The Nuance Of Moral Equivalency
Victor Davis Hanson comments on a pattern of blaming America exhibited by none other than the hopey-changey one himself. Hanson finds it less than inspiring.
Aside from the silliness of these statements, the problem for Obama, again, is that incrementally they really do start to add up—America's "tragic history," the mini-sermon on decline to the 7-year-old, waffling exegesis to Rick Warren about our own evil, the confessions to the cheering Berliners about our transgressions—and these doubts are enhanced rather than ameliorated by Michelle Obama's various rantings, and the creepy things former associates like Ayers, Wright, and Pfleger have said about America and its culture. Some disinterested observer from Mars might adduce that the Obamas at this point can't help it, since the 'everybody believes it' anti-American message they absorbed was of long duration and reinforced where they went to school, where they worshiped, and where they worked.
Hanson calls it Pavlovian, a knee-jerk response from Obama. I'd point out that Obama reveals his inexperience with things like this. Obviously, he has a real problem with the country he wants to lead and is unable to control his criticism. Regular voters - not the flying squads of true believers - will decide this election. Continuing to pander to the beliefs of the fringe left is not going to play well with the vital center.
So, by all means, Barack, carry on.
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Public Secrets — Friday, 22 August , 2008 @ 6:39 pm
By K T Cat, Saturday, 23 August , 2008 @ 7:48 am
It’s not inexperience, it’s a sincere moral viewpoint. Obama is a nihilist at heart. There is no objective "truth" no rational way to say that one nation is better than another. He has no foundational, hard-core moral principles at all. That’s why he has no problem voting to allow infanticide and believes that deciding when a baby is a baby is above his pay grade.
The conservatives are missing this completely. Modern liberalism is itself nihilistic at heart. He’s not just trashing America, he’s actually trying to bring you over to his world view that any imperfect organization is the same as any other imperfect organization.
By Tom, Saturday, 23 August , 2008 @ 10:06 am
One would like to hope that the McCain campaign will jump on everything that Obama and Biden have said, done, and otherwise screwed up to show how incompetent they both are. The media sure won’t…
By Americaneocon, Saturday, 23 August , 2008 @ 12:06 pm
Hanson’s always a pleasure to read!
Looking forward to your Biden analysis, of course… but I’ll tell you, the guy’s a disaster. This has got to be God’s gift to the GOP: Obama and Biden, birds of a lying, deceitful feather…