I made this exact same comparison, I don't know, maybe mid-2009. Others probably did, too. It's an easy comparison to make given easily observable evidence.
Barone puts it this way:
But there is another comparison I think more appropriate for a president who, according to one of his foreign-policy staffers, prefers to "lead from behind." The man I have in mind is Chauncey Gardiner, the character played by Peter Sellers in the 1979 movie "Being There."
As you may remember, Gardiner is a clueless gardener who is mistaken for a Washington eminence and becomes a presidential adviser. Asked if you can stimulate growth through temporary incentives, Gardiner says, "As long as the roots are not severed, all is well and all will be well in the garden."
"First comes the spring and summer," he explains, "but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again." The president is awed as Gardiner sums up, "There will be growth in the spring."
Kind of reminds you of Barack Obama's approach to the federal budget, doesn't it?
The federal budget is only the latest in a string of issues that has had O'Bama acting/speaking/thinking like Chance the gardener. And he does compare well with Chance because he really isn't a very smart guy. He's nowhere near as smart as GWB. But the MFM has been selling the notion that he's a genius for so long that they have come to believe it themselves.
Barone is highly respected in electoral media circles so opinion pieces such as this will be outriders for the rest of the MFM herd to follow. And Barone is highly respected for a reason: He's frequently right in his prognostications. And since most of the MFM is stupid and chronically lazy (no original thinking there) they look to people like Barone for direction. I honestly do not think that Barone is just now figuring O'Bama out. I will bet that he knew just how stupid and lazy the president was as quick or quicker than I did. But Barone held back on the condemnation for reasons of objectivity: He doesn't want to appear any more biased or partisan than he already does.
The second quarter of 2011 may turn out to be the "tipping point" for the MFM with O'Bama. We shall see.
