The "Perplexing Irony" of Obama.
Ruth Marcus discusses the "perplexing irony of Barack Obama’s presidency".The perplexing irony of Barack Obama’s presidency is that even as conservatives attack him as a crazed socialist, many on the left are frustrated with what they see as the president’s accommodationist backtracking from campaign promises.
Why should we even pretend to be puzzled by this? Obama is not - and never will be - a socialist. His healthcare bill, which is incensing the right so much, does not even have a public option.
But there should be no surprise that certain right wingers denounce him in this way, and anyone who is surprised by their over reaction obviously paid no attention to the crazy claims which were made during the Clinton administration's time in office.
It appears to me that there is a certain insane right wing section of the US populace, who can be contained as long as a Republican is in the White House, but as soon as a Democrat is elected they appear to explode into sheer bat shit craziness.
I am not surprised that there have inevitably been times when I have found some of Obama's results to be disappointing. In a democratic system where he needs to get bills passed by compromising with Blue Dog Democrats that is inevitable. But, overall, I agree with what he has identified as his main aims and goals.
There is no "perplexing irony" going on at all here. I always knew there would be areas in which Obama disappointed; indeed, the soaring rhetoric of his campaign made that almost inevitable.
But, likewise, I always knew that, as soon as he was elected, certain right wingers would explode into the kind of insane mud slinging which they always use as a substitute for political debate.
It's why the Tea Party protesters are so incoherent. They just hate him. The reasons they find to justify that hate are almost secondary to that initial primal emotion.
Click here for Marcus' full article.
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