On Jan 18, 2008, at 9:16 AM, Michael Pollak wrote:
> Although to be fair, by the fact that he elevates Kennedy and
> Reagan as
> the two greats above all others in the post-war run (?!?), it seems
> that
> what he really values above all other qualities is charisma,
> regardless of
> its content, as if great charisma halloweth any cause.
As Adolph Reed put it in an email after watching that video, Obama is looking like a case of serious narcissism. (All pols have it, but we're talking degree here.) Which would fit in with the love of charisma, the lofty emptiness of his rhetoric, and the nature of the crush so many people have on him. Given that diagnosis, however, it's quite possible the crush will wear off soon.
But you're being too kind here. The line about "excesses of the 60s and 70s" is one of Obama's major tropes. And the praise of RR for bringing back "dynamism and entrepreneurship" is pretty explicit, and awful.
Doug