Post-Partisan Healer Somehow Manages to Inject Partisan Attacks Into Inaugural Address

Quite a few cheap shots, just as Slublog said. Nordlinger:

Obama said something like, “It’s time to quit putting off the unpleasant decisions.” Geez: Making unpleasant decisions, in both the domestic and foreign spheres, was Bush’s specialty. In fact, he sacrificed a good deal of political popularity because of it. ...

Obama talked about “restoring science to its rightful place.” I thought that was a cheap, stupid shot. The opinion-makers will love it, of course.

He suggested — more like said — that Bush had jettisoned American ideals in order to pursue security. That is a slander, pure and simple. Slandering your predecessor is not a good way to start a presidency.

He said that “we are ready to lead once more” — ready to lead the world in the search for peace and dignity. That, my friends, is just what Bush has been doing for eight years. It would have been truer to speak of continuing to lead.

...

Obama said that we must “no longer ignore the suffering outside our borders” (if I heard him correctly). Oh, since when have we been doing that? In fact, one of the biggest criticisms of Bush is that he has gone too far in trying to alleviate the suffering of others — “imposing our values” and all that. And will Obama better Bush’s Africa program? Fat chance.

There's a bit more -- well, one more -- at the link. Obama says he's ready to "leave Iraq to its people," which he was ready to do during a state of (as liberals had it) raging civil war.

Only now is Iraq itself ready to be left to its people, and credit for that can go -- politically -- to George W. Bush.

posted by Ace at 02:46 PM

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