Free trade is hard work. There is no escaping the Red Queen problem there: “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” It is no remedy to subsidize the slow runners, or to encourage them to train less vigorously.

My comment was aimed at Richardson’s writing and way of thinking about abortion, not Obama particularly.

Noticing a pattern yet? The first half of Obama’s accomplishments above is mostly liberal stuff. The bottom half is all pretty dang conservative. Which brings us to The Problem With America Today: Blame it on the Internet, on partisan politics, on the economic crash, on the legacy of war or Fox News or Michael Moore, but our vital center is getting stiff — and it is starting to stink.

Liberals are upset because Obama didn’t shut down Guantánamo or stop the wiretapping program or end all wars or support gay marriage and kill Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Conservatives are pissed off because they hate health-care reform, family planning, ending any war at all, organic gardening at the White House, and government in general.

What’s worse, both sides are so angry and righteous that they can’t even begin to give credit where it is due. When was the last time you heard a conservative cheer about that $288 billion tax cut? Or credit Obama for the centrism it took to appoint McChrystal, Panetta, and Gates? And how many liberals choose to be understanding about the practical difficulties of shutting down Guantánamo, achieving equal rights for gays, or tapping Al Qaeda’s phones?

And where, on either side, can you find a scrap of humility about the staggeringly complex challenge of Afghanistan and Pakistan? Or a scrap of gratitude at having escaped global financial doom?

So the question, a year since we elected him, isn’t how much Obama has accomplished. The question is why we’ve turned so small and mean that we only see half of it — the half we happen to agree with.

Also, Richardson is a very liberal guy, so I didn’t expect his assessment to be fair, but it’s still a side to deal with in the face of “OBAMA HASN’T DONE A THING.”

Grumbles,
WOOT! WOOT! PALIN 2012!!!

Just like all those terrorist Uighurs that Obama cut loose from Gitmo.

PALIN 2012!!! You’d see some serious ROGUE ACTION happening in those first 100 days!

“A day later, Obama reversed George W. Bush’s funding cutoff to overseas family planning organizations — saving millions of lives with the stroke of a pen.”

A very interesting idea…SAVING ‘millions’ of lives by funding abortions???? Add to that illogical statement with the quote from the very source he links to:

“For eight years under Bush, the global gag rule undermined the ability of providers everywhere to care for women according to best medical practice, and contributed to the deaths and injuries of an untold number of women who sought unsafe abortions when their community-based clinics and hospitals couldn’t offer services, information or referrals,” said Pablo Rodriguez, board chairman of the Association of Reproductive Health Care Professionals.

How does “untold lives”, an anecdotal statistic if I’ve ever heard of one, translate into millions? Perhaps I’m missing something, but I don’t think so. Half of the things Richardson listed as accomplishments are direct results of raising spending to “insane” levels… hardly something to brag about. I’m not saying Obama hasn’t done anything, nor that he won’t at all, but this article rings of a desperate attempt to make lemonade.

As far as Brother Danielson…he is remarkable. I heard once Danielson played in the Biola caf–that would have been a sight to see.

Someday, some kid is going to say, I saw Elijah Wade play outside of Horton Hall.