Conservative blogger Patterico published an interesting post in which he explains to his (conservative) readers that they may disagree with president-elect Barack Obama’s policies, but that they have to admit that the man is a pretty decent guy.
He gave some examples of decent behavior which should indeed convince people that Obama is a not a “bad” guy. Sure, he used the race card, sure he lied about Sen. John McCain when convenient, but all politicians display similar behavior. That is quite simply what politicians do.
But for a politician, Obama did every now and then display a reasonably abnormal sense of decency. When Palin critics went after her daughter Kristol for being pregnant, Obama said that family was off limits and reminded voters that his own mother was only 18 years old when she gave birth to him. When crowds started booing when he mentioned McCain, Obama told them “we don’t need that, we need your vote.”
And we can add one, of course: when, speaking off the cuff, he makes a remark people find insulting, he is willing to apologize as he did to Nancy Reagan yesterday.
Those were pretty decent things to do. They do not make him a saint, for he is a politician, all of whom are willing to play dirty when necessary, but they do show that he’s a decent guy at heart. And it is worth pointing that out; criticize the man’s policies, don’t pretend his evil.
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I heartily disagree, Michael. The things for which Patterico gives Obama credit are things that we expect of any civilized human being and don’t earn him credit for being a aprticularly decent man.
For instance, he did indeed note that his mother was 18 when she had him. What he did not do, though, was to make is abundantly clear that he would allow no one to smear Bristol Palin in his name or to benefit him. He did not denounce the people doing the smeaing, even though they had names and weren’t hiding themselves. he said nothing about the scurrilous rumors that continued right up until Election Day, that Trig Palin was not Sarah Palin’s son, nor did he make any analogy between his claim that his wife, who had given speeches on his behalf, was off-limits and so should Palin’s family be.
He gave a meek statement that was, as usual, motly about him.
On the other hand, he has worked closely with cop-killers, bigots, and apologists for would-be genocidal tyrants. More than that, he has repeatedly excused their behavior and dismissed their critics as cranks and bigots. His campaign has been full of cheap and disgusting shots against John McCain (remember the campaing commercial about his not being able to use e-mail?) and Sarah Palin (lipstick on a pig?). Right up to the day of the election, his campaign was running a commercial that was a demonstrable lie. It quoted a Heritage Foundation analyst as saying something the analyst never said. The foundation notified the campaign some time ago but they didn’t stop running the ad nor did they change it.
I’m supposed to ignore all of those indecent actions because he once told a crowd not to boo John McCain *after* the election was decided? No, I think I’ll stick to what he does when his actions actually mean something. At those times, he proves himself not a good man at all.
I do not see evil in Barack Obama. I did not vote for him but he will be my president.