Roger Kimball: Has America “Gone Soft”? "Two points: When, Barack, did you start thinking — or, more to the point, start saying — that America was “a great, great country”? It wasn’t so long ago that you were jetting around the world apologizing for America. What changed your mind? Could it be that your handlers have let you in on the fact that bad-mouthing the country is not a good re-election strategy?
"They’re right about that, you know, but my chief point is the second: Who told you that America had lost its competitive edge “over the last couple of decades”? Whoever it was, you should sack him. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
"Like Koko in the Mikado, I have a little list, and I offer it to you, Barack, free and for nothing, without tax or levy:"...
Stephen Green writes this open letter to the president "I saw the rise of a new political movement, a new Tea Party. This Tea Party didn’t throw fits. The rest of American didn’t have to endure tantrums as they went out on the streets, Greek-style, to demand more and more largess. No. They assembled peacefully, quietly, and asked you to do less to try and “help” them. That doesn’t seem soft to me, Mr. President.
I watched them endure taunts from your allies, and even from you, Mr. President..."
American Thinker has this. Plus this Eric Allie cartoon (right).
Byron York: 'Soft' America: What Obama really meant
"Others have argued that Obama's statement revealed a mix of "condescension, incompetence, and narcissism," in the words of columnist Charles Krauthammer.".... "Look at Obama's speeches in the last couple of months, and he has repeatedly scolded audiences for not working hard enough and for not sacrificing enough to achieve the goals he has set for his administration. He's done it with both supporters and with adversaries."
William Kristol: Bittersoft Liberalism "It’s liberalism that’s become, unfortunately, bitter and soft. It’s bitter about the American people’s resistance to doing what their liberal betters tell them to do. It’s soft in its understanding of the exigencies and limitations of the real world. Obama is wrong: It’s not America that’s bittersoft. It’s liberalism."
Mark Steyn: ‘Soft’ Nation "This is a great, great country that got so soft that 53 percent of electors voted for a ludicrously unqualified chief executive who would be regarded as a joke candidate in any serious nation. One should not begrudge a man who seizes his opportunity. But one should certainly hold in contempt those who allow him to seize it on the basis of such flaccid generalities as “hope” and “change”: That’s more than “a little” soft." "
Of course, Mr. Steyn means that in a nice way.
William Kristol: Bittersoft Liberalism "It’s liberalism that’s become, unfortunately, bitter and soft. It’s bitter about the American people’s resistance to doing what their liberal betters tell them to do. It’s soft in its understanding of the exigencies and limitations of the real world. Obama is wrong: It’s not America that’s bittersoft. It’s liberalism."
