Posted 6:41 PM by Hill
It's, like, 'way too soon to tell. We won't actually know for at least a year, although since he seems determined to hit the ground running, by six months in office there may be some solid indications. We elected a Democrat (who is, almost by definition an internationalist*) who has charisma - I suppose it goes without saying that all successful presidential candidates have a certain amount of this, but our President-elect has enough to be able to get elected without having answered even one tough question from anybody that made it into a news report.
The one tough question that was asked and that got even a little press coverage he demurred on answering, saying that decision was "above my pay grade". So this guy has some genuine charisma - either that, or he's the kind of guy who may have missed his calling; in that he should be selling ice cubes to Eskimos or sun lamps to Arabs.
It may be that he will prove to be a very good President and that under his tutelage we will be more prosperous, more united, more aware of our proper role in the world, and even safer than we are at the moment. Among a couple of hundred million other voters, I certainly hope and pray (and I mean that last one literally) this will come to pass. Perhaps I am too cynical; that tends to come with age and I'm old. However, I do think that it's wise to be cautious about a politician that I still don't trust (a politician who names two lifelong Communists as his mentors) and who states in his book that he hobnobbed only with people who would not make him look like a sellout - including Marxist professors - is, IMHO at least a bit suspicious.
Put that down to innate skepticism, though. I do intend to wait and see what's going to happen before venturing a further opinion (not, you understand, that there is a viable alternative). It may be that my suyspicions are so totally unfounded that I will have to take them back publicly, and believe it or not, I actually look forward to doing just that.
Meanwhile, we all have to deal with the result of the greed of some people who have the ethics of a wharf rat. Once we have done that, there is the Congress to be seen to. It goes without saying that Congress could have stopped this slide into oblivion that has cost 3.2 million jobs, but they didn't.
The motives of politicians will never be clear. They are subject to all the same temptations as the rest of us, and while they aren't more likely to give in to those temptations than we are, they are more likely to be offered more powerful inducements than the rest of us for giving in to them. It's never surprising to find that a politician has become corrupt. Remember the old joke - "How did you know the senator was lying, Mrs. Johnson?" "His lips were moving." On the other hand, it is a surprise to find that a politician has consistently resisted the aforementioned temptations.
It isn't likely that the President-elect will succumb to such temptations. He may be so busy running thing that he won't have time to consider selling out, which I don't believe he would do at any rate. Liberals and socialists (both of which words may describe President-elect Obama) are essentially idealists. They all seem to feel that if we just sat down and talked it over we could settle almost all our differences. I can't be the only conservative who has fervently wished that this were true. I think the strain on the President-elect may be more in the area of reconciling his ideals with the political realities of running the most powerful country in the world. I don't believe there is a chance in hell of doing that, and I think this may consistently be his greatest challenge.
If he overcomes it he may make a very good President, but if this happens, he may emerge from the experience as something quite different from what he was when his term began. In concert with my statements above, I intend to wait and see what happens.
Mr. President-elect, may the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; may the Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

*the principle of cooperation among nations, for the promotion of their common good, sometimes as contrasted with nationalism, or devotion to the interests of a particular nation. To be contrasted with the Labor and Socialist International of 1923, which I don't believe the President-elect subscribes to.

Labels: Inauguration and Fugue in D Minor