October 20, 2017

"The mere thought of tangling with the Trumpster’s foul, prevaricatory, sneering tweets offends Obama’s own sense of civil discourse between politicians."

"This revulsion is just another form of self-indulgence... It isn’t as if Barack Obama doesn’t realize what he is doing and what is happening in this self-enriching bubble he has shaped, post presidency.... He can’t seem to help himself."

Wrote Ralph Nader, quoted in "The far left’s attacks on moderate Democrats get old," by Paul Fanlund, editor of Madison's Capital Times.

54 comments:

Gahrie said...

Obama's own sense of civil discourse.....what would that be? His idea of civil discourse is "I won, so shut up" and "Republicans are evil racist homophobes who want to oppress women".

rehajm said...

He sees all his great work going to pot. All this talk makes me think tax reform is actually going to pass.

Mike Sylwester said...

I never will forget this example of Barack Obama's civil discourse:

-----

If you disrespect women before you were president, you will disrespect women when you’re in office. If you accept the support of a Klan sympathizer, the Klan, and hesitate when asked about that support, then you’ll tolerate that support when you’re in office.

-----

What a civil politician! What civil discourse!!

Bay Area Guy said...

Certain groups and individuals need to stop reading Trump tweets. They are unable to process them.

southcentralpa said...

Comedy gold! Thanks, Professor... (perhaps the missing premise in the CT piece is that Obama could count on the legacy media to do that sort of stuff FOR him directly, whereas the incumbent President has to tweet it himself, and only then does what he wants to say enter the media bloodstream, so to speak...)

Susan said...

So was he scratching his middle finger on his cheek in dismay?

traditionalguy said...
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traditionalguy said...

That was a fun read, watching the writer touch every base he needed to while avoiding every truth he needed to, like a man going through a minefield. Madison must be a minefield, where like Andy Griffith's analysis, ..." the object of the game is to get from one side of the field to the other without stepping in anything."

Fernandinande said...

In one of his earliest writings, Nader said, "the consumer must be protected at times from his own indiscretion and vanity."

Sebastian said...

Nader got it almost right: This pretended revulsion is just another form of strategic self-indulgence.

David Begley said...

Yeah, Obama was the greatest president in history. See, ISIS, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Russia, Syria, race conflict, health care and 2% economic growth.

Chuck said...

I never realized that Althouse had created an "Obama is conservative" tag.

rehajm said...

Ralph Nader? Crikey. Talk about not leaving the stage...

I'm Full of Soup said...

"Yeah, Obama was the greatest president in history. See, ISIS, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Russia, Syria, race conflict, health care and 2% economic growth."

I would add Bush was a failure too yet the two of them, Bush and Obama, are out there yesterday braying like they did so well and they moved the people together and they improved the country during their presidencies. Yet I can't see where either of them even improved things even a teensy bit. And both of them failed to abide by their oath of office to uphold the laws when they allowed our borders to be overrun by illegal immigrants.

LilyBart said...


Yes, Obama likes say these things in private to his like-minded supporters (ie: the bitter clingers remark). And he likes to lie to the people with a thin veil of dignity covering his lies (Let me be clear, you can keep your doctor. Period).

LilyBart said...


Oh, what about the time he lectured Christians to get off their high horses?

Obama could be awful, he just had the press backing him up and calling people racist when they had the nerve to criticize him.

Ann Althouse said...

I met Ralph Nader once, a long time ago. He gave a speech at the law school here. I remember him fulminating against NAFTA, which was in the works and I didn't yet know too much about.

He was quite a presence. I have never been so astonished at the size of a person's head, and I don't mean his ego. I mean, literally, his head.

Susan said...

I've heard you can get a big head from too much adulation.

PatHMV said...

I continue to be shocked at how many people truly believe that President Obama was not "divisive," and was a huge supporter of "civil discourse." His sneering contempt for the "bitter clingers," while most often couched in more subtle and sweeter language than Trump's blunt crudeness, was patently obvious to me from very early in his 2008 campaign.

rcocean said...

Nadar talks a good game - like many old Leftists. Put when push comes to shove, he'll support a Liberal Democrat who favors Bank bailouts, NAFTA or tax cuts, over a Republican who agrees with him on those issues.

tcrosse said...

There are still people who blame Nader for swinging the 2000 election.

rcocean said...

Democrats are angry as hell that Trump pushes back against their attacks. How dare he tweet, its so...unpresidential!

And Obama should tweet against him and be uncivil because..presidential!

Notice that the old tradition of Presidents not criticizing their successors doesn't even get a mention. Its only the Republicans who care about that. The Democrats have moved on.

Heywood Rice said...

Nadar talks a good game - like many old Leftists. Put when push comes to shove, he'll support a Liberal Democrat who favors Bank bailouts, NAFTA or tax cuts, over a Republican who agrees with him on those issues.

Like who?

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

AJ Lynch,

I would add Bush was a failure too yet the two of them, Bush and Obama, are out there yesterday braying like they did so well and they moved the people together and they improved the country during their presidencies.

To the contrary: Bush isn't "braying" anything. He's gone into decent retirement, painting portraits of fallen servicemen and saying nothing political. Obama, OTOH ...

rehajm said...

I continue to be shocked at how many people truly believe that President Obama was not "divisive," and was a huge supporter of "civil discourse."

Lefties love the way Obama demeans his political foes. His passive aggressive sniveling is easy for the left to dismiss as 'civil'.

I told him we already got one!

holdfast said...

If you think President Trump is a hoot, imagine what Former President Trump will be like, with no John Kelly to restrain him!

rcocean said...

Like who?

Nadar has never supported a Republican - even Pat Buchanan.

Further, he's an open borders fanatic. So, he supposedly cares about "American Workers" but joins with the Wall Street cheap labor lobby.

Big Mike said...

Yup, telling his followers to "punch back twice as hard" sounds pretty civil to me.

CStanley said...

fulminating against NAFTA

Beautiful irony.

Reading those two linked articles made me think of the comic trope "Can they both lose?" In terms of the authors representing moderate and far left. And in this case, delightfully, they both ARE losing!

Matt Sablan said...

The man who insulted McCain's war injuries is not someone who is a part of civil discourse.

Trump's an ass too, but this belief that Obama was an above it all nice guy is stupidity on stilts.

Todd said...

"The mere thought of tangling with the Trumpster’s foul, prevaricatory, sneering tweets offends Obama’s own sense of civil discourse between politicians."

HAHAHAHhaahaaaaaa.

Obama's idea and sense of "civil discourse" is nothing more than "sit down, listen to me, and shut up". There is no "discourse" with Obama. Everything is a lecture. No more, no less.

Matt Sablan said...

Trump should just start quoting Obama, saying things like, "I won" and "[This Group] acted stupidly."

You know. To be civil and stuff.

MadisonMan said...

It's hard to take a Columnist seriously when they peddle the notion that Jill Stein is responsible for President Trump.

Trump is President because Hillary Clinton is corrupt and her branch of the Party is completely out-of-step with mainstream America.

Democrats should read that sentence 1000 times, or until it sinks in.

LilyBart said...

we’ve got folks who are deliberately trying to make folks angry, to demonize people who have different ideas, to get the base all riled up because it provides a short-term tactical advantage.”… Barack Obama

Well, he would know about that, wouldn't he. Is he angry that other people are encroaching on his territory?

Tim said...

Thanks for the laugh. Obama and civil discourse have never met.

Sam L. said...

Poor, POOR, Obama, and Ralph, too. Mah heyeart buhleeds fer 'em.

Michael K said...

We have Trump because both parties are corrupt and, unless they suppress this Russia scandal, it will get more obvious.

Heywood Rice said...

Nadar has never supported a Republican - even Pat Buchanan.

The Battle of Seattle

TestTube said...

I thought the line:
Right Ralph, our first African-American president has turned his back on all those to whom he has devoted his public life in order to line his pockets.

was too precious.

Barack Obama has devoted his public life to first and foremost to Barack and Michelle Obama. Hanging with cool celebrities. Raking in first the campaign contributions, then the hefty speaking fees and book advances.

Passing half-assed legislation, then propping it up with executive orders. Public communications and appearances that put style above substance.

LilyBart said...
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Anonymous said...

Probably the most accurate thing in the column: " Right Ralph, our first African-American president has turned his back on all those to whom he has devoted his public life in order to line his pockets."

Fanlund needs to get out a bit more. That you read this kind of drivel on a daily basis earns you my deepest sympathy.

johns said...

A gaffe is to accidentally say what you really mean. Ralph Nader is fun to read and listen to because he says what he believes. Obama is the opposite, and set a world record for doing the opposite of what he said.
There was a film in the sixties, a very bad film, that was something like "how to cheat on your wife." In it, a wife walks into the bedroom to find her husband in bed with another woman. While she accuses him and demands to know what is going on, he calmly gets dressed while saying that nothing is going on, then walks out. This is what I always thought of when I heard "you can keep your doctor..."

johns said...

OK, I looked it up. "A Guide for the Married Man" 1967

Known Unknown said...

"I don't mean his ego. I mean, literally, his head."

Like an orange on a toothpick?

Jim at said...

"Yup, telling his followers to "punch back twice as hard" sounds pretty civil to me."

Yeah. And that was when he wasn't telling them to get in our faces and bring a gun if we brought a knife.

President Uniter. That's Obama.

Rick said...

Obama has no sense of civil discourse between politicians. He's a full participant in the left's belief they can say anything they want without regard to reality and also whine about others criticizing them. This is left wing privilege.

If Obama believed in civility he had his Sista Soulja opportunity to tell Biden his comment that Republicans (led by Romney of all people) want to put blacks back in chains (returning them to slavery) was out of line. He didn't for the simple reason that he doesn't believe in extending any level of respect to those he disagrees with. Fearmongering and stoking hate is his electoral strategy as learned from his pastor as it is for essentially every Democrat and leftwinger.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Trump is Obama's legacy, full stop. I think Barack knows it too. And beyond monetizing it, doesn't much care.

James Pawlak said...

Did he note Obama's treason?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Yeah, Obama was the greatest president in history. See, ISIS, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Russia, Syria, race conflict, health care and 2% economic growth.

Lol. Good thing those Republican asshole congressionals were so interested in helping him to succeed!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

He was quite a presence. I have never been so astonished at the size of a person's head, and I don't mean his ego. I mean, literally, his head.

He's a smart guy.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Interestingly Toothy, I've read that brain size may not matter; no, what I mean is that I specifically read that Einstein's brain was smaller than average. All men are not created equal, but obviously he did more, apparently with less. At least in quantity if not in quality. And afterall I haven't checked my source, treat it as a factoid. And on the other hand, men's brains average heavier than women's, so I'm happy to conclude either way, haha.

The only real stat I remember on these things is that higher birth weight corresponds to higher IQ. Of course, kids are being born bigger and bigger these days, with C-sections and all, so perhaps the correct answer to everything is in fact just to kick things down the road until another generation or two with enlarged craniums like those guys on the old Star Trek Ken figure everything out.

Have you been to Paris yet? We just celebrated hitting a big milestone today. A lovely, lightly sodden company luncheon, at a lovely place in Tribeca God knows why, lovely strip loin roast that was I must admit as good as I can make myself, but I hope you have the time to dine even better when you get there.

Shall I confess that after champagne, rye Sazerac with absinthe, sancerre, grenache, and Irish coffee, I was very glad to take a nap when I got home.

Bad Lieutenant said...

I must tell you that at least we're trying to flush our turds. People hoping to work the lever of the Democrats' toilet, now would be good. It's not smelling any better over there. I'm not seeing fastnesses of high ideals being preserved at the cost of more than life.


What do you make of rhhardin's take on the Harvey Weinstein thing? I'm interested.
I have it! The question to the answer of life, the universe, and everything, through the lens of Mad Men. Jimmy Barrett explains it all, though I failed to find the right clip of the apology itself, I have before and after.

https://youtu.be/w9TuUDZJ2Z8

And

https://youtu.be/_rh2t2BAHu0

FIDO said...

It is all brand protection, ala Thomas Jefferson.

Obama will not stoop to low tactics so he can retain his high brow credentials. However I am guessing that a lot of the bare knuckle brawlers swinging at Trump in the media are, if not under his direction, certainly being given absolution by St. Obama.

Please note: under Obama, our economy STUNK. Our recovery was horrible because of him. Now it is humming.

He honestly dare not get into that kind of scuffle. Between Uranium deals, having to actually take a stand on campus riots, and a comparison of his actions re Syria, Iran, and NK, he really can't stand the comparison unless you are a Kool-Aid Drinking Dem.

Rosalyn C. said...

I notice that Trump is better at thinking on his feet, his come backs during the debates demonstrated that. Obama tends to stutter when he's put on the spot, but is more inspiring rhetorically in controlled settings. Whether that's because of Obama's higher sense of civil discourse is debatable. I prefer to not waste my time thinking about Obama.