Something new for conservatives to denounce

This post by Andrew Sulivan http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/09/23/andrew-sullivan-on-the-promise-of-obama-s-second-term.html is a welcome breath of fresh air. Though I certainly lean left of center, I reject deification and reject the liberals deification of Clinton as much as I reject conservatives for their North Korea like reverence of Reagan. What I appreciate in this piece by Sulivan is that it is that rare piece of writing by a conservative that is actually objective. I cringe at the thought of Democrats potentially elevating Obama to a Reagan like worship, but otherwise, I believe Sulivan makes some very interesting comparisons between Obama and Reagan.

Something that never ceases to annoy me in listening to conservative commentary is that it never uses the same standards to judge anything. Of course, the response is to find an example of some liberal doing the same thing in order to dismiss entirely the bigger point. In advance, that's stupid bullshit. One of the biggest examples of undeserved deism is Bill Clinton. While I applaud many things that Clinton did that helped a lot of people, I readily admit he was very lucky to have been elected at a time when economic contraction had wiped out a lot of excess and a lot of suffering had been endured to pave the way for new growth. He did nothing to create the boom that exploded on his watch.

In the days of Reagan, as Sulivan points out, the world was a vastly different place. Unions still existed and workers still made good money and we still had a manufacturing base. Interest rates we much higher, as were taxes. In simple terms, the country was living in austerity and misery and Reagan had multiple bullets to fire to create an environment where growth could occur. He did not, however, create the growth and as Sulivan also points out, he went back on his word several times regarding taxes. Something that no conservative will accept is that Reagan paved the way for massive deficit spending, so I won't bother taking pot shots at the mythical being that conservatives believe he was. In simple terms, Sulivan does that job himself.

As a group, Americans have metaphorically become obsessed with the lint in their navel. Anyone who mentions that any given point in time is a compilation of decades of trends is soundly dismissed. Republicans has six full years of control of all three houses. Yet, they sell us the bullshit that Obama had two years of control of all three houses and is therefore a failure for not solving every problem we face. This article, of course, will not change anyone's mind. It would be nice though, if it could pull some people back from the fringe of reality.