DUMBOPHOBIC

Gail Collins makes the point that people have not been paying attention. If they had, they would know that what Obama is really against is stupid shit. He is not so much dogmatic as dumbophobic.

The Audacity of Listening

Most of the things Obama’s taken heat for saying this summer fall into these two familiar patterns — attempts to find a rational common ground on controversial issues and dumb-avoidance.

On the common-ground front, he’s called for giving more federal money to religious groups that run social programs, but only if the services they offer are secular. People can have guns for hunting and protection, but we should crack down on unscrupulous gun sellers. Putting some restrictions on the government’s ability to wiretap is better than nothing, even though he would rather have gone further.

Dumb-avoidance would include his opposing the gas-tax holiday, backtracking on the anti-Nafta pandering he did during the primary and acknowledging that if one is planning to go all the way to Iraq to talk to the generals, one should actually pay attention to what the generals say.

You should really read the entire thing.

Collins puts her formidable wit to work to make the medicine go down more smoothly.

I am beginning The Audacity of Hope and that is the primary thought so far. That our problems are great and our politics, as practiced, are small. And stupid.

Yes, yes, he talks down to us. And what is wrong with that, pray?