Teachable Moments - Back At You Obama

The truth is I detest the term "teachable moment". But I do not hate it because of who uses the term (President Obama). I do not abhor the idea because it comes from a black man (for example Thomas Sowell and Clarence Thomas espouse some fantastic ideas). No, the reason I hate the phrase is because it is spoken with such condescension towards the audience. The President speaks it as if his listeners are all school children and he is going to teach them the correct notions related to the circumstance. He knows better than you and you are the one who needs to learn. It is pure arrogance and pure Obama. It's part of his M.O. He claimed to be above partisan politics and was touted by the MainStooge Media as the first post-partisan Candidate. He was above it all. He would bring Republicans and Democrats together and they would see the error of their ways.

Never mind that he has been the most partisan liberal President, possibly ever. Certainly Clinton who tried to govern from the left originally, learned his lesson after 1994 - out of necessity. The same fate awaits President Obama. That is, unless of course he realizes that this summer's Tea Parties and town hall bedlam were in reality, teachable moments for him. They were situations that could instruct him in the error of his ways.

Health care reform was only the straw that broke the camel's back. The cost was a concern. The government take-over was a concern. The arrogant disregard of others' opinions was a concern. And the reckless speed of under-debated, unconsidered action was a concern. They became concerns with the first stimulus bill. The concerns were repeated with the omnibus bill and then with the cap and trade bill. They were the same concerns each time.

The same concerns still exist, unabated. The President and the autocrats in the Congress and Senate have all but ensured that they will suffer the same fate as Bill Clinton and Democrats did in the 1994 mid-term elections - a blowout loss.

The President could however take this as a teachable moment for himself. He could learn from the moment that he needs to not just say he is post-partisan or working in a bi-partisan way, but he needs to actually do so. He needs to consider governing from the center in order to stave off the devastating losses to come.  He can either take that teachable moment now or he can wait until November 2010 and learn the lesson then. Of course, given his smarter-than-thou arrogance, I suspect though, that teachable moments are lost on him if he's not the one to do the teaching.