Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Obama's Press Conference

Unlike many on the right, I don't have a big problem with Obama's response to the Iranian situation -- other than his ridiculous notion that he can somehow negotiate away Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. Most of what he said on Iran I expected, and most had little meaning. There was one remark that caught my attention. The president said,

The Iranian people have a universal right to assembly and free speech
Well, obviously they don't. Otherwise some of them wouldn't be getting gunned down in the street by security forces. 

Obama went on to discuss energy. Most of what he said in this section was nonsense -- as usual.

These incentives will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy.
Yeah right. I doubt even Obama believes that. Barring some kind of amazing scientific breakthrough, fossil fuels will be our primary energy source for the foreseeable future. There's nothing wrong with promoting some alternative energy measures, but Obama's remarks are just delusional. If Obama really cared about clean energy, he'd be doing everything possible to push the construction of our one major proven technology -- nuclear power. But of course he isn't.

Finally, the president addressed healthcare. Here Obama is either lying, being intellectually dishonest, or is just utterly clueless. He's pushing the fantasy that a massive government intervention in healthcare, estimated at $1 trillion (and likely to cost far more), is somehow going to bring down costs. He also pretends that a government insurance plan, paid for with tax money and backed by the weight of the federal government, is somehow going to be able to compete fairly with private plans that actually have to take profit/loss into account.  It would be nice if Obama were actually honest about the implications and costs of his healthcare proposals, and if he just tried to sell them on the merits. But that's too much to ask.

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