The Royal "We"

Continuing his quest to become the most partisan and least intellectually honest columnist in America, Charles Krauthammer's latest offering is so obnoxious and transparently hypocritical that even Rush Limbaugh would be probably be a little embarrassed to put his name to it.

Entitled "The Audacity of Vanity," the most breathtakingly hackish line from the column is this one:

Obama may think he's King Canute, but the good king ordered the tides to halt precisely to refute sycophantic aides who suggested that he had such power. Obama has no such modesty. After all, in the words of his own slogan, "we are the ones we've been waiting for," which, translating the royal "we," means: " I am the one we've been waiting for."

That's a neat trick: the pronoun switcheroo. As Hilzoy points out, besides adding words that aren't there, Krauthammer is quoting Obama completely out of context here, and in doing so, completely inverting his meaning.

But let's get back to the whole switching pronouns thing. Two can play at that game, Mr. Krauthammer. For instance, this is from a recent McCain speech on economics:

There is nothing beyond our ability to achieve. We are Americans, and we don't hide from history. We make history.

When you translate the royal "we" as Krauthammer does, McCain really said:

There is nothing beyond my ability to achieve. I am an American, and I don't hide from history. I make history.

What an arrogant arse! An how about this:

To get our economy running at full strength again, [I] will also get a handle on the cost of energy. Under my plan, [I] will produce more of America's own energy. [I] will build at least 45 nuclear plants that will create over 700,000 good jobs to construct and operate them. [I] will develop clean coal technology -- which alone will create tens of thousands of jobs in some of America's most hard-pressed areas. [I] will accelerate the development of wind and solar power and other renewable technologies, and [I] will help automakers design and sell cars that don't depend on gasoline.

McCain is claiming, among other things, that he can personally build 45 nuclear plants. Who does he think he is? Superman? What a jerk!

And who can forget McCain's delusionally self-absorbed campaign slogan: "A Leader [I] Can Believe In."

I'm sure there are some other good examples of McCain's extraordinary vanity out there, so feel free to leave them in the comments.