The Intellectual Dishonesty of Obama and Other False Purists

◼ Yes, the GOP is obstinate. We get it. But assigning the White House some blame is no false equivalence. - Ron Fournier/National Journal

To voters angry at Washington, President Obama has an explanation for the deepening of gridlock, incompetence, and zero-sum gain thinking during his five-plus years in office: It's not his fault.

Not that finger-pointing solves anything, but Obama wants you to know that it was Republicans and the media who put his presidency on ice....

In politics and in everyday life, rarely are both sides equally wrong, which is why journalists shouldn't draw false equivalence. Balz is an example of how to measure blame fairly, not necessarily equally.

Rarer still is one side 100 percent right, which is why Obama is guilty of false purity. Obama's intellectual dishonesty has prevented him from learning on the job, which is what's required of great presidents—the kind who overcome obstacles that others whine about.