November 8, 2010
PEGGY SUE GOT WEARIED:
Obama and the Runaway Train: The race, the case, a hope for grace. (PEGGY NOONAN, 10/31/08, WSJ)
The case for Barack Obama, in broad strokes:He has within him the possibility to change the direction and tone of American foreign policy, which need changing; his rise will serve as a practical rebuke to the past five years, which need rebuking; his victory would provide a fresh start in a nation in which a fresh start would come as a national relief. He climbed steep stairs, born off the continent with no father to guide, a dreamy, abandoning mother, mixed race, no connections. He rose with guts and gifts. He is steady, calm, and, in terms of the execution of his political ascent, still the primary and almost only area in which his executive abilities can be discerned, he shows good judgment in terms of whom to hire and consult, what steps to take and moves to make. We witnessed from him this year something unique in American politics: He took down a political machine without raising his voice.
Americans Vote for Maturity (Peggy Noonan, 11/07/10, WSJ)
On to the aftermath of the election. On Wednesday, President Obama gave a news conference to share his thoughts. Viewers would have found it disappointing if there had been any viewers. The president is speaking, in effect, to an empty room. From my notes five minutes in: "This wet blanket, this occupier of the least interesting corner of the faculty lounge, this joy-free zone, this inert gas." By the end I was certain he will never produce a successful stimulus because he is a human depression.Actually I thought the worst thing you can say about a president: He won't even make a good former president.
Actually he'll be a great former president, because he can go join the UN where his essentially bureaucratic personality will thrive.
