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(Posted 25 Feb) Barack Obama is easily the weakest president in American history. And because of that, America has never been in as much danger as we are now. Most Americans are blithely unaware of that danger. The Civil War was a grave threat, but we had a president firmly committed to the American Experiment, the American ideal. We had an educated man, someone who had studied world history, British History, American History and had tried hard to immerse himself in the received wisdom of the age.
He could weave a narrative in his mind to which he could attach events as they unfolded. A frame of reference could be formed in his thinking. That's a rare ability nowadays. It was rare then too, even in a time when leaders were better educated.
Lincoln, had Socratic wisdom, meaning that he never thought he knew things that he did not know. A very small percentage of people actually really and truly do possess this kind of wisdom, and almost no politicians do. Lincoln was conscious of the reality of ignorance on a wide range of subjects that all intelligent people must face before they can apply themselves to any task, or to any mission. Even stopping to ponder, to realize the facets of a problem or a situation is something most people never get past before they start drawing on their own incredible learning and launching solutions they haven't thought through.
Barack Hussein Obama is every much "most people," if anything more so. (That's almost like a line from Casablanca, by the way.)
We have never had a president so incredibly fascinated by his own intelligence and all-knowing powers. Yet, we can be sure we have never had a president so truly ignorant of history, and so terribly unfamiliar with the American Experience—let alone our antecedents.
Yes, we are very much aware we are speaking the polar opposite of what is heard in the fawning, unreflective world of mainstream media and pop culture, the masters of which swoon at every Obama dropping, literally confessing to "getting thrills running up their legs" just hearing the master's voice. We know. But we have actually listened. And watched. And observed. And followed events.
If you are interested in a study, an examination of the dangers we face, of the dangers the world faces, we can continue this conversation.
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