Jonah Goldberg issued a congratulations to the Prez last night on the decisive end to the pirate standoff...and Rush Limbaugh isn't particularly happy about it.
The difference between these two heavy-hitting conservative commentators isn't as antagonistic as it seems, though. I may be wrong, but I don't think Limbaugh isn't just trying to pull some kind of "propaganda" stunt (for a look at what propaganda entails, read this Corner post by Goldberg).
No, it seems that Limbaugh is concerned that Obama is pulling a Clinton. (You can check the transcript of today's show over at Limbaugh's website sometime tomorrow.) Acting tough in politically inconsequential situations (asprin factory, anybody?) is cheap PR that might have the result of weakening opposition to his genuinely bad agenda items (in this case, most of the domestic agenda plus military spending cuts).
Limbaugh has a point. There are good reasons to oppose the President's stated agenda items, and we mustn't get too excited when he does something right (even if, in this case, it means chiefly that he didn't interfere in the Navy's very capable handling of the situation).
But Goldberg has a point too: part of being an opposition party member, or just an opponent, is to goad your political counterparts into adopting good policy. To the extent that they choose what you want, you say "thank you", but it doesn't mean you lend them active support. With Democrats in control of the Legislative and Executive branches of the Federal government, I'll take what I can get.
So I'm happy the pirates got their comeuppance, and I hope Obama considers seriously the Navy's rumored proposals for stabilizing international shipping lanes. That doesn't mean I don't still think his policy agenda is generally very bad. In fact, I'll continue to bleat and carp about it in my little corner of the world.
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