PrintJune 4, 2010
Obama's 'malaise' speech
President Obama's speech at Carnegie Mellon University is rightfully being compared to Jimmy Carter's notorious "malaise" speech. All that was missing was the cardigan sweater.
So the anxiety that's out there today isn't new. The recession has certainly made it worse, but that feeling of not being in control of your own economic future -- that sense that the American Dream might slowly be slipping away
Cartoon by Andrew Thomas
Barack Obama, the politician who, with the connivance of his handmaidens in the press and working teleprompters, became President with an inspiring and completely meaningless message: Yes We Can.
After one and a half years of Democrats controlling Congress and himself in the White House -- all marked by finger-pointing, hectoring, mean-spirited bullying, condescension, and blame shifting, Barack Obama basically sums it up by saying "No We Can't." He was a declinist who actually bemoaned that America had power (whether we like it or not) that his own policies are weakening at a rapid pace.
After one and a half years of Democrats controlling Congress and himself in the White House -- all marked by finger-pointing, hectoring, mean-spirited bullying, condescension, and blame shifting, Barack Obama basically sums it up by saying "No We Can't." He was a declinist who actually bemoaned that America had power (whether we like it or not) that his own policies are weakening at a rapid pace.
Inspiring slogans are just that...slogans that sell products. In this case, Barack Obama was the product-and a lemon at that.
