Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Change I Can Believe In

Andrew Sullivan:
[H]ere's something the liberal base can chew on if they need some grist: how cool is it that Mitch McConnell just made Barack Obama's re-election more likely? Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you?
This dawned on conservatives instantly. Some want to organize a revolt based on their insistence that federal income tax rates for the rich remain at their current levels until the Second Coming. Others speculate hopefully about a left-wing challenge to Obama for the Democratic nomination in 2012 (fat chance).

On Fox News last night, Britt Hume said extending unemployment benefits was a bad idea because they prevent people from going out and finding work. I wish there were a way to give him the opportunity to test his theory.

The plain fact is that by moving to the center, Obama has done what the preponderance of Americans hoped for and liberal and conservative activists and radio and cable TV bigmouths most feared. Gone are the disquieting passions of 2008's Obamiacs, the naive confidence of those who thought '09 portended the rise of Euroamerica, and '10's lashings of tea and white toast.

Welcome back to what Richard Nixon loved to call the mushy middle. This is change I can believe in. Give me gridlock, or give me death.

2 comments:

Ed Cimler said...

The immediate problem was to end the uncertainty of the tax rates. If it required a compromise with the lame duck Congress, so be it....this will help with economic recovery. When the Republicans are sworn in, fewer compromises wuill be necessary.

Fr. John said...

I sure hope not! Thanks for your comment, Ed.