by Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n
PJ Medi<\/em>a<\/em> Obama\u2019s problem with warning Americans about bickering, partisan politics, lying, and misrepresentation Wednesday night is that his green advisor Van Jones just left after it was disclosed that he called Republicans \u201ca\u2013holes\u201d, whites polluters\/more prone to mass murder in schools, and charged the former President with involvement in 9\/11. Obama said nothing about such \u201clying\u201d and \u201cmisrepresentation\u201d in his administration \u2014 other than to warn school kids to be careful what they put on facebook, twitter and the internet since it can be brought back up for the rest of their lives (i.e., poor Van Jones).<\/p>\n Like \u2018hope and change\u2019, \u2018this is our moment\u2019, and the now old \u2018greatest time in history\u2019 tropes, so too we are getting used to a highly partisan president complaining about partisanship.<\/p>\n Yet, all the American people wanted to hear Wednesday night was 1) the rough cost and where the money comes from (not more gimmicks that bad people will have to cut their profits or magic savings will come from waste and fraud [if the latter is really true, why not bank the savings right now?]); 2) how those who fall through the cracks will be covered (is it 30, 46, or how many million in Obama\u2019s latest version?); and some appreciation that a great system can be improved, rather than the old anecdotes about victims of bad people that we\u2019ve become used to on the campaign trail. (Trying to attach his agenda to the condolences of Ted Kennedy or raising the bloody shirt that more will \u201cdie\u201d will not scare or charm a reluctant public that likes its present health and is uneasy about a state-run plan with caretakers of the likes of a Geithner or Jones. Most believe that more will in fact die if we have a Canadian or British style system that devolves into rationing care.)<\/p>\n The President really has to watch this constant return to these soaring cadences that deliver banalities. One cannot sound like Lincoln if there really is no message. It is time to move on, ignore criticism, and offer something that most can work with; instead, after 9 months we are getting a \u2018they are mean to me\u2019 whine at about every speech and photo-op, in the manner of biblical prophets who lash out at doubters.<\/p>\n Obama never gives many concrete details, nor gets precise and concise, and now one wonders whether it is because he simply thinks he can go to the hope-and-change\/soar-like-an-eagle mode, and we will once more get mesmerized, or he has nothing to say at all, or both. But most caught on to all that, and now want a plan, not a prophet.<\/p>\n Bottom line? Obama should just borrow from the Republican plan, assure the Democrats he\u2019s extending coverage to those uncovered, and then, and only then, go back to his eagle routine and soar with it in the stratosphere with \u201cI alone hoped and changed healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a92009 Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Victor Davis Hanson PJ Media Obama\u2019s problem with warning Americans about bickering, partisan politics, lying, and misrepresentation Wednesday night is that his green advisor Van Jones just left after it was disclosed that he called Republicans \u201ca\u2013holes\u201d, whites polluters\/more prone to mass murder in schools, and charged the former President with involvement in 9\/11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[652],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-AW","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2129,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/where-has-the-thrill-gone\/","url_meta":{"origin":2290,"position":0},"title":"Where Has the Thrill Gone?","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson PJ Media The Harder They Fall? Who appointed over 40 ambassadors on the sole basis of campaign contributions, or has as many lobbyists in government as did any President in memory? And who releases touchy news \u2014 whether increased unemployment or trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "November 2009"","block_context":{"text":"November 2009","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2009\/november-2009\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6957,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-poison-of-postmodern-lying\/","url_meta":{"origin":2290,"position":1},"title":"The Poison of Postmodern Lying","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor David Hanson \/\/\u00a0Tribune Content Agency\u00a0 All presidents at one time have fudged on the truth. Most politicians pad their resumes and airbrush away their sins. 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\n<\/span><\/p>\n