(H/T: Instapundit) I decline to follow this suggestion: “Give President Obama some credit — when he was asked to comment on the wave of protests sweeping colleges across the country, he didn’t fully capitulate.” And I have three reasons for doing so:
- The man routinely and habitually – possibly even unconsciously! – equates his political opponents with the worst sort of people. This is a direct quote: “I’ve heard of some college campuses where they don’t want to have a guest speaker who is too conservative or they don’t want to read a book if it has language that is offensive to African-Americans or somehow sends a demeaning signal toward women…” With the implication being that strong conservatism = racism = sexism. Look, I would have no problems if Barack Obama just came out and called conservatives human scum; God knows I’m happy to say the same about, say, antiwar progressive activists. But I can’t wait until Obama’s sanctimony no longer effectively has the force of law.
- He shouldn’t be praising bullies who keep bumping up against the edge of organized political violence.
- And, most importantly? Barack Obama is saying even the stuff that he’s saying not because he actually cares about free speech in general. No, he’s saying it because the protesters are starting to target professors. In his heart, Barack Obama is a creature of academia. Academia is his cabal, his tribe, his faction. Threaten academia, Obama feels it.
So. Thanks, but no thanks. Actually: no-thanks, right from the start.
Most of what I usually have to say about Obama is unprintable on a family site, no matter what the situation.