Not Very Fair or Balanced

Pres. Obama's speech to European leaders that included the reference to arrogant Americans was really bothering me. At least I thought it was. I wondered whether Pres. Obama had referred to Americans in the third-person plural instead of the first-person plural. So I went looking for his actual speech. What I found surprised me.

In the same paragraph that arrogance was mentioned, Pres. Obama took the Europeans to task for being too anti-American! I don't think Pres. Bush ever went that far. It took Pres. Obama some political courage to spend some of his international popularity to deliver a reality check to the Europeans. I respect him for that.

What surprised me most, however, was how easily I had climbed aboard the bash-Obama bandwagon, without bothering to check out what the conservative show-hosts were saying. Maybe Hannity and Limbaugh had mentioned the other half of the arrogance coin, and I just missed it. But these commentators were pouncing and pounding on the arrogance theme like a jackhammer. And I just went along.

I still have strong feelings about capitalism and freedom that will probably clash with Pres. Obama's views with frequency. This experience, though, reminds me that I will be more effective in persuading others if I remain objective and decline to take liberties with the facts. Publius' comment on the last post is very much appreciated.

Be careful who you trust, especially to help you form opinions. There are two commentators who write well and I have found are trustworthy in not overstating their positions. They are keen observers rather than ideologues. Both tend to be conservative.

One is Peggy Noonan, who has a regular column in the Wall Street Journal (wsj.com). Her last piece, "Lessons from the 2001 Recovery," is an inspiring as well as thought-provoking look at capitalism today, and in the week that followed 9/11.

The other is George F. Will, who regularly contributes to the Washington Post (washingtonpost.com). His latest is "Racing Past the Constitution; Stealing from Casinos" about the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment and how it's being bypassed in Illinois re-distribution of wealth from casinos to racetracks.