Below are links to a couple of interesting articles by Victor Davis Hanson published earlier this month. I don’t agree with Hanson all the time, but I do respect his opinion a great deal – and I think he is absolutely correct.
Obama as Greek Tragedy—Part One
Obama as Greek Tragedy—Part Two
Interestingly he opines in Part Two:
Unfortunately, I see no signs that would indicate Hanson’s assertions are wrong.
Obama as Greek Tragedy—Part One
Obama as Greek Tragedy—Part Two
Interestingly he opines in Part Two:
Every self-destructive moralist, as tragedy teaches us, is obsessed with the self. In our own age, recall Woodrow Wilson’s shrill furor at lesser mortals who were suspicious of his exalted League of Nations, remember FDR’s court-packing anger at the less than sympathetic Supreme Court, or remember Jimmy Carter’s “crisis of confidence” whine in summer 1979. Such is the lashing out of all exalted moralists when we, the lesser folk, have failed to appreciate the demi-god in the White House who has “deigned” to guide us.
***
What to expect? Obama will call a summit of his security advisors, given that his anti-terrorism sermonizing is now discredited; he will lecture on fiscal responsibility soon, given that he may well match all the debt piled up collectively by all prior presidents; he will talk of bipartisanship, given that he has become the most polarizing figure in recent political history — and very few will listen. His “this is the moment” passed around March 1.
***
….Democrats are starting to get wise to what Obama has wrought — and many fear not merely that he has the ability to take them down with him, but in fact doesn’t much care about them if he does.
Oh, Obama may still hover around 50% in the polls for a while, but the problem is that he likes all the things that have brought him disfavor and loathes all the things that might restore his effectiveness.
If in the past “hope and change” rhetoric bedazzled a college dean or philanthropist, why would he cease now since he believes that both the electorate and the world at large are as gullible to his charms as the university/community-organizing crowd was in the past?
In short, he can no more stop than could all-knowing Oedipus.
***
What to expect? Obama will call a summit of his security advisors, given that his anti-terrorism sermonizing is now discredited; he will lecture on fiscal responsibility soon, given that he may well match all the debt piled up collectively by all prior presidents; he will talk of bipartisanship, given that he has become the most polarizing figure in recent political history — and very few will listen. His “this is the moment” passed around March 1.
***
….Democrats are starting to get wise to what Obama has wrought — and many fear not merely that he has the ability to take them down with him, but in fact doesn’t much care about them if he does.
Oh, Obama may still hover around 50% in the polls for a while, but the problem is that he likes all the things that have brought him disfavor and loathes all the things that might restore his effectiveness.
If in the past “hope and change” rhetoric bedazzled a college dean or philanthropist, why would he cease now since he believes that both the electorate and the world at large are as gullible to his charms as the university/community-organizing crowd was in the past?
In short, he can no more stop than could all-knowing Oedipus.
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