Our Gracious, Triangulating President
Negotiating the tax cut deal with the Republicans, apparently, was like negotiating with terrorists. From the DC Examiner:
During a press conference moments ago, President Obama explained his decision to concede to Republican demands to extend the Bush tax cuts to those who make more than $250,000 by comparing congressional GOP to hostage-takers: "It's tempting not to negotiate with hostage takers, unless the hostage gets harmed...The hostage was the American people."
Okay, so maybe not terrorists. But at least kidnappers.
I'm not sure what the strategy is, here. I guess it's triangulation? If so, he's nailed it. Insulting the Republicans? Check. Alienating left wing Democrats? Check:
Mr. Obama's allies in the Capitol gave the agreement a harsh review. Ms. Pelosi said the estate tax plan "would help only 39,000 of America's richest families, while adding about $25 billion more to the deficit." The plan would exempt all estate wealth under $5 million.
The problem with this strategy is that it makes the president seem weak and pushed around. And it only really works, I think, if he can personalize the choice, as Bill Clinton did in the aftermath of the 1994 midterms, when he made it a Clinton v. Gingrich matchup. Clinton did a pretty good job of demonizing Gingrich (who did a pretty good job of it himself, too) but that's a high-stakes game, and it requires huge reservoirs of personal charm.
I'm not sure our current president has those reservoirs, huge or otherwise.
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Jul '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
Perhaps you missed Frank Rich's screed the other day, in which compared Obama's helplessness to Stockholm Syndrome. It was incoherent, even by Frank Rich's standards, but apparently Obama's following the script.
Man, this day is the most fun I've had since Obama was elected - including even our victory in November. The perpetually-angry Left have emerged howling from their caves, but now the blood they lust for is the Messiah's.
Fabulous.
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
Actually, Obama is the hostage-taker, and the American people have already been harmed -- which is why the Democratic Party suffered so badly in the election. Clinton had the grace to at least pretend to accept the blame then directed at him. One reason why Obama is likely to be very vulnerable in 2012 is that he has no grace.
May '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
I was in the car during the press conference and listened to that portion live. What was astonishing was how petulant, peevish and petty he sounded. He was offended by every question, resentful at having the answer them at all, full of pronouncements about what the Republicans were going to have to bring to him for his approval.He was -- and I'm pretty sure it's not just me -- intensely unlikeable.
He expressly said that he's itching for a fight and believes that in the battle between tax cuts and benefit cuts the American people will side squarely with him. He made no apology for class warfare -- he seemed anxious to be able to engage in it again heading into the 2012 election. If nothing else we seem to be moving to a point of stunning clarity. If we keep on the current course the terms of the debate and the nature of the choices will be as clear as they have ever been.
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
I believe my book's depiction of Obama as a hyper-partisan, liar, bully, and thin-skinned narcissist is increasingly vindicated. I was not trying to engage in name-calling for the sake of being petty, but to demonstrate, by example after example, this man's character and mode of governance. He was decidedly ungracious and petulant win he was winning. We have only begun to get a taste of him as a loser. Our friend Peter Wehner has a strong post about this on Commentary's Contentions.
Oct '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
Just add it to his greatest hits, which includes:
- Bitter clingers
- They're not thinking clearly
- You think they would be saying thank you
- Republicans need to sit in the back seat
- We need to punish our enemies
- And don't stop heckling, go heckle the Republicans
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
As it turns out, David, you were being too kind!
Aug '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
Is this the only president we have photographs of when he flipping someone the bird in a public setting ? He has some major issues with maturity as well as an inability to control his emotions.
Short of psychoanalytic meanderings, who brought this guy up ? Was there anyone around at all when he was growing up ? Spoiled, petulant, and immature can be added to the list.
This guy needs some handlers and not some nanny who idolizes him - that's you Valerie !
May '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
In the immediate aftermath of the midterms everyone was wondering if Mr. Obama would (or could) pull a Bill Clinton. The biggest difference I see is that Mr. Clinton was likeable.
Mr. Obama is coming across, not as Jimmy Carter, but the black Nixon.
Dec '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
Mr. Obama has at last fully embraced the idea that being President is not enough fun anymore to be worth all the hard work and criticism. It might have helped if he had ever actually had a vision for where he wanted to lead the country, instead of an amorphous collection of Left-wing ideas about government and governance. He's until now been content to drift like a leaf on a stream, but now he's been washed into the rapids and he's no longer enjoying the ride.
Sep '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
And to think, this is merely keeping the tax code as it has been for the last ten years along with extending unemployment benefits. The horror!
Dec '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
EJHill: In the immediate aftermath of the midterms everyone was wondering if Mr. Obama would (or could) pull a Bill Clinton. The biggest difference I see is that Mr. Clinton was likeable.
Mr. Obama is coming across, not as Jimmy Carter, but the black Nixon. · Dec 7 at 2:45pm
Clinton and Nixon both had an advantage that Carter and Obama didn't: they'd both suffered big political defeats. Nixon lost to Kennedy, and Arkansas's voters kicked Clinton out of office after his first term as Governor. Both men understood that they, not the voters, had to adjust their approaches and attitudes in order to come back and win higher office.
Obama's only electoral defeat was in his desultory campaign for Congress against Bobby Rush. He's never had to deal seriously with political fallout from a failed campaign, and he's never learned the consequences of failing to govern effectively. His personal history suggests that he runs away from challenges that are too tough for him, rather than facing them head-on and figuring out how to overcome them.
Jul '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
I must have missed the "hard work" part.
I suspect part of his anger at the moment is that he isn't getting enough time on the golf course and really, really needs a vacation.
May '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
I don't think their defeats had as much to do with it as the fact they were both seen as flawed men from the beginning. Nixon had his "Checkers" problem and the post-gubernatorial speech, and Clinton's zipper problems were well documented and explored on 60 Minutes.
Obama wasn't so much elected, as we was elevated. He was sold as Superman, as post-partisan and the black George Washington. Since then it's been like watching Gerald Ford trying to get down the steps of Air Force One...
Nov '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
Like everything else about him, Obama's "cool" is a fraud. His "cool" is actually the detachment of a full-blown sociopath who feels no connection with his fellow citizens and no warmth for his fellow human beings. All hail our Cuckoo-in-Chief.
And no, he is not likeable. Obama is a mean, sniveling little ——.
Edited on Dec 7, 2010 at 3:59pmDec '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
Kenneth
I must have missed the "hard work" part.
I suspect part of his anger at the moment is that he isn't getting enough time on the golf course and really, really needs a vacation. · Dec 7 at 2:59pm
Well, Barack missed the "hard work" part when he read the job description before he threw his hat in the ring. Either that, or he never bothered to read the job description at all -- that would have involved hard work in itself.
Dec '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
EJHill
I don't think their defeats had as much to do with it as the fact they were both seen as flawed men from the beginning. Nixon had his "Checkers" problem and the post-gubernatorial speech, and Clinton's zipper problems were well documented and explored on 60 Minutes.
Obama wasn't so much elected, as we was elevated. He was sold as Superman, as post-partisan and the black George Washington. Since then it's been like watching Gerald Ford trying to get down the steps of Air Force One... · Dec 7 at 3:11pm
The key is that Nixon and Clinton both understood that people saw them as flawed and operated as though the people were right. Barack thinks criticism of him is completely unfair: "They talk about me like a dog," he whines, because he feels deeply the injury from people maliciously maligning his perfection.
As they say, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.
Aug '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
Lady K , you are an apt archer , zing ! So as they say : "Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play ? "
Oct '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
Obama has, in one move, pitched his Democratic colleagues in congress over the railing, and attacked Republicans for being protectors of the rich. What's going on here is that he's positioning himself for his re-election by steering a path between both the GOP and Congressional Democrats. He's trying to show himself "independent" of both, and thereby appealing to the vast middle. Expect more of this: positioning himself against both congressional Republicans and Democrats. Nice try, but I can't blame him. It's the only chance he has of getting re-elected.
Nov '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
By any measure, Obama's upbringing was a chaotic mess. His mother was a dingaling moonbat — literally and figuratively all over the map. She dragged Obama from country to country before finally abandoning him. Obama then fell into the care of his maternal grandparents and grandpa was, by all accounts, a strange, shiftless fellow. During this period, Obama's only "mentoring" influence was a man of highly dubious character:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Marshall_Davis
Make no mistake about it; Obama is not normal. He never had the opportunity to become normal.
Edited on Dec 7, 2010 at 3:57pmNov '10
Re: Our Gracious, Triangulating President
Thank you very much, Flownover. Obama brings out the "best" in me.