Obama: Dream and Reality

Posted on | May 23, 2014 | 28 Comments

“Obama: Anatomy of a World Leader,” by Alex Gray (detail)

The aspirational presidency and its predictable failure:

When they found him, he was a rare breed: a genuine African American (his father was Kenyan) who thought and talked like the academics on both sides of his family, a product of the faculty lounge who dabbled in urban/race politics, a man who could speak to both ends of the liberals’ up-and-down coalition, and a would-be transformer of our public life whose quiet voice and low-key demeanor conveyed “moderation” in all that he spoke and did. Best of all, he was the person whom the two branches of the liberal kingdom — the academics and journalists — wanted to be, a man who shared their sensibilities and their views of the good and the beautiful. This was the chance of a lifetime to shape the world to their measure. He and they were the ones they were waiting for, and with him, they longed for transcendent achievements. But in the event they were undone by . . . their signature weaknesses: They had too much belief in the brilliance of experts, they were completely dismissive of public opinion, and they had a contempt for the great middle class.
From the beginning, they made it clear that the Obama regime would be different from all others that had come before. The damaged economy was the critical issue, but the creation of jobs took a back seat to boutique left-wing causes. The stimulus, costing more than a trillion dollars, came and went leaving nothing behind it, unlike the spending of FDR’s era, which at least for a while gave jobs to real people, and left behind things like bridges and dams and parks. “Climate change” had become an obsession, symbolized by the refusal to act on the Keystone pipeline proposal, which would have created jobs in Middle America, but which Obama’s Hollywood backers denounced as unclean. . . .

Read the whole thing at The Weekly Standard. Has the Earth begun to heal? Have the oceans begun to recede? I think not.

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Category: Barack Obama, Intellectuals

Comments

28 Responses to “Obama: Dream and Reality”

CHideout
May 23rd, 2014 @ 7:26 am

Obama: Dream and Reality: “Obama: Anatomy of a World Leader,” by Alex Gray (detail) The aspirational presidenc… http://t.co/vBX0CpYJqx
WeRResistance
May 23rd, 2014 @ 7:26 am

Obama: Dream and Reality: “Obama: Anatomy of a World Leader,” by Alex Gray (detail) The aspirational presidenc… http://t.co/3ZYcp8T0Di
Citzcom
May 23rd, 2014 @ 7:26 am

Obama: Dream and Reality: “Obama: Anatomy of a World Leader,” by Alex Gray (detail) The aspirational presidenc… http://t.co/FxWyRBXD16
Lockestep1776
May 23rd, 2014 @ 7:26 am

Obama: Dream and Reality: “Obama: Anatomy of a World Leader,” by Alex Gray (detail) The aspirational presidenc… http://t.co/7VOY6vDOrg
JoyKeller1
May 23rd, 2014 @ 7:28 am

Obama: Dream and Reality http://t.co/hV0xxisBkh
rsmccain
May 23rd, 2014 @ 7:35 am

“Has the Earth begun to heal? Have the oceans begun to recede? I think not.” http://t.co/DleVYf7lfm #tcot
kylekiernan
May 23rd, 2014 @ 7:41 am

RT @rsmccain: “Has the Earth begun to heal? Have the oceans begun to recede? I think not.” http://t.co/DleVYf7lfm #tcot
Dana
May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:03 am

The problem arises from the paragraph you didn’t quote:

As Edsall asked, “Is the federal government capable of managing the provision of a fundamental service through an extraordinarily complex system?” The answer is probably no, and even if it is yes, it’s abundantly clear that the uber-class of super-professionals aren’t the people to do it. Their faith in academics and experts had failed this new class of liberals, as would soon become obvious. Their related belief that the opinion of the less-elite classes should not be important would soon fail them, too.

When Barack Hussein Obama and Joseph Biden headed the 2008 Democratic ticket, they were remarkable in one respect: neither of them had ever run anything, in their entire lives. The most experience in actually running something in the 2008 race was Sarah Palin’s 1½ years as Governor, and six years as mayor of a town of 7,800 people. Even if the leftist view was workable, the leftists chosen to impose it lacked the ability to make it work.

Then, once the Democrats were installed in office, they chose aides from he ranks of academia and finance, people who had tremendous credentials, but no experience in producing anything other than paper. If I pulled Barack Obama and Joe Biden and Jacob Lew and Sylvia Burwell out of the government and told them to run my friend Tim’s bagel shop for a month, they’d run it right out of business.
Josh_Painter
May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:04 am

RT @rsmccain: “Has the Earth begun to heal? Have the oceans begun to recede? I think not.” http://t.co/DleVYf7lfm #tcot
HarrietBaldwin
May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:06 am

RT @rsmccain: “Has the Earth begun to heal? Have the oceans begun to recede? I think not.” http://t.co/DleVYf7lfm #tcot
rambler
May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:30 am

It was beyond predicable to being expected! The will of the people hasn’t been part of the equation since people so full of themselves have opted to force flimsy personal dreams on that public.
yourmaster
May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:31 am

the dems have been trying to implement communism in the USA for the past 60 yrs…. …just look at bankrupt detroit as a prime example of lib policies and their 60 yr reign. …or the huge problem with the VA and the vets… didn’t the dems says it was the perfect example of how socialism works in America?
AdamMacFeat
May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:33 am

RT @rsmccain: “Has the Earth begun to heal? Have the oceans begun to recede? I think not.” http://t.co/DleVYf7lfm #tcot
gmardre
May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:34 am

“Obama: Dream and Reality” http://t.co/ng22dUMV0V
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May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:36 am

[…] Obama and Reality (there is not much of a legacy but […]
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May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:37 am

[…] Obama vs Reality (a legacy of […]
Evi L. Bloggerlady
May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:43 am

I am not getting all warm and fuzzy about what is coming either…

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rdaVOZh3o38/U37C1VcE5-I/AAAAAAAAh6s/TYBIvuvkpQg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-22+at+8.37.38+PM.png
ophidianpilot
May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:53 am

Obama: Dream and Reality
#tcot #pjnet http://t.co/tn8WpHTryw via @rsmccain
saddletrap
May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:55 am

RT @ophidianpilot: Obama: Dream and Reality
#tcot #pjnet http://t.co/tn8WpHTryw via @rsmccain
Evi L. Bloggerlady
May 23rd, 2014 @ 8:59 am

Obama intends to leave a legacy…
Roberta Pinn
May 23rd, 2014 @ 9:08 am

That he will. One which we will mourn forever.
Trespassers W
May 23rd, 2014 @ 9:16 am

A flying car in every garage and a unicorn in every garden!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mXHWDhk7Hok
Cactus Ed
May 23rd, 2014 @ 9:58 am

Here’s something you don’t see everyday…
Kirby McCain
May 23rd, 2014 @ 11:13 am

Obama – Chicago mob. Reid – Vegas mob. U.S. government – criminal enterprise.
Quartermaster
May 23rd, 2014 @ 12:59 pm

Now, THAT’S scary!
mamawagsx2
May 23rd, 2014 @ 2:17 pm

RT @rsmccain: “Has the Earth begun to heal? Have the oceans begun to recede? I think not.” http://t.co/DleVYf7lfm #tcot
Kirby McCain
May 23rd, 2014 @ 3:00 pm

I seem to go back to this time and again. Pelosi and the transparency campaign. Then it was a media echo chamber transparency and everyone would see how this would be the most transparent Congress. Nancy Pelosi is a hag, a political hack, a fraud and above all a habitual liar. Transparency? Nancy Pelosi is a political prostitute working on the corner of Sodom and Hell. In the dairy business they say the cream rises to the top. Well, the Democratic party is a cesspool and look at what’s risen to the top.
Kirby McCain
May 23rd, 2014 @ 9:35 pm

A legacy that will require a lot of toilet paper to clean up.