POLITICS DEPT:
A columnist today asks an interesting question: every poll shows that the American people don't have confidence that our economy will improve, nor do they trust Congress or the president. But why not? An idea:
"To do the task justice would require at least as many pages as some of the bills Congress passes, but that itself is a place to start -- mention of a debt-stimulating stimulus bill over 1,000 pages long, of a topsy-turvy health-care remake over 2,000 pages long and of a recent financial-regulation mishmash also over 2,000 pages long....Members of Congress maybe have some study-guide notion of what's in these bills, but no grasp of all the possible catastrophes hidden in multiple unread clauses. Passing them is therefore akin to the blindfolded racing of a bus down a busy highway. The public -- the passengers -- knows even less, of course, and has to guess at what might happen to it. At least some of the devilish details do emerge in time, and so you learn that even if an $862 billion stimulus was defensible in theory, the political handouts got out of hand, virtually ensuring any assault on the recession would be feathery at best."
So bills that are passed don't do what they say they will do. Sometimes they do just the opposite. That leads to cynicism, and as someone who does a lot of teaching, I can tell you--cynicism among young people concerning government is as high today as its ever been. The election of President Obama hasn't changed it. Nor is this cynicism new. It's been around since Vietnam, when our leaders lied to us about various aspects of that war. It's been around since Watergate. but now it's worse. And again, despite all the high hopes of 2008...President Obama hasn't changed it. At all.
It just so happens that victor Davis Hanson of NRO spoke to this question too on this day, and adds:
"...the voters in 2008 did not vote for liberal change, but for change from the costly and lengthy Bush wars, deficits, spending policies, and immigration proposals. Obama voters were also motivated by a desire to elect our first African-American president, fear over the September 2008 financial meltdown, a lackluster McCain campaign, and the strange perception that Obama was a centrist.
Since his election, Obama has outdone the average Bush deficits by a factor of four or five. His brief “stimulus” became the prelude to a gorge-the-beast reordering of American society. Meanwhile, after demagoguing as a candidate everything from Guantanamo to Iraq, Obama in office has kept in place almost every major security protocol that Bush had established. He has broken his promises to close Guantanamo, try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York, and pull out of Iraq. This has meant alienating his shrinking base while being exposed as a hypocrite to suddenly wiser and less forgiving independents....after ramming through his health-care bill without either bipartisan support or public approval, Obama is polling badly on just about every hot-button issue. The electorate simply does not want cap-and-trade, amnesty, more deficits, and higher taxes. Rather, it prefers to produce more oil and gas, and more hydroelectric and nuclear power; it wants to follow the Arizona immigration model; it wants to cut spending; and it wants to balance the budget."
Obama and liberals simply misread the electorate; they misread the meaning of the 2008 election.
First Read defending the Obama admin--again:
This time Chuck Todd et al on MSNBC's "First Read" give the administration's side on the question of whether it is "overexposed":
"...today, Obama tapes his appearance on "The View." That appearance -- plus even his new video on Web MD explaining the health-care law and how to use HealthCare.Gov -- has once furthered a narrative that the president is overexposed. (If you'll recall, we had this same discussion last year after Obama went on Leno, etc.) There is a potential danger here, and it does highlight the fact that there really isn't another key spokesman in the administration to talk about the economy or health care. But as the White House reminds us, the media world is now so diffuse (TV, newspaper, Web, cable Twitter, Facebook) that Obama has to do more than his predecessors ever did. That's the reality. So while folks INSIDE THE BELTWAY believe he's over-exposed, and those folks that watch a lot of cable TV might believe he's overexposed, ask the working parent of two if they think the same thing."
Yes, sure guys, and there's nothing wrong with asking that question of a working parent of two...nor is it wrong to give the administration's side of things (though you might 'fess up once in a while and admit that's what you're doing).
But here's the thing: we can make a pretty good guess of what the working parent of two thinks of Obama, and guess whether he or she is a tiny bit sick of him. Know how? CHECK THE POLLS!!!! Obama's approval ratings have been sliding for months. That's usually not a sign that the White House's approach to communicating with the public is working too well. Is overexposure their only problem? I doubt it. But it could well be part of it. O, Chuck and friends, how could you not have thought of this???
BASEBALL DIARY:
Rays 3, Tigers 2: Justin Verlander pitches well. The Tigers must have thought they were in a good spot--9th inning, down by 1 run, but the bases loaded and Miguel Cabrera at the plate. But he hits a grounder on which the Rays' Evan Longoria turns a great double play...that's baseball.
Rangers 3, A's 1 (10 innings): again the story is Cliff Lee. 9 innings pitched, 13 strikeouts, 1 run allowed...and eating up innings, saving the bullpen. What an acquisition for this team, which right now has the best pitching it's had perhaps ever.
