Yesterday was a classic example of the 8 year old boy temper tantrum bullies on the right. President Obama's office contacted Speaker Boehner's office to let them know that the president wanted to address a joint session of Congress next Wednesday. Rather than say no publicly, before the official letter was sent, they said nothing. Obama's staff wrongfully assumed that this meant the night was OK.
But Boehner's staff was waiting for the opportunity to "prove" that they are the cocks of the walk by standing up, saying no, and putting on a show for their base. They got this opportunity when the president's office sent the formal letter. Boehner and his staff knew that the GOP debate was scheduled that night. They also knew they had an out with next Wednesday being the first day Congress is back in session for the fall. So, they issued their imperial NO and looked all that, marking the first time in our nation's history that a president has been told no to address Congress. It was "You lie!" on steroids.
President Obama, being the adult of the two, switched to Thursday and has now turned his attention to the actual reason he is going there: jobs and the larger issue of improving the economy. This whole episode is indicative of how GOP extremism is eroding our ability to get anything done. Of course, that's what they want (him to fail) so it shouldn't be surprising that they did what they did. What is surprising to me is that the president continues to operate under the assumption that he is dealing with adults.
He's not.
3 comments:
Yep, it's so important that he had to wait until his vacation was over. Also, why address congress? Just propose the bill and let folks vote on it. If we're going to get more $2500 tax credits to hire employees when the hire costs $50,000, I won't be too impressed by the bill.
“The White House was well aware the president’s speech would conflict with a planned Republican debate sponsored by POLITICO and NBC to be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. The debate would be broadcast live by MSNBC and live-streamed by POLITICO. CNBC and Telemundo will re-air the broadcast. Yet the White House did not see this as an obstacle.”
That’s because they’re inept. And what’s the consequence? “The White House did not want to give in and look weak, but what was the alternative?” Despite the Politico spin of this failure as something that the House Republicans did to Obama, this is a case of tactical overreach by the White House political shop. They thought Obama could upstage the Republican debate, and that the House Republicans would roll over for the awesome majesty of the Presidency. But the diminished Obama Presidency isn’t looking very majestic these days, and this peeved foot-stamping isn’t helping, and merely serves to underscore the White House political operation’s incompetence. (By complaining about Rush Limbaugh and the Tea Party, they just further the Obama-diminution process while building up his opponents.) They miscalculated, and it blew up in their face. Whining to the press that they were outmaneuvered won’t improve things, and no capable political operative would imagine that it could. But then, why should we expect more competence from the White House political shop than we’ve seen from the rest of their operation?
So the Obama administration was either totally inept (what, they couldn't check TV Guide?) or being incredibly petty.
"What makes this childish, passive aggressive act really ironic is that Obama will probably use the speech to call for more civility in Washington and ask for both sides to work together. But needlessly stepping on the other party’s important events isn’t how you actually go about promoting civility and encouraging cooperation."
Timing of Obama’s Speech: Incompetence or Pettiness? <- from a site run by a Huffington Post contributor.
So tell me, Marky, what does Obama's butt taste like, especially since he apparently didn't bother wiping it for you?
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