Fareed Zakaria Says Barack Obama Should Step Down

Fareed Zakaria said today that we must have candidates for President and Vice President who know how to govern, who are capable of getting us through this financial crisis. He says we cannot have people who are "unqualified," who are merely "charismatic," who when pressed on the economy engage in "a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics" that come into their head.

He says such candidates should drop out. He is purporting to talk about Palin, but everything he says applies equally to Barack Obama.

Obama is pitifully ignorant when it comes to the economy. He is better, I agree, than Palin at memorizing talking points, but then again, he's had a lot more practice. But he has no more intelligence, knowledge, insight, or ability than Palin does.

Oh, and Zakaria -- who also likes to portray himself as something of an expert on foreign affairs -- also made light of Sarah Palin's experience with Russia. He says, "Two weeks ago I flew to Tokyo, crossing over the North Pole. Does that make me an expert on Santa Claus?" I don't know, Fareed, are you regularly briefed on military exercises involving Santa Claus? She never claimed to be an expert; she was asked about experience. She hinted at some of that experience, and it's not insignificant, and it's real. It's as real as any foreign experience Obama has: he had a summer vacation in Europe and met with some people.

What Zakaria is doing is both ignoring the fact of her actual experience, and then pretending she said something she never did. Terrible stuff.

What's really pathetic is that professionals like Zakaria who should know better have been sucked in by slickness. Obama is more slick, so therefore he's qualified. This is Zakaria's implicit message, and it doesn't speak well for him.