Outside the Beltway

Grading on a Curve

Dodd Harris
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As pretty much everyone knows by now, President Obama gave himself “a good, solid B-plus” grade for his first year in office.

If that struck you as a tad high, you’re not alone. Jokes about grade inflation have been pretty common. I couldn’t help but crack a joke about the curve he’s grading himself on and the infamous “hockey stick.”

But jokes aside, it seems likely this will turn out to be one of those rhetorical missteps that will haunt him the rest of his tenure in office — much like “Read my lips,” “It depends upon what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is,” and “I’m the Decider.” It so perfectly and succinctly captures Obama’s particular flavour of hubris, and the concomitant false modesty, that he can almost assuredly expect snarky ‘solid B-plusses’ to be applied to his administration’s miscues, stumbles, and snafus from here on out.

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7 responses to “Grading on a Curve”

  1. Dave Schuler Avatar
    Dave Schuler

    I’m still holding out for giving him an “Incomplete”.

  2. Davebo Avatar
    Davebo

    I was wondering what a good answer to the question would have been and along comes Dave with the perfect one.

  3. Drew Avatar
    Drew

    I’m not so sure. With no pejorative meant, Dave’s answer is true by definition. I have no quibble with it as a purely analytical statement.

    But people generally get paid to go beyond those observations. To render judgments based on incomplete data or performance.

    The trends are there. The results coming in look suspect.

    By the way. The Bears still have an incomplete. But where do you think they are headed?

  4. al bee Avatar
    al bee

    I graded him a BS. All bull no action.

  5. Our Paul Avatar
    Our Paul

    Stand up and a round of applause to Dodd for his excellent lawyering approach in besmirching President Obama’s accomplishments. First of all is the title, Grading on a Curve, fallowed by a small riff on “grade inflation”, and the modest detour into climatology with a snide coupling of the infamous “hockey stick” to grade inflation.

    But, our boy Dodd reaches the pinnacle of Center Right intellectual achievement by completely ignoring what President Obama listed as potential achievements and instead focusing on solely on the grade he applies to himself…

    We could grade brother Dodd’s post, but there is no need. In its banality it defines itself. Consider his last sentence as he lathers the President with standard Right Wing slime:

    It so perfectly and succintly captures Obama’s particular flavour of hubris, and the concomitant false modesty, that he can almost assuredly expect snarky ’solid B-plusses’ to be applied to his administration’s miscues, stumbles, and snafus from here on out.

    If Dodd is as good a prognosticator as he is a speller, Obama has nothing to worry about!

    Pssst 1#: Source of photograph is not listed.

  6. Dodd Avatar
    Dodd

    Ooh, a typo flame. Always the hallmark of a dizzying intellect.

  7. Our Paul Avatar
    Our Paul

    Come, come now Counselor Dodd. We both know what a true intellect is, and it has nothing to do with spelling.

    Central is the ability to tease out the individual components of a complex problem, examine them, and come to an independent judgment. At the core of this game is the ability to modify conclusions as the components interact, and to recognize error or weakness in one’s formulation. Paul Krugman has a recent column, with examples, that says it better than I can…

    Posner, and a few others such as Daniel Larison, have questioned the anti-intellectualism within the conservative movement. It recently crested with the proposed 10 point “purity” test. Not much room for intellectual rigor, criticism, or growth, but plenty of room for the GOP McCarthy gene to express itself.

    Take care Mr. Dodd, and stay away from the McCarthy gene as much as you can…

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