October 3, 2009
THE UR IS IGNORING ONE OF LIFE'S GREAT PARADOXES...:
Wins popularity contests, not much else (JAMES KIRCHICK, October 3, 2009, NY Post)
President Obama is following the advice of that great philosopher Woody Allen, who once said that "eighty percent of success is showing up." In health care legislation, foreign relations and, now, the Olympics, Obama believes his very presence is enough to bend the world to his whim.But even Allen allowed for 20% of something else. I'm guessing good ideas and effort. [...]
The stunning rebuke delivered to this most internationally popular of presidents is a teachable moment.
If Barack Obama's suave, "citizen of the world" charm can't even get us beyond the first round of an international sporting competition, what does that say about his ability to garner support for solving far more serious and intractable problems?
No one likes the most popular kid in the high school.