Republicans whine, Vanneman laughs

It’s true: politics is a spectator sport, but a spectator sport with a difference. Even when the home team is screwing up, you can still laugh at the opposition.

Never was that old adage, which I just made up, more true than today. I am emphatically not a fan of President Obama, and his second inaugural address did little to rekindle my admiration. I’d like to think that his new-found enthusiasm for gun control is merely cosmetic, because I think the issue is a loser for Democrats, but I may be wrong. I’m totally opposed to grand schemes on climate control. Carter and Clinton wasted billions on these projects,* and Obama wants to get into twelve digits at least.

The problem is, the Republicans are so much worse. Ramesh Ponnuru, who is often right, and almost always sensible, can do no better than this:

Yep, Barack Obama is no Abraham Lincoln. But you know what, Ramesh? Neither are you. Let’s have a little thought experiment, one that doesn’t require much thought. Are we better off today than we were four years ago? Four years ago, this country was falling into what was easily the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. There was a lot not to like about the way the Obama Administration handled the crisis, but there was everything not to like about the way the Republicans handled it, which was simply to try to destroy everything. Today, the world economy, which was under a very real threat of collapse, is relatively healthy, and the U.S. economy is in the best shape of any of the major economies around the world.

Let’s go back to 2008 again. Remember Iraq? We were still there, and still bleeding. Obama got us out—not that he really wanted to, but he ultimately acquiesced to the agreement that George Bush signed that effectively required the U.S. to leave. Obama foolishly got us deeper into Afghanistan, and more foolishly, and more shamelessly, basically ate everything the CIA put on his plate, but he also had the political acumen to realize that the public, and even the Republicans, would let him walk away from Afghanistan, and that’s what he’s doing. Remember peace and prosperity? That’s sort of what we’re getting, along with killer drones and the denial of civil liberties to anyone named Ahmed. It’s a hell of a long way from perfect, but we’re a hell of a lot closer than we were in 2008. And Obama did it all with the Republicans fighting him tooth and nail every step of the way.