There he goes again, talking about “special interests” as though special interests are bad. But all interests are special interests, including those of the President. Especially including those of the current President. There is no single, uniform, common interest. The government should promote the general welfare, but one doesn’t do that by denying the validity of special interests.

Cherish the diversity, Mr. President. It’ll do your outlook on life a world of good. Lose the bitterness, and you won’t have to cling to your failed government controls and regulations.

When he presents these difficult choices, I wonder if he means they’re going to be difficult for the people to accept or difficult for Obama to accept.

People should learn that lesson about me because next year when I start presenting some very difficult choices to the country, I hope some of these folks who are hollering about deficits and debt step-up because I’m calling their bluff.

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I think of President Obama every time I see this how-to guide for parents: “How to explain to your child that you’re going to sell him.”

According to the English-Russia web site where I first saw it, it’s one of a series of fake book covers designed to ward off kibbitzers. You put your real book inside it. People will leave you alone to read in peace.

Unfortunately, in the case of President Obama it’s no joke. Like when he put pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to agree to the euro bailout for Greece. I don’t know why he wanted to put his fingerprint on that act of selling people down the river, unless it was his way of writing the contents for the above book.

Here’s a good article explaining who he was helping and who is being sold to pay for it: Greek Myths and the Euro Tragedy by John H. Cochrane in the May 18 WSJ.

And here is one about the health care plan that he said would allow us to keep our existing health plans: No, You Can’t Keep Your Health Plan (by Scott Gottleib in the same issue of the WSJ). It’s like he was explaining to us, “Certainly you can keep walking. We’re going to break your kneecaps, but nobody’s going to stop you from trying.”

Battle Creek Enquirer News item:

In a major victory for organized labor, unions will have an easier time signing up airline and railroad workers after the Obama administration today changed a 76-year-old rule on union elections.

The change is the most significant so far in a string of White House moves designed to boost unions, which are struggling to reverse years of decline in membership.

These are from a WSJ editorial, “On Presidential Rhetoric : Obama’s ad hominem method and the politics of polarization.”

So one day President Obama is telling critics that it has only been a week, that we need to give his health care takeover time to work. Then one jobs report comes out with some good news. It’s far too early to tell if a trend has been established, but the President jumps up and says it shows the economy is turning around.

So how are we supposed to know when patience is a good thing and when it’s better to jump to conclusions?

From a USA Today article:

President Obama urged Americans to wait and see how well his new health care plan works, chiding “pundits” who talk about “another poll or headline that said, ‘nation still divided on health care reform.’ “

That must be what he meant back in 2005 when he said, “We need to rise above the “ends justify the means” mentality.”

Next thing you know, President Obama will tell the GOP leaders to quit using teleprompters.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Thursday strongly criticized a Supreme Court ruling removing limits on corporate donations for political campaigns, saying it was a major victory for banks and oil and health insurance companies.

Yes, it is a victory for those entities, but part of the President’s job is to look out for the legal rights of those entities. It’s a victory for those of us who aren’t banks and oil and health insurance companies, too. It’s a victory for all of us.

“With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics,” Obama said in a statement.

Which is as it should be. There are many special interests in this country, and all of them should have a right to spend their money to speak out and influence the political process. What’s bad is when no interests except governmental interests get the right to speak out, as happened in the takeover of GM and Chrysler.

“We are going to talk with bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision. The public interest requires nothing less.”

I presume we shouldn’t take the President to have meant the term “forceful” to be taken literally. Given the way he has dealt with banks and automakers, it’s hard to say. But if by forceful he means legal and constitutional, that could be a good thing.

Now about that term “public interest,” I hope he realizes that there are and should be many public interests, many of them at odds with each other. There is not just one public interest. That’s why this ruling that ensures a voice for the many of the special interests in our society is a good thing.