Friday, March 25, 2011
In Defense of Dithering
Where Citizen K. rants, the New York Times' Timothy Egan -- who lives here in Seattle's Seward Park neighborhood -- offers a cool defense of President Obama's style. I have wondered that the same "progressives" who rightly despised President Bush's strutting and preening continuously gripe that Obama doesn't act in the same way. (The Nation doesn't publish an issue without someone blasting the president for not rearing up on his hind legs and blaring like a rogue elephant.) Apparently, bluster and certitude are just fine so long as it is the bluster and certitude of the left.
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4 comments:
Poor Mr. President can't win. He is a transitional figure, and he's doing a lot of good, but people seemed to love to gripe about his low-key style. I personally find it refreshing. Better than watching Col. K. yell and pump his meaty fists.
Excellent article - good find.
And thanks to President Obama, America has gone from one of the least popular countries in the world, to the most popular - a 14% increase in just two years. And all without blustering, without overblown hyperbole, and without stuffing a sock in the crotch of his flightsuit and standing in front of "Mission Accomplished" banners.
Low key, but effective. You can't beat that.
It stymies me intellectually that people whose convictions I share get down on the guy because he doesn't behave like Bush. Especially given the complexities of this world, I appreciate a president who thinks things through before acting. That's regardless of whether I agree with his decision or not.
I like his cool-mannered style for the most part. I just wish he would use the power of the pulpit more often to called out Republicans on their b.s. I loved it two years ago when he actually went to their conference and laid them out good.
Too often it's seemed that he's bent over a little too much in the name of compromise and much too soon.
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