Obama-Bashing

Rob Natelson has lined up with others to take a shot at Obama supporters who are investing messianic qualities in the new president. There’s something to be said for that. Cult of leadership is not a new phenomenon. Many of us noticed that Americans also invested superhuman qualities in George W. Bush after 9/11. That was fear speaking, however. The new followers are preaching hope. They are probably just as naive.

Nonetheless, Natelson’s criticisms of Obama are off the mark.

Obama had one of the thinnest resumes of any major Presidential candidate ever, but supporters have convinced themselves that he would not only govern brilliantly, but ”transform America.”

I think Obama brings impressive credentials to the table. For one, his educational achievements are stellar – Juris Doctor (J.D.) magna cum laude from Harvard. People are pooh-poohing that now, but those Latin words on parchment separate him from 99.99% of us. Few could have achieved what he did while in school. He then went on to community organizing, staying in touch with common folk, as opposed to most Harvard grads who head for Washington or Wall Street. In addition, he taught constitutional law, served in the state legislature, and the United States Senate. That’s a good start for a relatively young man. He’s a far cry from what we’ve had in office – a bright man with huge potential – one who has shown that he can organize, lead, and inspire. I find his resumé to be quite impressive.

People who claim to be against hate-mongers have blinded themselves to a record of associations that would have induced them to indignantly repudiate anyone else.

This is beneath Mr. Natelson. Over the years Obama has met thousands of people, had conservations with them, agreed and disagreed as a man of independent thought would do. I’m glad he’s been exposed to the thoughts of people on the left, including the thoughtful bomber Bill Ayers. Most people don’t take the time. To say that he’s been sullied by association is McCarthyism. That’s a word we bandy about, but it’s a tried and true technique for smearing people. It’s propaganda. I wonder if we went through Mr. Natelson’s background, dredged up every association, if we could find one or two that could be thrown in his face. Probably – if not, I’d say he’d led a sheltered existence.

We’ve had eight years now of a man who insulates himself from every outlook but his own. Now let’s see where we can go with a man who knows that there are more than two sides to every issue.

Supporters have convinced themselves that a politician with a record of cooperating with the Chicago machine is going to clean up Washington.

A man comes home from work, opens the closet to hang his jacket and finds a naked man standing there. “What are you doing here?” he asks. The man says “Everybody has to be somewhere”.

Merely coming from Chicago, living and working there and having success, should have no more bearing on his performance in office than if he came from Wasilla. Mr. Natelson’s point is no point at all. He’s reaching.

Now the gush of ga-ga really floweth over with breathless comments about how Obama’s IQ is the highest of anyone to occupy the White House, etc. etc.

I don’t know what Obama’s IQ is – but I know this: I am tired of being governed by ordinary people with ordinary smarts. People like Bush had to rely on the brains around him for policy, and he didn’t even have the good sense to being in people who disagreed with him. Smart people are not the answer – smart people with humility can lead effectively however. So stand back, Mr. Natelson, and let us do an experiment here. We’ve done it the other way. Now we’re going to try a smart guy at the helm.

Mr. Natelson offers some words of support at the end of his post. He’s not so much down on Obama as his followers. He thinks they are cultish, and that Obama has encouraged this behavior. I’ve seen some of that too. It’ll wear off. I’m already put off by all of the Clinton people and Rahm Emmanuel – the fact that he felt the need to appoint a “progressive liaison” for his transition team, meaning progressives need not apply for other positions. My antennae are already up – I’m already suspecting a Clinton-like triangulator. But I’ll give him a few more days.

I see Obama as a pragmatic intellectual. The closest I can come in comparing him to other presidents is Woodrow Wilson. I hope he does better.