roger cohen on france and america

Interesting post by Roger Cohen in the online NY Times today. Under the beguiling title "One France is Enough," Cohen--who lived in Paris for many years--eviscerates Bush but suggests that Obama is pushing too far in a European statist direction, which runs the risk of destroying the risk-and-reward culture which distinguishes us from our cousins on the other side of the Atlantic. "If America loses sight of [these historic] truths," writes Cohen, "it will cease to be itself."

When you have died-in-the-wool, Eurocentric liberals saying things like this, you know that it's time to think twice. He's not the only liberal, or moderate, to say so: David Broder has warned of the enormous risks Obama is taking with the economy, while David Gergen, who worked in the Reagan but also Clinton White Houses, sees similar dangers. Here's hoping someone is listening.

Additional note: Jackson Diehl, assistant editorial page editor of the Washington Post--yes, the liberal Washington Post--has a piece today called George W. Obama which shows how Obama's presidency is beginning to resemble you-know-who, citing his lack of demand for sacrifice; his excessive partisanship masked by bipartisan rhetoric; and his less-than-well-thought-out foreign policy. The N.Y. Times, and a few others, will continue to cheerlead for Obama and try to distract attention to Rush Limbaugh, Bobby Jindal, etc. But the facts are starting to catch with the new President--and it's only 50 days.