Mar 18 2009
Cognitive Dissonance?
Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC 5th District) asserted last night that Obama is engaging in cognitive dissonance. Such a policy, defacto or not, is apparently to be contrasted with the modus operendi of the Bush administration, that is, complete transparency. This tu quoque argument aside, I have detected no such dissonance, but then I am not a footsoldier trying to score points for a political party.Ms. Foxx accused the Democrats of objecting loudly to Bush’s policies on warrantless wiretapping during the campaign and falling silent now. However, it was reported that Obama supported FISA both during the campaign and presently in direct opposition to the ACLU.Another point Ms. Foxx made in her speech is that Obama claims to be a responsible steward of the economy while proposing the greatest amount of government borrowing and spending in decades. Such a complaint is merely short-sighted hand-wringing. We are not in danger of creditor countries refusing to lend to us because we are the largest economy in the world. Furthermore, without massive investment in infrastructure and technology, which raises employment, the U.S. will not recover in a short period of time and will be a drag on the world economy. Republican objections seem to stem from an anxiety that the power amassed in the executive branch during the last eight years will now be used for ends that have nothing to do with the Republican agenda. A spurious source indeed.
