Great minds think alike

On Monday, March 9, 2009, Robert J. Samuelson wrote an Op-Ed in The Washington Post titled, "Obama's Double Talk." I was interested in what he had to say, since I myself had written some articles about what I called Presidential Double-speak and Administration Double-speak. The first post highlighted the disconnect between the Presidential Proclamation that called upon Americans to support charitable organizations like the Red Cross, while threatening to hinder charitable giving by reducing tax benefits when times are already tight. The next one brought up the disconnect between "matching spending increases with spending decreases, dollar for dollar" (as promised during his debates), the administration claiming that the budget won't bloat the federal government, and the administration and other agencies admitting that they project hiring of many new individuals.

In "Obama's Double Talk," Samuelson visits the budget issue and calls President Obama "the great pretender."

He repeatedly says he is doing things that he isn't, trusting his powerful rhetoric to obscure the difference. He has made "responsibility" a personal theme; the budget's cover line is "A New Era of Responsibility." He says the budget begins "making the tough choices necessary to restore fiscal discipline." It doesn't.

And another favorite line or two:

The gap between Obama rhetoric and Obama reality transcends the budget, as do the consequences. [...] Obama thinks he can ignore these blatant inconsistencies. Like many smart people, he believes he can talk his way around problems. Maybe. He's helped by much of the media, which seem so enthralled with him that they don't see glaring contradictions. During the campaign, Obama said he would change Washington's petty partisanship; he also advocated a highly partisan agenda. Both claims could not be true. The media barely noticed; the same obliviousness persists. But Obama still runs a risk: that his overworked rhetoric loses its power and boomerangs on him.

Then will the MSM catch onto and highlight these "double talks"? It's not just President Obama who's at risk - it's the entire country.