Half a loaf is better than none, so it appears that President Barack Obama believes.

Barack Obama is a president who appears to be living in half-time, a leader who seems to enjoy the pageantry, the sound of the big bands, the rat-tat-tat-tat of beating drums common to half-time at a fall football game. All pomp, little circumstance; in hand a half-pint of beer and perhaps a Fatburger, by eye an observer; the images the twirlers, the dancers, the pom-pom girls all while engaged in half-idle chit-chat.

This president has been accused of taking on too much: concurrently, the economic breakdown, the meltdown of the American car industry, banks, the mortgage crisis, healthcare, Kim Jong-il, the myriad problems in the Middle East.  

On the president’s behalf, Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner and team indeed went to town on the economy pumping in countless dollars to shore up the banks, but these are only half-measures because until the loopholes in the system are fixed, the United States is doomed to the negative consequences caused by Wall Street’s excesses.

Obama saved GM, such as it is today. It’s half the company that it used to be and maybe that’s a good thing, although now half of Detroit is unemployed, not so good.

After bailing out the big banks, the president promised to bailout their victims. But it turns out that despite Obama’s plan to help homeowners rewrite their mortgages, consumer advocates say that only 9 percent of failing homeowners have gotten stable, fixed rate-modifications. This number will decrease as the banks who received the bailouts are allowed to return their money to the Feds so that they don’t have to adhere to the conditions agreed to when they accepted the Fed’s money, proving Obama has made only a half-hearted attempt to help the little guy. 

It appears that Obama has only half-an-eye on North Korea. When half-wit North Korean President Kim Jong-il set off an underground nuclear test May 25th  and followed this action with a series of ground-to-air missile tests violating his agreement to give up North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, Obama said little. Instead he ran to the useless UN, his girly-man UN Ambassador Susan Rice leading the fray against the half-pint leader of the north half of the Korean Peninsula. The UN voted, in uncharacteristic unanimity for a resolution that bans all weapons exports from North Korea.

Except in typical Obama fashion, after he secured the sanctions, he has decided to only support them half-way. The New York Times has reported that according to a senior administration official, “the Obama administration will order the Navy to hail and request permission to inspect North Korean ships at sea suspected of carrying arms or nuclear technology, but will not board them by force.”

This as a few hours later, the president stood in the Rose Garden with South Korea’s President at his side and stated that nuclear-armed North Korea poses a "grave threat" to the world and cannot achieve its own security by building illegal weapons. Obama said that the two leaders agreed that the new UN resolution seeking to halt North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile must be fully enforced.

Lee Myung-bak said he and Obama agreed that "under no circumstance are we going to allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons." "Given the belligerent manner in which they are constantly threatening their neighbors," Obama said, "I don't think there's any question that that would be a destabilizing situation that would be a profound threat not only to United States security but to world security."

Idle-half-time chit-chat, Mr. Obama? Rat-tat-tat-sis-boom-bah -- half-assed diplomacy anyone?

Consider Iran and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, a country in turmoil at this very moment because its half-crazed ruling religious fanatics are half-mad with power -- OK, more than half-mad --  and have no intention of giving it up. As young Iranians take to the streets of Tehran in protest against the fixed re-election of President AhMADinejad thanks to half-counted ballots, and are pummeled to death by President Ahmadinejad’s thugs, America’s half-and-half President Obama (sorry, couldn't resist) continues to hold onto his half-baked idea that he can chit-chat his way into a deal with Iran’s leaders to stop them from securing a nuclear weapon.

By the way, Obama actually has taken a half-step backwards on this notion as well. “Without going into specifics, what I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations. On the other hand, the international community has a very real interest in preventing a nuclear arms race in the region,” Obama said.

As to the situation in Iran today, is it any surprise that the president in his typical fashion has taken the position to watch with only half-interest the election fiasco in Iran? Obama said it would not be helpful if the United States was seen by the world as "meddling" in the issue. Ahem, President Obama, but it’s OK to “meddle” in Israel’s affairs?

It’s the same from Obama on healthcare; the president seems only half-committed to true health care reform. He appears half for this idea and half for that, depending upon which lobbying group gains his ear. Obama never seems to want to go the full mile, just take half-steps towards his goals. But the trouble with this approach is he can only make things half-right or worse half-wrong.

So, that’s President Obama: He hasn’t yet concluded half his term and already we’ve learned something about this new president. It turns out that he’s only half the man we thought he would be. Why? Because he’s too busy trying to be clever by half with his words.