“What made Obama unique was that he was the ultimate charismatic politician - the most unknown stranger ever to achieve the presidency in the United States. No one knew who he was, he came out of nowhere, he had this incredible persona that floated him above the fray, destroyed Hillary, took over the Democratic Party and became president. This is truly unprecedented: A young unknown with no history, no paper trail, no well-known associates, self-created.” WellsMadeSelfStatesYoungPresidentUnitedPartyKnownUnited StatesAchievePoliticianPaperUniqueUltimateDemocraticIncrediblesStrangerDestroyedAssociatesPresidencyWell KnownTrailsDemocratic PartyPersonaUnprecedentedCharismaticFray Author:Charles Krauthammer
“An oil crisis looms, prices are spiking - and our president is extolling algae. After Solyndra, Keystone and promises of seaweed in their gas tanks, Americans sense a president so ideologically antipathetic to fossil fuels - which we possess in staggering abundance - that he is utterly unserious about the real world of oil in which the rest of us live.” WorldRealPresidentPromiseCrisisOilAbundanceFuelGasReal WorldFossilsTanksFossil FuelStaggeringSeaweedKeystonesAlgae Author:Charles Krauthammer
“If Harriet Miers were not a crony of the president of the United States, her nomination to the Supreme Court would be a joke, as it would have occurred to no one else to nominate her.” IfsStatesWould BePresidentUnitedUnited StatesJokesCourtSupremeSupreme CourtNominationsCronies Author:Charles Krauthammer
“So far as Im concerned, Ronald Reagan was the best president. Nixon was the worst. Some of his policies were okay, but he disgraced the office.” PresidentWorstPolicyOfficeConcernedOkayPresident Nixon Author:Charles Krauthammer
“Truman left in the middle of an unpopular war, a war of choice. Truman didn't have to go into South Korea. And he was reviled and ridiculed for the stalemate that resulted. Now, he's seen as one of the great presidents of the 20th century.” WarChoicesLeftPresidentMiddleCenturySouth20th CenturyKoreaTrumanSouth KoreaGreat PresidentsStalemate Author:Charles Krauthammer
“The only reason the president insists on raising [tax] rates is because he knows it will destroy Republican unity, it will cause a complete fracture of the Republican majority in the house, it will hand him a Congress that he can then manipulate for the next two years at least because the Republicans will be neutered. ... This is entirely a political action, a way to get a surrender from the Republicans.” KnowsWayYearsTwoReasonHandsActionPoliticalNextHouseCausesPresidentRepublicanTaxesMajorityUnityRateCongressSurrenderTwo YearsManipulatePolitical ActionFractureRaising Taxes Author:Charles Krauthammer
“Ron Paul is not going to be president, so we don't have to worry about who's going to be in his cabinet.” PresidentWorryCabinets Author:Charles Krauthammer
“Every new president flatters himself that he, kinder and gentler, is beginning the world anew. Yet, when Barack Obama in his inaugural address reached out to Muslims by saying, 'To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect,' his formulation was needlessly defensive and apologetic.” WorldWayPresidentInterestBarackAddressesMutualNew WaysKinderMutual RespectInauguralApologeticMuslim WorldInaugural AddressWay ForwardMutual Interest Author:Charles Krauthammer
“This week, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized control of the Yemeni government, heretofore pro-American. In September, they overran Sanaa, the capital. On Tuesday, they seized the presidential palace. On Thursday, they forced the president to resign.” GovernmentPresidentWeekPresidentialRebelSeptemberPalacesNotableIranianTuesdayThursday Author:Charles Krauthammer
“If the president signs any of it, good. If he vetoes, it will be clarifying. Who then will be the party of no? The vetoed legislation would become the framework for a 2016 GOP platform. Let the debate begin.” IfsPresidentPartyDebatePlatformsLegislationFrameworkNotableGopVetoClarifying Author:Charles Krauthammer
“Loyalty to the President is great, but loyalty to truth, integrity, and country is even better.” CountryPresidentIntegrityLoyalty Author:Charles Krauthammer
“Look, I don't mind if the President sends a budget which he knows is not going to achieve anything. But when he prefaces his remarks as we just saw by saying we have to put politics aside, posing again as the one person in the country who rises above partisanship and party, speaks for the national interest, it's really grating.” IfsKnowsMindLooksPersonsCountrySpeakPresidentInterestPartySawsAchieveBudgetsRemarksRise AbovePartisanshipPosingNational Interests Author:Charles Krauthammer
“To go into Ukraine and to take over, to invade Crimea, is a huge step. And [Russian President Vladimir Putin] would only have done it with a president who has shown from the very beginning that [President Obama] is living in a fantasy world...They imagine the world as a new interconnected world where climate change is the biggest threat and they are shocked that the Russians actually are interested in territory.” WorldDonePresidentStepsFantasyImagineHugeThreatClimateClimate ChangeTerritoryPresident ObamaShockedPutinUkraineInterconnectedFantasy WorldsCrimeaInterconnected World Author:Charles Krauthammer
“American public opinion, as you can see in the polls, radically changed from being against airstrikes to being heavily in favor that [President Obama] decided to do airstrikes. This is a classic example of leading from behind where he waits for public opinion. And now it's the public who's demanding he do something.” WaitingPresidentBehindsOpinionExampleChangedDecidedFavorsClassicPresident ObamaPublic OpinionPolls Author:Charles Krauthammer
“It is ridiculous to sue the president on a Wednesday because he oversteps the law, as he has done a dozen times illegally and unconstitutionally, and then on a Thursday say that he should overstep the law, contradict the law that passed in 2008 and deal with this himself.” ShouldDoneLawPresidentDealsRidiculousDozenWednesdayThursday Author:Charles Krauthammer
