An interesting essay by Walter Russell Mead, with which I don’t entirely agree. I don’t think that the president is as smart as I’m supposed to, and I think that Mead remains unaware of how ideologically driven the president is. I’m guessing that he hasn’t read Stanley Kurtz’s book
[Update a while later]
Obama can’t play center.
I think this is key:
The primary problem with the current narrative is the focus on Obama’s failure. He is failing, but he’s failing on the merits of his beliefs (probably for the first time in his life).
A meme worth creating should be: “Obama didn’t fail; Leftism did. It’s dead, Jim.”
There’s also a remarkable bit of delusion in Mead’s piece.
We needed “fresh leadership” to keep doing what the old administration was doing in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and the financial bailouts. In other words, for the only things that Mead cared to mention, namely, staying the course on a list of things, we needed “fresh leadership”? Sounds like someone who is grasping at straws to rationalize a bad choice they made a couple years ago.
There’s a huge advantage that the Maverick and the Mighty Elk Huntress of the North had over Obama and That Guy. Namely, that Congress would not have been dominated by the same party that held the White House. The former two probably would have had a bit more honest administration too. Most people seem to think that’s a good idea. Maybe a more common sense approach to economics that would have avoided the current bout of Japanese flu (that is, long periods of near stagnancy).
But apparently it was more important to Mead that the US had an exit plan for Iran than a future.
Well, the author is also an idiot. He voted for the man, which is an act of intellectual abdication worthy of being disenfranchised. No mea culpa later should excuse one for such a monumental act of stupidity.
Additionally, he praises Obama’s foreign policy, when the only reason Team Obama has had its (meager) success with foreign policy is because Obama doesn’t give a hoot about it, and has just continued the Bush policies with some degree of flabby inattentiveness. If Obama cared about foreign policy, I’m sure he would have f***ed it up as completely and utterly as he has domestic concerns.
Furthermore, his list of questions for Obama to ask himself is delusional. The only conceivable answer to them would be My entire life and guiding philosophy is garbage. I can serve my country best by resigning and friending Sarah Palin on Facebook. Who would do that? Nobody.
He certainly writes some fair points, but they have all been said by others before — and in some cases well before the 2008 election. Feh.
On the other hand, Jonah Goldberg’s comment was good, as always. I particularly like this acidic and apt tidbit:
an unapologetic Pelosi, who has decided to shrug off the election results as someone else’s problem.
Indeed she has. Boy would I enjoy seeing her lead a minority party into historically-uncharged territory in 2012 — less than 100 seats? Yes We Can!
Wow, Professor Hanson’s commentary is excellent and insightful as well.
We need a new word for this crew of dangerous losers, leftist is incomplete.
A word that describes: fascist emperor + SDS/soros OSI/Bolivian Revolution/marxism/alinsky/progressive fascists/democracy alliance/apollo alliance/chicago thuggery.
Wow, Professor Hanson’s commentary is excellent and insightful as well.
It usually is. He’s on my “must read” list.
To Carl Pham:
many of us had damned good reasons to vote for Obama/Biden in 2008 and your arrogant dismissal of those reasons are also an argument for disenfranchisement – of you.
McCain had flip-flopped on every issue that mattered, and Palin is an ill-educated religious fanatic with a serious mean streak. (She hasn’t learned a thing in the two years since. She resists new information, a key defect in an elected leader. McCain’s campaign staff were ready to shoot themselves by mid-Oct. ’08.)
Now as for this delusional narrative that BHO is an ideological far-leftist: you guys are causing a wave of belly-laughs all over the liberal side of the country with this one! BHO has sold out to Wall St., prevented a public option from being part of the HCR bill – the essential ingredient needed for it to succeed – and overall, is a pragmatic centrist with overly developed respect for Power As It Is, namely Goldman-Sachs.
No real leftist would have re-appointed Bernanke, or brought the likes of Geitner and Summers in to run economic policy.
And to my friend Rand: no real leftist would have listened to the Augustine Comm. and dumped Constellation, the Great Socialistic Boondoggle of Dubya’s term. That is one good thing BHO has done.
Wake up!
many of us had damned good reasons to vote for Obama/Biden in 2008
I’m sure you did. But they should probably stay between you and your psychiatrist.
your arrogant dismissal…
Mmm…I’m not thinking “arrogant” is the right word here. “Contemptuous,” maybe. “Gleeful,” certainly. We can leave out “justified” as being obvious and a bit of rubbing it in.
Anyway, next time pay attention before you vote and you won’t have people laughing at you two years later and be reduced to squealing you big meanie! about being teased.
To Carl Pham:
many of us had damned good reasons to vote for Obama/Biden in 2008 and your arrogant dismissal of those reasons are also an argument for disenfranchisement – of you.
[…]
BHO has sold out to Wall St., prevented a public option from being part of the HCR bill
One deserved helping of arrogant dismissal coming up. Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.
Obama has a host of other blatant moral failings, such as breaking a campaign promise the moment he had the nomination locked up (voting for FISA), unfairly favoring political backers in the various bailout and economic incentives (UAW bailout using ARRA money, ACTA treaty, and health insurance waivers for labor unions prior to the November election), “throwing people under the bus” (he has a many year history of discarding people when they are no longer useful), blatant disregard for the Constitution (free form pocket vetoing, trying enemy combatants in civilian court, blatant power grab in the health care “reform”, etc), and appointing grossly incompetent and mendacious politicians to his cabinet and Supreme Court nominations. For example, the Secretary of Transportation, Ray Lahood is trying to install cell phone jammers in cars and other personal transportation. This is the kind of garbage that Obama had done both before the election and afterward.
Yet you insist that McCain and Palin would be worse. How could they be worse? I agree with Carl, you, Kevin, are an idiot. You made a bad choice in 2008 and are choosing to go down with the ship rather than entertain the possibility that Obama is probably one of the worst presidents ever.