President Obama's War of Words

Political Realities ^ | 10/04/13 | LD Jackson

[LD Jackson]

One thing that is sure to never disappoint is the ability of liberals to wage a war of words on their opponents. The master of hateful and spiteful rhetoric is none other than President Obama and he is taking full advantage of the government shutdown to spread said rhetoric through his media lapdogs. I had the occasion to hear some of it on the radio yesterday and I listened in amazement at the way he went after the Republicans. One would think the end of the world is nigh upon us. For his part, I am sure Obama believes he is doing a good job of boxing his opponents into a corner. For me, it seems he is building a trap of rhetoric that he is will be hard pressed to get out of.

NBC News - "My simple message today is, call a vote...let every individual member of Congress make up their own minds," Obama said at M. Luis Construction in Rockville, Md.

"Take a vote," he said, "and end this shutdown right now."

"There will be no negotiation over this," Obama said later in the speech. "The American people are not pawns in some political game."

"The American people elected their representatives to make their lives easier, not harder," Obama said.

Boehner is preventing a vote on a funding bill because he doesn't want to anger "extremists" in his party, Obama said.

"You don't negotiate by putting a gun to the other persons' head, or worse, putting a gun to the American people's head," he said.

Obama also spent time looking ahead to the next anticipated showdown, on the government's debt limit. If the limit is not raised by Oct. 17, the U.S. government could default on its obligations, which could have enormous economic implications.

"As reckless as a government shutdown is, as many people are being hurt by a government shutdown, an economic shutdown that results from default would be worse," Obama said.

The longer the shutdown goes on, the worse the impact on the U.S. economy will be, he said.

Nothing in this rhetoric really surprises me. As would be expected, he is blaming the Republicans, specifically John Boehner and the "extremists" of the party, for the government shutdown. You can't blame the fellow for trying, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, I refuse to allow President Obama and the Democrats to define what is happening as a "Republican government shutdown". The truth of the matter is simple. The Republicans have tried to fund the government with one bill. That failed. They then moved to funding it in smaller chunks. The only one of these smaller funding bills that has made it to the President's desk is the one that funds our military. Every other funding bill has been sidelined in the Senate. Harry Reid refuses to allow them to come up for a vote, no matter what portion of the government is at risk. That suggests to me that the Democrats are the ones guilty of shutting down the government.

How much longer can this war of words continue before someone caves?I want to share a good portion of a post from Chris Stirewalt that tells much of this story.

Power Play - Since American liberals tend to see government in its best light as a moral instrument – deliverer of social justice, ameliorator of human suffering, protector of a fragile environment – they often view the funding (or not funding) of government in moral terms. It is especially tempting for his supporters to give in to their impulse to attack. But now what? Obama’s risky gambit of the politics of partisan destruction doesn’t leave Democrats much running room in the current fight over debt and spending.

And having encouraged this moral absolutism with multiple refusals to negotiate, Obama now faces an unpleasant choice. He can deal with people his top communications aide branded “suicide bombers” and be seen as a heretic by his fellow believers or he can preside over a catastrophic failure.

His adamancy has driven Republicans together in desperation, settling on a strategy of slogging through a painful shutdown battle with Obama. They may not like how they got there, but they are now fighting for survival. Their strategy of jousting with Obama and Senate Democrats over what shuts down in a shutdown is buying time and increasing public pressure on Obama to get to the negotiating table, which is where he arrived Wednesday and whence he shall return again.

This is making liberals furious.

It might have sounded sound flaky or irrational to some when a California congressman screamed from the floor of the House that his fellow lawmakers are waging a “jihad” against Americans by refusing to fully fund the government until Obama consents to some compromise on his new health-insurance entitlement program. But if every dollar spent by the federal government is sacred, damming up the flow of those dollars would look like a religious war.

Obama may be serious about pushing through and jumping off this, the mother of all fiscal cliffs. But if he continues to flinch, he will have hell to pay explaining his reversal to his political supporters.

President Obama may believe he has the Republicans right where he wants them, but I'm not convinced he does. As Chris Stirewalt points out, he has built his own rhetorical trap with his war of words on the Republicans. He may find it not so easy to extract himself from said trap. He may believe the Republicans are squirming, but I can't help but wonder how long it will take before the seat he has taken gets too hot for him to sit still. Let the squirming begin.

[HomeAtLast]

“The American people elected their representatives to make their lives easier, not harder,” Obama said.

So true, and so wrong.

[SMARTY]

“O” must be a totally SUBJECTIVE and self-absorbed person because if he had one iota of objectivity, he’d listen to himself and cringe!

[trebb]

Interpretation of a few lines:

"There will be no negotiation over this," Obama said later in the speech. "The American people are not Republican pawns in some political game - Only Democrats have the authority to make pawns of the People."

"The American people elected their representatives to make their lives easier, not harder, electing me and other Democrats was a huge screw-up by them because we have them totally flummoxed" Obama said.

Boehner is preventing a vote on a funding bill because he doesn't want to anger "extremists" in his party, and we have proven time and again that he cannot trust my party, Obama said.

"You don't negotiate by putting a gun to the other persons' head, or worse, putting a gun to the American people's head, only Democrats negotiate that way" he said.

[Dilbert San Diego]

Does this president ever provide leadership on any issue? Or does he just whine and assess blame, per liberal criteria, for whatever the issue of the day is? Is all he is able to do is tell us who is to blame for something?

Is he only capable of Alinsky agitation type speeches???

[SMARTY]

“O” was never ready for prime time.

Irrespective of politics or anything else, he does NOT comprehend leadership, character or responsibility.

When I think of past leaders (Churchill, Truman, Kennedy, Lincoln, etc.) I cannot believe the perfect lack of depth, understanding, credibility, skill and the total lack of statesmanship “O” displays.

There have been Democrats in the WH who, no matter what I feel about their politics, I have to respect them as able leaders and statesmen.

“O” is NOT and will never BE one of them!