Krauthammer Correcting Krauthammer
Since mid-December, Charles Krauthammer has called President Obama “The Comeback Kid.” He even argued that it took Obama a mere “five weeks” to “move to the center to win back the independents who had abandoned the party in November.”
So — how long does it take a wise columnist to recognize a mistake and call an ideologue and ideologue? Six weeks. Here’s Krauthammer today:
Perhaps this is all to be expected from Democrats – the party of government – and from a President who from his very first address to Congress has boldly displayed his zeal to fundamentally transform the American social contract and place it on a “New Foundation” (an Obama slogan that never took). He’s been chastened enough by the election of 2010 to make gestures toward the center. But the State of the Union address revealed a man ideologically unbowed and undeterred. He served up an insignificant spending cut, yet another (if more modest) stimulus and a promise to fight any Republican attempt to significantly shrink the size of government.
I called BS on the whole Comeback Kid thing the day Krauthammer’s piece was published. Which, if you add them all together, makes one time I was ahead of Charles Krauthammer.
Like most PJMers, I consider him the premiere conservative voice, but he was wrong on this — as he has been wrong on Palin (the more she gets beat up, the more she becomes a lock on the 2012 nomination).
His distant #2 among conservative columnists – George Will – has been more consistent on this than Mr. Krauthammer. And unlike the good (MD) doctor, the (Ph.D.)Doctor Will works exclusively in the far left zone of ABC, without any Fox News to bring him back to the real world.
And now that Imam Amanpour has taken over “This Week”, the real question is how FNC will give enough space to George Will without upsetting the commentator king once George’s contract expires with Pravda, er, I mean ABC….
Well CK is a guy with a good brain. But I thought he went overboard on that comment also. I really don’t get his Anti-Palin stance either. Oh well, he still gives up some of the best DimLib biatch slapdowns of all. And cleanly. And sometimes so well done, I don’t even think they realize he did clean their clock.
CK makes a lot of good calls, but he is also the Republican’s flavor of the Ruling Class. As such, he is regularly contemptuous of barbarians like Palin and Beck, who don’t attempt to be intellectual and nuanced.
He should just keep his mouth shut when he disagrees with one of the conservative leaders who rub his elitism the wrong way.
You are so right.
As you call her “that barbarian”. Sarah Palin is probably the most honest politcian in our midst. I do not know if she can be a good president but she damn sure could do no worse than this pro-muslim socialist we now have in the whitehouse
In the general election, I would vote for an undead candidate running on a platform of “Zombie apocalypse now, zombie apocalypse forever,” before I’d vote for Obama.
Stephen,
What about a zombie Obama?
AMEN.
I have to respect Krauthammer’s knowledge, but not so much his wisdom. And he rubs me the wrong way routinely, for some visceral reason I have yet to determine.
I have followed CK for a long time and have been caught slacked jawed by some of the stupid things he says. He can be so reasonable and then say the dumbest thing that you can imagine. He has been merciless on both Beck and Palin without any explanation and continues to call Obama intelligent and cunning. BS! When you really want to see someone for what they truly are, watch them in an unprepared moment. Obama has failed this test every time he has been presented with it. Watch this buffoon without his teleprompter. Listen to his “Prepared” SOTU message! It was almost high school in its quality and the message was pathetic. Maybe it’s time for old CK to go back to being a shrink and let someone else read the crystal ball.
Krauthammer and other conservatives quick to coo and kvell over Barry’s mendacious charades aren’t being naive or self-deluding; it’s only to undercut Sarah Palin, and it’s working. They’d rather Obama win in 2012 than see her in that office.
Krauthammer was quick as the Left to bash her from the get-go; it helped McCain lose the election. Hell, he didn’t stop there; he blamed her for the loss, too. Then he, and Rove, kicked her candidates in 2010, even when they’d won their primaries. The GOP could’ve had the Senate locked up like the House, had those two just kept their big fat mouths shut.
I think Carl may be on to a plausible unifying theory here.
That’s nice but get back to me when he stops beating up on Sarah Palin.
I think Krauthammer’s cynicism is taking over. I think all this praise and sanguinity for Obama covers a cloud of disgust and despair over the stupid American electorate.
Krauthammer’s “Comeback Kid” theme disappointed me, and very likely boosted Obama’s morale and that of his handlers. Krauthammer is not philosophically consistent enough to be “right” every time he speaks. In fact, he’s not philosophical at all. Obama has been emitting word clouds for three years, and Krauthammer was right to advise that observers should pay much more attention to what he does than to what he says. Obama is a certified ideologue, and his approach to the State of the Union speech was, “Damn it, I have to say something, and it’s got to sound conciliatory (yuk, yuk), so let’s knock together some yadda yadda that’ll make me sound ‘centrist’ and humbled and a teeny bit ‘bipartisan.’ At the same time, we shouldn’t alienate those fool independents again so let’s throw in stuff about green energy and China and some collectivist buzz-words. If we get it right, we could ask that stone-faced Krauthammer if he’d want to be my new press secretary.”
Charles”Rainman”Krauthammer”Is a typical political elitist washington insider hack.Out of touch with traditional america.Like rainman he may be good at crunching the numbers.But has no connection to reality,and commonsense problem solving,unless it came out of some harvard intellecual seminar.Like too many stero typical thinking people.he hates sarah palin,and thinks she’s stupid.because he was taught in our education system.1.That anyone who is a christian,and believes in god,is stupid.Which makes them,enemies of our founding fathers.who declared,we are endowed by our creator.2.the stereotypical belief that all women who are goodlooking,and sexy,cannot be Intelligent,Or are sugardaddy golddiggers.Just how many dumb blonde jokes,and golddigger jokes have we all heard,or told.Common theme.goodlooking,and sexy.If she was as ugly as sin,and rode her fathers,husbands,or government proxy,coattail to the top.Those like krauthammer would be bowing to her alter.Example;Hillary clinton,The women on the supreme court,The democrats in congress,who are women.Ugly as sin,Anti-christ,And propped up by either their fathers,husbands,or government sponsored,taxpayer paid program.that coattailed them to the top.Finally.Those like charles krauthammer,and presidential wanna be’s like mike huckabee.Was licking barack obama’s boots two years ago.Crowning him godlike.And since the upswing in his polling.because the republican senate,propped him back up again in the lame duck session.Again those like krauthammer,and huckabee,are again annointing him godlike.Sarah palin was the only potantial presidential candidate that had the vision,judgement,and courage.To see,and call barack obama who he really is two years ago.And was told to shut-up by these obama zombies like krauthammer,and huckabee.Now that republicans have beathed life back into this beast of burden”barack obama”These same liberal lapdogs,are again bowing to the alter,of this beast of burden.telling sarah palin,the main driving force behind the defeat of the democrat party,and lapdog republican sellouts,in novembers election.The only potential presidential candidate who may run in 2012.Again is told to shut-up,and called stupid.Jimmy Joe”The Liarfryer”
Krauthammer has become a disappointment.
agree.
he is an elitist.
Everybody is wrong about something, and people who get paid to opine in public are prone to being wrong consistently about particular things.
Best to identify what Dr. K usually gets right, and ignore the rest. It’s what my wife does with me.
A rare misstep by one of the masters. He was correct in the sense that Obama’s approval ratings did go up a bit because he was modifying his rhetoric. I don’t think Charles was ever fooled by this.
So if you don’t believe Palin is presidential material you are an “elitist” now? Charles doesn’t “hate” Palin, he just doesn’t think she is up to running the country. I tend to agree and I am hardly an intellectual elitist, just an average Joe.
Palin has been treated unfairly, but right or wrong the left has successfully marginalized her. She has been “Quayled”. She would be a tough sell to the independents who would need to vote for her in high numbers to get into office. Why go in to the next election cycle on defense?
Are there no other candidates up to the job? We are facing too many serious challenges as a nation to commit electoral suicide to defend Sarah’s honor. If you were to put her words in the mouth of an average, fat, middle aged politician with a receding hairline, nobody would care.
Her charisma and good looks have served her well and she is a crowd-pleaser. Unfortunately we have already went down that road with the current occupant of the white house. No reason to do it again just because she is a conservative. We have other able candidates who come without her baggage, have more experience and are far more versed on the issues. Take off the blinders.
Ken, interesting post. Who do you favor for 2012? I’m honestly interested in your opinion.
For me, Gov. Barbour is a good pick. Romney = NO NO NO. I’m open to other suggestions.
CK is just an intelligent man that, like any other intelligent man, will have its small share of mistakes and wrong positions when they are asked to opine and provide the light of reason in every issue on the land. Intelligent men can do it and generally bat above 50%, but no man can bat 100% – except wise men who will bat 100% by answering some of the issues with an “I don’t know”.
CK’s anti-Palin stance has been wrong from day one and is the issue that defines him as an intelligent man and not a wise man; he has insisted in his wrong position time after wrong time without being able to say “I don’t know”.
In some economic issues he better start saying “I don’t know” also, as in the case of his criticism of the Obama bipartisan compromise of the Bush tax extension which he declared “an Obama victory” because he bought into the Democratic claims that it would cost the nation 700 billion.
Intelligent man, yes, but no wise man and no economist.
I wish commentators and bloggers would stop using ideologue to describe Obama as if it is the worst pejorative that can be reasonably applied to him. The man is a statist. Ideologue connotes an idealist or theorist whose only failing is being impractical. The man has promoted statist government his whole career. Statists are cynical and manipulative, not to mention evil
And I wish they would all quit using “liberal” to describe statists.
jimmy joe,
No one has ever read even one of your sentences because you have no spaces between them. You’re talking to no one. And it’s been that way for many, many years.
Can’t one of you non-deluded minds out there write jimmyjoe a quick program to add two space characters after every period? Built for perl or perl script (vice versa)