"Bystander-In-Chief"

Comedian Greg Gutfield described Mr. Obama as "the bystander-in-chief." That may be his inclination, but it is hard to vote "present" in the Oval Office.

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The president knows he's been a day late and a dollar short since the Iranian crisis began and is defensive about it. He grew testy when Major Garrett of Fox News asked him what took him so long to condemn the regime's violence against protesters. Mr. Obama said his remarks have been consistent.

"Even the most egregious toady in the White House press corps knew that wasn't true," said Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard.

For President Obama to be following events rather than leading them is part of a pattern, said columnist Michael Barone, who recalled Mr. Obama was "flummoxed" last year by the Russian invasion of Georgia. It took candidate Obama three days to issue a statement criticizing the Russians.
(Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/09179/980161-373.stm#ixzz0JkA2H2Mr&C)

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Uh, its been patently clear since Obama entered the presidential race, that he was, uh, not in control of his agenda, that somebody, the DNC presumably, was actually pulling the strings, and that he was simply a front man -the empty suit. Its not without justification that the circulating joke is that the real power in the White House is TOTUS, Teleprompter of the United States. He is an empty suit. For every action, he has to go off and think about what he thinks about the situation, or be told what to think about it, or something.

Another clue to the president's timid and tepid response to the turmoil in Iran is the number 129. That's the number of times Mr. Obama voted "present" in the Illinois Senate. This is not a guy who is comfortable taking clear positions on controversial issues.

Indeed.