Notes From D.R. | Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

David Brooks, Jed Babbin and Jonah Goldberg on the new President.

The fifth anniversary of Howard Dean’s infamous speech.

William Kristol on the President-elect.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop tops the charts.

Matt Lewis on #43, and Jeff Jacoby on #44.

Painter Andrew Wyeth passes away at 91.

Thomas Sowell and Deroy Murdock on the Bush legacy. They both seem to agree that Bush’s domestic record had problems.

UPDATE: More from Patrick Ruffini and Matthew Continetti.

No, I wasn’t invited to President-elect Barack Obama’s meeting with some of the country’s top conservative pundits Tuesday night—probably because I’m not one of the country’s top conservative pundits. However, if I had been at the meeting, I would have told the President-elect that I wish him the best of luck—not only for his sake, but for the sake of the country.

There are quite a few conservatives who secretly wish for Obama to fail. I’ve had such thoughts cross my mind once or twice since Obama defeated John McCain two months ago. A failed Obama administration would make it so much easier for the GOP to recapture the White House and fix the mistakes of the last decade-plus.

Yet the country has to be put first. If Obama fails, the country fails. The US cannot sustain the damage that would be caused by four consecutive mediocre Presidents. Obama has to show the true leadership that has been vacant from the White House for the past twenty years.

Conservatives have a seemingly endless nostalgia for the late Ronald Reagan. That’s understandable: Reagan was the last half-decent President this country had. Prior to the Great Communicator, only John F. Kennedy and Dwight Eisenhower seemed to come close to greatness in the post-WWII era.

Both Bushes and Bill Clinton failed to uphold Reagan’s high standards. George H. W. Bush was a visionless Commander-in-Chief, an incoherent executive who had the courage to remove Manuel Noriega from power but failed to do the same to Saddam Hussein. Other than appointing Clarence Thomas to the US Supreme Court, what did Bush 41 really accomplish?

Clinton was a poll-driven prevaricator who dropped the ball when it came to terrorism. After the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, Clinton should have launched his own War on Terror, declaring that the atrocity in New York would not go unanswered. Clinton’s attitude towards terrorism could be summed up as: Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. In part because of his attitude, 3,000 Americans were damned on September 11, 2001.

Bush 43 inherited a lack of vision from his father: he had the courage to remove Hussein from power, but lacked the wisdom necessary to keep Iraq from sinking into a near-quagmire for three years. Were it not for the surge of 2007, Iraq would have been recorded in the history books as one of this country’s biggest fiascos. His approach to domestic matters bordered on bipolar, and his legacy will likely be a profoundly negative one.

Obama must understand that failure is not an option. We need him to lead and to succeed as no President has since Reagan. With a quicksand economy and two wars still raging, we need a strong, intellectually gifted Commander-in-Chief to steer us through these dark waters.

Obama is not perfect, but he’s no fool. He demonstrated maturity and skill during the course of his campaign: despite momentary flashes of egotism (such as the Berlin rally), he showed himself to be a sharp-minded, disciplined politician with all the raw potential necessary to be a leader.

Obama must realize his potential. This country depends on it.

At this point, I don’t care who gets the credit for making our economically damaged country strong again. If Obama can add new fuel to our fiscal engines, more power to him.

How horrible will it be for this country if he fails? An unsuccessful Obama administration will be a footnote in history, a punch line to a bitter joke. If Obama fails, he will disappoint people across the entire world. If he collapses, those who hold retrograde views about the ability of certain people to lead will find real-life evidence to bolster their flawed and fictional ideas.

Obama absolutely has to succeed. He has to be twice as good, four times as good, ten times as good. He cannot just pursue excellence; he has to grasp it.

I don’t envy the man. His task is every bit as hard as Reagan’s was in 1981. Reagan managed to pull it off. Obama has a duty to do the same.

Here’s hoping Obama succeeds—that he figures out a way to rescue our imperiled economy and keep us safe from future attacks. If he succeeds, he will join the ranks of our country’s most beloved Presidents. If he does not, people will be embarrassed to say that they voted for him.

An update on former WRKO-AM talk host Reese Hopkins, and the bizarre allegations against him.

Michelle Oddis on conservatives in Hollywood.

Actor Ricardo Montalban passes away at 88. Also, actor Patrick McGoohan passes away at 80.

I’m fascinated by Barack Obama’s “conservative confab” last night. Give Obama credit for agreeing to meet with those who hold dramatically different points of view. After all, you’d never see Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick breaking bread with critics like Howie Carr and Michael Graham, would you?

UPDATE: More from Jeff Jacoby and Matthew Continetti.

Thomas Sowell on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

William Kristol on Obama’s foreign policy.

Gran Torino tops the charts.