I've been trying for almost two years now to figure out why Obama has been so underwhelming as a President, so unable to accomplish what he said he was going to do during his inspiring 2008 campaign. This video interview of Roger Hodge, former editor of Harper's magazine and author of a new book, The Mendacity of Hope, gives as good an answer as I've been able to find.
And the answer? That, as hard as it is for Obamaniancs (like me) to believe, Obama was basically never a reform politician at all. The evidence clearly points in that direction. One fairly insignificant but revealing example: Obama's selection/endorsement of Alex Ginnoulis as the Democratic nominee for his Illinois' Senate seat. Why he would back this complete mediocrity shows exactly where he's coming from in his instincts and inner life. A second (third and fourth) example: the selection of Rahm Emmanuel, Tim Geithner, and Larry Summers for key positions in his administration.
Watch this:
Update: I just watched an interesting debate between Obamaphile Jonathan Alter and the above Roger Hodge. Alter definitely has the upper hand, if only because of Hodge's inarticulateness in debate. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, I suppose.
Try this: http://reason.com/blog/2010/11/22/reasontv-richard-epstein-on-bais.
ReplyDeleteI've never been able to see Obama as anything other than a man without a chest since his speech to the Dem Conv in '04.