Smart President, Foolish Choices

By JAMES TARANTO

When President Obama gives TV interviews, the treatment he gets is typically soft, if not reverential. This is not because of the interviewers' respect for the presidency--they were much tougher on George W. Bush--but because of ideological and personal sympathy for the man who now holds the office. Yesterday was an exception--perhaps the first time Obama has ever faced a tough interview. The interviewer was Bret Baier of Fox News Channel, and the president was clearly unprepared, coming across as petulant and evasive. (You can watch it online: Part 1 and Part 2.)

If the rest of the so-called adversary press had been doing its job for the past few years, Obama might not be in the political trouble he is. Then again, he might not have withstood the scrutiny and become president either.

Oh well, that's water under the bridge. ObamaCare isn't, at least not yet. And here is what Obama had to say in summing up the case for the legislation Americans fear and hate:

The reason that it needs to be done is not its effect on the presidency. It has to do with how it's going to affect ordinary people who right now are desperately in need of help.

But if this is for the sake of ordinary people and not the presidency, why is it the president who will stop at nothing to cram it down the throats of ordinary people? What part of "no" doesn't he understand?

If a report from Politico is accurate, the president is telling undecided Democratic representatives exactly the opposite of what he claimed in the Baier interview to believe:

Obama had exhausted most of his health care reform arguments with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus during a White House meeting last Thursday when he made a more personal pitch that resonated with many skeptics in the room.

One caucus member told Politico that Obama won him over by "essentially [saying] that the fate of his presidency" hinged on this week's health reform vote in the House. The member, who requested anonymity, likened Obama's remarks to an earlier meeting with progressives when the president said a victory was necessary to keep him "strong" for the next three years of his term.

Another caucus member, Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.), said, "We went in there already knowing his presidency would be weakened if this thing went down, but the president clearly reinforced the impression the presidency would be damaged by a loss."

Added Serrano: "He was subtle, but that was the underlying theme of the meeting--the importance of passing this for the health of the presidency."

A failed presidency, or one that is perceived to have failed, is bad for the country, as anyone who lived through the Carter years or the latter part of George W. Bush's administration can attest. But it takes chutzpah for Obama to ask members of Congress to save his presidency by passing this misbegotten legislation. Having failed utterly to persuade Americans that his plan was worth supporting--whether because it is not worth supporting or because his persuasive skills are defective--he could have backed off at any time.

By pressing forward anyway, it is he who has imposed on America the unattractive choice of either a failed presidency, or a "transformed" health-care system and the crisis of legitimacy attendant to imposing such a transformation through partisan bullying and in defiance of public opinion. What a reckless abuse of the trust the voters placed in Obama.

Still, if this is the choice left to America, a failed presidency is clearly the less unattractive alternative. If Obama's presidency fails, it will be over in less than three years. A wrecked health-care system would be much harder to repair, and a crisis of legitimacy could last for decades.

Further, a failed presidency would not necessarily result from the failure of ObamaCare. Bill Clinton similarly targeted the health-care system. He failed, yet his presidency is generally viewed as having been modestly successful. If Obama has Clinton's strength of character--a discomfitingly big "if"--he could adapt after a single failure and learn to be successful.

Obama's threat of a failed presidency is classic passive-aggressive behavior. He is playing the victim in order to get what he wants. At least one sympathetic journalist is playing along. Check out this bit of analysis from David Brooks of the New York Times:

I persist in the belief that government is more fundamentally messed up than ever in my lifetime. Barack Obama campaigned offering a new era of sane government. And I believe he would do it if he had the chance. But he has been so sucked into the system that now he stands by while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talks about passing health care via "deem and pass"--a tricky legislative device in which things get passed without members having the honor or the guts to stand up and vote for it.

Deem and pass? Are you kidding me? Is this what the Revolutionary War was fought for? Is this what the boys on Normandy beach were trying to defend? Is this where we thought we would end up when Obama was speaking so beautifully in Iowa or promising to put away childish things?

Obama just got "sucked into the system"? He is the president of the United States. He is the system! The implication of what Brooks is saying is that Obama is simply not up to the job. One of the reasons may be that the news media, which are supposed to hold politicians accountable, have too few Bret Baiers asking tough questions and too many David Brookses making excuses for the president's bad decisions.

And ObamaCare isn't the only area in which the administration has been acting recklessly. Yesterday we noted that Attorney General Eric Holder, asked by a congressman whether a captured Osama bin Laden would get the due-process protections of a common criminal, evaded the question by scoffing at the idea that bin Laden would be captured as opposed to killed. The Associated Press reports that the military has weighed in on the claim;

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday that it remains the goal of U.S. troops to capture Osama bin Laden alive and "bring him to justice."

Let's hope they don't bring him to Justice, because it's amateur hour over there. In the liberal New Republic, Yossi Klein Halevi looks at President Obama's recent Mideast missteps and reaches a similar conclusion:

That Obama could be guilty of such amateurishness was perhaps forgivable because he was, after all, an amateur. But he has now taken his failed policy and intensified it. By demanding that Israel stop building in Ramat Shlomo and elsewhere in East Jerusalem--and placing that demand at the center of American-Israeli relations--he's ensured that the Palestinians won't show up even to proximity talks. This is no longer amateurishness; it is pique disguised as policy.

The Obama administration desperately needs adult supervision--and this is yet another reason to hope the House defeats ObamaCare. Handing Obama a defeat offers at least some hope that he'll seek the help he needs. A victory promises more of the same recklessness--on all fronts.

So Much for the War on Drugs

• "Parliamentarian's Ruling Deals Blow to Democrats' Healthcare Reform Chances"--headline, Hill, March 11
• "Washington Apologizes for Cocaine Use"--headline, MLB.com, March 17

ObamaCare: Almost as Good as Ahmadinejad
Pressure is high on antiabortion Democrats to vote for ObamaCare, even though the Senate's version does not include Rep. Bart Stupak's language designed to prevent taxpayer subsidies of abortion. The Los Angeles Times reports on one group that may give them some cover:

By sending a letter to Congress in support of the Senate healthcare bill, a wide coalition of nuns took sides against not only the Republican minority but against their own church hierarchy, as represented by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which opposes the bill. The nuns' letter contributed to the momentum in favor of the legislation, despite opposition that is partially rooted in a disagreement over abortion funding.

"We agree that there shouldn't be any federal funding of abortion," said Sister Simone Campbell, the executive director of Network, a national Catholic social justice advocacy organization that spearheaded the effort. "From our reading of the bill, there isn't any federal funding of abortion."

Who is this Simone Campbell? In 2007 she hosted a meeting with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's lunatic president. Network's Web site has her comments on the meeting. Here's a sample:

The President of Iran gains support in Iran when he is "attacked" by the United States, and President Bush gains at home when he demonizes the Iranian President. This plays well for both administrations in their domestic political struggles. Neither has an incentive to change the dynamic. . . .

Of his comments--I think I was most touched by his comments about poverty and how where there is absolute poverty there is a denial of someone's human rights.

Some of the questions asked were so culturally contained in an effort to connect at the human level, e.g. his fears, failings in Iran, etc. I don't know how we get around this, but it seems unrealistic to expect him (or anyone from another culture) to respond to our U.S. human expectations of "bonding."

So her reading of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is that he's just like George W. Bush, only more of a humanitarian. Does this give you confidence in her ability to read anything else?

False Advertising
Never let it be said that this column stubbornly clings to its position even in the face of new information. Increasingly, for example, we have moved away from our skeptical position on global warming and toward a cynical position, as the evidence mounts that "anthropogenic climate change" is not merely a dubious theory but an outright scam.

In Britain, there has now been an official finding of false advertising, London's Telegraph reports:

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the adverts created on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and based on the children's poems Jack and Jill and Rub-A-Dub-Dub made exaggerated claims about the threat to Britain from global warming. . . .

Two posters juxtaposed adapted extracts from the nursery rhymes with prose warnings about the dangers of global warning.

One began: "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. There was none as extreme weather due to climate change had caused a drought." Beneath was written: "Extreme weather conditions such as flooding, heat waves and storms will become more frequent and intense."

The paper adds that "Ed Gillespie, the co-founder of Futerra Sustainability Communications, said it was 'rubbish communication' that has given climate change sceptics another opportunity to cast doubt on the science." Pop goes the weasel.

It's Right Underneath You
"Planet With 'Temperate' Climate Found"--headline, CBC.ca, March 17

We Blame Global Warming

• "At Finnish Embassy, the Heat Is On"--headline, Washington Post, March 18
• "Meltdown Investigation Widening"--headline, Houston Chronicle, March 18
• "Blizzard Guilty of Negligent Homicide, Jury Deadlocks on Other Charges"--headline, New Hampshire Union Leader, March 18

Reliable Sources
The Journal Times of Racine, Wis., reports that two Blockbuster video stores are closing, one in nearby Kenosha and this one in Racine:

The manager at the 4111 Durand Ave. blockbuster [sic] said the closing date for his store was also April 18, but he did not want his name reported because he still has four more weeks to work there and didn't want to jeopardize that.

For his sake, let's hope Blockbuster management doesn't know the names of its managers.

Homer Nods
Yesterday we noted a Jewish Telegraphic Agency report that a ceremony to name a Palestinian traffic circle after a terrorist had been canceled or at least postponed. According to the New York Times, the Middle East Media Research Institute and Palestinian Media Watch, the ceremony did in fact go on, although the Times describes it as having been "low key" as a nod to the sensibilities of Vice President Biden.

Why Do You Think They Call It the High Court?
"Supreme Court Elects Kite Chief Justice"--headline, Billings (Mont.) Gazette, March 17

That's What We Call a Buyer's Market
"Dollar Closes at 98.98¢"--headline, Toronto Star, March 17

That's Pretty Soft for a Rock
"Rock Never Forgets, but It Can Forgive"--headline, Toronto Star, March 17

Where Do You Go to Deposit Geriatric Midwestern Sheep?
"Elderly Iowan Rams Bank"--headline, Omaha World-Herald, March 18

Someone Get Her to a Dermatologist
"Dan Gross: Renee Zellweger Spotted in Area"--headline, Philadelphia Daily News, March 18

Questions Nobody Is Asking

• "Why Are Bloggers Male?"--headline, Globe and Mail (Toronto), March 18
• "The Return of Betsy McCaughey?"--headline, Daily News Web site (New York), March 18

Travelers Divide Babies--Now That Would Be News
"Fly and Cry: Babies Divide Air Travelers"--headline, CNN.com, March 16

It's Always in the Last Place You Look
"Canadian Astronomer Spots Soviet Rover on Moon"--headline, CBC.ca, March 17

Too Much Information

• "Man Misses Out as Footsie Scales 21-Month High"--headline, Financial Times, March 17
• "Invisible Snakes in Trousers Haunt Man"--headline, Zimbabwe News Online, March 15

Someone Set Up Us the Bomb
"Levin Hopeful Senate Warm to Curb of Treaty Shopping"--headline, NationalJournal.com, March 18

News of the Tautological

• "Reality TV Lures Players Into Sadistic Game"--headline, CBC.ca, March 17
• "SEC Boss: Agency Examining Companies"--headline, Houston Chronicle, March 17

Breaking News From Genesis 1:10
"Coastal Outline Approved"--headline, Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.), March 18

Breaking News From 1805
"Noted Urban Planner Coming to Detroit"--headline, Detroit News, March 18

News You Can Use

• "Health Department Reminds Parents to Keep Hazardous Household Items Away From Children"--headline, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene press release, March 17
• "Want to Make Toronto Better? Learn From a Drug Dealer"--headline, Toronto Star, March 16
• "1 vs. 16 Usually Lopsided in NCAA Tourney"--headline, Associated Press, March 18

Bottom Stories of the Day

• "SEC on Lehman Oversight: Not Good Enough"--headline, The Wall Street Journal, March 18
• "Heads-Up: Exclusive Day in the Life With Vice President Biden Thursday"--headline, ABCNews.com, March 17
• "New Poll Finds Americans Really, Really Do Not Want ObamaCare (PJM Exclusive)"--headline, Pajamas Media, March 17

Vegan Violence
The San Francisco Chronicle describes a shocking politically motivated crime:

Lierre Keith, a 45-year-old Arcata resident, was attacked at 2:15 p.m. Saturday at the 15th annual Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair while discussing her 2009 book, "The Vegetarian Myth." A 20-year vegan, Keith now argues that the diet is unhealthy and that agriculture is destroying the world.

As Keith stood at a lectern at the Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, three people in masks and black hooded sweatshirts ran from backstage, shouted, "Go vegan!" and threw pies in her face. While they fled, some in the audience cheered or handed out leaflets. . . .

"The whole thing was designed for social humiliation," said Keith, speaking Tuesday from her sister's home in Kansas. "We're supposed to be against sadism and cruelty and domination, and these people were willing to do this to me."

Yet can we really be surprised when vegans turn their rage toward humans given the brutality with which they treat innocent plants? We once knew a carrot who was beaten up so badly by some vegans that the doctor said he'd be a vegetable for the rest of his life.

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(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Joe Perez, Stuart Creque, Hillel Markowitz, John Bobek, Daniel Rabbitt, T. Young, Daniel Mullen, Marcia Roenigk, E.A. McDonough, Nathan James, Monty Krieger, Ruhama Shattan, Avi Bell, Naif Mabat, Ed Elverud, John Pinneo, Moses Lambert, Tim Willis, Christopher McPherson, Michael Driscoll, Winston Morrison, Merv Benson, Jeffrey Sadow, Steve Kirsch, Marion Dreyfus, Scott Hill, Elliot Ganz, Michele Schiesser and Dan Stirling. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)