There was a time, not so very long ago, when Barack Obama was portrayed as a thoughtful, reasonable and intelligent man who could be counted on to provide sound judgment in dealing with any domestic and international crises that might land in the In Box of the American president.

He was, according to the media, a "Cool, Calm, and Collected" character whose IQ was so extraordinarily high that no problem created by mortal man could faze him.

After all, he was precocious, brilliant, and articulate. He would save America and the world from the ravages of a George W. Bush presidency, one that was two terms too long!

Even in the heat of the election campaign, Obama rejected a proposal by rival John McCain that would have postponed a scheduled debate to deal with the massive economic meltdown that was unfolding.

Obama said that the debate should go forward as planned. "Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time...It's not necessary for us to think we can only do one thing and suspend everything else," Sen. Obama said.

Well-said, sir. Cool, calm, and collected.

Pity that calm demeanor was missing when President Obama was working with Congressional Democrats on the so-called stimulus bill, the one that was supposed to create 3.5-4.0 million jobs.

A little cool, calm, and collected presidential leadership might have made it unnecessary to ram a 1,000+-page document through Congress without allowing members to read what the hell they were voting on.

Said bill, by the way, cost taxpayers nearly one trillion dollars, but has failed miserably to create or save jobs.

Presidential malfeasance is also obvious in the current attempt to ram socialized medicine down the throats of an unwilling public. A little cool, calm and collected demeanor from the president might help to quell the hysteria that is driving another trillion-dollar mistake onto the backs of US taxpayers.

While Obama's performance on the economy and health care is anything but cool, calm, and collected, his bungling of the controversy surrounding Glenn Beck and FOXNEWS is nothing short of scandalous.

Many people, liberals included, are concerned that Obama has a dark, cynical side to his being that rivals the evil that was Richard M. Nixon.

Some even believe that President Obama has an Enemies List, another ghoulish practice inherited from the ghost of Tricky Dick.

If so, that list would surely include, but not be limited to, the following enemies:

FOXNEWS
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Glenn Beck
Rush Limbaugh
Congressional Budget Office
Blue Dog Democrats
All Red States
Dick Cheney
Israel, France, and Great Britain
Catholic Church, Including the Pope
Those Who Attend Tea parties
U.S. Pentagon
All Defense Contractors
All Energy Companies, Except Solar and Wind
Free Speech Advocates
All Blogs, Except Daily KOS
Sarah Palin
NY Governor David Paterson
International Olympic Committee
Health Insurance Companies
Wall Street Professionals
Joe Wilson
All Firms (Domestic, foreign) that Build Combustion Engine Cars
White Republican Christians
Anyone Over 50, and
Unborn Fetuses

With that sort of enemy's list to his credit, President Obama can be ssured of one thing: Richard M. Nixon would be proud!

John W. Lillpop is an independent columnist