The Thrill Is Gone

[gilliam]

On one side is America — fickle and excitable, hotheaded and prone to overreaction, easily frightened and in constant need of reassurance.

On the other side stands Obama — solid and sober, rooted in the belief that his way is the right way and in no need of alteration. He’s the emotionally maimed type who lights up when he’s stroked and adored but shuts down in the face of acrimony. Other people’s anxieties are dismissed as irrational and unworthy of engagement or empathy. He seems quite comfortable with this aspect of his personality, even if few others are, and shows little desire to change it. It’s the height of irony: the presumed transformative president is stymied by his own unwillingness to be transformed. He would rather sacrifice the relationship than be altered by it.

Add to this tension the fact that conservative Blue Dog Democrats are doing everything they can to keep their jobs and Republicans are doing everything they can to make Obama lose his, and it only aggravates the situation.

nytimes.com/2010/06/19/opinion/19blow.html?ref=opinion

 

[RWMorris]

This op-ed piece would be accurate if one substitutes “The Left” each time the author uses the word “America.” Without that minor correction most of it is leftist drivel.

 

[runningdude]

A true leader must stand by his own gut. To cater to something as fickle as public opinion would be futile, because in a know win situation such as the oil spill, no matter how its handled, thousands of jobs and people are affected, thousands of acres of habitat destroyed, thousands of birds, wildlife, fish and crustaceans killed.

The Presidency is simply not capable of doing everything. Any President’s popularity would plummet under the current perfect storm of oil and economic downturn. The only way for Obama to make is mark is to stick to his guns and do what he thinks needs to be done. History won’t remember his poll numbers. History won’t remember him focuses only on poll numbers. History will only remember him if he steadfastly leads the American people through these times.

 

[RWMorris]

… Any President’s popularity would plummet under the current perfect storm of oil and economic downturn. The only way for Obama to make is mark is to stick to his guns and do what he thinks needs to be done. History won’t remember his poll numbers. History won’t remember him focuses only on poll numbers. History will only remember him if he steadfastly leads the American people through these times.

I totally disagree. The reason Obama’s popularity is plummeting is because he’s playing politics and not “letting a good crisis go to waste.” John Stossel said it best,

President Obama said in his Oval Office speech tonight that the BP oil spill is:

“The most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now*.”*
The spill will now become an excuse for more government action, and more subsidies for wind, solar, and so on. But As CATO’s David Boaz tells me:
“Cean energy” is ridiculous. It’s very expensive and not very feasible. Some day, maybe, but not now. Look at Europe. Taxes make gasoline MUCH more expensive there, and yet they still use gasoline, because there just aren’t viable alternatives.
Obama’s rhetoric about “kicking ass” and “putting a boot on the neck” is also inappropriate. That shouldn’t be the attitude of a powerful government toward citizens, even citizens who have erred.

Right. And now we’ll have a “National Commission!” Gee, that will solve a lot.
America should focus on cleaning up the damage, and leaving petroleum engineers alone so they can focus on stopping the leak.
The President should just be quiet.

• stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/06/15/never-let-a-crisis-go-to-waste/#ixzz0rLlwgo84

That’s right, Obama would lead best by just shutting his mouth.

 

[Nordar]

A true leader must stand by his own gut. To cater to something as fickle as public opinion would be futile, because in a know win situation such as the oil spill, no matter how its handled, thousands of jobs and people are affected, thousands of acres of habitat destroyed, thousands of birds, wildlife, fish and crustaceans killed.

The Presidency is simply not capable of doing everything. Any President’s popularity would plummet under the current perfect storm of oil and economic downturn. The only way for Obama to make is mark is to stick to his guns and do what he thinks needs to be done. History won’t remember his poll numbers. History won’t remember him focuses only on poll numbers. History will only remember him if he steadfastly leads the American people through these times.

HUH?

 

[RWMorris]

Obama’s rhetoric about “kicking ass” and “putting a boot on the neck” is also inappropriate. That shouldn’t be the attitude of a powerful government toward citizens, even citizens who have erred.

• • *David Boaz, CATO Institute

All you boot licking people out there, the time for you to start licking that boot is getting closer.*

 

[runningdude]

I totally disagree. The reason Obama’s popularity is plummeting is because he’s playing politics and not “letting a good crisis go to waste.” John Stossel said it best,
That’s right, Obama would lead best by just shutting his mouth.

That is basically my point. He looks like an idiot when he says these things. Right now he’s catering to public opinion instead of leading like he’s supposed to. He needs to stick to his guns

I’m not sure what you mean by not “letting a good crisis go to waste.”

 

[RWMorris]

That is basically my point. He looks like an idiot when he says these things. Right now he’s catering to public opinion instead of leading like he’s supposed to. He needs to stick to his guns

I’m not sure what you mean by not “letting a good crisis go to waste.”

Then we agree. My apologies for misreading your post.

The quote “letting a good crisis go to waste” is taken from,

“You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste; it’s an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid.”
– Rahm Emanuel, Obama’a Chief of Staff

 

[Darryl1958]

I’m not sure what you mean by not “letting a good crisis go to waste.”

In the light of the oil spill, the crisis to Obama becomes one of using the crisis to sell cap-and-trade and green energy bills. He uses the crisis to ‘put the boots tot neck of the evil capitalist’ as well iin order to rally his troops.

The actual devastation appears not to really even emotionally register to people who follow the opportunistic model of R. Emanuel.

The NY Times article seems to touch upon that vibe of emotional coldness that Obama gives off.