Quote of the week: Michael Gerson

“Though it is difficult to recall, there was a time when liberalism was identified with cheerfulness. Franklin Roosevelt, according to historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., ‘radiated personal charm, joy in his work, optimism for the future.’ Who could argue that President Obama currently radiates ‘joy in his work’? It is a chore, a sacrifice, for which we are expected to be grateful. Obama’s progressive achievements equal those of any modern president—health reform was a six-decade Democratic dream—and yet he and his closest advisors are so darned disappointed. At the high-water mark of its recent political influence, liberalism is depressed, disappointed, deflated.”

Michael Gerson in The Washington Post