Here is Charles Krauthammer's latest column. I'm not the least bit surprised by the fact that Barack Obama impugns the motives, character, and integrity of those with whom he disagrees. He's a progressive; that's what progressives do. They can't win arguments on the merits, so they must poison the well against their opponents. It goes like this: Impute base motives (such as greed or malevolence) to your opponents; this causes spectators to disregard the opponents' arguments. In effect, it invites spectators to focus on the person rather than the person's argument.
If progressives had confidence in the soundness of their policy prescriptions, they would want the focus to stay on the arguments for and against those prescriptions. Why don't progressives have confidence in the soundness of their policy prescriptions? Because those prescriptions have not been subjected to critical scrutiny. Many of them began life in academia, which is little more than a progressive echo chamber. College students don't realize that they are being sold a bill of goods. They think they are being taught how to think critically about public affairs. They think that they are being provided with all sides of each issue. They think they are being educated. They are being indoctrinated. It's scandalous.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 