WHAT SHOULD ONE MAKE OF OBAMA'S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH?

- Update 8/30/08 - Mike Gerson masterfully deconstructs Obama's speech.  Gerson's article is  important reading. 

- Ramesh Ponnuru says, "An effective, dishonest speech."  An excerpt:

If all you knew of Obama was what he presented to you in his speech, you would think of him as a typical Democratic politician improved by the addition of a bit more thoughtfulness and idealism than the average representative of the class. You would be amazed to learn of his  extremely close relationship to a radical anti-American preacher; or that he has followed a no-enemies-to-the-left approach to politics that put him in the company of an unrepentant terrorist. You would not suspect that he favors taxpayer-funded abortion or drivers’ licenses for illegal immigrants. You would not realize that he has crossed party lines far less often than McCain. You would not imagine that he had ever voted against funding for troops in war zones. It would not cross your mind that this denouncer of hardball, self-interested politics might be having his campaign intimidate reporters out of looking into his record.

Obama was less successful in making the case for himself on foreign policy, but no less dishonest. . . .   (more . . .)     -   (Photoshop: Stogie.)

Update:  Ponnuru reports he has received "an avalance of hate mail and some sharp reactions from Obama-supporting journalists."  Read on . . .

My friend E. J. Dionne Jr. is “disappointed” with my comment about Bill Ayers, which he calls “absolute rubbish.” I am genuinely interested to know which of my assertions Dionne disputes: 1) that Ayers was a terrorist, 2) that he is unrepentant about it, 3) that Obama has been willing to associate with him, or 4) that this association, among others, suggests that he follows a no-enemies-to-the-left policy? . . .

Finally, Andrew Sullivan calls my criticisms of Obama “vicious and surreal” as well as “paranoid.” Raising questions about Obama’s ties to Ayers and the like strike me as perfectly legitimate. “Vicious and surreal,” on the other hand, seem like the perfect words to apply to Sullivan’s attempts to convince people that McCain has been lying about his POW experience. Indeed, the words “vicious, surreal, and paranoid” would make a good motto for his site.