Thursday, April 18, 2013

il miglior fabbro

Jacob Sullum on Barack Obama's tantrum righteous rage reaction to losing the background check vote in the Senate yesterday:

Obama does a fine job of empathizing with the parents of Adam Lanza's victims. But that is something any decent human being should be able to manage. Where he has trouble, despite his lip service to the idea of putting himself in the other guy's shoes, is in empathizing with his opponents. He not only says they are wrong, which is to be expected. He refuses to concede that people who disagree with him about gun control are acting in good faith, based on what they believe to be sound reasons—that they, like him, are doing what they think is right. His self-righteous solipsism is striking even for a politician.

5 comments:

W.B. Picklesworth said...

And this is what is maddening about this president. He is a man who generally speaks with a very dignified air, but without the actual dignity to undergird it.

Put another way, he is not authentic, but is able to mimic quite well, at least for audiences who are disposed towards giving him or his office the benefit of the doubt.

Bike Bubba said...

WB's comment reminds me of this:

"If you can fake sincerity...."

And it's appalling that about half the country can't spot it a mile away.

Mr. D said...

And it's appalling that about half the country can't spot it a mile away.

I don't think that's true; I think a lot of people know what he's doing, but because they support his politics have made their peace with insincerity. Which might be even more appalling, actually.

Bike Bubba said...

Kinda like something I heard a while back about Clinton; that it was appalling not that we'd elected a liar to the Presidency, but that we had done so and didn't care.

Not that Republicans are any great shakes, either, but my goodness...

W.B. Picklesworth said...

I think a lot of people know what he's doing, but because they support his politics have made their peace with insincerity.

Some kind of authoritarian government isn't far off, is it? Whether the Left does it for everybody's good or the Right does it to prevent the Left from doing it. Whichever way, it doesn't seem unthinkable anymore.