Obama worship at the Washington Post

Today was Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. At our synagogue idolatry was one of the sins our prayer book warned against.

Eli Saslow of the Washington Post must not have received the memo. His front-page story about Barack Obama’s days in the Illinois legislature (“From Outsider to Politician”) reeks of hero worship.

According to Saslow, Obama’s performance in Springfield was so flawless that it produced “only one problem” — those 129 times he voted “present.” But Saslow has no difficulty explaining these votes away. In about half of the cases, other Democrats voted “present” too. The other votes “reflected [Obama’s] tendency toward analysis and precision.” It seems that the “wording” of the legislation wasn’t up to Obama’s standards.

Not that Obama is arrogant.

One of Obama’s Springfield cronies helpfully explains that if Obama had thought voting “present” would become an issue, he would have voted “yes” or “no.” I imagine so. And I also imagine that, by the same token, Obama voted “present” when he thought that a “yes” or “no” vote would become an issue.

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