(This is the busiest time of the year for me. Might not be posting an whole lot until middle of October. Will try to put up at least one item per week.)
It is always someone else’s fault.
“This woman that you put here with me”.
“The snake tricked me and I ate”.
“This Hebrew slave”.
“I inherited a mess that George Bush created”.
A-yup. Always someone else’s fault. Could not possibly be their own.
I remember how often on Baptistlife.Com more politically conservative participants were scolded for blaming Republican or conservative losses on the “liberal media”. (Which was interesting given that while true to some extent they were far more ready to blame Republicans and conservatives for their own losses. But let us set that aside for the moment.) “Our guy won. Your guy lost. Deal with it. And stop making cheap excuses”. Got it.
So… how are things going for President Obama so far?
And now we hear about Faux News (instead of Fox News – oh the shock and horror of a single news channel that leans Right oh gosh oh my). About what George Bush left us. About the media being controlled by corporate interests (which is partly true but highly ironic given the leanings of big corporations). About conservative talk radio. About George Bush. About special interest groups trying to influence public policy (which is again partly true and again highly ironic). About George Bush. And so on.
John Pitney in his recent piece at National Review Online neatly torpedoes pretty much every cheap excuse that liberals and Democrats offer with hefty doses not even of argument but of hard cold facts. Democratic and politically liberal interests enjoy an advantage on nearly every front. Congressional majorities. Congressional rules and procedures designed largely to shut out and shut down the opposition. Party unity. Friendly media. Internet presence and promotion. Money – including from big corporations and powerful interest groups. Money – from individuals. Foundations and universities.
My favorite line of devastating logic is this:
More significant, polls show that most Americans have a low opinion of El Rushbo. So the “Limbaugh Did It” theory works only if he can mesmerize millions who dislike him and/or don’t even listen to him.
But if one sets aside the cheap excuses this the truth may look more like this:
With such a commanding position, President Obama
and his party should be having an easy time. Indeed, they may still ram a bill through Congress. But the battle has been tougher than they expected. There are a couple of possible explanations. First, despite his talents as a candidate, President Obama is showing weakness and inexperience as a chief executive. Second, the health plan is so bad that even a mighty political operation has trouble pushing it across the finish line.
Read the whole thing at National Review Online.
