The Big Lie that is the commentariat's narrative of the Obama presidency

"Let everyone reject the destructive power of hatred and prejudice, which kills men's souls before it kills their bodies!" Pope Benedict told "tens of thousands of adoring followers in Jesus' childhood hometown" of Nazareth "with a message of reconciliation" Thursday.  (Jack Guez/ AFP/ Getty Images photo of workers preparing site on the aptly named Mount Precipice where Pope Benedict XVI would celebrate Mass)

“We cannot do whatever we please with the world,” Pope Benedict XVI told religious leaders of Galilee the other day (full remarks here) during the final leg of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land:

Rather, we are called to conform our choices to the subtle yet nonetheless perceptible laws inscribed by the Creator upon the universe and pattern our actions after the divine goodness that pervades the created realm . . .

By moulding the hearts of the young, we mould the future of humanity itself.

And there's the rub, the tragic vs the utopian view of human nature that we're forever flogging here. Generations of young hearts have been stunted through the soul-deadening p.c. propaganda of the decades-long Gramscian march through the institutions, as blogged here just the other day:

The 18th-Century Pats believed, as John Adams wrote, that "Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom." But in the wake of the 20th-Century Gramscian march through the institutions, promulgated through the insidious propagandizing of future teachers by "critical pedagogy" proselytizers like President Obama's old pal Bill Ayers, all too many children of the 21st-Century — even some of the best and the brightest who sit on the editorial board of the Harvard Crimson — don't seem to understand the fragility of this thing that is their birthright. In Ben Franklin's words, oft quoted here, "A republic, madam, if you can keep it."

It’s a tragedy that President Obama’s lockstep legions haven't a clue about Papa Ratzi's "subtle yet nonetheless perceptible laws” of the universe. Rodney King's fatuous "Can't we all just get along?" comes to mind, as does Santayana's prescient "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." As military historian-cum-family-farmer Victor Davis Hanson — one who "remembers the past" better than almost anyone — wrote the other day:

The cracks … in Obama’s Pentelic statuary … will widen, because in about six areas he has taken on human nature itself, age-old logic and common-sense opponents that even a Harvard Law degree and Chicago organizing are no match for.

The controversy over Notre Dame's decision to award the president an honorary degree shines a spotlight on the Big Lie that is the commentariat's narrative of the Obama presidency as "Critics Decry Wording of Notre Dame's Honorary Degree for Obama." From the citation:

Through his willingness to engage with those who disagree with him and encourage people of faith to bring their beliefs to the public debate, he is inspiring this nation to heal its divisions of religion, culture, race and politics in the audacious hope for a brighter tomorrow.

While honorary-degree citations are expected to put a well-scrubbed face on the recipient's accomplishments, this one just ain't true. Catholic theologian George Weigel explains:

"I don't see any evidence that President Obama takes the moral arguments of those who disagree with him on the life issues seriously," Weigel told FOXNews.com. "This was most clear in his address at the time he announced the federal government's stance on embryonic destructive stem cell research."

Back to the Holy Father for blogfriend Elizabeth Scalia's (AKA The Anchoress) take:

A reading of all of Benedict’s remarks throughout this pilgrimage suggests that he is doing more; he is pushing aside entangled, energy-sapping emotionalism to propose a reinvestment in our shared humanity. This last great man of the 20th century lived through Nazism and statism and he understands the societal weaknesses that spawned them. His speeches in the Holy Land are of a piece, meant to paint the “big picture.”

And a few final words from Benedetto himself in his South Lawn speech at the White House last year:

In reflecting on the spiritual victory of freedom over totalitarianism in his native Poland and in eastern Europe, [John Paul II] reminded us that history shows, time and again, that "in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation," and a democracy without values can lose its very soul.

Amen.

Update: "Note this story," writes The Anchoress in the comments:

Israel may be ready for a two-state solution. And the credit goes to ... not Benedict, who Netty just met with, but OBAMA, with whom he will meet soon.

Isn't Obama amazing, though? No credit to Benedict!

As we wrote back:

Exactly what I was thinking as I caught the headline on Drudge this afternoon. Reminds me of the old Christmas story Why the Chimes Rang.

Ronald Reagan would have understood the Lord's -- and the Pope's -- mysterious ways: You can accomplish much if you don't care who gets the credit.

Update: "Even committed secularists need their godlings," writes The Anchoress, who links -- Thanks! -- in "Post Pope, Israel may support 2-state solution - UPDATED."

Comments

[goomp]

Sadly it seems to be one of the inescapable weaknesses of human nature to forget the lessons of the past and to feel that present successes can be endless if new standards of behavior are followed.

[The Anchoress]

Sissy, thanks for the link. Note this story: Israel may be ready for a two-state solution. And the credit goes to...not Benedict, who Netty just met with, but OBAMA, with whom he will meet soon.

Isn't Obama amazing, though? No credit to Benedict!

[Sissy Willis]

Anchoress: Exactly what I was thinking as I caught the headline on Drudge this afternoon. Reminds me of the old Christmas story Why the Chimes Rang.

[Account Deleted]

Obama thinks he made the sun come out today by announcing new auto-emissions rules.

[Stoutcat]

It's interesting to contrast the election of Obama to the presidency with the elevation of Ratzinger to the papacy.

Consider Obama's inaugural address in front of, what, millions? and all the glitz and glamor and compare that with Benedict's new tradition of having twelve people, including cardinals, clergy, religious, a married couple and their child, and newly confirmed people, greet him.

Remember the kid's comic, Goofus and Gallant? How about we rename this match-up Hubrus and Humbol?