Much has been made of President Obama's recent about-face on tax increases for the middle class. Obama says he is now "an agnostic." What this really means is that he has no conviction, no plan, and no blueprint, and he will increase taxes as long as somebody else tells him to do it.

Obama's admirers will point to his ambivalence as "cool and detached." "Deliberate and thoughtful" are like-minded badges describing a powerful intellect making an agonizing choice among equally unattractive alternatives. This has been Obama's style in dealing with Iran, terrorist captives, and economic recovery.

Don't be fooled. For this president, "cool and detached" means "clueless and bewildered." In Sanskrit, the word describing Obama's diffidence and paralysis is "avidya." This is a word found in Hindu sacred texts that combines ignorance, delusion, and folly -- the opposite state from seeing and knowing. The state of avidya is where one actively denies the nature of reality or is unable to reckon with the world as it is. Those captive to avidya create their own reality, thus appearing "cool and detached."

In todays' vernacular, Obama is simply bumfuzzled.

When a presumed charismatic leader like Obama displays a "cool and detached" look, read that body language for what it is: avidya and bumfuzzled. It means that this nation is leaderless.