I want to like Charles Blow but it’s becoming increasingly apparent that he’s the left’s version of Peggy Noonan, earning a reputation for meandering stream-of-consciousness opinion pieces based on the most conventional of beltway wisdom that never quite get to the point.
Take this for starters.
President Obama’s relationship with America, like many a young marriage, is growing sour.
That’s my surmise after reviewing recent polling and watching the carping that followed his Oval Office speech (which I thought was just fine, by the way).
Never mind the fact that over forty percent of Americans appear not to have even attended their own wedding (i.e., this analogy is not good), he’s basing his premise on watching cable news bobbleheads’ response to Obama speech on the oil spill. If Keith Olbermann was disappointed, the glow must be coming off the rose. Mr. Blow should stick to examining the polling data. Or, maybe, he should dig a little deeper? Maybe go talk to people living in communities that gave Obama over seventy percent of their vote and see if they’re disillusioned? See who they blame? No. That would be work. That might put some doubt to this next assertion:
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the magic has drained away. Even among his most ardent supporters, there now exists a certain frustration and disillusionment — not necessarily in the execution of his duties, but in his inability to seize moments, chart a course and navigate the choppy waters of public opinion.
I see a lot more frustration than disillusionment among his most ardent supporters. They’re frustrated that he has trouble getting credit for successes. They’re frustrated that the Senate has failed to confirm dozens of nominees or act on hundreds of bills passed by the House. They want the president to pass climate and immigration reform, and close Guantanamo Bay, but know that members of his own party won’t allow it. I don’t mean to say that his base is suffering from no disappointment. But it’s not because he fails to seize moments or maintain stratospheric approval numbers. It’s because he’s let too many Bushies off the hook for their crimes and that he has not curtailed all of Bush’s infringements of civil liberties. It’s because he is pursuing a dubious path in Afghanistan. But where are the people on the left in Washington who would have his back if he changed these policies? They are nowhere to be found.
But once the marriage was official, reality set in and Obama tried to lower expectations. Life would not be lit by the soft glow of an eternal sunrise. Change would come slowly; pain would be felt presently; things would get worse before they got better.
This is another example of a reporter taking his flawed impression of Obama’s message and becoming disappointed when that illusion doesn’t become reality. Obama, the candidate, said over and over and over again that change would be hard and would come slowly. Obama, the president, warned us from the beginning that the economy would get worse before it got better. If all you absorbed about his campaign was a slogan (Change You Can Believe In) and you didn’t actually listen to anything he said, then, yeah, this is a big letdown. But, of course, Mr. Blow isn’t talking about his own listening incomprehension, he’s just reporting about everyone else’s.
This has left many on the left duking it out in a death match of finger-pointing, back-biting and navel-gazing. They have gone from applauding to defending, a turn many secretly resent and increasingly reject.
Is this piece about divisions on the left or about Obama? Or is it about the Blue Dogs?
Add to this tension the fact that conservative Blue Dog Democrats are doing everything they can to keep their jobs and Republicans are doing everything they can to make Obama lose his, and it only aggravates the situation.
As NPR’s Ron Elving wrote about a recent NPR poll that held a dire prediction for the Democrats in November: “The House Democratic majority is, as always, a struggle between the ‘sitting pretty’ faction that’s safe (this year as always) and the more fragile ‘scaredy cat’ faction that could be carried off by even the gentlest of anti-incumbent breezes.” The “scaredy cats” are the Blue Dogs.
It’s beginning to sound like the country is divided, the Democratic Party is divided, and the Republicans are united. Maybe this could be the root of the problem here?
But, no. It’s really the president’s personality disorder that is at fault.
On the other side stands Obama — solid and sober, rooted in the belief that his way is the right way and in no need of alteration. He’s the emotionally maimed type who lights up when he’s stroked and adored but shuts down in the face of acrimony. Other people’s anxieties are dismissed as irrational and unworthy of engagement or empathy. He seems quite comfortable with this aspect of his personality, even if few others are, and shows little desire to change it.
The president is ’emotionally maimed’? Tea Party anxieties need to be engaged or the president is aloof and dismissive? Surely Mr. Blow must be nearing his point.
Is this it?
It’s the height of irony: the presumed transformative president is stymied by his own unwillingness to be transformed. He would rather sacrifice the relationship than be altered by it.
Okay, so the point is that the president needs to transform how Washington works. Right?
For Obama’s part, he needs to forget about changing the culture and climate of American politics. That’s a lost cause. The Republicans and their Tea Party stepchildren are united in their thirst for his demise. Furthermore, a May Gallup report stated that Obama’s “first-year ratings were the most polarized for a president in Gallup history,” and his “approval ratings have become slightly more polarized thus far in his second year.” The U.S.S. Harmony has sailed.
So, he should give up on trying to reform how Washington works. Right?
The president should instead re-evaluate the composition of his inner circle (which could use a shake-up) and the constitution of his inner self (which could use a wake-up). Allowing himself space to grow and change does not have to undermine his basic view of himself. There is a lot of space between a caricature and a man of character.
In other words, the president must accept the basic fact that he, as the agent of change, must himself be open to change.
So, the president should stop blowing off idiotic conspiracy theories and baseless anxieties, and fire most of staff. And then what? This will bring transformation?
The next step is compromise. Both sides will have to give a little.
Oh, I see. We’re back to Broder 101.
Mr. Blow seems to blame everyone, including the people.
America has to grow up and calm down. Expectations must be better managed. On balance, this president is doing a good job — not perfect, but good — particularly in light of the incredible mess he inherited. The Web site PolitiFact.com is tracking more than 500 promises Obama made on the campaign trail. Of the 168 promises where action has been completed, they judge Obama to have broken only 19. That’s not bad, and it must be acknowledged. We have to stop waiting for him to be great and allow him to be good.
But that’s the problem with this essay. He blames the Republicans for “being united in their thirst for his demise” and the Blue Dogs for their cowardice, and the people for their unrealistic expectations, and the president’s staff, and the president’s personality disorder, but he concludes that everyone must compromise so that the country can be truly transformed in the way the president promised in his campaign. Yet, the president should give up on trying to unite the country because that ship has sailed.
How could the president follow this advice even if he wanted to?
The Republicans decided to oppose everything Obama does and to encourage wild anxiety-producing conspiracy theories about his background and intentions. They have used every procedural rule in the book to delay and obstruct. They’ve used their massive media advantage to drown out a semblance of real debate on this issues. But the president has a maimed character and that explains the gridlock in Washington DC.
Wank on, wank off.
