Best and brightest leave Obama smarting [View All]

[Forkboy]

THE OIL GUSHER at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is not just a political problem for President Obama. It’s a philosophical problem that challenges a central tenet of his approach to governing, his abiding faith in the judgment of experts. He’s practically in thrall to them.

Two months ago, Obama’s conviction about the safety of offshore oil rigs was strong enough that he proposed opening up 167 million acres of ocean to exploration. The preponderance of expert opinion about the safety of such an endeavor plainly influenced his decision. “It turns out,’’ he lectured critics worried about the potential environmental impact, “that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills. They are technologically very advanced.’’

But this faith in the safety of offshore drilling proved spectacularly misplaced (and ill-timed). Last week, he reversed himself and imposed a moratorium. The catastrophe provides a neat illustration of how Obama thinks and what drives his decisions.

He values smarts, admires educational attainment, and sees decisions as intensely rational processes. With this goes a technocrat’s faith that government can enact them. The characteristic outlook of Obama specifically, and his administration generally, is a rigorous fealty to data and best practices.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/06/03/best_and_brightest_leave_obama_smarting/