More accurately, he seems to acknowledge that others increasingly are taking notice.
His press conference today providing administrative fixes to the Obamacare debacle was a breath of fresh air in terms of candor. Perhaps we have seen the last of the hubris? Considering the hit to his credibility he has taken, candor and transparency pave the road to political recovery for himself, Democrats, and the nation.
From the beginning he has acted as if he knows better than anyone when he did not. In the real word there is no such thing as 11th dimensional chess. This condescending and elitist type of attitude has tended to gravitate down to far too many supporters and political allies that turn dismissive and intolerant and even worse to dissenting points of view and those that dare speak. Often, they are oblivious to how little they actually know of the issues, other than what they among themselves agree is the righteous path.
Policies may be great in theory, but do they work in reality? Assuming they will work, is it wise to put faith in people, whose only experience is theoretical and gained in academia or the public sector, to be competent in applying the theories? In other words, aside from the matter of Obama's candor and ability to admit mistakes, is he even a competent administrator? Did those that questioned if he was ready to lead have a point?
From the beginning he has acted as if he knows better than anyone when he did not. In the real word there is no such thing as 11th dimensional chess. This condescending and elitist type of attitude has tended to gravitate down to far too many supporters and political allies that turn dismissive and intolerant and even worse to dissenting points of view and those that dare speak. Often, they are oblivious to how little they actually know of the issues, other than what they among themselves agree is the righteous path.
Policies may be great in theory, but do they work in reality? Assuming they will work, is it wise to put faith in people, whose only experience is theoretical and gained in academia or the public sector, to be competent in applying the theories? In other words, aside from the matter of Obama's candor and ability to admit mistakes, is he even a competent administrator? Did those that questioned if he was ready to lead have a point?
Or perhaps Obama is primarily a politician that practices cynical politics while he decries the cynicism, someone more adept at campaigning than governing, at sowing diversion and division rather than unity, which keeps many people from realizing that his pants may be down?
There are other instances where application of theory has fallen short, domestically and internationally, or where the image created does not match the reality. But today, even if the administrative solution may only complicate the mess and leave an impression of a captain now on a rudderless ship, it was nice to see Obama having a reality check.
One can hope this will spread and gravitate to his supporters, not only when it comes to implementation of policies on other matters, but in political discourse itself.
I fear, sadly, that the hope for an improved political discourse will never be fulfilled, what with eliminationist speech becoming far too common from all sides (in fact, I think eliminationist speech may perhaps now even be classified as acceptably mainstream), and the general climate at all times feeling something rather more like a professional wrestling royal rumble, than fellow citizens discussing issues soberly.
ReplyDeleteThe hero worship of certain specific politicians surely plays a part, as does the reactionary response from those who take the opposite stance on any given politician.
I very much look forward to the day when mutual respect will return to our political scene. I wish I held out hope that this day could come any time soon.
If this is so, the mainstreaming of eliminationist speech, then perhaps it becomes even more important to address it, even as the environment tends to become more surreal, particularly at the universities, where the most work may need to be done.
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