Interesting column from the N&R’s Doug Clark (unposted) on the anger and intolerance infecting today’s politics:
One regular follower of my blog often accuses me of “defending Obama” but never responds when I ask him to cite examples. It finally dawned on me that my fault, in this person’s eyes, is simply that I don’t hate the president. I don’t agree that Obama is trying to destroy our country as his most vehement attackers constantly allege. Of course I don’t believe that. It makes no sense. But saying that makes me an apologist for the man —who naturally also is not a “good American.”
Fair enough — I don’t hate Obama either, though I do believe he is shaping up as one of the weakest and least effective presidents in our history.
But what I have noticed about Doug Clark is he does seem to go out of his way to defend our weak and ineffective Sen. Kay Hagan. Note that Clark came to her defense when Hagan’s stance on collective bargaining by government employees was questioned, saying he would hold her responsible if she voted for cloture on Dingy Harry’s bill.
That’s exactly what happened, and as far as I can tell Hagan has not been held responsible by her hometown newspaper. Correct me if I’m wrong.
As a longtime N&R reader, I’ve viewed Clark as the voice of reason on an N&R editorial page that goes for just about every taxpayer-financed fad government can conjure up. But he seems to have a soft spot for Kay Hagan.
