Patterico's Pontifications

3/29/2013

John Podhoretz: Obama Is So Very Serious

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 9:31 am



John Podhoretz has a column that says Barack Obama is a Serious Man doing Serious Work and also he is Serious:

Barack Obama is a serious man. . . . The truth is that Barack Obama and his liberal followers have been doing very serious work over the past four years, and the same cannot be said, alas, of far too many people who oppose them.

. . . .

The notion that Obama is a dangerous extremist helps him, because it makes him seem reasonable and his critics foolish. It also helps those who peddle it, because it makes them notorious and helps them sell their wares. But it has done perhaps irreparable harm to the central conservative cause of the present moment—making the case that Obama’s social-democratic statism is setting the United States on a course for disaster and that his anti-exceptionalist foreign policy is setting the world on a course for nihilistic chaos. Those are serious arguments, befitting a serious antagonist. They may not sell gold coins as quickly and as well as excessive alarmism, but they have the inestimable advantage of being true.

Barack Obama is a serious man. The professional and political right needs to be as serious as he is to make sure the Age of Obama ends with him.

I’m not sure what JPod’s real point here is, other than to repeatedly label Obama “serious.” What are we supposed to do, put on our Grim Serious faces? Not point out how frivolous he is, with his endless golfing and spending?

The closest Podhoretz comes to a prescription is to tell conservatives to stop pushing a view “that Obama is a not-so-secret Marxist Kenyan with dictatorial ambitions and a nearly limitless appetite for power.” Take the word “Kenyan” out of that phrase and I have no problem with it, as long as the argument is backed up by examples and facts. If Obama takes an action that shows his commitment to Marxist redistributionist principles (which happens all the time) or seems to want to reserve the option to, say, kill Americans on American soil even if they pose no imminent threat (remember the drone debate?), are we supposed to stand by and whistle nonchalantly?

That doesn’t sound like a very “serious” response.

22 Responses to “John Podhoretz: Obama Is So Very Serious”

  1. Howabout an unserious man, implementing dangerous schemes;

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324105204578384692398126294.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

    narciso (3fec35)

  2. John Podhoretz seems to think that the idea of Barack Obama being in over his head, or a lightweight is the more usual conservative opinion of him – but he’s says, he;s not. And the caricature of im as an extremist doesn’t help either because people then don’t take him seriously.

    Here is the key part:

    To paraphrase Sun Tzu, you need to know your political antagonist if you are to prevail against him—and you need to know yourself. The truth is that Barack Obama and his liberal followers have been doing very serious work over the past four years, and the same cannot be said, alas, of far too many people who oppose them.

    It’s not just the comforting delusion that he’s a golf-mad dilettante, but also the reverse-negative image of that delusion—that Obama is a not-so-secret Marxist Kenyan with dictatorial ambitions and a nearly limitless appetite for power. That caricature makes it far too easy for Obama to laugh off the legitimate criticisms of the kind of political leader he really is: a conventional post-1960s left-liberal with limited interest in the private sector and the gut sense that government must and should do more, whatever “more” might mean at any given moment.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  3. JPod is still in love with Obama the myth.

    Rob Crawford (04f50f)

  4. I’m happy Podhertz has finally arrived to Succubus “is a very bad man”. Maybe he an Jenny will consider an apology to Amerikkka for being in Romany’s pants early and often.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  5. What comes to mind at the moment are those who pull off Ponzi schemes (or try to pull off). They promise what is too good to be true, but somehow get you to believe them anyway as they fleece you.
    The nice thing is that most people that try Ponzi schemes are subject to laws and eventually get caught.

    But when the top of the pyramid is the feds, they just keep taking until enough voters figure they are losing instead of winning, along with printing money along the way.

    By the time that happens it may not matter.

    I don’t think Alinsky is laughing at the moment (unless he had a 180 turn around before the last bit of mortal consciousness), but I think his patron fallen angel Lucifer is. (for the time being, anyway).

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  6. our cash for clunkers president is indeed serious about food stamps and high speed rail I think

    but mostly he’s a deeply silly fascist twat

    happyfeet (4bf7c2)

  7. Careful. John doesn’t like to be critiqued.

    Jim Treacher (e4a1f2)

  8. He is quite serious about fundamentally transforming America. Mostly out of sight to get the results without much of an outcry in time to prevent it.

    Robin (801f44)

  9. Isn’t he one of those fake RINO Harvard dicks?

    Rodney King's Spirit (951136)

  10. No, along with Brooks, they went to U Chicago, Mortimer Adler wept.

    narciso (3fec35)

  11. Well, Leftoids have little sense of humor, so I guess they are serious.

    I don’t think there is enough info to decide if Obama is competent. He has to be the laziest Pres since WWII, so he has done little for us to judge by.

    I’m thankful he is lazy. Imagine the trouble that fool could cause if he was energetic, no matter competent or incompetent.

    Phillep Harding (1b8b26)

  12. I’m not sure even he comprehends his point, but if he does, he should point out that it cuts in all directions. You shouldn’t be an impulsive unthinking antagonist, but so what? You shouldn’t be an impulsive unthinking moderate either. If the point is that opposition has to be thoughtful, I don’t think there’s much insight here. It’s the left’s game to promote a reactionary antagonist view as representative of our side, so we should’t play into their hands. But basically we don’t — mindfulness abounds across all viewpoints on our side, thank you.

    Joseph D (acc4de)

  13. Yes, here again is the Whore of Babylon:

    http://hotair.com/archives/2013/03/29/house-gop-to-dhs-were-partnering-on-easy-travel-access-with-saudi-arabia/

    Saudi Arabia who this week executed a murderer(NTTAWWT) via beheading and proceeded to crucify the body. A couple of months back they hung a bunch of armed robbers, one of whom was 15 at the time of the crime.

    The same SA, from whom 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers hailed, wherein 50% of the population supports terrorist organizations monetarily and 3/4 support morally.

    Serious.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  14. And is junior partner in the Syrian enterprise, Doha taking point, in forming the Nusra Front,

    narciso (3fec35)

  15. That is true. He hasn’t shown much favor for Kenya.

    Now if we substitute Islam for Kenyan?

    Gee that kinda works doesn’t it.

    Crypto Marxist Islamic sycophant?

    Secret. Check

    State control oriented. Check

    Islamic apologist, protector and protagonist.

    Check, check and check.

    I’ve passed the Patterico test of the rational labeling of your enemies.

    Yay me!!

    Jcw46 (0af03c)

  16. 0 is serious? Seriously? :giggle:

    He probably is a real threat to the survival of the USA, but serious? ROTFLMAOAPMP

    htom (412a17)

  17. John seems a bit insecure about Obama’s actual seriousness. Which makes sense, given the actual reality of a nation going without a budget for four years, recklessly passing Obamacare with promises that are simply false, and of course a lifestyle of a monarch.

    These are people who kicked many cans down the road, hoping that the time to get serious about many issues could be put off.

    Dustin (73fead)

  18. #10 One Degree of Separation from the Harvard RINO Crowd.

    They still suffer from the “I know what is good for you, let me use the Government to make it so.”

    Rodney King's Spirit (951136)

  19. I linked that one at the top of the thread, SarahW,
    because she tries to grasp the bigger issues,

    narciso (3fec35)

  20. i wish Liz would work a lil bit harder on the old resume

    she could be a player

    happyfeet (8ce051)

  21. Accidental bookend apology, Narciso. I hope it’s a sign.

    SarahW (b0e533)


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