October 10, 2010
What the President Thinks Is Inexcusable
A couple of weeks ago, I highlighted President Obama's supposed jab at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "Inexcusable," Mr. Obama said of the proclamation of "the U.S. did it" 9/11 conspiracy theorizing right in the city that saw the greatest death toll on that day. Well, not long thereafter, our Barack used the word again:
"It is inexcusable for any Democrat or progressive right now to stand on the sidelines," the president declared in a Rolling Stone magazine interview. He said that supposed supporters who are "sitting on their hands complaining" are irresponsible because Republican congressional victories could dash Democratic plans.
As I said in the post linked first, above, "inexcusable" has become a nearly meaningless word. But it is interesting to ponder whether, from his perspective, President Obama's use of it in these two instances is hyperbole when speaking about Democrats and progressives or dilution when speaking about Ahmadinejad.
Another word I hear politicians, including The One, use is "unacceptable," as in "a nuclear-armed Iran would be unacceptable." I have a suspicion that if and when Iran does acquire a nuclear weapon, Obama and his foreign policy team will find a way to accept it.
By the way, this is not to suggest that I have any idea how to stop Iran from getting nukes, or that military action from the US might be called for. That might be a wise course of action or it might not be. But noone, least of all a president, should use a word like unacceptable unless he's decided in advance that he's willing to do whatever it takes to prevent the unacceptable event.
Posted by: David P at October 10, 2010 12:46 PMJustin, your criticism of the president here is inexcusable.
Heh.
Posted by: Patrick at October 11, 2010 7:42 PM