Snark-O-Palooza

Charlie Martin, Pajamas’ new tech editor, sent a tip to this snark-filled comment on Megan McArdle’s blog at the Atlantic:

I’m afraid I must take exception to Megan’s rather churlish suggestion that Obama’s brave, bold actions within the constraints of the flawed TARP program are in any way responsible for its shortfalls. Look, let’s be perfectly clear about this, President Obama inherited a world of problems created by the previous administration. In just about every avenue of governance, gargantuan ills were either allowed to fester or were outright manufactured by his predecessor over the past 10 years.

Now, President Obama didn’t ask to be responsible for those problems. Some may say this simple truth is belied by the lengthy campaign he ran with the sole goal of gaining the office with precisely that responsibility, but they are just wrong. People who spread that kind of misinformation are doing themselves & our country no favors.

Since the very first moment he took office, Obama has worked tirelessly to correct these problems on all fronts in the face of historically unprecedented opposition from the petulantly obstructionist Republicans. Despite giving the deceptive appearance of limited power what with Democrats having super-majorities in both houses & possession of the presidency, the Republicans have worked shady backroom dealings & dealt in downright dark magic to stymie this country’s needed reforms at every turn.

Yet Obama has done what many thought impossible and persevered in his attempts at creating a brighter, more perfect America and, indeed, world in spite of the many roadblocks thrown up by the mystically-powerful, vile Republicans. Have Obama’s policies been successful? Overwhelmingly. One clear sign of success has been the amazingly quick recovery our economy has experienced.

But this is not to say that the administration’s response to the horrid state left by Bush has been perfect. Not at all. There have been things Obama could have done better. Many have pointed out that he’s not spent the kind of time that he perhaps should have talking directly with the American people, laying out what he’s doing & why. Some have said that he needs to do a better job selling his policies. There is validity to these criticisms and you can be sure that Pres. Obama will be trying to make more speeches, give more exclusive interviews, and chat with more sportscasters in the coming months & years to correct these shortcomings.

There’s more…