The Dash To Dumb: A Double Entry From David Broder

David Broder writes the dumbest thing I have seen all week, then exceeds himself a few paragraphs later.  Here is his first entry in the Dash to Dumb:

OH, YES, I know that Democrats have fallen into a peck of trouble and may lose control of Congress. But even if they do, Obama can still storm back to win a second term in 2012. He is that much better than the competition.

In what respects is he enduringly superior? Let's start with the basics. He is much smarter than his challengers in either party, better able to read the evidence and come to the right conclusions.

Obama may very well be smarter than either Sarah Palin or Christine O'Donnell (the left's favorite chew-toy just now).  But is there any reason to think he is smarter than Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty?  Can anyone keep a straight face and insist that Obama is clearly smarter than Gen. Petraeus, who may yet emerge from the wilds of Afghanistan to rally Republicans (although I don't expect it)?

Or on his own merits and by way of example, how smart did Obama look when he announced thathe did not know the facts of the Skip Gates controversy, but he didn't need facts to conclude the police acted "stupidly"?  How smart did he look while dithering on Afghanistan, or the BP oil spill?  How smart did Obama sound when he urged Latino voters to "punish" their enemies?

Ahh!  After my blood pressure settled back into the high-normal range I pressed on, only to encounter this second entry in the Dash to Dumb sweepstakes:

But if Obama cannot spur that [economic] growth by 2012, he is unlikely to be reelected. The lingering effects of the recession that accompanied him to the White House will probably doom him.

Can Obama harness the forces that might spur new growth? This is the key question for the next two years.

What are those forces? Essentially, there are two. One is the power of the business cycle, the tidal force that throughout history has dictated when the economy expands and when it contracts.

And the other force?  Brace yourself:

What else might affect the economy? The answer is obvious, but its implications are frightening. War and peace influence the economy.

Look back at FDR and the Great Depression. What finally resolved that economic crisis? World War II.

Here is where Obama is likely to prevail. With strong Republican support in Congress for challenging Iran's ambition to become a nuclear power, he can spend much of 2011 and 2012 orchestrating a showdown with the mullahs. This will help him politically because the opposition party will be urging him on. And as tensions rise and we accelerate preparations for war, the economy will improve.

Oh, brother, its the old "Look at FDR and WWII" card.  How dumb is this?

 - A war with Iran would require nothing like the level of national mobilization required in WWII, so the stimulative effect would be much less.  (Blogging at FP, Blake Hounsell uses the word "crazy" to describe this, and notes that the resulting higher oil prices would impede global recovery.  Drill, baby drill!)

 - Why stop with looking at WWII?  Why didn't Korea get Harry Truman re-elected back in 1952?  Why didn't the escalation of Vietnam get Johnson re-elected in 1968?

 - Closer to home, does Broder think that Iraq, rather than low interest rates, bailed out the US economy in 2003?  Why didn't the surge help us out in 2007/2008?  And why did the genius Obama withdraw troops from Iraq during the weak economy of 2009 when he could have put more troops into both Iraq and Afghanistan?

 - Will the Republicans really play along with a phony war intended to re-elect Obama on a 'Rally round the flag' effect?  Is there no Republican anywhere who would feel chastened by the debacle in Iraq and skeptical of Obama's motives and commitment?  Why couldn't this play out like Kosovo in 1999, when the Republican House and Senate got very balky about following an anti-war President into battle.

 - Lest we forget, we are talking about Obama.  He is not opposed to all wars - in his famous 2002 speech about Iraq he boldly supported both the Civil War and WWII, although he waffled on Afghanistan and was mute on Korea, the Revolutionary War, and others.  But Obama leads an anti-war party, rose to that leadership by dint of his view on Iraq, and is risking that leadership by escalating in Afghanistan (although he promised to cut and run by next summer.)  He will not even begin to try and rally Democrats for a war with Iran.

 - Stimulate, baby, stimulate: WWII was a massive federal spending program with broad public support.  Hire people to do something popular that doesn't involve bullets, death and destruction and Obama can still revive the economy.  Of course, he would need to rally public support, but he is still a genius orator, yes?

I can quit anytime.  So which was dumber, the idea that Obama is clearly smarter than any Republican out there, or the idea that Hope and Change will morph into Blood and Guts?  Tough call!

Comments

[PaulL]

Smart is overrated.

[Captain Hate]

When did Broder become Gergen?

[MarkO]

Obama is just not that smart. Ask Clarice. She gets it.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

A real test of intelligence is discerning the difference between a glib, facile mouth, which Barry possesses in a limited sense, and actual analytical, problem solving intelligence, which is completely foreign to him.

Broder never fails to fail that test.

[Clarice]

Those who do not really learn from history are bound to misinterpret and misapply its lessons.
The history of Obama is that he is not smart, not pragmatic and a total wimp.

[Thomas Collins]

The dumbest thing in Broder's column is the underlying assumption that WWII ended the Depression. This has been utterly debunked; for a short summary of the debunkment by Amity Shlaes (in which she basically disembowels Paul Krugman), see LUN.

As far as Obama's smarts, I'd say his intelligence is in the top half of Codevilla's Ruling Class. In other words, he is a Credentialled Moron, but a fairly intelligent one.

[bunky]

David Broder the dean of deuche bag suck-ups.

[MountainHome]

I have to agree with Clarice...It's the old history repeats itself.....tyrants continue to fall when people become complacement with their civic responsibilities.

There is a lot of anger right now & it saddens me that we continue to let them divide & conquer the people.

I mention a book www.booksbyoliver.com ) out where Americans unite (SOLIDARITY)even when they have differences of opinion cause we are all still Americans & cannot be divided into 'tribes' as Washington wants us to be. It's a great book cause it's about all of us. I recommend it.

We need to remember civility & not let others manipulate us into 'groups' & take back the power to the people....Remember, it's WE the People & not you the government. I recommend it as a must read.

[Lord Whorfin says-vote early and vote often.]

Impossible to choose- both are in Bulwer-Lytton territory.

[Janet the tea-vangelist!]

We need to remember civility

I gotta say that I think conservatives have been civil & polite for too long. The left has lied, cheated, & stolen....they have taken over our schools, entertainment, science institutions,...
They have risen to the highest offices in organizations (women's rights groups, VFW, girl scouts, church leadership, library councils,...) until they are dictating PC bulls&*t to local communities.
We have been quiet & polite for too long. The only people NOT talking the verboten "politics & religion" were the polite, live & let live, don't want a fuss conservatives.
No more...I will only be civil if civil means speaking my mind.

[caro]

I believe that Sarah is more intelligent than Barack.

[Sue]

Janet,

Well that deserves a standing "O". You go girl!!!!

[bio mom]

Obama, truly, is not that smart. I wish we had an MCAT test for presidents.

[angellight]

Less we Forget:
Excerpt from PlanetWaves.Net

(Conservative public officials spend) "$1 million a year per soldier in (Iraq and now) Afghanistan makes the bonuses of Wall Street execs look like a bargain. And we're doing what? Intervening in the affairs of a foreign country? "

(The GOP Party want to privatize or reuduce) "Social Security benefits in half -- as if they're not low enough already. People went on and on about entitlements, without noting that companies such as Bank of America and General Electric pay zero corporate taxes and get plenty in corporate welfare.

Candidates pandering to this constituency are promising to eliminate the minimum wage, take away health care, give the Social Security fund to Wall Street. Women voters are leaning Republican this year. They are being manipulated by hundreds of millions of dollars worth of anonymous attack advertising, allowed by a new Supreme Court decision called Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission. I don't understand this. Lots of conservatives are Christians, and Jesus said we should take care of the poor. And as for those ads, why would you conceal your identity unless you have something to hide?

On a radio show, Sal Russo, the 'chief strategist' of the Tea Party Express, a political action committee that funnels money into the campaigns of Tea Party candidates. Mr. Russo got his start shining the shoes of Ronald Reagan, who looks like a bleeding heart liberal these days -- he raised taxes dozens of times, granted amnesty to illegal immigrants and did quite a bit of deficit spending. Russo rambled on for an hour about how the (Democrat-controlled) government is over-regulating business and therefore creating the recession. All we need to do is get rid of these pesky regulations and the recession will disappear, he said (about 14 times). There used to be an expression for this -- putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop.

Respect for individual rights, including privacy and free speech. The United States is based on keeping private things private: including our personal papers and private property. That's what the law says. In the United States, citizens are sovereigns, not subjects of the crown. A smaller, less invasive government stays out of your private life. It does not have time, resources or authority to monitor every single pregnancy. Family planning is a family matter. Then, as citizens, we mind our own business. What your neighbor does in the privacy of his or her home is none of your business, unless it directly impacts your life in some way.

Non-interventionist military policy. We need to take care of our own country before we conquer or 'help' any other country. That might translate to shorter, more efficient wars -- or no wars at all. The purpose of the military is to defend our nation, not to randomly attack other countries, or worse, to steal their resources. We have more than enough here in magnificent North America.

Speaking of education, it's money well spent. We need to invest in the future, and an effective, economical way to do that is to support education. Parents should have a diversity of options for educational philosophies available: different kinds of schools to suit different values and ideas about life. Public higher education needs to go back to majority funding by the state, remembering its primary mission, which is access to all citizens; this in turn will create a prosperous, functioning economy. We have to stop this whole business of student loans and go back to grants.

Help for those in need. The purpose of a society is to take care of all its members. Why bother otherwise? We are a nation based on abundance, and there is plenty to go around, especially if we're talking about food, shelter, clothing and health care. Many of my fellow conservatives these days say they read the Bible. Remember this part? "Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me."

[bunky]

Civility = we're supposed to shut up

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Obama's biggest problem is his constant lies. Take yesterday in Connecticut, 3 sustained minutes of heckling that was exacerbated by an Obama lie when he tried to mollify the shouters by saying he had done more for AIDS funding in Africa than Bush. Those who were causing the stir knew this statement was a lie and that just ginned up the shouting even louder and longer.

It is beginning to be the little things that are hurting him. Rumors coming out of the White House that he is never on time for important meetings, that he is disengaged during meetings, that he has NO knowledge, let alone understanding, of American history, that the Administration is a trainwreck and has been from day one, that he finds the suburbs boring and by extension those who live there, his thin skin, his never met a Muslim that is a bad actor on the world stage, his disdain for the troops, supporting the dirty tricksters, especially those of color or the right minority, the thug mentality toward any dissenters, the inability to give anyone else credit and his constant whining. But most of all the lies ... Americans can forgive mistakes, they can forgive almost anything, but one thing most Americans don't forgive is being outright lied to.

As an aside, did anyone else catch Claire Berlinski on CPAN yesterday? She is the author of: There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters. The bottom line, America is where the UK was in 1979 and Thatcher made the moral case against socialism and began to undo the damage that Labor had perpetrated with their takeovers of the most viable economic businesses and nationalized these industries.

[Army of Davids]

The Dude...."Larry Summers is doing a heckuva job"

Must "Protect the Change"

[Army of Davids]

Obama = incompetent.

[Captain Hate]

Go trick or treating somewhere else, devilsfood.

[Thomas Collins]

Broder and most of the sclerotic elite use intelligence as a code work for credentials snd connections. They don't want to say that Obama had the correct breeding (tony private schools) and went to prestigious undergraduate and professional institutions. So they yap about intelligence.

Caro, as far as Palin vs. Obama on intelligence goes, I have no idea who has the higher IQ, but it is certain that the country would be in better hands with Palin playing power politics chess with the Chinese, Russians, Paks et al than with Obama.

[macphisto]

civility is useless in a time of war, and the other side has approached the situation as a war for forty years. quail at the incivility of an Atwater or a John Mitchell now, and prepare the opening for the necessity of a Sherman or a Pinochet later.

[glasater]

Amen Janet!

At the Patty Murray rally yesterday a Murray minion came outside and asked me to leave the outside grounds. She threatened me with a security detail--union guys who didn't bother me at all except to glare at me.
I have never seen such control of an event such as this. Republican rallys are boy scouts compared.
The union guys formed a barricade of sorts around Murray as she was going in to the event and since she's very short they were successful in blocking any photos I would have taken of her. No local press was there.
They hustled her into the building via a service entrance. I guess if she'd gone in by way of the main entrance she would have seen the folks supporting Rossi on the other side of the street. Why protect her from viewing that crowd? There were only about twenty people holding Rossi signs.
When I did get into the event I had to practically sign my life away to do so--and with every sign-in a person was giving a count of the crowd on a cell phone to someone somewhere.
The minions packed a small room in the building with the folks who had come to see Murray and got them all chanting "Murray" "Murray" as she came in.
A bunch of union leaders were lined up on the riser behind the podium where she was to speak.
The claustrophobia of the jammed packed room and a guy next to me waving his sign in front of my camera made trying to stay and take more pictures pretty discouraging.
The control of this D rally was something to behold--I've never seen anything like it at an R rally.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

--A smaller, less invasive government stays out of your private life.--

--(The GOP Party want to privatize or reuduce) "Social Security benefits in half -- as if they're not low enough already. People went on and on about entitlements--

--Public higher education needs to go back to majority funding by the state, remembering its primary mission, which is access to all citizens; this in turn will create a prosperous, functioning economy. We have to stop this whole business of student loans and go back to grants.--

Two of these things are not like the other....

--Many of my fellow conservatives these days say they read the Bible.--

Angel, I think your real name is Ellie Light correct?

[George Ditter]

George Santayana wrote that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." This quote is generally paraphased as "those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." A mark of a possible lack of intelligence on the part of the President is the inability to see that most of his most cherished beliefs such a "single payor" or socialism have been tried in the past and failed. William Bradford of the Pilgrims noted with respect to the abandonment of the communal system in Plymouth Plantation in 1623 that the system had failed even though the people involved were all good "and it would have been worse if they had been men of another condition." The vanity that the wrong people have been in charge of other attempts at socialism, but that he is diifferent betrays the incurious nature of President Obama. I wonder if he has studied whether Lenin, Stalin or Trotsky set out to be monsters or merely achieved that status. Of course, I'm probably wrong, Mr. Broder has probably seen Mr. Obama's school transcripts, witnessed the facility that he shows off teleprompter or even his understanding of auto insurance policies.

[Danube of Thought]

"The purpose of a society is to take care of all its members."

Then you and I are in different societies. And you cannot compel me to be in yours.

[Danube of Thought]

Broder seems to have forgotten that Obama "can't afford to lose the entire Democratic party."

[George Ditter]

Angellight- ???? I have barely a clue about what point you are trying to make, but I'm comforted by the fact that neither do you. On the other hand, I can't agree with your heartfelt desire that all our wars be fought here in North America.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

--Remember this part? "Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.--

Remember this part?
"Then the King will say to those on His right hand "Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was astranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me."

Those are individual actions, which a great many conservative Christians I know do. Do you think you're going to inherit the Kingdom through the collective coercion of taxtion by the state?

Do you think euphamising the killing of defenseless innocents by calling it 'family planning' shows your concern for "the least of these" among us or that you'll be rewarded for it?

[MikeS]

...of my fellow conservatives

Thanks for pointing that out Iggy. I'm still trying to clean the coffee that got onto my keyboard when I read that.

[Rick Ballard]

"Why didn't Korea get Harry Truman re-elected back in 1952?"

Cuz the Dems nominated Credentialed Moron First Class Adlai Stevenson?

Perhaps I'm missing something on this one...

[Thomas Collins]

See LUN for Howie Carr's take on the Massachusetts elections. Although some of it will make sense only to Jane and Rocco and Dave(in MA) and the other Bay State JOMers, most of it will bring a chuckle to anyone who has hack pols in their midst.

[Gmax]

Exactly why do you read that rag anyway TM? The Yanks are off the sports page...

[Pagar]

"an effective, economical way to do that is to support education."

It makes absolutely no sense to support a school system where the curriculum is determined by William Ayers, The czar in charge is has apparently never ran a successful school system anywhere and the Safe schools czar only concern seems to be that all students get homosexual indoctrination 24/7 365 days a year. Meanwhile, a successful educator like the one in DC is forced to resign because the absolutely last thing in the world the Democrats want is an educated American.

Dismantle the entire National education system and turn every thing over to the states. The idea that one can gain by sending money to Washington and have them dispense it and we come out ahead is a criminal joke.

[anduril]

Bravo, TM! It's time for GOPers to get out of the role of being the War Party--a role that fits the Conservative philosophy poorly. All moral considerations aside, the notion that Iran could be "done" on the cheap is insane.

[Army of Davids]

Poor Democrats.

They were Hope-ing for Karl Marx.

Instead they got Groucho.

I feel worst for Joey Behar....this is tough for her.

[PaulY]

Orders for war materials starting in 1938 by UK and France lifted US out of recession. Start on WW2 in late 1939 accelerated investment and economy and gave US 3 years to grow arsenal of democracy before we entered war.

[Buford Gooch]

This whole "civility" and "compromise" meme is getting to me. Please excuse the analogy, but it's like the conservatives are looking at a large bowl of punch and saying, "Let's keep it just like it is." The Democrats look at the same bowl of punch, and say, "Let's put two pounds of poop in it." The Democrats then say the conservatives are unreasonable and un-civil because they won't compromise on putting one pound of poop in the punch.

[Carol Herman]

Nixon, back in 1971, went on Laugh-In and delivered the hilarious line: "SOCK IT TO ME."

Nixon just couldn't DO comedy. As to Jon Stewart, I think he'd like to forget how lousy his "sanity" and "fear" tour turned out to be.

While we also learned this president can't do comedy. Because he fell flat when he was interviewed by the friendly comedian, Jon Stewart. Who can forget Stewart calling Obama "DUDE" ?

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

PaulY, you would profit from reading TC's LUN of this article by Amity Shlaes correcting your somewhat erroneous view.

[matt the komodo lizard]

I wrote this just yesterday

"And yet when looks at the leadership class today, one does not see these realities reflected. Across the spectrum of big business, government, academia, and media, one sees a groupthink that is remarkable in its homogeneity and self entitlement. The bases in Judeo-Christian ethics and the Western ideal were long ago left behind. And what is left in their minds has no real structure, no grounding. Ideas flop around in their heads without critical thinking and “we have to pass the bill in order to read it” becomes the operative logic."

It simply amazes me that they continue and will continue with this meme. There is little or no self examination. We have the spectacle of the children of privilege lecturing us on becoming good proles.

[P Baer]

You know Obama is smart because he uses idiot boards at task force meetings.

[boris]

"Amity Shlaes correcting ..."

I read that as putting (perhaps) deserved emphasis on the economic policy contribution rather than refuting the arms buildup contribution.

I'd say they were clearly related. The policy arose in no small degree because buildup was existentially required.

[JM Hanes]

Not to be outdone by WaPo's Broder, the NYTimes fields David Brooks, in the Flight to Fantasy. Nurse David advises Obama that he can recover if he simply reinvents himself as someone else. Here's the comeback checklist:

First, win back independents. [Don't ask me how!]

Second, "redefine" your identity. [You're still a blank slate, use it!]

Third, reassure those fearful masses, and "re-establish the link between effort and reward." [Yes, I say that with a straight face!]

Fourth: create moderate think tanks. [Pick me! Pick me!]

Executive Summary: Do your own thing, sell yourself as the "cut and replace" president, and become the ideal Republican I know you can be.

Broder clearly wins the D-to-D, but surely Brook's kind of solid, reality based reverie beats Dowd's Drive to Drivel all hollow.

[Danube of Thought]

Although he was eligible, Truman didn't run in 1952.

[Clarice]

Fabulous, JMH!!

[Captain Hate]

Nurse David

LOL

"OMG; the patient's lips are purple. Get the clappers! What? That's normal? I need more training."

[jimmyk]

the inability to see that most of his most cherished beliefs such a "single payor" or socialism have been tried in the past and failed.

To the true believer, no historical experience will disprove anything. Socialism failed only because it wasn't done correctly. The stimulus failed because it wasn't big enough. (Or, it really worked, because the many more jobs would have been lost without it.) In the case of nationalized health care, they turn a blind eye to the failures and imagine success.

Fortunately most Americans are not true believers, and know a scam when they see it. They will be putting a stop to this nonsense on November 2nd.

[OldTimer]

OT - Sorry if this has already been posted, but here's some more ammo Daddy might need to fight off the Murkyscowki tribe, RE Breitbart: "Reporters at the Anchorage CBS TV affiliate were caught red-handed conspiring about how to ambush Joe Miller..." See transcript at LUN

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

--I read that as putting (perhaps) deserved emphasis on the economic policy contribution rather than refuting the arms buildup contribution.--

I didn't mean to imply she did. I said she was correcting his somewhat erroneous view in that he ascribed only one reason for the recovery.
Other researchers, whom I haven't time to look for, have stated the depression didn't really end until well into the forties, if measured by the labor market.

[Jane]

I'm smarter than Obama,and I can think of very few people here who are not smarter than me.Which I guess tells us all we need to know about David Broder.

[JM Hanes]

Precisely, jimmyk. It's different this time because.....you've got me!

[Sue]

Hey, Barney Frank is bringing in Michael Dukakis to help him hold his seat. That can't be a good sign, can it?

[jimmyk]

Barney Frank is bringing in Michael Dukakis

I hope he comes in his tank!

[Dave (in MA)]

TC, thanks for the link. I take exception to Howie's endorsement of the pro-ACORN/anti-military voters Bill Galvin. What is he thinking?

[JM Hanes]

You might be smart ..... if you leave town after making the snake oil sale.

You might be smart ..... if you leave the party while you're still having fun.

You might be smart ..... if you ride off into the sunset before it gets dark.

You might be smart ..... if you get off the beach when the oceans suddenly recede.

You might be smart ..... if you find yourself missing bgates.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

That can't be a good sign, can it?

I read this morning that the rumor is that the dems have spent mucho money to support pay off Dukakis so he would stay away from any politicking on their behalf. So, sarcasm aside, no not a good sign.

Sort of like the gal on the mall yesterday who told a Daily Caller interviewer that she didn't have a clue who was running in her district, but she didn't need to know, since she was going to vote a straight D ticket anyway.

[Jane]

That was yesterday Sue. I expect today he will call in John McGovern.

[JM Hanes]

You might be smart ..... if you don't leave town in "forty aircraft, including both Air Force 1 planes, six armored cars, three Marine One helicopters....." LOL! It really is mind boggling when you actually see the whole thing as an itemized list.

You've passed the smart test ..... if you're Clarice.

[tommy mc donnell]

oh yeah, a war with iraq will stimulate the economy. just look at how well the wars in afghanistan and iraq have stimulated this economy.

[caro]

Claire Berlinsky is a prolific blogger (from Turkey) at Ricochet.Today she has a post up about Alaska that fills in some of the blanks for us(daddy is the "caller" she mentions).

She had a post yesterday Sarkosy,smarter than the Socialists that is just wonderfully written by her father who lives in Paris.

Both must reads,I think.

[jorgxmckie]

Over the past 20 years or so, David Broder [the Dean of DC Pundits] has been an extremely reliable weather vane. Whatever he writes is either 180 degrees from reality, or it is true but has been obvious to anyone who didn't arrive on the short bus [and some of those will be ahead of him, too] for some time.

I'm getting so tired of all the blather about how intelligent those like Gore and Obama are that I think no one should be allowed to mention a politician's intelligence unless that pol is willing to submit to a proctored IQ test, including the Wunderlich and possibly the SAT.

I'm betting that Obama would score only a little above the desired range for a defensive lineman on the Wunderlich while Palin would at least be up there with the offensive linemen and wide receivers.

[Truth to tell, I'm not so sure about Romney, either.]

[sbw]

Business cycle? Check.

But short of playing the obscene war card, I'd put number two to be: Lifting the burden of oppressive government.

Can I get a job like Broder, where I'd get paid for blithering?

Oh. Right. I write editorials. I do get paid for blithering. It's just that no one seems to listen.

[Clarice]

Love, david Berlinsky's piece:

"The students did join the demonstrations and as Sarkozy anticipated, they found themselves the object of universal derision, the more so since they were forced to leave their labor agitation in favor of a two-week vacation. Both the UMP and the Socialists might have consulted the calendar in order to determine that a vacation was in prospect, but only Sarkozy and the UMP did."

Now, off to read his daughter's.

[Gmax]

Masshole Barney Bag going down? Wait let me rephrase that...

[Captain Hate]

We listen, sbw.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I have to share this comment from over at Ace's. I'm still coughing after cracking up while drinking my Diet Coke:

46 36 Obama was supposed to lower the sea levels, restore the welfare state, give us single payer medical care (which is perfection), make life 100% fair, 200% fair for minorities, and do it all his grandiose celebrity aura and an Andrew Sullivan approved speech. Jobs and work were to be restored with our new found socialist labor/ union order. Corporations were to be returned to their rightful owner, the people! ...or destroyed. Jobs were to pour out of the midnight sky like tears from a rainbow unicorn.

I'm very disappointed.

Posted by: Urban leftard at October 31, 2010 03:11 PM (0fzsA)

_____________________

Your expectations are much too high. I just want to know: can he operate an umbrella?

Posted by: Minuteman at October 31, 2010 03:14 PM (264X9)

[Threadkiller]

--"Hey, Barney Frank is bringing in Michael Dukakis to help him hold his seat."--

I am sure he has held it before.

[macphisto]

my biased guess is that once you strip away his ability to read a prepared text or improvise elegant-sounding BS, Obama's IQ isn't a noodge over ninety if you're grading on the curve. whenever he has to react independently you can practically see the little wheels turning in his head as the hamsters warm up...he's just better than average at not going "duuuuuuuur" while they're spinning up. and his mediaction regime--legal or extra-legal--probably isn't helping his processing ability, either.

[whiskey]

WWII DID end the Depression. Unemployment went from about 75% in New Orleans 1940 to about 0% in 1942. The Higgins Boat Co. opened three new factories, staffing them 24/7, three shifts a day. People built up huge nest eggs (rationing prevented much spending) and the great mass of men were conscripted, out of the labor pool.

Korea had no such massive arms build up, hence no real effort on top of the mountains of new factories built 1942-45. But Reagan's Defense Build up, no war, did great.

About 4.5 million new jobs were created in 1984, saving his reelection campaign. Why? Because building new carrier groups, or fighter planes, or submarines, are hugely labor intensive and radiate employment outward.

Its jobs, jobs, jobs. Building a new bridge somewhere takes about 2,000 direct/indirect jobs for about five months. For a carrier group, about a million direct/indirect jobs, for about five years. The effect on on unemployment is far greater (pay is far higher) and the payoff better too. A bridge gets someone to work five minutes earlier, while an extra carrier battle group IF USED WISELY deters Iraq into Kuwait like aggression.

Broder's an idiot. Obama cut the F-35 Fighter project, putting 135,000 out of work immediately. Obama does not mind high unemployment, for him its one more way to punish Whitey and demand money to go to "community" groups from "evil Whitey" to "noble non-Whites." Because Obama can read a teleprompter without sounding like Al Sharpton, Broder and other SWPL leeches think he's a genius, the end result of the media portraying Black guys as super-computer geniuses and White guys as unable to tie their own shoelaces. When the reverse is true. Black pols hide cash in their freezer, worry about Guam tipping over, think North and South Vietnam both exist (and are at peace), and are lazy in their corruption (don't even hide it well).

[Jay]

He is much smarter than his challengers in either party, better able to read the evidence and come to the right conclusions

Laugh out loud funny.

Like when he said health care reform would drive costs down and be "deficit neutral"?

Or like when he said the stimulus would prevent unemployment from going above 9%?

Obama is clearly an idiot and anyone suggesting otherwise is also an idiot.

[Cecil Turner]

Not sure I really disagree with Broder about Iran being the biggest current threat to peace . . . and military force could be a perfectly reasonable response to that threat. However, military force as a means to economic recovery? Grossly immoral and glaringly stupid, all in one neat package.

[Jay]

he purpose of a society is to take care of all its members. Why bother otherwise? We are a nation based on abundance, and there is plenty to go around, especially if we're talking about food, shelter, clothing and health care.

I love how the left just has to add "health care" in there.

As if it can be "spread around".

You "progressives" are a sad joke.

[Sue]

I want to see, on Tuesday night, clips of Obama saying "that is what elections are for". Do you think he will get the message if democrats go down hard?

[Gmax]

Why bother otherwise?

Great question, but seems to me to be the questions the Soviet citizens were asking under the evil empire or the Cubans are still asking even today. If you cant keep the fruits of your own labor, INDEED, why bother?

[ed]

Obama has shot himself in the foot with respect to the ever reliable business cycle. With his overt hostility to capitalism and the taxpayers who create jobs they're sitting it out on the sidelines rather than investing in an economy that has just seen Obama's "Dream Team" of geniuses allow the real stimulative Bush Tax cuts expire.

Obama's a Soros / Socialist puppet and frankly the guys with the hand in his a$$ aren't very smart either. Just evil.

[Gmax]

Sue

You dont expect him to say " I lost" now do you? Never happen, it will be someone else's fault and the voters are idiots and the sun was in my eyes...

[Jane]

This election is starting to feel a bit like that first election in Iraq with the purple fingers.The DOJ is going to AZ to make sure no one dare ask if the person voting is a citizen,lest they violate the Constitution which says you must be a citizen.

This is the same DOJ that really doesn't mind if you get the ballots out to the military,but make sure you get them out to the prisons.

We have the media in Alaska conspiring to get the plug-ugly write-in candidate elected while slandering the guy who the people decided they wanted in the primary.

I expect violence to break out any minute.

[Elliott]

I'm surprised these verses (scroll to p. 164) didn't make it into the column:

Oh, tune the string and let us sing,
Our godlike, great, and glorious king!
He's a bear! He's a bear! He's a bear!

Oh, may his triumphs never cease!
He has the strength of ten!
First in war, first in peace,
First in the hearts of his countrymen.

[Gmax]

I expect violence to break out any minute.

First we are going to party like it 1894! We can throw a revolution the following week.

[Ranger]

I expect violence to break out any minute.

Posted by: Jane | October 31, 2010 at 04:11 PM

The next two years will be critical. The ruling class is going to have to make a decision about how they want to give up power. They can enter into a "pacted transition" where they get to keep a lot of what they stole from the middle class over the last 40 years and give up power, or they will face a "revolution"* that will cost them everything. Based on how they are reacting to the events of this election cycle, I exspect them to try to hold on to power by any means possible, which will simply hasten their being swept from power.

*I don't think it will be a violent revolution, but it will be a reordering of society in which all the old systems of power preservation are pushed to the side and replaced.

[MarkO]

The 1964 Pulitzer Prize winner for non-fiction was Richard Hofstadter’s “Anti-Intellectualism in American Life.” Hofstadter was wounded by Stevenson’s loss in 1952 and described him as “the victim of the accumulated grievances against intellectuals and brain-trusters which had festered in the American right wing since 1933.” This book is scared writ to those who believe that most of American is just to stupid to govern the country. Adopted in whole by the liberal and main portions of the Democrat Party, it is the central reason that every Democrat presidential candidate of the last 50 years has been described as “brilliant,” “nuanced,” “smarter than . . .” and their opponents have been cast as buffoons. Religious [read: irrational] buffoons.

Of Kennedy, only recently elected when the book was written in 1962, Hofstadter writes: “Kennedy seems to have brought back . . . the combination of intellect and character . . ..” We now know better. But, this is an old strategy, one that should not really sway many of the groups that make up the Democrat’s base. It will continue and will be abetted by the MSM because it is a part of an ancient narrative, one that soothes the average minds that believe and purvey it, and one that the media has already written.

Of course, Obama is not a brilliant man. Nor was Kerry. Clinton was glib and a much better speaker in all venues than Obama, yet Obama is now heralded as the great orator. It is all facade. It is all predictable.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

Thank you for the Wodehouse reference Elliott. Hilarious.

[MarkO]

"too stupid." That's me.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

--This book is scared writ to those who believe that most of American is just to stupid to govern the country.--

There's an apt typo, Marko.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Grossly immoral and glaringly stupid, all in one neat package.

When you put it that way, it does sound like an Obama solution.

[MarkO]

By now you all know I can't spell. Spell check is useless to me.

[Clarice]

Very funny, Elliott. Excellent MarkO. I love that so many were able to buy into the myth that HLS funk out Stevenson who barely read a book was a genius and Dwight D Eisenhower who successfully commanded the Allied Forces to Victory in Europe was a dunce.

The meme was really threadbare when applied to the idiot Kerry versus Bush and at this point it is so frayed you can drive a tractor through its many holes.

[Clarice]

**fLunk out**

[RichatUF]

Cecil-

Broder is dumbing down Krugman for his WaPo audience.

whiskey-

Not sure what to make of the comment. Obama cancelled the F-22 not F-35 (it was the second engine that the British wanted that was cancelled on that program). Not sure I would put the defense build up as the single reason or the most important reason for the Reagan boom (his economic program took effect in 1983). 1983 was a pretty good year too and I have a searching criticism of the defense spending=technical welfare argument. Ending the Cold War opened up trade (which richly benefited the Clinton Administration) and allowed countries to redirect defense spending to more entrepreneurial areas.

[jimmyk]

Ending the Cold War opened up trade (which richly benefited the Clinton Administration) and allowed countries to redirect defense spending to more entrepreneurial areas.

That's right, but 1983 also marked the beginning of the end of Communism as a sustainable alternative to capitalism. Hearing the death rattle of the USSR and the inevitable liberation of the eastern bloc had to be the biggest stimulus of all--not just because of the "peace dividend" but because of all the pent up economic growth that would get unleashed in those countries.

[Cecil Turner]

. . . and allowed countries to redirect defense spending to more entrepreneurial areas.

And that's all good, but I noticed a recurring theme in those FP articles linked above which seemed to indicate an effort to balance the budget with reductions in defense spending. That might've been a player a few decades ago, but is obviously not in the current case of a $1 Trillion+ deficit and $700 Billion in total defense spending (including some stuff that's only tangentially related to defense).

[Chubby]

((Obama's a Soros / Socialist puppet and frankly the guys with the hand in his a$$ aren't very smart either. Just evil.))

I listened to a Soros' lecture online about a year ago, one where he was pushing for a change in the USD as the reseve currency. He told a tale about his father being locked up in a Russian prison and meticulously planning and executing an escape. The only problem was that when the father escaped, he took the wrong river, one that headed in the wrong direction, so the escape was a BIG FAIL. I have often thought that anecdote is perfect metaphor for the son; he is swimming up the wrong river in every way.

[Danube of Thought]

"Unemployment went from about 75% in New Orleans 1940 to about 0% in 1942."

In a nation of 150 million people, putting 11 million men under arms is certain to do wonders for the unemployment rate.

Perhaps Obama will institute the draft and call up 20 million men to fig Iran. That ought do it.

[Ranger]

BTW, Mr. Broder seems to be under the mistaken impression that any war with Iran would last more than the length of time it would take the US to take out every oil refinery, fule storage site, and fule importation pipeline in the country. Once those targets are taken out, we will simply sit back and watch as Iranian society disintegrates, and the Iranian Army and Revolutionary Gaurd duke it out for control of what survives a modern industrial society suddenly trying to survive without fule.

[rse]

Thanks for the Claire Berlinsky links.

Her interview at NRO's Uncommon Knowledge a few weeks ago is excellent.

It prompted me to buy her "there is no alternative" about Thatcher and "Menace In Europe" on what muslim immigration and a declining birth rate mean to Europe.

She really is superb in her analysis and has a nice wit.

[RichatUF]

Cecil-

I shorthanded the comment. A case can be made that defense spending can be entrepreneurial or oppressive depending on the type of government that is making the spending (see "State Up Nation" for a business case or Systemic Vulnerability for a national security perspective). Running a modest deficit to fund a defense effort is probably a good thing if the economy is growing faster than the deficit. More later, my comment is a bit muddy and I'm pressed for time...

[daddy]

Since Clarice and Broder both are on topic about "Obama the Intellectual", here's a comment about that word I posted over at Clarice's Pieces:

Excellent Clarice,

Concerning "Intellectuals": I have always enjoyed a scene from C. P. Snow's "The Two Cultures", his wonderful discussion of the difference between the 'Science' community and the 'Humanities' community.

Snow was a favorite of the great Cambridge Mathematician G.H. Hardy. Of Hardy, who considered himself to be the 5th best Mathematician on the planet, Snow writes the following: "I remember G. H. Hardy once remarking to me in mild puzzlement, some time in the 1930s, Have you noticed how the word "intellectual" is used nowadays? There seems to be a new definition which certainly doesn't include Rutherford or Eddington or Dirac or Adrian or me? It does seem rather odd, don't y'know."

The word "Intellectual" which had previously applied to Science folks like Hardy had, sometime during the 20's or 30's, been taken over by the Humanities folks.

Snow continues with these well known comments:

"A good many times I have been present at gatherings of people who, by the standards of the traditional culture, are thought highly educated and who have with considerable gusto been expressing their incredulity at the illiteracy of scientists. Once or twice I have been provoked and have asked the company how many of them could describe the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The response was cold: it was also negative. Yet I was asking something which is the scientific equivalent of: Have you read a work of Shakespeare's?
I now believe that if I had asked an even simpler question — such as, What do you mean by mass, or acceleration, which is the scientific equivalent of saying, Can you read? — not more than one in ten of the highly educated would have felt that I was speaking the same language. So the great edifice of modern physics goes up, and the majority of the cleverest people in the western world have about as much insight into it as their neolithic ancestors would have had."

Of further irony, is that Obama the "Intellectual" is going to India. India is the home of the great self taught Hindu mathematician, Ramanujan. And the Western individual who 'discovered' Ramanujan, and who became his co-author of many wonderful and intellectual World Class Math papers was...G. H. Hardy! Ha."

As for Broder, he's a moron.

[Steve Skubinna]

My all time favorite Hank Hill quote (King of the Hill):

"Just when I think you've said the stupidest thing ever, ya keep talkin'!"

[Arouet]

Obama, as Carter was once called, is a clever but basically unintelligent man.

[daddy]

Charlie,

Really enjoyed your Pajama's Piece on Crowd Size at the Bong Show. And especially your comments in the comment thread.

Well worth a read through folks.