Jonah, re your correspondents’ objection to your characterization of the President’s arrogance, how about this?
We cannot pretend somehow that because Barack Hussein Obama got elected as president, suddenly everything is going to be okay.
What previous American president would have said such a thing? And to an audience in Strasbourg — ie, to foreigners, to men and women who do not even enjoy the privilege of being his subjects, except vicariously on occasions such as the above when he graciously overlooks such niceties and proffers himself as benign sovereign of the entire planet.
To put it at its least ambitious, he seems to see himself as Nelson Mandela and the previous regime as the old National Party. He may be correct in his own estimation of his extraordinary talents, but I don’t think his defenders should waste their time and ours by denying this isn’t strikingly different even from Bill Clinton’s faith in his own indispensability. They should be arguing that his arrogance is fully justified by his hitherto unprecedented genius.
In the words of Bob Hope: “Humility? I pass.”
Joyous event of the 100 days of the Obama Idea happily celebrated by cheering workers of the liberated United States Peoples Democratic Republic with inspiring song and deep reflection of gratitude!]