Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (95486)	6/27/2011 11:37:50 AM
From: Mac Con Ulaidh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

Obama’s “Professional Critics” And Their Political Immaturity! I’m all for young people getting involved in politics, but the downside to it is the utter lack of historical perspective and understanding of the way our government functions. I remember being that way when I was younger, but I learned quickly because of my very wise mother and my intense curiosity. Even brilliant people like Rachel Maddow fall into that rut and then have trouble getting themselves out of it. She is the one who has elevated the latest MSNBC “Balloon Boy” Lt. Daniel Choi to a position where he gets to spout his half truths, hyperbole and ignorance for the world to see. I was going to write about Choi, but instead I will steer you to others who have covered what I think about it very well. Here, here and here. Instead, I want to rant about the broader issue of who gets to be the pundits on our televisions and in our major publications. A while back, Ezra Klein, one of the young guns in the media, 27 years old as I type, penned a very snarky response to a Ben Bernanke speech with an arrogance that made me wonder how someone of those tender years felt he had the authority to talk down to Mr. Bernanke. Ezra is certainly very smart and a great writer, but that doesn’t necessarily make him qualified to speak on all issues. I tweeted this when Klein penned this post “What Bernanke Should Have Said”… Ezra Klein BA in political science, 27 yrs old. Bernanke, BA-econ Harvard, Ph.D-econ MIT, 57 yrs old. Chairmen of Fed, I pick Ben That tweet pretty much sums up how I feel about that one. Don’t get my wrong, I like Ezra and think he did great work during the health care debate. He is very smart when it comes to politics and unlike a lot of the younger pundits, he has a much greater understanding of the politics of Washington. He was a pol-sci major after all. But no matter how bright he is, I don’t know how much time he has really spent on economics policy. I tend to think Ben Bernanke has a bit more experience and moves in the top circles of economic thinkers. Even Rachel Maddow exhibits a certain immaturity and she is 38 years old. I’ve said it many times on this blog that Rachel is a national treasure and reports about things that no one else is or will. But that doesn’t mean she is always right or understands the ways of Washington. When you think back about what administrations she has lived through as an adult and it makes more sense. When she was 20 years old, Bill Clinton was president and it was the beginning of the downward spiral of our dysfunctional government, with impeachment hearings, investigations and extreme partisan game playing. Remember Newt Gingrich? So when Rachel Maddow took issue with how President Obama approached the repeal of DADT and kept predicting over and over that it wouldn’t happen, basically calling President Obama a liar, it caused her to have to apologize and admit she was wrong when President Obama signed it. But really, after a year and a half of pounding on the President with Rachel leading the charge, the damage was already done and of course those people who used the issue the most to beat up on our Democratic president couldn’t even give him credit for it. Here is a reminder of one of Rachel’s mea culpas after passage of DADT. Rachel starts at about 1 minute… continued... extremeliberal.wordpress.com