Posted on 11/19/2009 12:56:45 PM PST by Tolik
The growing problem for the Obama administration is that the public has finally caught on that the president's tough rhetoric and soaring oratory don't match reality.
"Considering all options" and "wanting more information" essentially mean dithering and voting present on Afghanistan, even after announcing the adoption of a new bold strategy.
"Saving jobs" means conjecturing about the effects of massive borrowing and enhancing your figures through the creation of fictitious congressional districts and bogus employment reporting.
"Punishing KSM" means giving the liberal community a world platform for legal gymnastics designed to repudiate the past administration and demonstrate that community's "tolerance" — without much worry about justice for KSM or the adverse effects of giving such a monster a public megaphone.
The health-care mess grows worse: The Chinese have caught on that Obama wants to borrow more billions for us, who are cash poor, to create entitlements that they, who are cash rich, would not create for their own people. The new government suggestion that women not begin receiving routine mammograms until age 50 comes at a bad time, given that critics of Obamacare have been arguing that it will lead to rationing of service.
Guantanamo is about to go the way of tribunals, renditions, intercepts, Predators, and wiretaps — damned in rhetoric, but kept intact in reality.
"Transparency" did not quite happen either: The Obama administration has offered more photo-ops and fewer press conferences (cf. Anita Dunn on that tact), and Washington has as many lobbyists as ever. Meanwhile, the administration has not fulfilled its promise to post pending legislation on the Internet; it has politicized the NEA; and it has declared war on Fox News, the Chamber of Commerce, and the town-hall protesters. The president has even employed the sexual slur "tea-bagger" against his opposition.
Obama's "reset button" foreign policy in just ten months has made the Middle East worse and has delighted European leftists as much as it has terrified Europe's centrist leaders. In Latin America, the U.S. has gone from being an advocate of consensual government, human rights, and market capitalism to being an appeaser of Chávez, Zelaya, Ortega, the Castros, et al., inasmuch as these communist hardliners are now seen as problematic advocates for indigenous peoples and economic justice.
We are left with two conclusions. 1) A very inexperienced president has discovered that all the easy, Manichean campaign rhetoric of 2008 does not translate well into actual governance. 2) Obama is in a race to push a rather radical, polarizing agenda down the throat of a center-right country before the country wakes up and his approval ratings hit 40 percent.
We may see one of two things happen: Either the country will move more to the left in four years than it has in the last 50; or Obama will take down with him both the Democratic Congress and the very notion of responsible liberal governance, thereby achieving a Jimmy Carter–type legacy.
The next year will be one of the most interesting in memory.
Just a partial list: http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/victordavishanson/index:
Just a partial list. Much more at the link: http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/victordavishanson/index
The Texans say “6 inch belt buckle and a 2 inch pecker”....
Ping !
Let me know if you want in or out. Links:
FR Index of his articles: http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/victordavishanson/index NRO archive: http://author.nationalreview.com/?q=MjI1MQ== Pajamasmedia: http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/ His website: http://victorhanson.com/
Too bad Zer0 isn’t still voting “Present!”.
The loyal opposition is wide awake!
You mess with the bull, you’re gonna get horned!
We know who Obama is, does he know who we are?
World Catching On [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
An e-mail last night:
I’m in India right now and the top headline of the “Times of India” while Obama was in China was: “Obama wants Beijing to police South Asia”. Obama probably said something that to him was a throwaway line about China helping resolve the Pakistan situation, but it didn’t look like a throwaway line from here.
He and his handlers and his cohorts in the Pravda Media only care to tell the "public" WHO WE ARE. They employ Stalinist propaganda techniques to lie about the opposition.
Now it may seem like a hypocritical claim, but THEY are the ones using Saul Alinsky's handbook to demonize those who'd dare criticize their agenda.
First they mock you,
Then they fight you,
Then you win!
Watch money! That will tell you who’s winning!
I get so tired of hearing aout his “Soaring oratory.” The idiot can’t form a sentence without a teleprompter. Hell, give anyone some really talented speech writers and a couple plexiglass screens and they could rule this bunch of rubes.
0bama is, at least as it appears at the moment, due for a stinging repudiation in 2010. The question is, given the toxic analysis provided by most of the partisan media, if he will learn anything from it, or whether the rhetoric will escalate and the blame for results be pointed at the Republicans in Congress. That wouldn’t be much more than electoral gymnastics were it not for the fact that we really do have to run a foreign policy in the meantime and not merely talk about what a perfect world it would be if only it weren’t for the other guys.
Aout = about. Dang.
More clarity from one of the most astute historians of our age.
“Soaring oratory?”
Having taught at the undergrad, grad, and post grad level, it’s easy to discern when a student has not done the homework.
The Kenyan Klod hasn’t even purchased the book.
I think they meant “sorry oratory”
Clinton went Dick Morris way of triangulation. To listen him now, he is still blameless, and he can easily charm people into buying a clunker. But his actions demonstrated at one point that he did learn something.
Obama so far shows no sign of learning anything. He compiled more problems than Clinton had at the same point, and Hillary attracted good opposition, but nothing on the scale of Tea Parties. I did not think it’s possible, but looks like Obama’s arrogance beats Clintons’ (both of them).
I am not qualified to argue the details with you.
But he charmed tens of millions, and if we include the world - hundreds of millions. It’s an accomplishment. Does he qualify as the most successful snake oil salesman?
Indeed. A significant moment in our history no doubt.
"May you live in interesting times," is an imprecation, not a "Have a nice day!"
“Soaring oratory” is used by Hanson in a sarcastic sense.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
