Second Thots

Sometimes one has to step back, take pause, and have some "second thots"

Friday, July 30, 2010

 

Which side of the political spectrum has become the fringe?


This is an interesting article written by Paul Krugman of the New York Times. He basically describes an Obama administration that is risking losing its left-wing base.

I suppose my problems with the article start and stop with this sentence that leads the third paragraph:

Mr. Obama rode into office on a vast wave of progressive enthusiasm. 

He did? You see, that's Paul Krugman's problem, and that of other leftist ideologues. Obama didn't become president because of the left. He became president because that's who the American people voted for. Period. Full stop.

And the reason that President Barack Obama is having difficulty now in office isn't because he's not far left enough. It's because too many Americans — those same people who voted for him — are now to his right.

It's curious, to say the least, to see so many on the left voice so much displeasure in Obama as a representative of their "progressive" movement. To my knowledge, no US president in recent history has expanded the role of big government as Barack Obama has, yet here they are basically complaining that he hasn't done enough of it. How low in the polls do they actually want him to go?

I'm not quite sure what to make of it, or what it really says about the modern left. I suppose it could be one of two things, or maybe a combination of both.

First, maybe the movement is out in left field. Maybe the left really doesn't care what the electorate thinks, and would force an agenda on others regardless of what those others think.

Alternatively, maybe there's some posturing going on here. A part of me believes that liberals like Paul Krugman aren't as disappointed with Obama as they make it seem, but they want to put on a good show in order to keep the pressure on the president and remind him that they still need to be heard.

Or, again, maybe it's some combination of both these factors. We'll see how many of these folks will help Obama out in any upcoming elections.

Finally, what is it with Paul Krugman and his blind resentment of Republicans and/or political opponents? How credible or objective of a commentator can one be if all they do is praise the leftist agenda, and bash those opposed to it even if they happen to be siding with Americans?

I thought liberals like Krugman were supposed to be complex and sophisticated, yet he comes up with these arguments that are as one-sided as anything you'd hear from Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck. Go figure.


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