Given reports I have read on how the soon-to-be released biopic on perhaps the greatest woman of the Twentieth Century, I doubt I will see Meryl Streep’s The Iron Lady, but that great actress did make a good point about that great lady:
I still don’t agree with a lot of [Margaret Thatcher’s] policies. But I feel she believed in them and that they came from an honest conviction, and that she wasn’t a cosmetic politician just changing make-up to suit the times.
Via Powerline. It would be nice if the president could say as much about his conservative critics, instead of dispatching his minions to scold them for sabotaging the economy* in order to doom the Democrat’s electoral prospects. Or hinting that the “very core of what this country stands for is on the line” in the coming presidential election as he hints that his Republican adversaries don’t believe in opportunity for individuals of different backgrounds.
—-
*UPDATE: the argument Democrats and their media minions make about Republican obstruction of the president’s jobs bill is really just an example of partisan demagoguery and/or intellectual laziness. They can’t (or refuse to) accept that we might oppose the bill for legitimate reasons. In saying that Mrs. Thatcher’s beliefs came from “honest conviction,” Streep acknowledges the sincerity of that great Briton’s opposition to big government policies. Would it that Obama Democrats could do the same.
FROM THE COMMENTS: Sometimes our defenders dispatch our critics in such a thorough manner that we don’t even need respond. So does Naamloos address the first criticism to this post:
Levi, I think Dan’s point is that Obama attacks Republicans in an unpresidential manner and doesn’t address the substance of their opposition to his policies. In other words, rather than attempt to logically demonstrate why enacting his policies would solve problems, he simply dismisses the Republicans’ opposition to his policies as threatening the “very core of what this country stands for” (which is behaviour that should be below that of the president).
Furthermore, I don’t construe Dan’s post necessarily as a complaint, but rather as simply pointing out Obama’s actions. And that is warranted whenever one of Obama’s actions is worth pointing out, especially if it demonstrates a pattern (and particularly if that pattern is hypocritical, such as Obama’s tendency to impugn the motives of Republicans after his promise to be “post-partisan”).
Well said, very well said.
Dan, sometimes it seems like all you ever do around here is complain that Obama doesn’t say enough nice things about the Republicans. Do you even try to have an original thought anymore?
Just think about this for a minute. These apparently hyper-sensitive ‘conservative critics’ have called Obama everything from a Communist to a racist to an illegitimate foreigner, and you have to run to their defense because every once in a while a Democrat calls them obstructionists? Please don’t pretend like your side hasn’t thrown everything but the kitchen sink at Obama and then have the gall to complain about how unfair and dishonorable the Democrats are being. Do you realize how transparent that is?
Speaking to the substance of the assertion that the Republicans are more focused on sabotaging the economy – this is correct. All they’ve done for a year is demand spending tax cuts with no coherent argument for how that’s supposed to create jobs. They’re running out the clock until the election next year, and you and I both know that they’d prefer unemployment to be in double digits next October.
But mostly, you’re a whiner. You complain about Obama like he’s been on the warpath since he took office when he’s actually been bending over backwards for Republicans from before the election. To recap – you’re complaining that the Democrats have called the Republicans obstructionists, which is one of the most common lines of attack in the history of human politics, while for the past 3 years one of the most celebrated conservative past times was theorizing about how Obama wasn’t an American citizen. So who is playing unfair?
Levi, I think Dan’s point is that Obama attacks Republicans in an unpresidential manner and doesn’t address the substance of their opposition to his policies. In other words, rather than attempt to logically demonstrate why enacting his policies would solve problems, he simply dismisses the Republicans’ opposition to his policies as threatening the “very core of what this country stands for” (which is behaviour that should be below that of the president).
Furthermore, I don’t construe Dan’s post necessarily as a complaint, but rather as simply pointing out Obama’s actions. And that is warranted whenever one of Obama’s actions is worth pointing out, especially if it demonstrates a pattern (and particularly if that pattern is hypocritical, such as Obama’s tendency to impugn the motives of Republicans after his promise to be “post-partisan”).
Obama quotes from the article:
That sure is a lot of meaningless rhetoric.
He forgot to mention debt, deficits, unemployment, several scandals, the lack of an end to the recession, etc.
Dan, what you are asking is that the SCOAMF Obama behave like an adult; which is something he is incapable of. He is an immature man-child who enjoys bashing his critics in childish ways (which happen to delight the perpetual adolescents that make up his base). He constantly plays golf and basketball while dodging tough decisions to the detriment of our national interests. You cannot expect a spoiled adolescent to behave like a man.
When the President of the US gives a State of the Union address and uses that opportunity to criticize the Supreme Court on a decision he does not like, that is a breech of decorum no matter how you try and spin it otherwise. Obama the divider, that will be his legacy. Obama cannot stand ANY opposition to his policies. His daily rants blaming everybody but himself for our problems are terribly immature to say the least.
And you don’t think that Republicans have made similar statements about Obama’s policies? If anything, the Republicans have been starker in their statements – remember the whole death panels thing? The entire GOP was talking about how Obama wanted to kill everybody’s grandma – what kind of behavior is that for a representative or a senator to engage in?
Are you seriously incapable of grasping the double standard here? Republicans have been far more hyperbolic and over-the-top in their ‘criticisms’ of Obama, but it’s him who is behaving inappropriately? Yeah right.
As a liberal, you’ll just have to take it from me that this isn’t true. Believe me, I wish Obama was more vocal in impugning the motives of Republicans, but far too often he’s accepted their basic premises and implemented a lot of their recommendations. Whenever there have been compromises, he has always given up far more than he needed to and gets virtually nothing in return.
And you don’t think that Republicans have made similar statements about Obama’s policies? If anything, the Republicans have been starker in their statements – remember the whole death panels thing? The entire GOP was talking about how Obama wanted to kill everybody’s grandma – what kind of behavior is that for a representative or a senator to engage in?
Projection.
Barack Obama and the Obama Party’s Senators and Representatives openly pushed a national TV ad showing Paul Ryan killing a senior citizen.
We can also point out how the Obama Party and its state-run Medicaid system push assisted suicide for the elderly rather than providing medical care.
Furthermore, Levi, we need only provide examples of how you and your fellow liberals, Obama included, want all Republicans dead — and how you yourself wanted to commit violent acts against Republicans who disagree with you, as Obama supports doing.
In short, Levi is lying and spinning, as usual, projecting his hateful behavior onto others.
Silly liar and coward. You think we aren’t used to your games by now? You scream and bleat and make smear after smear, but we can provide example after example after concrete example of you and your Obama supporting and endorsing violence, of hate against Republicans, and everything of the sort.
You’re a liar and a coward, Levi, and the American public is rejecting you, your Obama, and your fellow OWS rapists.
Levi,
Welcome back from your hibernation in the woodwork.
Let’s talk about George W. Bush, shall we?
Your band of friends gave him everything and more that Obama has gotten from Republicans. You were right up there screaming hysterically about him.
But this is not about comparing whether Republicans pile on more radically than Democrats. Nope, this is about how the President of all the people comports himself.
So, Levi, come back and link to all the nasty attacks George W. Bush made on the Democrats. Let’s have a good old pissing contest where you post the carping and complaining and blaming which Bush did about the Democrats and what he inherited from eight years of Clinton and we get to give you links to Obama’s attacks on Republicans and what he inherited from Bush.
The stage is yours, maestro.
I have a feeling Levi was evicted from an Occupy rathole this morning, hence his return. Good for the police… and good for the rats.
Dan, the “core of what this country stands for” *is* on the line in the next election, even if the Supreme Court does the right thing by Obamacare (i.e., kills it) in the coming months. Obama, and most leftists, understand correctly that the Left’s entire dream faces an existential crisis on the funding side, and it is them or the Tea Party… can’t be both. I’m just saying that you can pick better examples of Obama being petulant, spoiled, whiny, negative, impotent, lazy, arrogant, dishonest, etc., than Him happening to say something true.
Levi, please provide examples from the actual rhetoric of George W. Bush when he so treated his partisan adversaries.
Thanks!
Meryl Streep has always been known for her intelligence and articulate nature. The woman knows how to make a great speech and always has the best responses. She’s a walking Master Class in acting and diplomacy.
Yeah, Meryl Streep is classy and brilliant when she’s not ranting like a lunatic about alar.
VTK >> I’m glad to hear you’ve been appreciating her for over the last twenty years.
Dan,
Asking Levi for documentation is like asking me for weight loss tips.
It is nice to see his mother paid his internet bill though.
Thank you, Dan.
That’s beside the point; the Republicans are not the president. And, even if they do make similar statements about Obama (which I would criticize as being below high-level politicians), they also offer their own solutions and demonstrate why their solutions are preferable to Obama’s.
Did you read the article Dan linked to? He essentially does nothing but impugn the Republicans’ motives.
There is a dichotomy between what Obama does and what he says. He goes on the warpath in his speeches, but he is a doughface when it comes to actually getting things done.
Ah yes, the standard Dan response – to give out a homework assignment. What George Bush has to do with anything, I couldn’t tell you. Bush Era Republicans had plenty to say about Democrats but that’s irrelevant. If the discussion has to do with what Obama says about Republicans, shouldn’t we also discuss what Obama Era Republicans are saying about Obama? If you’re concerned with how much of a partisan he’s being, isn’t it more appropriate to compare his statements to the statements of his contemporaries to get some idea of how partisan they are being?
And you’re going to have to spell out for me where Obama is unfairly or harshly treating his political adversaries, what did he say that so hurt your delicate sensibilities? What was so mean-spirited and over the edge that you have to write one of these whiny posts about how much of a meanie he is every couple of days? The only quote from Obama you have in this post is some run-of-the-mill political generality about the country being on the line – and you need to have a cry about this?
To reiterate, conservatives have spent years describing Obama as a racist, socialist, illegitimate foreigner, and you’re shedding tears because he’s accused the Republicans of obstructionism? Is there a better example of one not being able to take what they’re dishing out?
We’re in agreement about that. Obama has always talked a bigger game than he ever seems willing to play, and that’s a big part of the reason that he sucks. Especially as we’re nearing an election season, he is trying to make appeals to people like me because he wants me to show up and vote for him. But 3 years of his leadership have revealed him to be a pushover that couldn’t do anything with huge majorities and who can’t outmaneuver a discredited minority party that is far less popular than he is. This is why he’s a crappy President and it’s why liberals are disappointed with him.
But he’s absolutely right to impugn the Republicans’ motives, and again, regardless of how many times you complain to the contrary, it isn’t beneath his position. A completely coherent and evidence-supported case can be made that the Republicans have no interested in repairing the economy while Obama is still President, and the bottom line is that asking that question or having that discussion is absolutely appropriate. To repeat myself again, Republicans are accusing Obama of wanting to kill everyone’s grandmothers, can you find anything as hysterical or overwrought out of Obama’s mouth?
Oh my, that’s awfully convenient, isn’t it? Obama is held to some absurd threshold where he can’t even accuse a minority party, whose stated goal is to interrupt his agenda, of obstructionism. Meanwhile, that minority party can say everything and anything about Obama because…. drumroll please… they aren’t the President! My, politics is probably a whole lot easier when you can just fabricate a social rule out of nothing that all by itself makes it possible to slime your opponent with whatever you want while being able to call fouls for anything that he might say in response?
This isn’t the 14th century, there isn’t some rigid courtly etiquette that our politicians have to follow. And regardless – Obama hasn’t said anything about Republicans that previous Presidents haven’t been saying about their opponents for 200 years. You’re behaving as if he goes around dropping F-bombs and insulting peoples’ mothers.
As far as these ‘solutions’ you’re talking about, that’s a whole other topic. Needless to say, I disagree with your assessment of the Republican opposition.
Shorter Levi,
“Actually back up my statements? That’s too much like work!”
To repeat myself again, Republicans are accusing Obama of wanting to kill everyone’s grandmothers, can you find anything as hysterical or overwrought out of Obama’s mouth?
Yes we can, and we already did. With links.
Oh, by the way, Levi, what did you say above?
The entire GOP was talking about how Obama wanted to kill everybody’s grandma – what kind of behavior is that for a representative or a senator to engage in?
It’s behavior that you, your Barack Obama, and your Obama Party fully endorse and support Obama Party Representatives and Senators doing.
So that’s where this comes in, Levi; we have PROOF of your Barack Obama Party, your Barack Obama, and your Barack Obama Representatives and Senators stating publicly that Republicans want to murder your grandma and want you to die. Links, video, and everything.
So you are proven to be a complete and total lying hypocrite.
Levi, unless you can cite evidence of Republicans “accusing Obama of wanting to kill everyone’s grandmother,” I can only assume that they didn’t. You have to back up your claims or they hold no weight.
And don’t forget about Obama’s promise to be post-partisan. That’s what especially makes his rhetoric notable; the hypocrisy.
Obama’s substance-free criticisms (of the Republicans) seem petty. And the fact that he is the president is relevant, because the president should be able to criticize his opponents in a respectful way (which he isn’t).
Sure, I am biased to favor the Republicans, but I haven’t seen any instance in which a high-profile Republican politician has done the same thing to Obama. If you want to cite an example of such, I would be more than happy to criticize him or her.
Obstructionism of Obama’s agenda is a good thing. That is not what he accusing the Republicans of doing. He is accusing them of threatening “the very core of what this country stands for.”
Of course it isn’t. But that doesn’t excuse the president’s behaviour of scrutiny. He is behaving pettily. What is so wrong with criticizing him for that?
No, I’m not. If he were doing that, my rhetoric would be much more acrid.