Misery loves company

The president's critics call him “weak and timorous” if not outright cowardly. His actions are "imbecilic" in the face of fanatical opposition. Yet, he does little until "driven to it," his detractors say. One supporter said, "I am heartsick" over his "shambling," her word for dithering. "Nobody believes in him any more.” He'll be a one-term president. Pretty harsh criticism of President Obama, eh? Actually, no. The venomous criticism I cited was spewed at President Abraham Lincoln, circa 1861-65. And misery loves company. For much of his public life, as historian Stephen Oates noted, Lincoln governed under an unrelenting "firestorm of criticism" in his day. Some pundits even called Honest Abe an "infidel." Imagine. Lincoln too was panned for supposedly "leading from behind" (think about his cautious approach to the Emancipation Proclamation). In 1864, Lincoln's reelection too was very much in doubt. It's all eerily familiar. It is a pity that we cannot cut our sitting presidents some slack, esp. the current one. Beyond the yahoos at the political fringes, few doubt Obama's innate abilities or sincerity about fixing what ails us. We all know who the adult in the room is. Gratuitous disparagement of the man is not helpful. In fact, we would do well to remember what Mr. Lincoln once said about tact: "The ability to describe others as they see themselves."