Charles Krauthammer, the conservative columnist for The Washington Post and often bitter critic of the 44th president, published a particularly interesting editorial on Saturday. His theme: "Barack Obama is a very smart man." Translation: The 44th president is a very intelligent man. People had almost forgotten this after the defeat in November.
Ronald Reagan's adversaries also made the same mistake of underestimating him. Because Reagan had complete confidence in himself (and therefore didn't need the approval of others), throughout his career his adversaries took him for a simpleton. The result was that he was elected governor of California — a liberal state if ever there was one — before being carried triumphantly to the White House.
Barack Obama is different, but his adversaries underestimate him. This is a man who also has complete confidence in himself and in the power of his mind. But he needs those that he meets with to acknowledge him. This character trait makes him sensitive and thus vulnerable. But behind this facade lies an extraordinary intellect. This is what attracted the millions of Americans who carried him to the White House, and it is what the tea party, mistakenly, has forgotten.
Historians of his presidency will probably call Nov. 6, 2010, the day of his comeback, in reference to the tax cut agreement. The move to the center began with Bill Clinton's visit to the White House — a centrist par excellence — and was followed by 81 votes for and 19 against the passage of tax cuts. Obama's masterstroke was to make this agreement extend to all Americans those advantages that were granted by Bush to the wealthiest two percent of Americans. Without a single card in his hand, the 44th president emerged as the victor of a situation that could have frozen the entire government if he had listened to his far-left base, which wanted to make war with the Republicans. The GOP could have waited until January and the start of the new Congress to pass all that they would have hoped for, without fearing a presidential veto.
Obama achieved a reversal from a remarkable situation. The left of the Democratic Party is shouting “scandal” and calling for the resignation of Obama. But the most liberal fringe only represents, at most, 20 percent of the electorate. Despite the cries of its representatives, Obama knows that he can count on them in 2012 (who else would they vote for?) and that to win an election he must be in the center. By coming to an agreement on taxes, Obama began a move to the center, followed, as we have seen, by the first steps toward a reconciliation with the business world.
Charles Krauthammer, le columnist conservateur du Washington Post et critique souvent acerbe de 44th, publie un éditorial particulièrement intéressant dans le quotidien de la capitale américaine, de samedi. Son thème: "Barack Obama is a very smart man". Traduction: 44th est un homme très intelligent. On l'avait un peu oublié après la défaite annoncée de novembre.
Les adversaires de Ronald Reagan faisaient également cette même erreur de le sous-estimer. Parce que Reagan avait une confiance totale en lui-même et n'avait donc pas besoin de l'approbation des autres, ses adversaires, tout au long de sa carrière, l'ont pris pour un simplet. Résultat, il s'est fait élire gouverneur de Californie, Etat libéral s'il en est, avant d'être porté triomphalement à la Maison Blanche.
Barack Obama est différent, mais ses adversaires le sous-estiment. C'est un homme qui a également une confiance suprême en lui-même et dans la puissance de son cerveau. Mais il a besoin que lceux qui le rencontrent le reconnaissent. Ce trait de caractère le rend parfois susceptible et donc vulnérable. Mais derrière cette façade se cache une intelligence hors du commun. C'est ce qui avait attiré à lui les millions d'Américains qui l'avaient porté à la Maison Blanche. C'est ce que le Tea Party _ à tort _ a oublié.
Les historiens de sa présidence feront sans doute du 6 novembre 2010 le jour de son comeback, avec l'accord sur la réduction d'impôts. Le recentrage a commencé avec la visite de Bill Clinton à la Maison Blanche, centriste par excellence, suivi par l'adoption par 81 voix contre 19 de la réduction d'impôts. Le coup de maître d'Obama a été de faire de cet accord qui étend à tous les Américains les avantages accordés par Bush au 2% des Américains les plus riches. Sans une seule carte dans son jeu, 44th est sorti vainqueur d'une situation qui aurait pu bloquer tout le gouvernement s'il avait écouté sa base la plus à gauche qui voulait porter le fer contre les Républicains. Le GOP aurait pu attendre Janvier et le nouveau Congrès pour passer tout ce qu'il aurait souhaité, sans crainte d'un veto présidentiel. Obama a réussi un retournement de situation remarquable.
La gauche du parti Démocrate crie au scandale et à la démission d'Obama. Mais la frange la plus "libérale" ne représente, au mieux, que 20% de l'électorat. Malgré les cris de ses représentants, Obama sait qu'il peut compter sur eux en 2012 (pour qui d'autre voter?) et que pour remporter une élection, il faut être au centre. En arrivant à cet accord sur les impôts, Obama a commencé le recentrage, suivi, on l'a vu, par les premiers pas vers une réconciliation avec le monde des affaires.
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link
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[T]he letter’s inconsistent capitalization, randomly emphasizing words like “TRADE,” “Great Honor,” “Tariff,” and “Non Tariff”, undermines the formality expected in high-level diplomatic correspondence.
It is a pragmatic story. I have something to add to Obama’s playing the wild card. Americans have been cheated and, indeed, put to a great peril of harm from the heavens by the Zionists of Israel. Please read this statement of Israel’s founding father:
““If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti – Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?”
Dear readers, one might cheat and mislead the whole humanity – the Satan does this – but cheating God is like playing with a dynamite. Ben-Gurion rejected and rebuked God at the founding ceremony of Israel. He replaced allegiance to God with allegiance to a symbol of “Rock of Israel.”
Obama’s wild card lies in his breaking the ground in the Middle East and central Asia by helping in these areas resurgence. Therein lies plum jobs for the American people for many a decade.
Israel stands doomed in line with its past iniquities in the sight of God. Let us save the peacenik Jews. The Jews are vouchsafed in Scriptures to survive unto the end time.
It is a pragmatic story. I have something to add to Obama’s playing the wild card. Americans have been cheated and, indeed, put to a great peril of harm from the heavens by the Zionists of Israel. Please read this statement of Israel’s founding father:
““If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti – Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?”
Dear readers, one might cheat and mislead the whole humanity – the Satan does this – but cheating God is like playing with a dynamite. Ben-Gurion rejected and rebuked God at the founding ceremony of Israel. He replaced allegiance to God with allegiance to a symbol of “Rock of Israel.”
Obama’s wild card lies in his breaking the ground in the Middle East and central Asia by helping in these areas resurgence. Therein lies plum jobs for the American people for many a decade.
Israel stands doomed in line with its past iniquities in the sight of God. Let us save the peacenik Jews. The Jews are vouchsafed in Scriptures to survive unto the end time.