OTHER OPINIONS : They can walk and chew gum

By The Forum (Fargo, N.D.)

Posted: October 8, 2009 at 6:58 a.m.

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FARGO, N.D. — The braying from the anti-Obama contingent of the right is beginning to look like a replay of the rude left’s nonstop criticism of President George W. Bush. But no matter where it comes from - or which president is the target - it’s vapid partisan claptrap.

Republicans with average memories certainly will recall the nonsense spewed by the left when President Bush took a vacation to his Texas ranch when foreign and domestic issues were boiling over: two wars, the economy, Iran, North Korea.

The president’s adversaries suggested he was out of touch because he was at the ranch rather than in the Oval Office. It was nonsense.

Not to be outdone, the vacuous right is using the left’s playbook to beat up on President Barack Obama by proclaiminghe has too much on his plate and can’t possibly give two wars, the economy, health-care reform, Iran and North Korea the proper attention. After all, didn’t the president waste time making a pitch for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Olympics? Since the games will go to Rio de Janeiro, time and effort were wasted, said his political adversaries. To be sure, they’d be blaming him for the loss had he not gone to Copenhagen.

And what if Chicago had won?

The criticism is silly.

Presidents can walk and chew gum at the same time - something many presidential critics have yet to master.

Bush and Obama clearly inhabit vastly different political realms, but both understand the pressures and complexities of the job. …

Opinion, Pages 6 on 10/08/2009

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