By Camille Paglia

Obama's hit -- and big miss

His Cairo speech was good -- but good enough? By

Camille Paglia
June 10, 2009 |

Barack Obama was elected to do exactly what he did last week at Cairo University -- to open a dialogue with the Muslim world. Or at least that was why I, for one, voted for him, contributed to his campaign, and continue to support him. There is no more crucial issue for the future of the West, whose material prosperity masks an increasing uncertainty about its own principles and values.................................

Obama's speech (which I read rather than heard) seemed to my teacher's eye like a strong first draft rather than a polished final product. This could and should have been one of the most important documents in American political history....................

The Cairo speech is well-organized, ticking off central thorny issues region by region. But there is an unsettling slackness and even sentimentality in its view of history. Yes, Obama's principal targeted audience was moderate Muslims, whom he attempted to woo away from extremism. But the president missed a huge opportunity to speak with equal force to doubters in his own nation, where suspicion of Muslims has sometimes turned ruthless and paranoid.......................................................................

Within the U.S., the Obama presidency will be mainly measured by the success or failure of his economic policies. And here, I fear, the monstrous stimulus package with which this administration stumbled out of the gate will prove to be Obama's Waterloo. All the backtracking and spin doctoring in the world will not erase that major blunder, which made the new president seem reckless, naive and out of control of his own party, which was in effect dictating to him from Capitol Hill.

Read the complete article here:http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2009/06/10/waterloo/index.html


"The Morning News." August 3, 2005, Camille Paglia interview "That’s my New Age-y side. I really respect mysticism and the spiritual dimension, even though I don’t believe in God." Jan. 26, 2008


Kliphnote:
I'm I the only one to notice, that for eight years(and longer)
the Left did nothing but criticize George W Bush.
But when the Right criticizes Obama they are wrong for doing that.

Obama declared that the stimulus had already saved or created at least 150,000 American jobs.
How do count "saved" jobs when the unemployment rate is going up?
You can't! More BS.
If that was Bush the media would not buy it.
But they buy it with Obama.
Reminds me of a guy I worked with.
He hates Rush Limbaugh, "everything he says is a lie."
I ask him when do you have time to hear him, he is off the air at 3 pm
and you don't get out of work until 4 pm. He didn't know what to say.
Just more BS.

Is it true that Obama will sign a bill putting himself on Mount Rushmore before he leaves the White House? Or will he be president for life?

I sometimes feel like Diogenes, looking for an honest man. But never finding one.

Obama Tells American Businesses to Drop Dead: Kevin Hassett

Commentary by Kevin Hassett

June 8 (Bloomberg) -- I’ve finally figured out the Obama economic strategy. President Barack Obama and his team have been having so much fun wielding dictatorial power while rescuing “failed” firms, that they have developed a scheme to gain the same power over every business. The plan is to enact policies that are so anticompetitive that every firm needs a bailout.

Once that happens, their new pay czar Kenneth Feinberg can set the wage for everybody and Rahm Emanuel can stack the boards of all of our companies with his political cronies.

I know, it sounds like an exaggeration. But look at it this way. If there were a power ranking of U.S. companies, like the ones compiled by football writers for National Football League teams, Microsoft would surely be first or second to Google. But last week, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer came to Washington to announce what Microsoft would do if Obama’s multinational tax policy is enacted.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aaaBdVMkjPnU