Posted on 05/15/2015 7:33:35 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross
These are not good times for the Republic (and if you laughed or scratched your head at me calling America a republic, I rest my case).
But they are amusing times, at least for those of us capable of extracting some measure of mirth and schadenfreude from the presidents predicament.
With the sand running out on the Obama presidency, its finally dawning on the presidents friends and fans that he can be a real jerk.
Consider the Washington Posts Dana Milbank. For the last six years, hes spent much of his time rolling his eyes and sneering at Republicans. His subspecialty is heaping ridicule on conservative complaints about, well, everything and anything. If it bothers conservatives, it must be irrational, partisan, churchy, fake, hypocritical or all of the above. Meanwhile, poor Barack Obama, while not always without fault in Milbanks eyes, is the grown-up, the good guy trying to do good things amidst a mob of malcontents and ideologues.
That is, until this month. President Obama wants to get a trade deal passed. He needs Democrats to do it. But, Milbank laments, Obamas blowing it.
Lets suppose you are trying to bring a friend around to your point of view, Milbank writes. Would you tell her shes emotional, illogical, outdated, and not very smart? Would you complain that hes being dishonest, fabricating falsehoods and denying reality with his knee-jerk response?
Such a method of a persuasion is likelier to get you a black eye than a convert, Milbank notes. Yet this is how President Obama treats his fellow Democrats on trade . . .
Yes, well, true enough. But lost on Milbank is the fact that this is precisely how Obama treats everyone who disagrees with him. When Obama who ran for office touting his ability to work with Republicans and vowing to cure the partisan dysfunction in Washington treated Republicans in a far ruder and shabbier way, Milbank celebrated.
Of course, he was hardly alone.
Republicans, in Obamas view, are always dishonest, fabricating falsehoods and denying reality with their knee-jerk responses.
To pick just one of countless examples, there was a White House summit on health care in 2010. The president invited members of Congress to discuss the issue in good faith. He then proceeded to treat every concern, objection, and argument from Republicans as dumb, dishonest, or emotional. They were, according to a column by Milbank, stepping into Prof. Obamas classroom. Milbank marveled at how the teacher treated them all like his undisciplined pupils. Whenever someone said anything politically inconvenient, the president replied that those were just partisan talking points.
When Senator John McCain, his opponent in the previous election, noted that Obama had broken numerous promises and that the 2,400-page bill was a feeding trough for special interests, Obama eye-rolled. Let me just make this point, John, Obama said. Were not campaigning anymore. The elections over.
He responded to Senator Lamar Alexander he called him Lamar this is an example of where weve got to get our facts straight. When it was Representative John Boehners turn to speak, Obama reprimanded John for trotting out the standard talking points and, in the words of a palpably impressed Milbank, forced Boehner to wear the dunce cap.
Again, this was all quintessential Obama then, and its quintessential Obama now. All that has changed is that hes doing the exact same thing to Democrats, and its making them sad. Specifically, hes accused Senator Elizabeth Warren of not having her facts straight. He says shes just a politician following her partisan self-interest.
But heres the hilarious part: Liberals cant take it. The president of NOW, Terry ONeill, accused Obama of being sexist. ONeill sniped that Obamas clear subtext is that the little lady just doesnt know what shes talking about. She added, I think it was disrespectful. Both ONeill and Senator Sherrod Brown also sniff sexism in the fact that Obama referred to Warren as Elizabeth.
I think referring to her as first name, when he might not have done that for a male senator, perhaps? Brown mused with his typical syntactical ineptness.
Of course, in that White House health-care summit and in nearly every other public meeting with Republican senators and congressmen, he referred to them all by their first names.
The great irony is that when Republicans complain about Obamas haughtiness and arrogance, liberals accuse them of being racist. I hope I dont miss that phase of this spat while Im off making the popcorn.
Dana Milbank and his liberal friends are given the '0bama treatment' and they scream like stuck pigs. Then they get right back in line. Like McConnell and Boehner.
They've been willing toadies, stooges and rubber stamps to him on every other issue, with occasional exceptions of those from marginal districts who get advance permission to deviate slightly from the party line here and there.
Just what the h3ll does Milbank expect?
And yet, like battered women, the LEftists still cling to Obola, because “he’s soooooo dreamy...”
I fear Obama is becoming unhinged. His most recent speeches are more like rants
“I won, you lost!”
“We want to hit the ground ruling!”
“Elizabeth, you incredibly ignorant slut!”
Why does Jonah Goldberg act as if the democRATS lost on this trade deal surrender by the GOP?
Much of this is the fault of the panty-waists running the GOP.
They are both unwilling and incapable of fighting.
You fight by immediately calling out Obama for his lies and mischaracterizations.
You cite specifics that can NOT be mistaken for “talking points”.
You state what is WRONG with his position and EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE FIGHTING FOR.
I love it when the devil turns on the demons.
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