Obama -- Another Henry Higgins

By John Ballard

A little weekend recreation for the entertainment of our readers.

Two years into his presidency William Greidner explains the behavior of Barack Obama in about a dozen easy to understand paragraphs.
Before you go to the link here is an exercise in imagination...
Greidner sketches a Candide-like image of the president that artistic types will instantly recognize.
To set the mood, let Obama's life and times play in the background as you briefly scan summaries of Voltaire's comic hero and listen for the echoes.

Couple of snips by Greidner.

Obama has patience and the self-confidence not to insist that his solution is the best and only one. On many vital questions, he went so far as to not even say what his solution was. Such a governing style is too nice for real-life politics, where Boy Scouts get their heads handed to them.

Some politicians may enjoy Obama's generous spirit, but many despise him for it. Washington always takes the measure of a new president and tests him early on. Congress and the surrounding power centers, swiftly reading weakness in this president, decided they would fill the vacuum Obama left for them.

Think Forrest Gump.

Or Chauncey Gardener.

Popular forces can blow away the fuzziness. They can mobilize to demonstrate visible support for the president's loftier goals and to warn him off the temptation to pursue a Clintonesque appeasement of the right. Given the fragile status of his presidency, Obama needs to know that caving in is sure to encourage enemies and drive off disheartened supporters. People should, likewise, call out the president's enemies and attack them with the harshness that's out of character for him. The racial McCarthyism of the GOP establishment is a good place to start.

(Here again is a link to Obama Without Tears,  Greidner's piece in The Nation.)

Better yet, remember Henry Higgins. Here was a man who understood how the world works best.
Candor.
Reason.
Patience.
Logic.
Tolerance.
And generally acting like a real gentleman in every respect.

 

PROFESSOR HIGGINS: Why can't a woman be more like a man? Men are so honest, so thoroughly square; Eternally noble, historically fair. Who, when you win, will always give your back a pat. Why can't a woman be like that?

Why does every one do what the others do? Can't a woman learn to use her head? Why do they do everything their mothers do? Why don't they grow up, well, like their father instead?

Why can't a woman take after a man? Men are so pleasant, so easy to please. Whenever you're with them, you're always at ease.

Would you be slighted if I didn't speak for hours?

COLONEL PICKERING: Of course not.

HIGGINS: Would you be livid if I had a drink or two?

PICKERING: Nonsense.

HIGGINS: Would you be wounded if I never sent you flowers?

PICKERING: Never.

HIGGINS: Well, why can't a woman be like you?

One man in a million may shout a bit. Now and then, there's one with slight defects. One perhaps whose truthfulness you doubt a bit, But by and large we are a marvelous sex!

Why can't a woman take after a man? 'Cause men are so friendly, good-natured and kind. A better companion you never will find.

If I were hours late for dinner would you bellow?

PICKERING: Of course not.

HIGGINS: If I forgot your silly birthday, would you fuss? COLONEL PICKERING: Nonsense.

HIGGINS: Would you complain if I took out another fellow?

Pickering Never.

HIGGINS: Why can't a woman be like us?

~~~[dialog]~~~

PROFESSOR HIGGINS: Why can't a woman be more like a man? Men are so decent, such regular chaps; Ready to help you through any mishaps; Ready to buck you up whenever you're glum. Why can't a woman be a chum?

Why is thinking something women never do? And why is logic never even tried? Straightening up their hair is all they ever do. Why don't they straighten up the mess that's inside?

Why can't a woman behave like a man? If I was a woman who'd been to a ball, Been hailed as a princess by one and by all; Would I start weeping like a bathtub overflowing, Or carry on as if my home were in a tree? Would I run off and never tell me where I'm going? Why can't a woman be like me?