Althouse: "Only amid the most bizarre, most tawdry, most addictive election campaign in memory could the real story of 2016 be so effectively obliterated..."

October 7, 2016

"Only amid the most bizarre, most tawdry, most addictive election campaign in memory could the real story of 2016 be so effectively obliterated..."

"... namely, that with just four months left in the Obama presidency, its two central pillars are collapsing before our eyes: domestically, its radical reform of American health care, aka Obamacare; and abroad, its radical reorientation of American foreign policy — disengagement marked by diplomacy and multilateralism."

So begins a Charles Krauthammer column titled "Barack Obama’s stillborn legacy: At home and abroad, the President's agenda is in tatters."

42 comments:

BarrySanders20 said...: Being inexperienced, disinterested, arrogant, and petty has consequences if you are President of the USA.

But he sure reads a good speech. And he looks cool.; 10/7/16, 11:07 AM
320Busdriver said...: Trump would be wise to leverage the continued emplosion that is this presidents signature legislation. It should be hung around Hillarys neck like a concrete block.; 10/7/16, 11:11 AM
Sydney said...: Even if this weren't happening during our crazy election, the media would ignore it. It doesn't fit the narrative of his wonderfulness.; 10/7/16, 11:13 AM
Sebastian said...: Dems can't face up to it. Even Frank euphemistically says O "accomplished little" since 2011.

Prog partisanship and lust for power has corrupted everything.; 10/7/16, 11:14 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "Dems can't face up to it. Even Frank euphemistically says O "accomplished little" since 2011."

-- He spent a lot of good will/political capital on things like the Cornhusker Kickback and then never earned it back. He kept pushing, pushing, pushing, even when it was clearly hurting electorally. He's good at getting elected, but bad at leading a party.; 10/7/16, 11:21 AM
Gusty Winds said...: Yeah, but the economy added another 156,000 bar-tending jobs in September.; 10/7/16, 11:24 AM
Fabi said...: Unexpectedly.; 10/7/16, 11:26 AM
Gusty Winds said...: UnitedHealthCare premiums have increased 35% two years in a row for our company. The owner (a Walker supporter) picks up 85% of the premium for individuals and families which is pretty generous on his part.

I manage a big portion of the budget, and I don't know how we can sustain 35% a year increases. Something is going to implode.; 10/7/16, 11:28 AM
damikesc said...: Yeah, but the economy added another 156,000 bar-tending jobs in September.

Not totally true. They were PART-TIME bar-tending jobs.

I manage a big portion of the budget, and I don't know how we can sustain 35% a year increases. Something is going to implode.

Which was ALWAYS their goal. Because Progs TRULY believe, in spite of decades and decades of evidence, that the government is really good at saving money. Because if you can make a lot of money by only giving away some of other people's money, a lot of folks would say no.; 10/7/16, 11:31 AM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Yeah, I wonder why Hillary Clinton has faced almost no questions bout Obamacare or the Obama Administration's many foreign policy failures...what possible explanation could there be?

Fun fact: the NPR newscast this morning said analysts expected the jobs report released today to show +170k new jobs. The actual report shows +150k, somewhat less than predicted. The WashPo headline: "Report Shows Strong Job Growth" although the subheadline mentions that the unemployment rate increased. Had this report come in under a Republican President does anyone doubt the headline would be "Job Reports Shows Lower-than-Expected Growth: Economists Worried" or something similar?; 10/7/16, 11:31 AM
Earnest Prole said...: Democrats and Republicans share an incentive to plump Obama’s accomplishments: Democrats for obvious reasons; Republicans to communicate the Dark Horror of living under the Obama Regime. The truth, as Krauthammer writes, is that Obama’s very few presidential deeds are being eroded in the final days of his presidency. It's almost as though the chair has been empty for eight years.; 10/7/16, 11:34 AM
Gusty Winds said...: At some point you have to think Obama intended to leave the United States in its current condition. So many others saw the faulty math when Obamacare was passed. Are we to assume he didn't? Of course he did.

And if you watch that prick Ezekial Emanuel who was the architect of the law; he knew it would work. Probably why he's willing to check out at age 75.

If Hillary wins her Presidency is screwed. She won't reverse course as required, and is just dumb enough to double down and try and convince America is all smells like a rose.; 10/7/16, 11:35 AM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/7/16, 11:35 AM
Sam L. said...: There's a Democrat running. Suppression of the news, and mangling it beyond recognition is what the media does for the Party.; 10/7/16, 11:36 AM
damikesc said...: And if you watch that prick Ezekial Emanuel who was the architect of the law; he knew it would work. Probably why he's willing to check out at age 75.

They think it's GREAT that they lied to the people. The press does so as well. They think's brilliant to lie to people who will assume you're telling the truth. Just more ties that bind us together being cut.

I look forward to the violence.; 10/7/16, 11:37 AM
Sam L. said...: Gusty Wind's first point: The Won IS the Smartest Man In The World.; 10/7/16, 11:37 AM
buwaya said...: "Even if this weren't happening during our crazy election, the media would ignore it. It doesn't fit the narrative of his wonderfulness."

There are national elections every two years so everything is political all the time, there is always a campaign going on, so that's no excuse.

And the mass media is a well-organized tool of the guilty parties in any case.; 10/7/16, 11:38 AM
Martin said...: Eventually Obama will be recognized as one of the 5 worst Presidents ever, but not while there is a Democrat running to succeed him.; 10/7/16, 11:39 AM
Big Mike said...: Krauthammer and his usual understatements . . .; 10/7/16, 11:39 AM
rehajm said...: It's almost as though the chair has been empty for eight years.

That would have been an enormous improvement. Consider how many human, political and economic resources were wasted trying to prop up or impede all this shit.; 10/7/16, 11:42 AM
mockturtle said...: Even if this weren't happening during our crazy election, the media would ignore it. It doesn't fit the narrative of his wonderfulness.

Sad but true.; 10/7/16, 11:47 AM
eric said...: Fun fact: the NPR newscast this morning said analysts expected the jobs report released today to show +170k new jobs. The actual report shows +150k, somewhat less than predicted. The WashPo headline: "Report Shows Strong Job Growth" although the subheadline mentions that the unemployment rate increased. Had this report come in under a Republican President does anyone doubt the headline would be "Job Reports Shows Lower-than-Expected Growth: Economists Worried" or something similar?

Yes. Not only that, but there will be endless hardship stories of personal struggle on the news networks. Homeless families. People losing their jobs. Entire towns closed down.

This is one good thing about a Republican administration. We finally discover the true state of our economy. It also means you should protect your 401k. Because the market is going to take a large tumble if Trump is elected. Not because anything Trump may or may not do. But because finally the truth will out.

No worries though, it'll come back eventually.; 10/7/16, 11:48 AM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/7/16, 11:52 AM
Larry J said...: damikesc said...
Yeah, but the economy added another 156,000 bar-tending jobs in September.

Not totally true. They were PART-TIME bar-tending jobs.

I manage a big portion of the budget, and I don't know how we can sustain 35% a year increases. Something is going to implode.

Which was ALWAYS their goal. Because Progs TRULY believe, in spite of decades and decades of evidence, that the government is really good at saving money. Because if you can make a lot of money by only giving away some of other people's money, a lot of folks would say no.

The Progressives have their own version of Trickle Down Economics. They believe if we give ever more money and power to the federal government, prosperity will magically trickle down on us. What actually happens is the Progressives and their cronies become richer and more powerful while the rest of us stagnate or decline.

As for using the failure of ObamaCare as justification for going to government single payer, that's failing upwards. They screw up the previous job and use that as a justification to let them have even more power. What kind of mindset do you have to have to see abject failure as a qualification for future work?; 10/7/16, 11:55 AM
n.n said...: Public success. Private failure. The ball of yarns unwinds.

That said, why would they push a reset with Russia and others? Why would they force refugee crises? Why would they promote mass emigration? Why would they adopt trickle-up poverty? Why would they engage in multiple regime changes and provoke others? Why would they resume racism, sexism, etc. under [class] diversity? Why would they advocate for abortion rites?

A progressive world order that avoids reconciliation comes at a high price.; 10/7/16, 11:58 AM
mikee said...: Wait just one quick minute here! I thought it was only intentions that mattered, not outcomes, when judging the progressive agenda.; 10/7/16, 12:13 PM
Michael K said...: "It's almost as though the chair has been empty for eight years."

No, the 50,000 new regulations are there and that is his "legacy." A Trump president can wipe them all away as they are executive action, not legislation. Many, however, are the Administrative State implementing vague legislation like that passed the last 20 years and it may be more difficult.; 10/7/16, 12:14 PM
buwaya said...: The new regs would have gone in no matter what Dem was in the chair. More than would probably have made it in under a President McCain or Romney.; 10/7/16, 12:33 PM
320Busdriver said...: Eric said:

No worries though, it'll come back eventually.

I'm beginning to like this strategy more and more.; 10/7/16, 12:34 PM
Roughcoat said...: Very perceptive article by the Kraut.

But it won't make any difference: the Ratchet effect and all that. And his approval ratings are 55 percent.

The Republic is doomed if it keeps on its present course.; 10/7/16, 12:37 PM
Roughcoat said...: Trump would be wise to leverage the continued emplosion that is this presidents signature legislation.

Doesn't matter. The Democrat Party is (as has been said) a criminal enterprise masquerading as a political party. Democrat Party leaders including Obama and Hillary ought to be hauled before a judge and indicted under the RICO statutes. At the least they should be dismissed for gross incompetence. Not that either course would have any meaningful consequences. Obama and Hillary could slaughter infants on the Capitol steps and throw them in the fires of Moloch and Obama would still get a 55 percent approval rating and Hillary would still get elected.; 10/7/16, 12:46 PM
320Busdriver said...: If you think you have a low opinion of the Obama presidency take a read of Suskinds "Confidence Men."

A devastating account of 09/10 white house, especially ACA and Dodd-Frank.

Makes me wish for divided government into perpetuity.; 10/7/16, 12:50 PM
John henry said...: Doesn't it depend on what his agenda is?

I have said repeatedly that he's been very successful at shifting the voting populace to a more liberalpoint of view; 10/7/16, 1:00 PM
readering said...: 3 days since the vp debate and the polls haven't budged in favor of the Republican ticket. It's over.; 10/7/16, 1:02 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Makes me wish for divided government into perpetuity

Thought experiment: If your choices were Clinton, Trump, or a third Obama term provided the House and Senate remained Republican, which would you choose?; 10/7/16, 1:02 PM
Roughcoat said...: The Progressives have their own version of Trickle Down Economics.

Which is a subset of their Trickle Down Ideology concept, which I am inventing here and now. The Dems/Progs/Libs operate on the principle that if they overload the system -- and, more importantly, the culture -- with leftist progams, initiatives, laws, statutes, regulations, etc., etc., some will have enough staying power to effect the leftward shift in society they seek. That is why they push and implement, e.g., leftist policies and programs that they know will be problematic, or fail outright, or even prove ruinous or damaging to the Republic and vast numbers of Americans.. Success or failure isn't the point. The point is to transform America into a leftist state and society, which is desirable for its own sake. They will "flood the zone," as it were, and they fully expect, pace Obama's comment about the Affordable Care, that Americans "will get used to it."; 10/7/16, 1:07 PM
sinz52 said...: Earnest Prole:

The only way I can tolerate either Hillary or Trump as President is if the House and Senate are controlled by the other party.

The best of a bad situation: President Hillary and House Speaker Paul Ryan, or President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.; 10/7/16, 1:24 PM
khesanh0802 said...: @Earnest Prole I would choose Trump. Both Obama and Clinton have proven that they are not up to the task. Obama in the actual job. Trump will have a long way to go to perform as poorly as either of the other two.; 10/7/16, 2:22 PM
StephenFearby said...: BBC
World Bank admits some have lost out from free trade

"Recent evidence for the US suggests that adjustment costs for those employed in sectors exposed to import competition from China are much higher than previously thought," the document says.

"While trade may have contributed to rising inequality in high income economies, so has technological change and the weakening of institutions that used to represent the interests of labour.

"Given overall efficiency gains, the dislocation effects of trade in advanced economies must be addressed through stronger safety nets and enhanced skills and flexible labour markets."

That's one way of looking at it.

Comment #475 (in the comments section) offers another:

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'Some who more than lost out due to blind belief in the god called Free Trade is the 1 million Irish who died in the potato famine. See [1], end of paragraph title "Criticism". It might be good in general but not always, nothing ever. Diversity and self sufficiency are good too.'

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage

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http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37580844; 10/7/16, 2:43 PM
Jaq said...: Maybe if Obama had dealt with the Congress the American people sent him, he could have gotten things done. Instead he whined and sniveled about the results of the elections and refused all compromise.; 10/7/16, 3:20 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Maybe if Obama had dealt with the Congress the American people sent him, he could have gotten things done

Say what you want about Bill Clinton, this was his strength; 10/7/16, 4:45 PM
Christy said...: Obamacare was a Pelosi-Reid achievement. Obama was just along for the ride.; 10/7/16, 9:39 PM