What We're Reading at the Zee's House

The Two Obamas, by David Brooks

Be sure to read this op-ed piece in today's New York Times--don't just read the hand-picked quotes I'm going to give you. It's not the most flattering picture of Barack Obama, but you've got to love this stuff. Brooks tells us that lest the Republicans "think they’re running against some naïve university-town dreamer" they should realize that he is "the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier...on the other side, there’s Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol...the only politician of our lifetime who is underestimated because he’s too intelligent..."

My favorite part is the last paragraph: "All I know for sure is that this guy is no liberal goo-goo. Republicans keep calling him naïve. But naïve is the last word I’d use to describe Barack Obama. He’s the most effectively political creature we’ve seen in decades. Even Bill Clinton wasn’t smart enough to succeed in politics by pretending to renounce politics."