Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Obama: He's still the One

Charles Krauthammer:
About the only thing more comical than Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize was the reaction of those who deemed the award "premature," as if the brilliance of Obama's foreign policy is so self-evident and its success so assured that if only the Norway Five had waited a few years, his Nobel worthiness would have been universally acknowledged.

To believe this, you have to be a dreamy adolescent (preferably Scandinavian and a member of the Socialist International) or an indiscriminate imbiber of White House talking points. After all, this was precisely the spin on the president's various apology tours through Europe and the Middle East: National self-denigration -- excuse me, outreach and understanding -- is not meant to yield immediate results; it simply plants the seeds of good feeling from which foreign policy successes shall come.

Read more here.

7 comments:

Lee said...

Reminds me of an old Mad magazine gag around the time Richard Nixon was starting to work on getting re-elected...

Nixon's campaign slogan in '68 was "Nixon's the One!"

Mad magazine followed this with:

"And He'll Be a Bigger One in '72!"

weddings said...

When i heard these news i asked with 4to 5 people ...is it true???????? when ...how....???????????????????
so unbelievable news for me...

Anonymous said...

Obama Derangement Syndrome in full flow. What do you do when the cute guy who made that lovely speech at Boston in 2004, actually turns out to have a humongous ambition? Why even that deep intellect Jonah G had a hard time finding anything bad to say about Obama after that speech. For some time it looked like Obama was going to be the new centrist who would deliver Dems into the clutches of the GOP. Sort of like an RR but from the other side. Sadly for the GOP he proved otherwise, peeling sensible GOPers out of the party. It's hard when your opponent has beauty, brains (by the tonne), guts, a great family, and charisma. Let's see Jimmy Carter is smart, but lacked the courage to go far enough. RR had charisma (f you can call a B-grade cliched speech charismatic) but brains? Let's not go there. Bush 1 has the right past (war hero) but buried his good sense when he cast his lot with RR. Remember who said Voodoo Economics? Clinton - a gritty all-American story, smarts (by the tonne), but - Ahem - he had some other things too - well although nothing like Newt, Ensign or Vitter, stilll...As for Bush 2, well, if it weren't so depressing, was funny, except the joke is on us, about $3 trillion poorer, with a wrecked economy.

So given all this, it is understandable how frustrating it can be to be in the opposition. When your opponent holds all the cards, can shoot 3-pointers with alacrity, just as he can reel off one-liners, and explain the most arcane economics to 3rd graders, it is hard not feel depressed. What have we gotten ourselves into?

Truti

Anonymous said...

I don't know when the Messiah is coming, but I know when he's leaving...01 20 13

Lee said...

I think you're just a little bit behind the times, Truti. You speak as if the Obama brand name still works magic. Check out the most recent polls, particularly Gallup and Rasmussen. Admittedly, he is more popular than his policies, but even the pulchritudinous Mr. Obama is only (personally) polling around 50% -- and that 50% is not a static picture but is trending downwards in one of the most precipitous popularity drops in the history of presidential polling.

His approval rating, in Rasmussen's polls, is -12, the difference in pct points between those highly opposed toward those highly in favor -- one of the highest in history, and certainly the highest at this point in his presidency.

If us poor conservatives are so defenseless, why doesn't the Dem majority in Congress just pass whatever socialist schemes come to them in a morphine dream and Obama just smile and sign them?

Why are they so desperate to find Republicans to join hands with them on this? We're talking about a pitiful minority in both houses of Congress.

Any why do you refer to "Obama Derangement Syndrome"? Is it even theoretically possible, in your world view, to have an honest policy and philosophy difference with Obama? Or is any disagreement considered hate, by definition?





His health care proposals

Anonymous said...

Anon,

With the times having changed and conservatives still clinging to out-of-touch commentators like Krauthammer, talk about being behind the times! Now let's see why are his policies unpopular? Because he's taking the wrong track or not going far enough? Health care? The public option enjoys overwhelming support, but Obama isn't saying if he will go all the way for it. Tha Bush Bailouts are still unpopular, but Obama hasn't done enough to rein in the crooks (FDR sent crooked bankers to jail) or fire the incompetent ones. The country is war weary and wants to get out of Afghanistan except for the private contractors propped up by the previous administration. Just as the GOPers took false comfort from the 2006 Congress's popularity numbers, they are now from Barry's. The last Pelosi Congress was unpopular because the Dem leadership did nothing to buck the Bush executive tyranny. This one is unpopular because it is chasing bi-partisanship instead of simply marginalizing or ignoring the GOPers in Congress. It also doesn't help that some of the Dem leadership have fed at the same trough as their GOP colleagues for years. Harry Reid's PAC is the largest beneficiary of the death panel (health insurance) industry. Big Sky Dems have been in the clutches of the banks for years. Which is why the Democratic base spends over 75% of its time calling its own to account and highlighting plain spoken people like Alan Grayson. That's what Dems are telling Max Baucus that if you want enough votes for the public option - vote for it.

Obama will retire on Jan/20/2017 by which time Texas too will be gone from the GOP column.

By then the Obama Derangement Syndrome will turn uncontrollable.

Funny you should talk of disagreement etc., The Bush-Cheney show merrily dubbed anyone and everyone a traitor! Dana Perino lambasted NBC when Bush was in charge and now criticises Robert Gibbs for criticising Faux News? Showing that the GOP knows only the same games is Pa. State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe who is calling just about every veteran who advocates for clean energy a traitor! Let me see if derangement is the right word!

Truti

Lee said...

I'll admit Charles K. isn't as trendy as Mao Tse-tung, but at least the body count is relatively low.

If socialized medicine was a popular concept, the Left wouldn't need to use wonkish euphemisms such as "the public option" -- but too bad, everyone caught onto that anyway.

> Tha Bush Bailouts are still unpopular...

I think they're the Obama Bailouts now.

> ...but Obama hasn't done enough to rein in the crooks...

You should give him more credit than that. He's hiring them as fast as he can.
> The last Pelosi Congress was unpopular because the Dem leadership did nothing to buck the Bush executive tyranny.

Does tyranny include taking over private industries, dictating pay, and trying to intimidate news organs? How about forcing bond holders to give up their property rights?

If Congress is chasing bipartisanship, why do you think that is? What does the GOP have that Pelosi and Reid needs?

> It also doesn't help that some of the Dem leadership have fed at the same trough as their GOP colleagues for years.

Don't tell me the Democrats are corrupt too! Who's going to believe that?

> That's what Dems are telling Max Baucus that if you want enough votes for the public option - vote for it.

There's certainly nothing stopping them. Is there?

> Funny you should talk of disagreement etc., The Bush-Cheney show merrily dubbed anyone and everyone a traitor!

They were pikers compared to this administration and the current bunch of Democrats. Pelosi suggested the tea partiers are Nazi sympathizers. Obama presumes that anyone who opposes his plan is corrupt or mislead. Obama supporters say opposing socialized medicine is racism, presumably because Obama is president.

You can never just disagree with a liberal because you honestly disagree. To a liberal, your politics are a statement of morality or intelligence. If you're not stupid, you're evil.

And I'm so sorry that a rogue network like Fox News is willing to dig up unfavorable stories on Obama. Isn't having every other network in the tank for Obama enough? Does it really need to be unanimous?