When famed
author and reporter Bob Woodward asked a Wyoming audience recently if they
thought President Barack Obama was doing a good job – about 12 out of 500 hands
went up.
Later when he
asked how many people thought the economy was improving, an overwhelming
majority of people raised their hands.
Thus is the
paradox of booming Wyoming compared to the rest of the struggling country.
Woodward is a
terrific speaker who keynoted the Wyoming Business Alliance annual forum in
Cheyenne. He also was able to tell
“insider” stories that were fascinating.
He is an
impartial reporter but he has strong feelings about how the president is
performing. He feels Obama has few
allies in Washington, DC and around the world.
“You need a
pound of threat and an ounce of action in order to be a good president,”
Woodward said, quoting a longtime senior presidential advisor. He said Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, has
no fear whatsoever of Obama.
The Cheyenne meeting
also included a talk by Garry Kasparov, the leading opposition leader to the
Russian president. He offered some amazing insights.
He said Putin
is a bully, a tyrant and is the most powerful man in the world today. “All he
cares about is oil and gas and how to have Mother Russia regain her previous
land mass and international power.”
Kasparov quoted
a British diplomat who was disappointed in President Obama: “Obama is the only president in history who
could make Jimmy Carter look like Winston Churchill.”
His comments
were chilling as he predicted a world where Putin will continue to push limits
and an impotent Obama will make empty threats.
It was
interesting that two men so totally different as Woodward and Kasparov would be
so unanimous in their criticism of the president.
Woodward said
one of the Congress’s most powerful Democrats confided to him that Obama had
only phoned him twice in five years. “The
president has no network,” he said.
Despite the
partial improvement of the national economy under Obama, neither speaker chose
to give Obama credit for doing anything well over the past six years.
This was the
32nd annual forum, which also includes Wyoming Heritage Society and Leadership
Wyoming. It is the definitive meeting of movers and shakers in Wyoming. Just about everybody wanting to take the
pulse of the state shows up, which is why I have been to most of the forums
over the years.
There were
lots of other interesting speakers and eye-opening facts presented.
Joe Bastardi,
of WeatherBell, showed stacks of figures to disprove the whole concept of
global warming. Pretty convincing to
this crowd. Another speaker who followed him tried to offer a contrasting view but
fell pretty flat.
Gov. Matt Mead
optimistically talked about how “wired” Wyoming will soon be which kicked off
the event. He explained that Wyoming, even though it is the smallest populated
state, will have digital power available to its citizens as powerful as
anywhere in the county.
The state’s
second largest industry is doing very well. A tourism panel revealed that last
year Wyoming did $3.2 billion in total business with over 30,000 people working
in the industry, according to Diane Shober, director of the travel and tourism.
Sheridan was
highlighted as being a top town to capitalize on its western heritage. It was number one western town in USA says
Dave Kinksey, long time Sheridan mayor and new state senator. He showed some
fun slides of how folks in that northern Wyoming city enjoy themselves by
touting their cowboy heritage.
He said the third Thursday
promotion in Sheridan was born – they close streets and allow music and fun,
etc. He said they use “best management”
practices to keep excess drinking under control.
He also showed how folks in Buffalo
have exploited the Longmire TV show
and how Kaycee has interesting events and places.
Game and Fish
Director Scott Talbott talked about how wildlife is terrific draw for tourists coming
to Wyoming. He also pointed out that some of these folks are thrilled just to
see a coyote, prairie dog or a jackrabbit. Our state’s ability to show off our
wildlife in incomparable to anywhere else in the USA
He also quoted our Wyoming ethic “to
leave things better than we found them. We have an obligation to if we find one
blade of grass, to leave two.” He also credited the 300 licensed guides and
outfitters in Wyoming with making all this work.
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