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Sunday, June 13, 2010

Enough with the arc, already. Claudia Rosett

Obama has also brandished the arc in other contexts, including his remarks with Chinese President Hu Jintao last July, when it was “the arc of history that led to a wall coming down in Berlin” (gee, some of us thought it wasn’t an “arc,” but a combination of Ronald Reagan standing up to the Soviets, and Germans wielding sledgehammers).

Anyway, whether it is an arc or an arch that Obama had in mind when his human rights advisor spoke up this week, it’s time to give it a rest. It’s not the long arc/arch of history that protects and engenders freedom — it is the hard work, wisdom and courage of individuals, of which there has been precious little on display in the Oval Office this past year. Enough with the arc, already.

Somehow, Obama was not content to let the "arc of history" assure his election. He broke his pledge to abide by the government funded spending limits, instead raising and spending an astounding $740 million, more than the combined Bush/Kerry campaign four years earlier.  Sitting by and letting the arc of history do the heavy lifting is for other people.

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