I Call Theme

Comments

6 responses to “I Call Theme”

1. 

   Frank Staheli

   2009-01-16

   This was in the WSJ opinion section, and I’ve heard (I don’t read WSJ that much) that the opinion people and the “news” people don’t get along very well.

   At any rate, I heard today that Obama is now saying that if he can get Gitmo closed BY THE END of his first term, he will have been successful. Wasn’t this supposed to be just the stroke of a pen over an executive order.

   I relish the thought over the next few months to be vindicated in my warnings to people that nothing has really changed in the presidency. This was the main reason that Obama was accepted and Ron Paul was vilified.

   The Establishment LOVES the status quo.

   Reply
2. 

   David

   2009-01-17

   Yes, it was supposed to be the stroke of a pen. As recently as last week I was reading that it might take all the way to the end of 2009.

   Unfortunately most people will believe that whatever Obama delivers is the change they voted for. I expect that most of the changes will be cosmetic, but I am at least happy that so far Obama has tried to keep people engaged. My best hope for this administration is that he continues to pursue that direction.

   Reply
3. 

   Reach Upward

   2009-01-17

   It’s all chimera, shadows, smoke and mirrors at the moment. We can’t know what is ahead. Obama knew when campaigning that his actual presidency could not hope to live up to his rhetoric. While pretty much all politicians do the same, he made it the central focus of his campaign.

   And frankly, he doesn’t have to do a lot of things differently than the status quo. All he has to do is put a different face on matters and offer a more coherent and competent facade. That should buy him some time.

   But, as Bill Clinton learned in 1994, charisma only goes so far.

   I’m content to watch and see what really happens. The unfortunate matter is that our federal leviathan has become so unwieldy that no single person — regardless of how competent — can successfully manage it. The best one can hope for is to put on a good show.

   Reply
   1. 

      David

      2009-01-17

      You’re absolutely right that we can’t know what is ahead. Any plan is contingent on nothing surprising the planners.

      I agree with you on your description of “our federal leviathan” but I think that the best we can hope for is a bit more than someone putting on a good show – we can hope that a leader might actually do what he can to reduce the leviathan and promote its continued reduction.

      Reply
4. 

   Reach Upward

   2009-01-17

   You won’t get that over the next four years. But the Chief Executive is only one part of the equation.

   Federal growth was actually quite restricted during the last six years of the Clinton administration. Apparently having a Democratic president made the Republicans more likely to act like budget hawks in opposition. But as soon as the GOP congress got a GOP president, any concern the GOP congress had about federal growth vanished completely.

   Reply
5. 

   David

   2009-01-17

   I almost wrote “what little he can do.” Promoting continued reduction is probably the biggest thing a president could do (and no, I don’t expect to see that). The GOP Congress in concert with a GOP president produced the most appalling fiscal performance of my lifetime. I hope this Democrat in the White House can bring out the fiscal conservatives in Congress again – and whenever we next get a Republican President, I hope the fiscal conservatives don’t roll over and play dead.

   Reply