It bears repeating that this is all entirely rational, and what the Republicans and some Democrats are proposing is absurd. The country has tried reckless deregulation and overly deep tax and spending cuts before. It brought more than one recession in the last century; caused the near collapse of the financial system and another recession in this one; and helped pile up the current deficit.
Mr. Obama has been making many of those points for months. But he has been doing it with speeches that, while eloquent, are often too long and nuanced, and then lack the kind of relentless repetition that is needed to drown out catchy but false Republican talking points.
That's right folks, the NY Times, a media outlet, is saying Obama needs to use the bully pulpit more and stop making these smart speeches. He needs to spout more platitudes and sound bites instead of treating voters like adults. If only President Obama would make it easier for us to cover him by reducing his logical and nuanced policy to vacuous snippets, America would be great! Oh, but it gets worse.
He has wasted far too much time trying to puzzle out how he can shave policies down far enough to get the Republicans to cooperate. The answer has long been clear: He can’t. Since he was elected, the Republicans have openly said they would not work with him, and a year ago, Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, said explicitly that the Republicans’ goal was simply to deny Mr. Obama a second term. The new Times poll showed that Americans do not believe bipartisanship is achievable. Six in 10 Democrats want the president to challenge Republicans more. He should not worry about voters thinking he is being mean. What he should worry about is that he is not showing them that he is fighting all out for their interests.
Mr. Obama has done more for the country than many voters realize...
That's right, the NY Times editorial board is now complaining about "Earth flat? Views differ" journalism. On top of that, they're complaining about the President's message being garbled by going through the filter of media outlets on the way to the American people. You know, media outlets like THE NEW YORK EFFING TIMES. On top of THAT, they are freely admitting there's no point in Obama working with Republicans who only care about defeating him, except that's exactly what the Village Idiots at the times keep telling him to do.
Enough to drive a guy to drink, I tell you. But then the Times ed board wins multiple awards for lack of self-awareness for the ending:
The question is whether he will now fight hard for that program. To get there, he does not need the entire G.O.P. caucus, just a few members, but he also needs to show more strength in leading his own less than courageous caucus. And, win or lose, he needs to stay out of the bargaining backroom and keep making his case to the public.
There is so much noise out there that we are not sure most voters know how much they agree with the president. It is up Mr. Obama to show them.
Yep. Not a few sentences after saying there's no way the Republicans will work with him, they turn around and say all that has to happen is some Republicans have to work with him. Oh, and he has to scream at his buddies. Oh, and that it's his fault the message is getting garbled, and certainly doesn't have anything to do with the Village's insistence that "both sides do it" and "both sides are at fault", which is basically the source of the noise that these rocket scientists are complaining about.
It's perfect. And this is exactly why the cries of OBAMACHU! USE BULLY PULPIT ATTACK! are completely pointless. When newspaper editorial boards are saying "Hey the President should say more campaign stuff" and then complains about him being in endless campaign mode and not governing the country, there's nothing he can do to win.
We need a better media, folks. That's why I write.
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