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.

About those 'Death Panels'

About those death panels, that Sarah Palin brought up; it's a 'teachable moment'.

The accepted math has been this:

Palin = idiot & Obama = genius.


But if that's the case, then what happened would have not happened. What did happen? What's the real Truth?

Many conservatives know it's not the case. Some, for their own political purposes or because they have fallen prey to the intent of the media onslaught on Palin, have also come to the conclusion that Palin could be in over her head. For those people, the death panels kerfuffle is a teachable moment. The Wall Street Journal sums it up quite well. Palin won the debate over 'death panels', despite the supposed formula above.

A Senate panel has decided to scrap the part of its health care bill that in recent days has given rise to fears of government "death panels," with one lawmaker suggesting the proposal was just too confusing.

The Senate Finance Committee is taking the idea of advance care planning consultations with doctors off the table as it works to craft its version of health care legislation, a Democratic committee aide said Thursday.

It's a good article worth a read. Check it out.

Here's the teachable part - if Palin won, she's not the idiot many people think she is. And if that's the case, maybe her decision to step down as Governor of Alaska, while causing a temporary hit to her popularity ratings, was not a political neophyte, foolish move. Maybe the political ju-jitsu she used, was a smart political ploy. Those who continue to underestimate her, do so at their own risk.

For the other point for Republicans to keep in mind, the ones who have jumped on the anti-Palin bandwagon for whatever reason, there's a different lesson to be learned. That's simply that you need to remember who your friends are. Regardless of whether you want Sarah Palin as the GOP nominee in 2012 or not, she is a conservative, and likely shares some, most or all of your values. You'd be acting honorably to not only not denigrate her, not participate in the ongoing anti-Palin frenzy, you'd be best to come to her defense as if she was any other Republican. In-fighting does NOTHING for the GOP, and nothing for conservatism in the face of a common political enemy.