August 20, 2010--Feet to the Fire
“How do we hold his feet to the fire without bringing him down?” Rona was getting uneasy about all the criticism from the left of Barack Obama.
“You’ve too have been contributing to it,” she continued, turning her frustration on me. “Just last week you even took a shot at Michelle’s trip to Spain. Calling it what?”
“Tone deaf,” I said.
“My point exactly. That was necessary?”
“Well it is true. She should have realized that when people are struggling economically it’s not smart for her or the First Family to spend a fortune, including taxpayer money, on fancy vacations.”
“Of course you’re right, but with everything else going on this is what’s on your mind?”
“Well, I've also been calling into question the effectiveness of the stimulus program and of course his Iraq and especially his Afghanistan policies.”
“All fair enough.”
“So, what’s your problem?” I truly was not getting her point.
“We do need to keep after our elected officials to deliver on their promises and to do a better job, but this chorus of criticism of him is not only getting under the skin of his administration—about that I could care less—it's also undermining his political standing.”
“So we should keep quiet about these things because of concern that it will hurt him politically?”
“You and your blogosphere colleagues are helping to turn him a one-term president.”
“But a minute ago you were asking how to keep Obama’s feet to the fire. No?”
“Yes. But how do you do that with integrity and in a politically strategic way. Without doing him in. The Republicans are totally united in their campaign to oppose and sabotage him at every turn. You guys are adding fuel to that fire.”
“So what are we supposed to do? Ignore what he’s got going on in Afghanistan? Forgive me, but Obama tripled the number of troops Bush had there. We should just sit around and ignore that for fear that criticizing his policies will hurt his reelection chances?”
“Tell me, what you'd prefer," Rona pressed on, "an imperfect Obama or Mitt Romney as our next president? Or a Haley Barbour? Or, forgive me while I kill myself, Sarah Palin?”
“I get your point; but, again, what are we supposed to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve too have been contributing to it,” she continued, turning her frustration on me. “Just last week you even took a shot at Michelle’s trip to Spain. Calling it what?”
“Tone deaf,” I said.
“My point exactly. That was necessary?”
“Well it is true. She should have realized that when people are struggling economically it’s not smart for her or the First Family to spend a fortune, including taxpayer money, on fancy vacations.”
“Of course you’re right, but with everything else going on this is what’s on your mind?”
“Well, I've also been calling into question the effectiveness of the stimulus program and of course his Iraq and especially his Afghanistan policies.”
“All fair enough.”
“So, what’s your problem?” I truly was not getting her point.
“We do need to keep after our elected officials to deliver on their promises and to do a better job, but this chorus of criticism of him is not only getting under the skin of his administration—about that I could care less—it's also undermining his political standing.”
“So we should keep quiet about these things because of concern that it will hurt him politically?”
“You and your blogosphere colleagues are helping to turn him a one-term president.”
“But a minute ago you were asking how to keep Obama’s feet to the fire. No?”
“Yes. But how do you do that with integrity and in a politically strategic way. Without doing him in. The Republicans are totally united in their campaign to oppose and sabotage him at every turn. You guys are adding fuel to that fire.”
“So what are we supposed to do? Ignore what he’s got going on in Afghanistan? Forgive me, but Obama tripled the number of troops Bush had there. We should just sit around and ignore that for fear that criticizing his policies will hurt his reelection chances?”
“Tell me, what you'd prefer," Rona pressed on, "an imperfect Obama or Mitt Romney as our next president? Or a Haley Barbour? Or, forgive me while I kill myself, Sarah Palin?”
“I get your point; but, again, what are we supposed to do?”
“I don’t know.”
posted by Steven Zwerling at
4:23 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home