A leader without a sense of morality.

President Obama is a leader without a sense of morality. He has demonstrated this, already, in his short Presidency, twice, to my knowledge - and perhaps more often, since I am not paying close attention to his daily deeds and utterances.

His first immoral decision was to give the go-ahead to the "harvesting" of embryonic stem cells from embryos. This cannot be achieved without murdering unborn children. Yet, he sees that as a reasonable decision - even though alternative sources, from adults, for stem cells are now available.

His second immoral decision was to try to save 540 million dollars annually by NOT giving free medical care to wounded and disabled war veterans of the US armed services. What he wanted to do was to refer them back to their private insurers and let the private insurance plans pick up the tab.

I was, at once, struck by the moral reprehensibility of sending young men out to war and then NOT taking care of them when (inevitably) many of them come back with lasting injuries and lifelong disabilities. He is saying, as directly as it is possible to say it: "I hereby order you off to war. You are to fight for your nation and do my bidding. However, I don't care if you lose your life, your health, your happiness. I don't care if you spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair - and I am most certainly not going to pay for it."

The idea that the US state would actually shirk its responsibility to care for those who have sustained injuries or loss, while working on behalf of the US government is quite appalling. It shows, however, most clearly, that Obama is not a man who understands moral issues. He is not a man of compassion and insight. He is a man who is a paradox - for though very charming and personable, he cares not for people. He does not care for the lives of unborn embryos and he does not care for the lives of combat veterans. Perhaps, deep down, all that Obama cares for, is Obama.

No nation can ask men to fight and perhaps die for it, and then turn its back on them, when they get disabled. Yet, Obama wanted to do just that: to turn the nation's back on its war veterans.

I find his early decision-making disquieting for what it says about him. President Obama is seemingly not guided by an inner sense of what is right, wrong or appropriate. This leads him to fail to care for those he should care for and fail to understand which course of action is the right one, in the sense of good and true.

Another indicator was his crass comparison of his bowling skills to those of athletes in the Special Olympics. Though he apologized later for his remark, the fact that he made it, seems to show that he looks down on the disabled. They are people to make fun of. Indeed, it is telling to note that two of his recent "boo boos" refer to disabled people: the withdrawal of medical support for disabled veterans - and joking about the abilities of disabled athletes.

I am beginning to think that President Obama is all charm and no soul. The outer image he presents is polished and urbane, but the inner world is empty of morality or compassion.

Only a man without compassion could joke about the Special Olympics. Only a man without compassion or morality, could withdraw state medical support for those wounded or disabled in the service of that state.

President Obama is yet at the beginning of his Presidency, but there are already cracks in his character showing that indicate his Presidency could be littered with many ill-founded decisions; decisions that have no moral underpinning.

Personally, I would like to see a President of less charm and more soul. Charm might make for good television - but soul makes for a good man - and good decisions.

Knowing what is right and what is wrong, is instinctual. If it is not in a man - as it is not in Obama - I think it is very difficult to acquire. Then again, a man without it would usually not value it or see any need to acquire it. Given this, the only thing that will spare America from an immoral Presidency, is if some of his advisers make up for his character defect, by supplying him with a solid moral viewpoint. Without it, President Obama may not, in fact, turn out to be the great President everyone expects him to be. Indeed, he may do unexpected harm to the nation that elected him with such expectation.

There was a great outcry about President Obama's decision regarding veterans' medical care and seeing that he was being met with a lot of resistance, Obama backed down and cancelled his plans. I was amused to see how this was marketed: "President Obama made the right decision not to move forward", said Daniel K. Akaka, Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman. This is funny because it makes it look like Obama was the one who decided in their favour, when, in fact, he was the one proposing the move against them. His capitulation has been restated as his "decision".

A good President shouldn't need the moral outrage of others to tell him what a moral decision is, or is not. He should make moral decisions at the outset and not have the public inform him of the immorality of his choices, through their appalled reactions.

President Obama has a lot to learn, like any new President. Alarmingly, however, what he has yet to learn, it seems, is a basic sense of right and wrong. That could be awkward for the USA, in the years ahead.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)