Just came across this surprising column by Michael Smerconish, who is an EA parent and someone I once looked up to as a responsible, thoughtful voice in a cacophony of sensationalism. But then he endorsed Obama in 2008, and it’s been all downhill from there as he has descended into the caricature MSNBS-type partisan. What a shame.
Smerconish may have his thinking cap on, but he is wearing it backwards apparently.
Boy has Michael Smerconish fallen off the wagon as he comes to Obama’s defense. He used to be a highly respected centrist voice in Philly radio, and now he is a willing sycophant pushing this nonsense spin onto the world. Smerconish endorsed Obama out of nowhere 4 years ago, and he is so desperate to justify that very poor decision that he can’t see past his own keyboard.
The “context” of Obama’s remarks – as well as the remarks by Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren upon which his were based – show how truly out of touch this President is. It’s a pathetic “straw-man” argument… WHO, exactly, is arguing that America doesn’t create an environment beneficial to all? Who is arguing that successful people do it 100% on their own? Romney sure isn’t. The GOP sure isn’t. Just Obama, Warren and Smerconish’s made up enemies.
We need a President who believes in the ingenuity and industriousness of the American entrepreneur… someone who nurtures the competitive spirit; someone who challenges us all to take risks and thing big; someone who subscribes to the notion that individuals matter and that successful people are what powers everything that Obama cited (who do you think pays the tax bill to fund research programs like DARPA?)
This line particularly irked me because it is a total non-sequitur designed to de-legitimize any dissent. Ironically, it is Smerconish who is avoiding a “substantive conversation” by refusing to analyze and understand President Obama’s world view:
The trouble with the president’s remarks? They extended beyond the 20-second attention span of this campaign. And when the edited version made the rounds, a legitimate, substantive conversation about social contracts was instead reduced to silly charges of socialism.
Shame on you, Mr. Smerconish.
