The first few days of the Obama presidency have captured the media to an extent that has to be making Bill Clinton grind down his molars (I'd say George Bush, but lets face it, W probably hasn't looked at anything beyond his DVD collection since the plane touched down in Dallas). The swiftness with which President Obama has addressed some of the failings of the Bush administration has left the media practically gasping, and left the pundits at Fox News with little to do but proclaim the apocalypse Real Soon Now.
With this level of attention, it's not surprising that the media is desperate for one story above all others: Obama's first screw big up. No doubt it will happen. Everyone makes mistakes, no matter how smart, and over time there will be groaners out of this administration (though I'm willing to bet that none of them will rise to the level of the day to day idiocy produced by the administration thankfully now out of office). But here's the thing: yesterday's vote in the House was not a failure for Obama.
It wasn't a failure by Obama to end partisanship. It wasn't a failure by Obama to introduce a spirit of compromise. It wasn't (no matter what the friggin' idiot Lou Dobbs thinks) an example of Obama trying to "rule" as Bush did.
The problem is not that Obama was unwilling to compromise, it's that the Republicans no longer understand the meaning of compromise. For the last eight years, both in the majority and out, Republicans have understood the word compromise in only one way: capitulation. You're either with them -- on every point -- or you're again' 'em, no middle ground possible. They've taken the George W. Bush policy for international relations and made it the centerpiece of their domestic tactics.
rest http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/29/11910/7324/128/690409
No comments:
Post a Comment