Barone: The Adolescent Angst of Barack Obama (Ouch!)

Washington Examiner ^ | 6/23/2009 | Michael Barone

[GVnana]

The adolescent angst of Barack Obama
By: Michael Barone
Senior Political Analyst
06/23/09 7:22 PM EDT

There is a tendency for newly installed presidents, like adolescents suddenly liberated from adult supervision, to do the exact opposite of what their predecessors did. Presidents of both parties indulge in this behavior, though Democrats who campaign as candidates of hope and change are more likely to do so.

Some of this is a legitimate response to the political process: Voters tend to elect presidents who seem to possess qualities and views they thought lacking in their predecessors. But some of it, and especially in the case of Barack Obama, seems to come from an adolescentlike confidence that everything done by those who came before is (insert your own generation’s expletive here).

We have seen this spectacularly in the dozen days since the June 12 Iranian election. Back in July 2007, Obama said that he would meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and other tyrants without preconditions. Grown-up squares like George W. Bush wouldn’t talk to these guys, so as the avatar of the generation of hope and change, Obama would. Obama figured he was cool enough to get the mullahs to agree to renounce nuclear weapons and all that hate stuff.

[GVnana]

"But he clearly hasn’t abandoned his policy of seeking the good opinion of tyrants. He didn’t even rescind the State Department’s invitations of Iranian diplomats to attend U.S. embassy Fourth of July celebrations (halal hot dogs, anyone?)."

[Frantzie]

Michael Barone is a really good writer and commentator when on TV.

[GVnana]

Hey, this is stern stuff for Barone!

[RoseofTexas]

[HollyB]

“Obama shows a continued distaste for missile defense when tyrants are aiming missiles at us and our friends.

These moves show an adolescent determination to renounce the policies of those who came before, no matter what. As parents know, it takes time for an adolescent to grow up.”

Good article

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

"The Adolescent Angst of Barack Obama
There is a tendency for newly installed presidents, like adolescents suddenly liberated from adult supervision, to do the exact opposite of what their predecessors did."

As Philip Rieff could explain in The Triumph of the Therapeutic...Obama reflects the sense of entitlement from the pampered New Class types, still working through those Oedipal issues and of arrested development.

[TChad]

These moves show an adolescent determination to renounce the policies of those who came before, no matter what. As parents know, it takes time for an adolescent to grow up.

In the last election, America gave its car keys to a 12 year old who said he was 16.

[Ole Okie]

Barone is usually pretty conservative.

The only comment I could find at the Washington Examiner was from someone who has an obvious epidemic case of Bush hatred.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Barone gives this PUNK too much credit at the end for not pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan immediately.

Hussein wants to lose there, Mr. Barone. He just wants to lose there more SLOWLY...either that or his bosses (Rahm, Axelrod and Plouffe) have told him to not go too fast in those places.

Other than that, it was a good article.

[Intolerant in NJ]

As parents know, it takes time for an adolescent to grow up..what seems particularly childish is his obsession with being liked, both for himself and the country - like an eighth grader always on alert to make sure some zit doesn't break out somewhere - someday hopefully he'll learn that a real leader does what he believes is best for his constituents, and worries about what people think as an afterthought if at all.....

[Aria]

I steeled myself and watched his press conference today. He is glib, can be charming, funny and comes off as quiet intelligent. Very dangerous. Hopefully his policies will help the masses to realize who he really is.

I wonder how many people here would have the guts to do what the Iranians have been doing?

[Right Wing Assault]

Ouch. The imprint of Barone’s SUV grille will be on obi’s 4$$ for quite a while.

[KC Burke]

Barone had a good book on the Glorius Revolution in Britian as a precursor to our own publish about a year ago. Much overlooked it should be in paperback by now. Its a great read.

[Jeff Chandler]

I posted a reply on the website.

[Jeff Chandler]

Darn, they pulled my post.

It must have been something I said.

[karnage]

we don’t have time for this adolescent to grow up.

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Voted “Best Use of Seuss”, LOL!

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Major Garrett called him on it, and did so with low-key razor-like cuts.

[wastoute]

Thank you for suffering that torture for those of us with weak stomachs...

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[aruanan]

But he clearly hasn’t abandoned his policy of seeking the good opinion of tyrants. He didn’t even rescind the State Department’s invitations of Iranian diplomats to attend U.S. embassy Fourth of July celebrations (halal hot dogs, anyone?).

I don't get this emphasis on hot dogs, other than the idea of a dog being an unclean animal, because there are halal hot dogs. For that matter, anything kosher is also halal and is not looked on by most Muslims as being bad because it is Jewish.