Barack Obama is taking some heat from the left for giving a speech for $400,000. As usual I've mixed feelings:
On the one hand I wish the Obamas had followed the example of the Carters in sending their daughters to a public DC school. They didn't. I also wish the Obamas would follow the example of the Carters in "rarely" giving paid speeches. They won't.
On the other hand where do you draw the line? Is a $10,000 fee for a speech at an alumna mater okay while $400,000 would be wrong? Or is the issue who the speech is to? We don't want the Obamas talking to "bad" people but it's okay to talk to "good" people? Won't "bad" people benefit more by listening to them?
On the third hand, I disdained Reagan's speeches in Japan.
My bottom line is while I wish we were a nation of saints, and I wish the president were the highest-paid, best compensated American executive, neither is true, so we live in the world we have.
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