Juxtaposing Harvard Barack and POTUS Barack

Small Dead Animals blog:

Now is the time at SDA when we juxtapose!

Carol Platt Liebau (Harvard Law Review), February 20th -

"[Tom Pirelli] did most of the day to day work [on the Harvard Law Review]. Barack Obama was nowhere to be seen. Occasionally he would drop in he would talk to people, and then he'd leave again as though his very arrival had been a benediction in and of itself, but not very much got done."

CNN Political Ticker, July 21st -

One Democratic senator tells CNN congressional Democrats are “baffled,” and another senior Democratic source tells CNN members of the president’s own party are still “frustrated” that they’re not getting more specific direction from him on health care. “We appreciate the rhetoric and his willingness to ratchet up the pressure but what most Democrats on the Hill are looking for is for the president to weigh in and make decisions on outstanding issues..."

I remember listening to this Liebau interview, and I remember a separate observation she made. She said Harvard was so liberal that Barack was able to get along with conservatives merely by being polite to them, as opposed to sneering at them and denigrating them. Liebau said she has an odd sense that Barack still believes that interaction with conservatives and Republicans will work that way, i.e. that Barack believes if he is merely polite, and is not overtly rude, that such will constitute a sufficient and successful effort in working with the other side, i.e. Repubs will work with Barack b/c they will grateful he is not rude to them.

Note, this is similar to Barack's approach to Iran and to Russia: they will work with us b/c we will be nice to them and they will like us.