Monday, September 29, 2008

David Gelernter on Obama

David Gelernter, Yale University Professor of Computer Science and essayist extraordinaire, has a new article on the subject of Obama in the Weekly Standard. In it, he makes a compelling argument that neither Obama nor others who share his worldview are qualified to be President. The article, "Obama in Leftland," includes such gems as this:
If the presidency is no place for on-the-job training, it is no place for remedial education either. The problem with Obama is not so much that he lacks experience but that he talks-like so many others of his generation-as if he had a child's view of modern history and (hence) of modern American reality. Obama's candidacy also poses a more subtle and sinister problem. He didn't create it, and it's not his fault; but it's frightening nonetheless. Start with a given: An Obama administration might still bring about defeat in Iraq; speeded-up troop withdrawals might weaken this new democracy and bring on its collapse like a burnt-out log into a blaze of terrorist violence. But if it did-if the left's policies proved tragically mistaken-Obama's supporters would never know it. What would the collapse of America's noble project in Iraq look like in the funhouse mirrors of the New York Times, NBC, Time and Newsweek and NPR and the rest of the establishment media? "In the end, Bush policy plunged Iraq into chaos, but Obama was smart enough to pull out before more American lives were lost." And that's what Democrats would "know" about Iraq.
and this:
Members of the CR [cultural revolution] generation who had mainstream, establishment educations have been trained like pet poodles to understand where romping is allowed and where it is forbidden. The permissible range of thought on such topics as protected minorities, protected species, protected psychosexual deviations, et al. is clearly spelled out from kindergarten onward. Young teachers in the 1970s proudly acknowledged their political biases: They were the New Left in action, on a long march through the institutions. But many of today's young teachers-in consequence of the long march's brilliant success-don't even realize that they are left-wing ideologues. As far as they know, their ideas are innocuous and mainstream-just like the New York Times!
 By all means, read the whole thing, then share it widely. So-called "undecided" (more honestly, "uninformed" – how can any thinking person be undecided between these two tickets, particularly under the circumstances our nation now faces?) voters need a crash course in the vital issues at stake on November 4th.

No comments:

Post a Comment