Sunday, January 25, 2009

Candide, of Chicago

Mark Vernon worries President Obama may be too much the philosophe and too little the bare-knuckle politico: 

Eagerly, I turned to my Sunday paper, searching for Simon Schama's reflection on Obama's inauguration, Schama surely being one of the most astute, and entertaining, commentators on America. His piece did not disappoint - until that is, I reached the final paragraphs. A shiver went down my spine. It reads thus:
'It’s his friends he has to worry about: those who have already – with good reason – begun to fret at his aversion to bare-knuckle politics, his pluralist obsession with seeing all sides of the question, entertaining all views, keeping everyone inside the tent.'
'What if some of those so accommodated take advantage of it? Then – soon, some of us hope – we shall see something more than just the Good Christian. We shall want to see the warrior and, for all of our sakes, feel the mettle of the man.'
Why the shiver? Well, those paragraphs could have been written about another man in whom many placed great hope, namely Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Those whom he accommodated have most certainly taken advantage of him. We must hope that Obama's not too much of a liberal.

After making his way up through Chicago machine politics? Naaah.

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