Obama: The Artful Dodger

Barack Obama is in Dickens’ world when he uses the term “inartful” to describe General Clark’s disparagement of John McCain’s military experiences, and when Obama used the term to describe his own flip-flop on the 2nd Amendment. Oliver Twist’s character the Artful Dodger has become a common descriptor of those proficient at evading responsibility or consequences for their actions.

Barack Obama’s “inartful” enters the lexicon of Democrat double-speak with John Kerry’s “nuanced” and Bill Clinton’s “parse.”

The word “artful” has a traditional meaning as skilled, and has developed a more current connotation as cunning. In either case, “inartful” then would mean un-skilled or un-cunning. That simply means that Obama is saying that Clark and himself were clumsy in their deceits. They could have done better. Obama doesn’t say that the statements are wrong or smears, or such. Obama plays with language to evade responsibility and consequences. See a pattern in his life?

How about coming clean? That doesn’t appear to be part of Obama’s touted repertoire of speechmaking.

A centrist liberal at The New Republic does clean the air of Obama et. al.’s deceit about their smear campaign tactics, and Hillary Clinton’s, absolving John McCain and his advisors of such gutter politics. The entire is worth reading. Here’s just a snippet:

Thus far, no one with any serious affiliation to John McCain's campaign has resorted to the alleged “scare” tactics in which Republicans — and, apparently, only Republicans — have been perfecting since Richard Nixon was first elected. On the contrary, if the past few months have showed us anything, it’s that the Obama campaign is the one dealing in crude smears.

See Ed Morrissey and McQ for more.