Down on the Corner

Exposed
They have to swear allegiance to a balanced budget, dangerously low taxes, cutting (trivial) waste, fraud and abuse from the budget, the sacredness of even microscopic life, the innocence of mankind in the cooking of the planet, the inviolability of the 18th-century Constitution, meeting the challenges of globalism with even more localism and a furious rejection of the lessons of Keynes - even when those lessons are successfully applied. (Richard Cohen, Washington Post, 1/25/11)

Cohen’s laugher today is about a spate of fringe Republican candidates mulling a run at the presidency in 2012. As usual it is disingenuous at best. Consider that the Democrats regularly give us the likes of Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich as “serious” candidates. But buried in Cohen’s ravings is his view of Republican orthodoxy. Yes, Republicans do believe in the “sacredness of even microscopic life.” Once again we are reminded that the best way to expose liberals is to let them talk.

Encore?
While most midterm presidents use the State of the Union to take credit for their achievements to date, Mr. Obama is constrained by the facts that unemployment remains above 9 percent, that his signature domestic achievement — the expansion of health insurance coverage — remains unpopular with nearly half the country, and that prospects for withdrawing many troops from Afghanistan later this year remain uncertain at best. (NYT, 1/23/11)

And what grade, we wonder, would the President give himself now?

What's in a Name?
With Mr. Obama planning to call for “investments” of tax dollars in specific areas like education, infrastructure and technology, Republicans insisted that “investment” was just another name for spending that the nation can ill afford. (NYT, 1/24/11)

We suspect that Obama is still suffering from that “smartest guy in the room syndrome” wherein he believes he can con others. His problem now, however is that people – including the opposition – know him.