Rich Lowry, National ReviewRepublicans neednÂ’t trouble themselves to nominate a presidential candidate in 2012. No matter what, Pres. Barack Obama will be running against George W. Bush.
Bush will be ObamaÂ’s eternal foil. At this rate, when Obama writes his post-presidential memoir, it will be titled: An Audacious Presidency, or How I Saved America from That Bastard Bush. His presidential library will have a special fright-house wing devoted to BushÂ’s misrule. He will mutter in his senescence about 43, like the Ancient Mariner about his albatross....
Rich, buddy, please, don't give him any ideas.
...When Obama first burst on the scene, he seemed to respect the other side. That refreshing Obama is long gone. Now, he impugns his immediate predecessor with classless regularity, and attributes the worst of motives — pure partisanship and unrestrained greed — to those who oppose him. Their assigned role is to get the hell out of his way.
The acid test of the White House inevitably exposes a presidentÂ’s character flaws: NixonÂ’s corrosive paranoia, ClintonÂ’s self-destructive indiscipline, BushÂ’s stubborn defensiveness. Obama in the crucible is exhibiting an oddly self-pitying arrogance. ItÂ’s unbecoming in anyone, let alone the most powerful man on the planet.