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| Home Front: Politix |
| No, he can't |
| 2009-04-22 |
| I found this well worth the read. A wee taste... Barack Obama was always going to disappoint. When you promise almost everything to almost everybody--I'll stop the fighting in Iraq but I'll also keep going after al Qaeda there; I'll make the economy grow more but I'll spread the wealth around, and so on--you will inevitably let many people down. Human beings, even those who read fluently from teleprompters, simply cannot walk on water. A president with historic ambitions was never going to be content with tackling a mere recession. Thus in his televised address before both houses of congress in February he delivered a special history lesson: "Our economy did not fall into decline overnight. Nor did all our problems begin when the housing market collapsed or the stock market sank." The current recession and housing and financial problems have deeper causes, he said. What are these underlying maladies that so badly need the shaman's touch? The president named four: energy, healthcare, education and debt. The "day of reckoning" for ignoring these issues--and for exacerbating this failure with excessive borrowing--has arrived, he said. Americans who concentrated on the president's words rather than on their characteristically sonorous delivery found the diagnosis baffling. Education, energy and healthcare policy in the US, as almost anywhere, all need help. But are America's flaws in these areas really the causes of the housing bust and the paralysed banking system? What about the cyclical contractions that follow all economic booms? What about a decade and more of absurdly cheap money? How about all that Fannie and Freddie-fuelled lending to inappropriate borrowers? What happened to lax oversight? What about greed, that comforting straw man? No, according to Obama, we are losing our jobs and being kicked out of our excessively mortgaged houses because America lacks universal healthcare, federally sponsored nursery school, university for all, and a progressive emissions-oriented energy policy. |
| Posted by:eltoroverde |
| #6 Frankly, I'd rather have Susan Boyle for President. Reminds me of Bill Buckley's comment that he'd rather be governed by the first 100 hundred names in the phone book than by the entire faculty of Harvard University. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2009-04-22 17:24 |
| #5 I blame reality shows. The american public is brainwashed into believing the best person is the one they like the most and the one they should like is the one with the best manufactured image. Frankly, I'd rather have Susan Boyle for President |
| Posted by: Elmating Sinatra7304 2009-04-22 15:17 |
| #4 “For the moment, though, the president’s real threat is from within his own increasingly restive party.” As soon as Obama’s new car smell starts to reek like White Castle boxes and Newport butts watch for the vulnerable Dems to jump like rats on a sinking ship. Remember folks: In 1977 the approval ratings, after the First 100 days, for Jimmy Carter were 63% favorable with 18% unfavorable. In 2001 the approval ratings, after the First 100 days, for George W. Bush were 62% favorable with 29% unfavorable. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2009-04-22 12:39 |
| #3 ......we are losing our jobs and being kicked out of our excessively mortgaged houses because America lacks universal healthcare, federally sponsored nursery school, university for all, and a progressive emissions-oriented energy policy. Community organizer pimp-spin, nothing more. That's all he's done. That's all he knows. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-04-22 07:58 |
| #2 Yes he can---turn USA into a second rate (never mind the current primacy) country. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-04-22 03:12 |
| #1 Any extra-terrestrial visiting Earth would be dumbfounded that a populace as economically illiterate as that of the US (on macro and big-picture matters) could be so fabulously productive and successful. The author (who's good) is far too kind here. Obviously Bambi's diagnosis was a preposterous non-sequitir. As I've said before, Bambi's ascent and his performance are a profound embarrassment for the country. That no mortification or shame are evident (within the NPR-listening "high mis-information voter" demo) is terrifying. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2009-04-22 02:05 |