Peggy Noonan proved herself to be a phony during the US presidential campaign. Now she also proves to be an expert at chugging Kool-Aid:
The hundred days are happening now. That's the real headline on President-elect Obama's series of news conferences and his announcements of intended administration policy, such as an economic stimulus package. We don't really have to wait till after the inauguration on Jan. 20 for the new administration to begin. What the Obama transition has become is historically unprecedented. He is filling the vacuum created by a collapsed incumbency and an acute economic crisis.
She then goes on to sip some more juice and praise Obama for his "preternatural steadiness." Right. Still, not a surprise. A lot of conservative writers have been busy penning Obama love letters over the past couple of months. Job security, I suppose.
Yes, yes, I know I go on about this "office of the president-elect" stuff, but politicians bother me when they wear their hunger for power on their sleeves. If McCain had been elected and pulled this arrogant garbage, I would be shelling him with the same gusto.
Noonan naturally thinks this new precedent of taking office before taking office is a good thing. Times are tough and all. They weren't tough during any other presidential transition, just this one. The economy's in bad shape. The sky is falling.
"Precedent" is a word I've been thinking about, too. Politicians and the media have not slapped Mr. Obama's hand for getting too far ahead of himself, so his posturing will undoubtedly establish a new tradition: president-elects will begin mouthing off the second they're elected, turning the White House's statements into mixed signals of static for two whole months. This cannot be a good precedent to set.
Noonan's comment of a "collapsed incumbency" is ridiculous. Was the President of the United States impeached sometime in the last five minutes? The incumbency has not collapsed. Mr. Bush was elected by the American people to serve four years. Though he is constantly called an "unpopular" president, it doesn't matter. Voters asked him to serve for four years, and serve for four years he shall. End of story.
In another four years, should Mr. Obama lose the 2012 election, what wlll be the excuse then? A war somewhere? A bankrupt liquor store? A hangnail?
This usurption of the presidential bullhorn isn't just low class, it's dangerous and should be considered illegal. The president-elect has absolutely no constitutional standing to speak for the executive branch on any subject whatsoever.
But, hey, times are tough. So just this once...
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