Now, I’m sure Obama loves America. Mostly, though, he seems to love the America he wishes existed rather than the one that does.  There’s a lot of populist filler in his patriotism, but in the end it’s always the same: for this president, American excellence means a government that acts as the citizenry’s moral center, the engine of the its prosperity, and the arbiter of fairness. This president gives Fourth of July speeches that focus on ”economic patriotism” – a progressive concoction that isn’t distinctly American in any context. In fact, the statist philosophy behind that bogus appeal is by definition pretty “un-American.”

The century is young, though! This is a president who ran to “fundamentally transform” the country. Even if we chalk up that dramatic statement to the enthusiasm of an election season, what are we to make of the incessant need to denigrate the the economic system that made the entire deal possible? Now, deep thinkers on the Left will constantly tell us that the president is simply a pragmatist. What radical things has he actually done? Rarely do they mention that most Obama’s supposed moderation is a consequence of the checks and balances our system of lawmaking provides: a system Obama has constantly attempted to circumvent, delegitimize, and deride when he fails to get his way. Obama tends to show far more love for his ideological ideals than the ideals of American governance.

But the most irritating part of all the pearl-clutching about Giuliani’s remark, though, is the hypocrisy.