From Pine View Farm

The Long View 0

Among the things that have driven me away from television news, in addition to the inherent inanity of selecting “reporters” because they have good “anchor hair,” is the relentless emphasis on now, with no thought of yesterday (how we got here) or tomorrow (where we are headed). This perspective has also seeped into political coverage and political partisanship, which cares more for today’s poll results than for tomorrow’s solutions.

One can see it in the daily agonizing over a stuff that makes a Trivial Pursuit question seem like the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

Ian Leslie in the Guardian.

If we tear ourselves away from the talkshows and the RSS feeds and look at what the administration has actually been doing in response to the economic crisis, we discover a series of initiatives that are designed to work together and push in one direction. Alongside the banking rescue plan, there’s the stimulus package, a housing plan, credit relief for small businesses and a budget proposal that addresses long-term problems for which solutions are vital to the nation’s future prosperity.

Obama seems to have retained at least some of his ability to keep his eye on the ball even when everyone in the crowd is screaming their lungs out. Not all of his plans will work, and the whole thing may yet end in disaster. It’s impossible to say. We can’t predict the future with any confidence at the moment. But we can – if we try – see beyond the present.

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