Op-Ed Columnist - Obama’s Trust Problem - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Obama’s Trust Problem - NYTimes.com:

I generally disagree with Paul Krugman because he has become a shill for the ultra-liberal wing of the Democrat Party. Perhaps he's still that, but in his column today he vents frustration with TeamObama's handling of several issues. As I read Krugman's views, it seems the"Messiah" is tripping on his robes.

Or is it that our President truly is a neophyte,as I have suggested before, and his inexperience is finally on display. I truly hope he becomes a better leader, particularly in foreign policy. Our enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan are savvy enough to smell blood and exploit Administration inattention. If TeamObama gets so wrapped up with health care reform that they are overtaken by events on the international stage, we are in big trouble.

"On the issue of health care itself, the inspiring figure progressives thought they had elected comes across, far too often, as a dry technocrat who talks of “bending the curve” but has only recently begun to make the moral case for reform. Mr. Obama’s explanations of his plan have gotten clearer, but he still seems unable to settle on a simple, pithy formula; his speeches and op-eds still read as if they were written by a committee.

Meanwhile, on such fraught questions as torture and indefinite detention, the president has dismayed progressives with his reluctance to challenge or change Bush administration policy."

"And then there’s the matter of the banks.

I don’t know if administration officials realize just how much damage they’ve done themselves with their kid-gloves treatment of the financial industry, just how badly the spectacle of government supported institutions paying giant bonuses is playing. But I’ve had many conversations with people who voted for Mr. Obama, yet dismiss the stimulus as a total waste of money. When I press them, it turns out that they’re really angry about the bailouts rather than the stimulus — but that’s a distinction lost on most voters."