SPIEGEL: What major mistakes has Obama made?
Krauthammer: I don't know whether I should call it a mistake, but it turns out he is a left-liberal, not center-right the way Bill Clinton was. The analogy I give is that in America we play the game between the 40-yard lines, in Europe you go all the way from goal line to goal line. You have communist parties, you have fascist parties, we don't have that, we have very centrist parties.
So Obama wants to push us to the 30-yard line, which for America is pretty far. Right after he was elected, he gave an address to Congress and promised to basically remake the basic pillars of American society -- education , energy and health care. All this would move America toward a social democratic European-style state. It is outside of the norm of America.
SPIEGEL: Yet, he had promised these reforms during the campaign.
Krauthammer: Hardly. He's now pushing a cap-and-trade energy reform. During the campaign he said that would cause skyrocketing utility rates. On healthcare, the reason he's had such resistance is because he promised reform, not a radical remaking of the whole system.
10 comments:
I love how the right now talks about Clinton being center-right. They attacked him mercilessly before he even took office. They spent two years trying to remove him from office. Now, Kudlow says he 3/4 liked him and Laffer says he voted for him twice.
Puhleeze!
Bax,
I did and do detest Clinton for the person he is. As a President he did stay between the 40 yard lines after he got his butt kicked over HillaryCare. Because he only really cared about being at the head of the parade, not where the parade was going, it was easy for him to shift towards the middle. Having neither principles nor morals made it easy for him to compromise.
Hags
Hags -
That is the kind of thing I just don't understand, particularly for a level headed guy. All of our presidents have had character defects. Most have been scoundrels. To be politically effective, one must be nimble. "Politics is the art of the possible."
To my eternal shame, I never voted for WJC. I'd love to have my 1996 ballot back. I remain proud of voting for GHWB in 1992.
I agree that Clinton stayed in between the 40's. I think he was a centrist at heart and pulled to the left by Hillary (who would know better herself today). The 1994 election (lost due to Hillarycare, pissing off the NRA and raising taxes) brought him back to the center, with none other than Dick Morris telling him precisely where the political center was at any given time.
I don't think Bush or the modern GOP stays between the forties at all. I think they are in the red zone on the right.
Hags - you need to lose your Clinton animus. History will be very kind to him. He is a giant.
The relevant question is whether is not whether Clinton was a scoundrel, he was, and broke the law and deserved to be impeached. The question is whether the “O” is acting within the mainstream of American wishes. He is dragging the country, involuntarily, to the left toward Socialism and broad income redistribution. Horseshit. I hope he fails and many, most in fact, are joining me.
He is an empty suit. orchestrating a sympathetic congress, which for example, is progressing an heal deform bill which will seriously harm our society.
And by the way, Clinton was heading out of office, after one term, until the Conservative Congress took over and saved his sorry ass.
And by the way, Clinton was heading out of office, after one term, until the Conservative Congress took over and saved his sorry ass.
Jim Ganem - you are a Wing Nut in good standing. Even Henry Hyde - House Impeachment Manager - admitted afterwards that it was probably all about payback for Nixon. 68% of Americans opposed the the impeachment. The right wing fired at Clinton, but it was Gingrich and Livingston that fell.
The same crowd that tried to overturn an election for the Lewinsky perjury later moved heaven and earth to keep Scooter Libby out of jail. "There was no underlying crime", they cried. History will treat the impeachment very poorly. Bill Clinton was and is more popular than those petty hypocrites aka Republican House Caucus.
Rich how can you be such a hypocrite. On one hand you defend Clinton who was impeached because he committed a crime. He lied to a Grand Jury which is a felony punishable by jail time. The underlying reason for lying does not matter. Same for Libby. Why do you say it is wrong for the Right to try and keep Libby out of prison but it is OK for someone from the Left to commit the same crime. Clinton was also disbarred for lying to the Grand jury.
The only reason history might treat his impeachment poorly is because of lefties like you being in charge of the mass media and rewriting history by downplaying the crime he committed. When they ask that poll question it should be asked do you think it is right to impeach a President for committing a crime punishable by prison time while in office? I can guarantee you that 68% of the American people will not answer in the negative to the real question that should be asked.
Dez Bryant of the Oklahoma State Cowboys football team was suspende for the entire season because he lied to an NCAA questioner. Many people have gone to jail for lying to a Grand Jury. It is a crime.
Impeaching President Clinton was a grossly disproportionate response to his lying under oath about sex in a civil deposition. The GOP was trying to overturn an election. They couldn't even muster a majority vote in the Republican controlled Senate.
Clinton did not lie to the Grand Jury (so say historians as well as the GOP Senate). Unfortunately, Tom DeLay wouldn't allow a vote on a censure resolution - an approach that could have saved the country 18 months. No, DeLay had to whip the impeachment vote and effectively shut DC down for a year and a half. Osama bin Laden says, "Thanks, Tom! You helped a lot!"
I do not think Scooter Libby lying repeatedly to the FBI and the Grand Jury about matters of national security is parallel to lying about sex in a civil deposition. Apples and oranges. One is petty, the other grave.
But...the more important matter is if the "O" is F-----g up our country and he is by dragging us way left. This travesty was enabled by the youth buying into "Socialism" and anti war retoric. However, freedom always wins and I am hopeful, conditional of the failure of health deform, the youth will see the folley of their ways...very soon.
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