tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32924329.post2558952933631610520..comments2023-10-31T03:58:32.056-07:00Comments on Empathic Rationalist: Daniel Spirohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09656412977046134771noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32924329.post-21532515348502255242009-11-07T05:11:47.660-08:002009-11-07T05:11:47.660-08:00I suspect that most members of the progressive com...I suspect that most members of the progressive community, myself included, still support him. We're simply expressing that there's a direction down which we'd like him to head. <br /><br />As for the too cool for school, it certainly is preferable to Glen Beck's and the Rush Limbaugh's style, but there is a middle ground I'd like to see him strive for.<br /><br />Barack inspired a lot of passion as a candidate. He needs to infuse some of that back into his supporters now that he's President, and that requires some adjustments. He also might want to think a bit more about whether Geithner and Summers are the best advisors for the long haul. I wonder if their values and those of his base are compatible.Daniel Spirohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09656412977046134771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32924329.post-43729394668894459632009-11-07T04:22:02.610-08:002009-11-07T04:22:02.610-08:00Don't you think it's too soon to decide? W...Don't you think it's too soon to decide? Why can't we back off and give the guy a chance? He's had the office for only ten months, and he had a great deal of housecleaning to do that none of us expected.<br /><br />As to that "too cool for school" style, that was always his style and it always will be. Some of his constituents actually like it. (And it drives the Republicans crazy!)Mary Loishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01515655542270431289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32924329.post-70661456028627567252009-11-07T02:05:28.412-08:002009-11-07T02:05:28.412-08:00Well, there's no question that he is a good ma...Well, there's no question that he is a good man who doesn't deserve to be "excoriated" for anything. But I do believe that if he came to take on a somewhat different blend of qualities, or at least tactics, he could be more effective at this job.<br /><br />At the end of the day, he should end up being a fine President. The question for me is whether he can be a great President.Daniel Spirohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09656412977046134771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32924329.post-9247953645390850812009-11-06T10:35:53.568-08:002009-11-06T10:35:53.568-08:00Again, you're asking Barack to be "not Ba...Again, you're asking Barack to be "not Barack." Whatever he has done has been gentle, measured and professorial rather than dynamic and earth-shattering. He shattered us with his astounding victory, but that victory was won by the very qualities he is excoriated now for having. When he battled with Hillary Clinton, the pundits begged him to be more confrontaional, angry. (Not coincidental one of those pundits was Pat Buchanan, who clearly wanted Hillary on the ticket because he felt she'd never defeat a Repubican opponent. He still curdles my blood.)<br /><br />But I admire the elegant restraint of Barack Obama and I still say over time he will prevail. He doesn't read his press notices (or if he does he doesn't agonize over them as Bill Clinton did), and he operates by his own lights. I do not agree with every choice he's made, but I think there is a great deal we don't know about his reasons. He is not like the rest of us, and I think that's a good thing.Mary Loishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01515655542270431289noreply@blogger.com