Excerpts from the National Review editorial posted yesterday
The president is leaving the same way he came in: with a great deal of vague and fruity talk about “hope and change,” very little of genuine interest, and an undercurrent of bitterness communicating his unshakeable belief that the American people just simply are not up to the task of fully appreciating History’s unique gift to them in the person of Barack Obama.
And he is so terribly disappointed in us! Having just endured the electorate’s rejection of his party and his mode of politics with the election of Donald Trump, and grimly considering the likely dismantling of much of his executive-order legacy, President Obama gave a speech about how our democracy has failed and why.
You’ll be something less than shocked to learn that his belief is that Americans are so beguiled and befouled by racism and prejudice that we failed to cultivate the sacred spark the Promethean president handed down to us.
Oh, and we watch too much Fox News and read too many Facebook posts from that right-wing uncle of myth and lore, which deprives us of a “common baseline of facts.”
Last night was billed as a forward-looking speech, but it was in no small part an evening of recriminations.
- He said those who resist his agenda are racists.
- He said those who disagree with him about climate change are un-American.
- He proposed adopting new norms in media and political discourse that would suffocate criticism of his party, its policies, and its philosophy.
- He proposed rewriting campaign-finance laws and redrawing congressional districts to make it easier to elect Democrats.
All this from the man whose administration weaponized the IRS for political purposes and whose executive usurpations were repeatedly thrown out by the courts.
For a man who rose to national attention on the basis of his oratory, he has had relatively little to say. He brought no new ideas or insights to the office, only a pointlessly grandiose sense of his own specialness.
Barack Obama is a man who stood astride History muttering “You’re welcome, you ingrates.”
polination.blog 