NEW ORLEANS - This week, Barack Obama marks the first anniversary of the historic election that put him in the White House. His one-year milestone is mired in politics over the economy, health care reform and an escalation in the war in Afghanistan. With the baptism by fire, come loud choruses of criticism from conservative radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh. Sunday, on Fox News, Limbaugh said the president "is in over his head." "He really has no experience running anything," said Limbaugh. "He's very young. I think he's got an out-of-this-world ego. He's very narcissistic." Limbaugh warned that the U.S. economy is now under siege by unprecedented radical leadership in the White House. "They're destroying it,” said Limbaugh. "I have to think that it may be on purpose, because this is just outrageous, what is happening -- a denial of liberty, an attack on freedom." Limbaugh then explained why he often refers to Mr. Obama as the "man-child president." "That -- that description is simply a way to cut through the noise and say he's immature, inexperienced," said Limbaugh. Obama senior advisor David Axelrod shot back on CBS. "Well, I think it's a surreal day when you're getting lectures on humility from Rush Limbaugh," said Axelrod. The Obama administration has opening criticized the Fox News Network, referring to it as the far-right wing of the Republican Party. Still, Axelrod on behalf of the administration brushed off Limbaugh's statements. "He's marketing the outrageous," said Axelrod. "And he does very well with it. But as I said he's an entertainer. We've got bigger responsibilities. We're going to discharge those responsibilities." "Really, what we see is a convergence of fear, marrying hatred of some degree," said New Orleans political strategist Dr. Silas Lee. Lee says recent verbal attacks against the president have been more personal than political. "President Obama represents the face of government," said Lee. "He happens to be African-American. We haven't seen this level of attacks against any sitting president. Even though citizens disagreed with the policies of former President Bush, we didn't have people saying he was un-American." Lee says with 20-40-million listeners a day, the Obama Administration should not discount Rush Limbaugh's message as mere entertainment. "For many people, they are not going to research the facts," said Lee. "They're going to take what he says as fact and they're going to use that to formulate public opinion." Dr. Lee says there is a "dark-side" to some of the anti-Obama rhetoric. He says various organizations that monitor speech and communications in America report a rise in anti-government militia groups and threats against the president.
