Dispatches recommended…
A Tottering Technocracy
~ Here and in Europe, the financial meltdown exposes the hollowness of our elites.
We are witnessing a widespread crisis of faith in our progressive guardians of the last 30 years. These are the blue-chip, university-certified elite, employed by universities, government, and big-money private foundations and financial-services companies. The best recent examples are sorts like Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Larry Summers, Peter Orszag, Robert Rubin, Steven Chu, and Timothy Geithner. Politicians like John Kerry, John Edwards, and Al Gore all share certain common characteristics of this Western technocracy: proper legal or academic credentials, ample service in elected or appointed government office, unabashed progressive politics, and a free pass to enjoy ample personal wealth without any perceived contradiction with their loud share-the-wealth egalitarian politics.
The Crashing Chariot of Our Young Phaethon
Suddenly there are all sorts of expressions of worry and angst among the Left concerning President Obama’s leadership style and effectiveness — from not being on top of the facts and a sort of listless distracted style, to his serial canned sermons and lack of fire in the belly on issues of concern.
These are legitimate worries, inasmuch as the Left assumed that Obama was a once-in-a-lifetime dream candidate who could force a progressive agenda upon a reluctant and largely conservative populace, given his charisma, youth, post-racial profile, landmark candidacy, and teleprompted eloquence.
