Liberals have become hysterical. Who can blame them? Just when things were going so well, their beloved leader has done the unthinkable – he has flopped. Not only has President Obama crashed in the polls, but he has managed to anger the right, the left and the center of the country, not an easy feat.
Worse for the U.S., the policies that energized his followers have failed as well. An economy that was sending out “green shoots” and accelerating a year ago has slowed before the anti-business invective and regulation-happy policies of the White House as surely as a race car dragging Mt. Rushmore in its wake.
Even more unsettling to those who still adhere to Obamanomics, the people—those unruly, pesky, ill-informed, racist, uncaring and misguided hordes who so recently embraced the message of unity and hope that swept an inexperienced youngster into office – have rejected policies that are for their own good.
They don’t believe that Obamacare will allow us to cover 31 million people and bring down costs. They don’t believe that the financial overhaul will prevent another recession. They don’t believe that reaching out to anti-U.S. leaders around the world and treating terrorists kindly is the path to peace. Silly people. They have turned against not only Obama, but his party as well. The clock is ticking.
Hence, the shrill noises emanating from the left. Consider recent columns in The New York Times by liberal stalwarts Paul Krugman and Frank Rich. I am actually surprised that The Times editorial board hasn’t attempted some beneficial muting. Like a damper on a tinny piano, a little restraint might keep their audience from fleeing the room with their hands over their ears.
In Monday’s paper, Paul Krugman wrote about the terrible harassment doled out to the Clintons by Republicans, calling it a “witch hunt,” and comparing it with the criticisms now being leveled at President Obama.
I’m not a fan of useless partisan hectoring, but suggesting that Republicans have a lock on this sort of behavior is ridiculous. Was Mr. Krugman absent during the Bush years? Has he ever heard of Sarah Palin? Does he seriously suggest that Democrats were more restrained in their attacks on those two than the GOP was on Bubba? Please, let’s at least keep recent history in perspective. (After all, it was just a couple of weeks ago that Krugman described Republican Congressman Paul Ryan as a flimflam man, and his policy initiatives as the “audacity of dopes.” Not really adding to the civil discourse is Mr. Krugman, I would say.)
Mr. Krugman’s problem is that his favored economic prescriptions for the economy have fallen short, destabilizing his grip on reality. “Where is this rage coming from?” Mr. Krugman wonders.
Well, there are tens of millions out of work, and Mr. Obama has spent his energies and the taxpayers’ money on a laundry list of issues that most Americans don’t like, rather than try to drum up jobs.
Krugman cannot accept that the stimulus, which he championed and of which he advocates still more, has not worked. He is having difficulty adopting to the obvious: the turnaround in the economy has to come from the private sector, which has been so bullied and bloodied by his leader that a nascent recovery has been all but shut down.
He actually gets most worked up that former President George W. Bush has not come out in support of peaceful Muslims, just to back up the beleaguered president.
Is he kidding? After the drubbing the current administration has handed the former president, why in the world would W want to weigh in?
Meanwhile, Frank Rich harkened back to his career as a drama critic over the weekend, portraying the politics of the Koch brothers as something shameful and conspiratorial. Good grief.
Yes, the Kochs and Rupert Murdoch are working towards their “selfish interests” as Mr. Rich says. -- They are trying to undo the damage being done to our country by President Obama and his compadres in Congress.
Unless the United States emerges strong and healthy from this disastrous administration, all of us will be considerably less well off.
Well, I support that selfish interest, because it benefits all of us.
Rich describes Koch’s companies as “spewing” an array of industrial products – implying that things like Dixie cups and Lycra- products used by nearly everyone – are akin to toxic waste. (See what I mean about hysterical?) He is in the camp, unfortunately led by President Obama, that views corporations with utter suspicion. We have seen one industry after another attacked by a White House that is confident the country wants a scapegoat.
They are wrong. The country wants and needs leadership – leadership that can inspire confidence. Consumers and business managers must believe that tomorrow is going to be better than today, that the government will not undercut progress by arbitrarily changing the rules of the game and that efforts undertaken by the White House will benefit all Americans, and not just favored voting blocks.
Today, we do not have that leader. Change and hope is sounding like a better rallying cry than ever.
Liz Peek is a financial columnist who writes for The Fiscal Times. She is a frequent contributor to Fox News Opinion. For more visit LizPeek.com.
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