You Make Your Own Luck, Mr President

Krauthammer: He should stop blaming fate, and Republicans
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 19, 2011 1:08 PM CDT
You Make Your Own Luck, Mr President
President Obama waves as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House Thursday.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Obama likes to blame two things for the economic mess we're in, writes Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post: bad luck and Republicans. Each is preposterous, Krauthammer adds. Yes, we've seen troubles with Japan, Europe, the Arab Spring, and on and on, but Obama is supposed to be a leader, not a victim of circumstance. "Moreover, luck is the residue of design, as Branch Rickey immortally observed," and Obama's economic policies have backfired. "He sowed, he reaps."

As for his charge against Republicans, the president likes to say they put politics ahead of country—dismissing even the possibility they are acting in good faith but from different principles. It's on par with Rick Perry's "treasonous" comment, but Obama takes no grief for it. These are his two excuses: "a recalcitrant providence and an unpatriotic opposition," writes Krauthammer. "A comforting fantasy. But a sorry excuse for a failing economy and a flailing presidency." (More President Obama stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X