Science Talk

Dennis · Guest

FROM CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER

HEAD: Obama Flips and Flops

WASHINGTON -- You'll notice Barack Obama is now wearing a flag pin. Again.
During the primary campaign, he refused to, explaining that he'd worn one
after 9/11 but then stopped because it "became a substitute for, I think,
true patriotism."

So why is he back to sporting pseudo-patriotism on his chest? Need you ask?
The primaries are over. While seducing the hard-core MoveOn Democrats that
delivered him the caucuses -- hence, the Democratic nomination -- Obama not
only disdained the pin. He disparaged it. Now that he's running in a general
election against John McCain, and in dire need of the gun-and-God-clinging
working-class votes he could not win against Hillary Clinton, the pin is
back. His country 'tis of thee.

In last week's column, I thought I had thoroughly chronicled Obama's brazen
reversals of position and abandonment of principles -- on public financing
of campaigns, on NAFTA, on telecom immunity for post-9/11 wiretaps, on
unconditional talks with Ahmadinejad -- as he moved to the center for the
general election campaign. I misjudged him. He was just getting started.

Last week, when the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the District of
Columbia's ban on handguns, Obama immediately declared that he agreed with
the decision. This is after his campaign explicitly told the Chicago Tribune
last November that he believes the D.C. gun ban is constitutional.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton explains the inexplicable by calling the
November -- i.e., the primary season -- statement "inartful." Which suggests
a first entry in the Obamaworld dictionary -- "Inartful: clear and
straightforward, lacking the artistry that allows subsequent self-refutation
and denial."

Obama's seasonally adjusted principles are beginning to pile up: NAFTA,
campaign finance reform, warrantless wiretaps, flag pins, gun control.
What's left?

Iraq. The reversal is coming, and soon.

Two weeks ago, I predicted that by Election Day Obama will have erased all
meaningful differences with McCain on withdrawal from Iraq. I underestimated
Obama's cynicism. He will make the move much sooner. He will use his
upcoming Iraq trip to acknowledge the remarkable improvements on the ground
and to abandon his primary season commitment to a fixed 16-month timetable
for removal of all combat troops.

The shift has already begun. Thursday, he said that his "original position"
on withdrawal has always been that "we've got to make sure that our troops
are safe and that Iraq is stable." And that "when I go to Iraq ... I'll have
more information and will continue to refine my policies."

The flip is almost complete. All that's left to say is that the 16-month
time frame remains his goal but he will, of course, take into account the
situation on the ground and the recommendation of his generals in
determining the ultimate pace of the withdrawal.

Done. And with that, the Obama of the primaries, the Obama with last year's
most liberal voting record in the Senate, will have disappeared into the
collective memory hole.

Obama's strategy is obvious. The country is in a deep malaise and eager for
change. He and his party already have the advantage on economic and domestic
issues. Obama, therefore, aims to clear the deck by moving rapidly to the
center in those areas where he and his party are weakest, namely national
security and the broader cultural issues. With these -- and most importantly
his war-losing Iraq policy -- out of the way, the election will be decided
on charisma and persona. In this corner: the young sleek cool hip elegant
challenger. In the other corner: the old guy. No contest.

After all, that's how he beat Hillary. She originally ran as a centrist,
expecting her nomination to be a mere coronation. At the first sign of
serious opposition, however, she panicked and veered left. It was a fatal
error. It eliminated all significant ideological and policy differences with
Obama -- her desperate attempts to magnify their minuscule disagreement on
health care universality became almost comical -- making the contest
entirely one of personality. No contest.

As Obama assiduously obliterates all differences with McCain on national
security and social issues, he remains rightly confident that Bush fatigue,
the lousy economy and his own charisma -- he is easily the most dazzling
political personality since John Kennedy -- will carry him to the White
House.

Of course, once he gets there he will have to figure out what he really
believes. The conventional liberal/populist stuff he campaigned on during
the primaries? Or the reversals he is so artfully offering up now?

I have no idea. Do you? Does he?
**********
Do we really want Barack, The Magic Negro as President when he dodges so
inartfully?

Dionysus

Lamont Cranston · Guest

Dennis wrote:

robert bowman · Guest

On Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:37:31 -0400, Dennis wrote: