Monday, November 30, 2009

Has E.J. Dionne Been in a Coma Since 2000?

Here's a quote from one of the most jaw-dropping op-eds I've read in the Washington Post:
"The most surprising and disappointing aspect of our politics is how little pushback there has been against the vile, extremist rhetoric that has characterized such a large part of the anti-Obama movement..."
It was written by E.J. Dionne, who I've read somewhat often since moving to the Washington, DC area in 1997. I am familiar enough with his work to know he's a liberal, but not a nincompoop. But surely he wasn't writing seriously. Is he REALLY this oblivious to what went on in the Bush Administration? Or the Reagan administration? Besides reaping the rewards of being very like a socialist (and thus deserving of much of the vitriol that he's receiving), Obama is getting payback from conservatives who seethed over the unfair and over-the-top criticism of Bush foreign policy and disparagement of the U.S. military. You know, the "Bush Lied, People Died" bumper stickers. And the likening of American soldiers to "the Nazis, Soviets in their Gulags, or some madman regime like Pol Pot," which fixed Richard Durban's place in history. And on and on.

Grow a thicker skin, Mr. Dionne. Over the remaining seven years, you're gonna need it.

Update from 2 December 2009: James Fallows of The Atlantic magazine also apparently has both hurt feelings about how mean the conservatives are toward poor President Obama and a short memory. See comments by comments by one Peter Wehner at NRO.

1 comment:

raluke said...

James Fallows of The Atlantic magazine also apparently has both hurt feelings about how mean the conservatives are toward poor President Obama and a short memory. See comments by one Peter Wehner at NRO here: http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTVlNGM5NmExYmZmNmFhMWM0Mjk4NDYyYjBiMTgwMmE=

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