Monday, September 12, 2011

Today's Hilarity: Translating Ross Douthat



He is one of the right-wing boyz in the New York Times columnist stables. His latest column is about Obama Finally Seeing The Light:


Now, nearly three years after Rivlin’s warnings went unheeded, President Obama has groped his way to an agenda that looks more like what she originally recommended. His speech to Congress last week suggested that he intends to campaign for re-election on what should have been the blueprint for his first four years in office: a short-term stimulus highlighted by a payroll tax cut, a medium-term push to overhaul the tax code and a plan for long-term entitlement reform.
To Republicans, this agenda holds out the possibility that a second Obama term might feature more opportunities for compromise and common ground
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Bolds are mine.
The hilarious bit is about all those opportunities for compromise and common ground! Nope, Obama never ever compromised in the past! The Republicans were so very willing but Obama just held firm in his extreme commie/socialist position!

But of course there is more scope for compromises with the right if Obama simply chooses to pursue the agenda of the extreme right. I love the idea that this is what compromise looks like.

Then the translation: Take this sentence:
highlighted by a payroll tax cut, a medium-term push to overhaul the tax code and a plan for long-term entitlement reform.
What does it mean in plain talk? Less taxes for the wealthy, less taxes for the wealthy and less taxes for the wealthy.

The first and third statement are also directly aimed at cutting Social Security and Medicare, or old-age security in this country, whereas the middle statement is about rolling existing taxes down the income pyramid to be paid for by the less well-off.

It would be pretty hard for the Republicans not to want to compromise with their own agenda. But I'm sure they would manage to do exactly that, by shifting their agenda even more to the right.