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Two Thoughts
Mar. 18th, 2009 01:44 pmI'm going to put two semi-unrelated thoughts into one post today.
Obama and personal charm
First, part of the answer to the question "why are the Republicans struggling to get traction against Obama?" I think it's the same reason the Democrats struggled against Ronald "Teflon" Reagan - personal charm.
I was out for lunch today, and ESPN ran a 3 or 4 minute segment which consisted of Obama providing and discussing his NCAA Final Four picks. Now, I don't care really who Obama picks, but imagine Bill Clinton or either President Bush even being asked the question? Now, Reagan wouldn't be asked either, but his personal charm was different. Reagan played the kindly grandpa. Obama's too young for that, so he plays the hip coworker, but it's the same principle - being like-able. Being like-able doesn't mean either man was a good President, but it helped them get to the Oval Office.
GITMO
Via Talking Points Memo, I read this barn-burner of a post about how screwed up the "terrorist" detention system in GITMO was. I don't know what axe (and I'm sure he has at least one axe) the author is trying to grind, but it's worth a read. Two juicy tidbits:
The first of these is the utter incompetence of the battlefield vetting in Afghanistan during the early stages of the U.S. operations there. Simply stated, no meaningful attempt at discrimination was made in-country by competent officials, civilian or military, as to who we were transporting to Cuba for detention and interrogation.
As to twisted logic: "Cheney said at least 61 of the inmates who were released from Guantanamo (sic) during the Bush administration...have gone back into the business of being terrorists." So, the fact that the Bush administration was so incompetent that it released 61 terrorists, is a valid criticism of the Obama administration?
Go read the whole thing.
Obama and personal charm
First, part of the answer to the question "why are the Republicans struggling to get traction against Obama?" I think it's the same reason the Democrats struggled against Ronald "Teflon" Reagan - personal charm.
I was out for lunch today, and ESPN ran a 3 or 4 minute segment which consisted of Obama providing and discussing his NCAA Final Four picks. Now, I don't care really who Obama picks, but imagine Bill Clinton or either President Bush even being asked the question? Now, Reagan wouldn't be asked either, but his personal charm was different. Reagan played the kindly grandpa. Obama's too young for that, so he plays the hip coworker, but it's the same principle - being like-able. Being like-able doesn't mean either man was a good President, but it helped them get to the Oval Office.
GITMO
Via Talking Points Memo, I read this barn-burner of a post about how screwed up the "terrorist" detention system in GITMO was. I don't know what axe (and I'm sure he has at least one axe) the author is trying to grind, but it's worth a read. Two juicy tidbits:
The first of these is the utter incompetence of the battlefield vetting in Afghanistan during the early stages of the U.S. operations there. Simply stated, no meaningful attempt at discrimination was made in-country by competent officials, civilian or military, as to who we were transporting to Cuba for detention and interrogation.
As to twisted logic: "Cheney said at least 61 of the inmates who were released from Guantanamo (sic) during the Bush administration...have gone back into the business of being terrorists." So, the fact that the Bush administration was so incompetent that it released 61 terrorists, is a valid criticism of the Obama administration?
Go read the whole thing.
