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Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Christopher Hitchens: Americans don't get utopia just by voting for Obama
Yesterday, we posted Peter Hitchens' delightful dressing-down of the more exuberant Obama faithful. Today, I'm happy to post a piece by Christopher Hitchens, Peter's brother, who takes a pin to the utopian trial balloon floated by some of Obama's most ardently ardent (think of that lady who insisted that she will no longer have to pay for her gas or worry about her mortgage now that Obama's in the White House):
Those who think that they have just voted to legalize Utopia (and I hardly exaggerate when I say this; have you been reading the moist and trusting comments of our commentariat?) are preparing for a disillusionment that I very much doubt they will blame on themselves. The national Treasury is an echoing, empty vault; our Russian and Iranian enemies are acting even more wolfishly even as they sense a repudiation of Bush-Cheney; the lines of jobless and evicted are going to lengthen, and I don't think a diet of hope is going to cover it. Nor even a diet of audacity, though can you picture anything less audacious than the gray, safety-first figures who have so far been chosen by Obama to be on his team? [...]
More worrying still, there are vicious enemies and rogue states in increasing positions of influence throughout the world (one of the episodes that most condemned the Republican campaign was its attempt to slander Sen. Joe Biden for his candid attempt to point this out), yet many Obama voters appear to believe that the mere charm and aspect of their new president will act as an emollient influence on these unwelcome facts and these hostile forces. I can't make myself perform this act of faith, and I won't put up with any innuendo about my inability to do so.
You can read the rest of it here. How soon disillusionment? It's beginning, but give it another month or two. I don't want to dampen too many spirits, but Americans elected a president, not an omniscient deity. And while presidents have a great deal of power, they can only really affect a few variables, as Mike pointed out on the Political Animals radio show yesterday. And the more those "in charge" fiddle with the market, the more we see the law of unintended consequences in action.
Posted by P.M. Jaworski on November 11, 2008 in U.S. politics | Permalink
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Comments
Failure is the only option. After that Obama might turn out to be a decent President, although his record is thin and composed of indecision or poor choices. Hopefully all the racists that voted for him will figure it out and elect an executive next time if his Presidency is a complete disaster.
Posted by: philanthropist | 2008-11-12 2:09:37 AM
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