Barack Obama and the tragedy of American politics
I heard very little of that in the president’s second inaugural. In one perfunctory paragraph, he referred to American skepticism of central authority, to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured by government, and to the country’s insistence on hard work and personal responsibility — before moving on to the unfinished social-justice agenda at vastly greater length.
In describing these ambitions, many of which I support, he conveyed no sense of the dilemmas they will require Washington to confront. It was as though the need, say, to preserve Medicare in exactly its present form is a self-evident moral truth, admitting of no legitimate countervailing argument or principled compromise.
Obama repeatedly jabbed Republicans, reminding them who just won the election (the derisive reference to “takers” leapt out at me). That’s fine, I suppose, but almost half the country voted for the other party’s candidate, and they’re U.S. citizens, too. A little generosity to the losers wouldn’t have cost Obama anything, but he offered none.
There wasn’t much respect, either. How could there be? If you cast all your policy ideas as moral imperatives, what does that say about people who disagree with you? Obama made it plain he thinks Republicans are not just wrong but morally impaired.
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Obama’s own moral world is a children’s picture book, complete with unicorns and fairy dust.
Paul-Cincy on January 23, 2013 at 8:46 PM
That’s something Obama and I agree on. I’m pretty much tired of the Republicans too. By trying to out liberal the liberals they make themselves completely irrelevant. Ball-less is not going to win anything.
MikeA on January 23, 2013 at 8:49 PM
Barack Obama and the tragedy of America
n politicsFIFY
WisCon on January 23, 2013 at 8:52 PM
The compilation of all Obama’s references to the Bible and the Constitution to support his policy positions would show a pick and choose, hit and miss, ignorant, self-serving process that has nothing to do with what he’s quoting. I wonder if he picked this up from his pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who’d do much the same thing to support his concepts of racial and social justice, and hatred for America.
Paul-Cincy on January 23, 2013 at 8:56 PM
Could/should read.
Barack Obama the tragedy of American politics
Bmore on January 23, 2013 at 9:07 PM
I would also except.
Barack Obama the tragedy of America
Bmore on January 23, 2013 at 9:08 PM
Barack Obama and the tragedy of Barack Obama.
How about we just go with that??
BigWyo on January 23, 2013 at 9:22 PM
It’s not a bad article. But when he writes …
… he’s missing the whole point that the current entitlement system, and borrowing $1+ trillion a year, is completely and utterly unsustainable. Why are otherwise intelligent people so unwilling to accept this inescapable reality?
Paul-Cincy on January 23, 2013 at 9:22 PM
The last person to accept the reality of insanity is the insane.
OldEnglish on January 23, 2013 at 9:22 PM
Not to mention, America and the tragedy of illiteracy.
Basilsbest on January 23, 2013 at 9:40 PM
This is the way dictators and dictator wannabes think, and the dictator wannabe in the White House, like his fellow travelers, has it all backwards and all wrong.
bgibbs1000 on January 23, 2013 at 9:48 PM
So does Bloomberg
entagor on January 23, 2013 at 9:56 PM
The pendulum always swings. We’ll get even.
teacherman on January 23, 2013 at 10:01 PM
Obama, Biden, Pelosi, and Reid are all much further to the left than the majority of the country, and they rammed ObamaCare down our throats, and are maintaining this trillion dollar plus a year borrowing. All four of them are unaware of even the possibility that what they’re doing might be damaging to the country. To me it’s a perfect storm of knuckleheads. It’s horrible.
Paul-Cincy on January 23, 2013 at 10:05 PM
I stopped reading the article at that exact passage. The entire gulf, he says? As in, the Democratic Party’s sharp dive to the left in 2004 and 2006, and every day since Barack Obama had been elected, has little to no bearing on this “entire gulf that has opened up”? Clive Crook has fantastic grammar and writing chops for someone who was born yesterday.
mintycrys on January 23, 2013 at 10:20 PM