12 October 2009

P.J. Crowley Didn't Get The Memo

On election night of 2008, President-Elect Barack Obama, in his acceptance speech, asked his colleagues and supporters to avoid continuing partisanship and politics as usual.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
This past Friday, the State Department's P.J. Crowley decided to ignore President-Elect Barack Obama's election night request while commenting on President Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.

"From our standpoint, you know, we think that this gives us a sense of momentum ... when the United States has accolades tossed its way, rather than shoes," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters on Friday.
It is very nice of Crowley to enlighten us on the current State Department's standpoint. From my standpoint, however, I think that it is better to be criticized for actually doing something, rather than being praised for something that one hasn't yet endeavored to execute.

That highlights a major difference between the current administration and much of the American public: The administration would rather be praised for a concept that hasn't been tried, instead of being criticized for an action taken; whereas many Americans would rather endure criticism for what they have chosen to do, rather than being praised for thinking about the things that they have never actually attempted.

It's another case of style over substance with this administration, and another case of saying one thing ("Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long."), and then doing another ("From our standpoint, you know, we think that this gives us a sense of momentum ... when the United States has accolades tossed its way, rather than shoes.")

Obama and his followers continue to keep it classy.

USMC 9971 OUT

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