11-12-2019, 01:25 PM
(11-12-2019, 10:42 AM)David Horn Wrote:(11-10-2019, 11:10 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: Yes -- we are in a Crisis Era, and even an Obama-style Presidency might be utterly inadequate. We will need major reforms of the political system to prevent another play-for-pay system even more blatant than what Trump has shown us. That is even before I discuss changes in economic norms.
I've always felt that Obama was elected out of time. Yes, he's black, and that made caution mandatory. Nonetheless, he acted far more cautious than required, including his push on healthcare. He operated on the old plan: comity and compromise. There was no comity then, and less now. And compromise? Really? That was a non-starter from the go, but he persisted to the end.
Above all, Obama is a mature reactive, the sort of political leader who comes to the fore as the Crisis is ending or as the 1T is underway.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.