falling for his — either woefully ignorant or brazenly nefarious — claims about giving everybody free health care.
Relations with his Republican Party brothers in Congress are even worse. That is why he now goes around telling everyone he will use his pen and phone to make up laws, strike out those he doesn’t like, and otherwise shred Congress’s role in the Constitution he vowed to protect.
Heck, even his brothers in the Congressional Black Caucus are furious with him because he keeps picking white judges to the federal courts. Also, a coalition of black pastors launched a petition drive Tuesday to have Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. removed from office for pushing a gay-marriage agenda on states.
The reason that Mr. Obama is so terrible at being his brother’s keeper is his towering arrogance, his general dislike of other humans, and his belief that he has all the answers. Simply put, he is just terrible at getting along with people.
So, Mr. President, instead of wasting our time with sermons on how we can be better keepers of our brother, why don’t you study up on another verse in the Bible; Matthew 7:5, “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”
Now that’s a lesson a brother should learn.
Charles Hurt can be reached at charleshurt@live.com and on Twitter @charleshurt.